As you know, we challenged the Springers (the Murrays) to a weight-loss contest back in February. We each set goals and decided to celebrate at the end of the summer by going to California together. The Barkers won the contest...Dad lost 21 pounds and I lost 14!! That was reward in itself. (Now the challenge is trying to keep it off.) The 4 of us flew to Los Angeles on Oct. 10th and rented a car to drive up the coast to San Simeon and back on Oct. 13th. I think we drove over 500 miles. The weather was good, for all but the last day. We had fun and saw some new stuff. (Sorry for posting so many photos and blurbs...didn't know what to leave out!)
Standing at a viewpoint in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, with famous sign (enlarge) in background.
Los Angeles freeway and skyline in the mist. Most mornings were cloudy or misty, but it cleared and the sun came out by noon.
We went on a 2-hour tour of Movie Stars' Hollywood Homes (most stars own multiple homes around the world) on a 10-12 passenger open-air (convertable, top was down) van/bus. The 4 of us were in the back and we had a "buckboard" ride at breakneck speeds. The driver was either flooring it or breaking hard on mostly curving streets. Actually, it was kinda like Lagoon and a lot of fun!! We saw about 45 homes (supposedly of famous movie stars--but the driver could have told us anything.) Most of the homes were behind high walls or big trees and at the end we couldn't remember whose was who's because the driver would tell us about multiple stars who had owned/lived in each home! But it was worth it, just to get the lay of the land with places we have heard about through the years...Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills, Bel Aire, Sunset Strip, Mulholland Drive, Rodeo Drive, etc. This is a Harrison Ford's home on Mulholland Drive in Hollywood Hills.
Mary Tyler Moore
Can't remember who, but we loved this greenery.
Impressive gate in front of Jack Nicholson's house in Beverly Hills.
Landmark train car restaurant on Sunset Strip (named for all the strip joints in earlier years...only one historical one remains.)
Whiskey a Go Go on Sunset Strip...where The Doors played.
Mel's Drive-In, also on Sunset Strip, where American Graffiti was filmed.
Entering Beverly Hills...
Rodeo Drive...elite (expensive) shopping district.
Lots of movie star impersonators lined the street.
Grauman's Chinese Theater
One of many signed cement squares with handprints in front of the theater.
The Star Trek crew! (enlarge to see Spock and Krk at the top)
After spending most of the day in LA, we drove north to Solvang. It is a little town settled by Danish immigrants which has turned into a tourist spot. The architecture is fun and it is well-maintained. It has grown to include more than the cultures/traditions of Denmark...Scandanavia (Sweden & Norway) and Holland, but it was all enjoyable.
Fabulous brickwork and bells at this antique shop. (enlarge and look closely)
Another angle for the clock tower.
More good bricks at this little shop and an interesting shingles...I bought a new mushroom here.
Most of the buildings had storks and nests on top.
We had a great dinner at Pea Soup Andersens...yumm. We all had the pea soup and bread for starters and I had a breaded veal cutlet and red cabbage. Dad had the biggest pot pie you can imagine. We talked about it for days afterwards. Wish I had a photo!
Our motel in Solvang.
We ate breakfast outside (under the blue umbrellas) at Paula's pancake house. They were the best pancakes ever with your choice of strawberries, blue berries, or cinnamon apples (we all tried different ones) and whipped cream. I also tried a great Danish Sausage and hot chocolate. Hey! the diet is over!! (Note red flag of Denmark and the timbers on the roof.)
Hans Christian Andersen monument
Replica of the Little Mermaid statue. (I was able to visit Denmark when I was a teenage and saw the real thing in the Copenhagen harbor.)
One of many Danish Pastry shops...more storks.
Trying to choose was a difficult task...we each bought 4 different pastries!
Our goodies!!
After a morning of walking around Solvang, we drove north to Pismo Beach. It was gray and windy at first. Dan never did wear a jacket.
Surfers along the beach.
Dan and Mary on the huge pier.
Pigeons on the pier.
Within about 30 minutes of arriving, the sun came out and the skies cleared and the winds died down. Here I am, "Pismo beach and all the clams you can eat."
Dad on the beach with the pier. Quite a few people were fishing.
Dad enjoyed taking photos of the birds, of course.
Big pelican.
Another great pelican shot.
Friends, waiting for a handout. We saw a fishermen give one of them a small fish (a no-no) and it was pretty amazing to watch the bird gulp the squirming fish down whole.
Mom on the beach.
I like the different colored bands of water in this photo. I think my walk in the water and sand, looking for shells, was my favorite part of the trip.
Mom with a clam...a whole one...and yes we ate fabulous clam chowder and tuna sandwiches in a little cafe just a block from the pier.
Gull with a prized clam.
After lunch we were picked up and driven along the beach a mile or two to the Oceano Sand Dunes where we rented dune buggies and spent an hour and a half rodding around in the sand. What a kick!
Mom in our buggy. We got stuck in the sand just once (when I was driving, of course). Note the back tire.
Dad...he's the man when it comes to driving.
The dunes went for miles and miles paralleling the beach and rising into some scenic hills and civilization beyond. We lost track of the Murrays for most of the time. This photo is taken on our way back, almost to the rental trailer on the ocean. There were also ATVs and jeeps and motorcycles on the dunes...but we didn't see them very often. Evidently this is the last stretch of beach in California where you can drive your own vehicles on the sand. We saw a number of 4-wheel-drive pickups close to shore that were being towed back because they had gotten stuck!
Photo at the finish (we stayed out until the last minute, so Murrays beat us back). The only bad part was having to wear the helmets and goggles. All in all, it was lots of fun on a sunny afternoon. The sparkling water was beautiful. Felt like I was with Steve McQueen in the original Thomas Crowne Affair!
Lots of amazing vineyards on our way to San Simeon.
Day #3...two tours of Hearst Castle. You ride a bus 5 miles up into the hills to see the home built by William Randolph Hearst, newspaper magnate/publisher. It was impressive...money was no object. This guy brought back statues, ceilings, furniture, artifacts, etc. from around the world and started building this home when he was in his 50s and worked on it for 30 years until he died. It's lavish...showy. He entertained lots of movie stars here in the 20s and 30s as well as athletes and politicians. We enjoyed 2 of the 5 tours as well as a 45-minute IMAX presentation about it's history. The views towards the ocean from the house were awesome. Many of the rooms were a combination of gothic, renaissance, and art deco furnishings all thrown together (eclectic and somoetimes gaudy) and then 1930's clothing was displayed to remind you of the era when the house was occupied. I preferred the simpler rooms, but it was all amazing and interesting. Hearst worked with a woman architect on almost everything...unusual for the day.
Looking up the hill from the bus.
A veiw of the main part of the house.
Close-up.
The 2 pools were fabulous. This is the outdoor Neptune Pool. Movies such as Spartacus were filmed here.
Another view of the Neptune Pool.
Dad with a cannon and a big pot.
Me in front of one of the guest houses.
One of my favorite rooms, it's yellow of course, in one of the guest houses.
Another good guest house bedroom.
The grounds were also beautiful with well-kept gardens.
Statue sample....there were lots
A burial vault...one of several
The long dining hall
The library, check out the ceiling and the Grecian urns.
Hearst's bedroom
Hearst's office, main desk is up the 3 stairs in the sunlit "porch."
Probably my favorite room...the Honeymoon Suite in one of the towers It is octagonal in shape with great views...what a ceiling and bed posts!
The kitchen. The little wooden refrigerated cabinets were filled with midnight "snacks" for guests such as David Niven.
Another kitchen shot.
The most fabulous thing in the house is the indoor Roman Pool made of tiny (1/2") blue, orange and real gold tiles. The water is 10 feet deep except in the smaller ("ladies pool") braching off the main pool in the center under the high dive platform. Can you see the tile patterns on the bottom of the pool?
Looking back the other way from the low diving board. The water was crystal clear.
Closer view...sorry, we were so impressed, we took a lot of photos.
After leaving Hearst Castle we drove to this old Mission in San Luis Obispo.
Mission courtyard.
Old rock and brick building...part of the Mission. Not sure how they positioned some of those huge boulders. Kinda small and high-up windows?
We spent the last night in Carpinteria (named for carpenter settlers). It has some of the best tide pools in California, but unfortunately the low tide was around midnight and it was rainng on and off that night and most of the next day. We did go looking for harbor seals...here's one swimming into shore.
...to join the family sacked out on the beach.
We managed to work in 2 geocaches...fun for us, maybe not so much for the Murrays! We spent the rest of the morning on a scenic drive through the Malibu Mountain Range into Ventura. (We saw Topanga Canyon!) We ate a Californian Pizza lunch and went to the Farmer's Market and bought some great chocolate and toffee.
One last thing. We went to Sony Entertainment for a tour of the studio, stages, grounds, etc., on the last afternoon, but since it was raining pretty hard and we had to fly home that evening, we changed our minds. However, in the lobby there were displays of props and costumes, etc., from a number of Sony (and other studios such as Columbia which they have merged with) films. FUN to see. Here is the orginal Howard in the backpack and letter from Annie seen in "Sleepless in Seattle."
Here's the original movie game. Good photo to end on...our 4 days were quite an adventure.
Standing at a viewpoint in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, with famous sign (enlarge) in background.
Los Angeles freeway and skyline in the mist. Most mornings were cloudy or misty, but it cleared and the sun came out by noon.
We went on a 2-hour tour of Movie Stars' Hollywood Homes (most stars own multiple homes around the world) on a 10-12 passenger open-air (convertable, top was down) van/bus. The 4 of us were in the back and we had a "buckboard" ride at breakneck speeds. The driver was either flooring it or breaking hard on mostly curving streets. Actually, it was kinda like Lagoon and a lot of fun!! We saw about 45 homes (supposedly of famous movie stars--but the driver could have told us anything.) Most of the homes were behind high walls or big trees and at the end we couldn't remember whose was who's because the driver would tell us about multiple stars who had owned/lived in each home! But it was worth it, just to get the lay of the land with places we have heard about through the years...Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills, Bel Aire, Sunset Strip, Mulholland Drive, Rodeo Drive, etc. This is a Harrison Ford's home on Mulholland Drive in Hollywood Hills.
Mary Tyler Moore
Can't remember who, but we loved this greenery.
Impressive gate in front of Jack Nicholson's house in Beverly Hills.
Landmark train car restaurant on Sunset Strip (named for all the strip joints in earlier years...only one historical one remains.)
Whiskey a Go Go on Sunset Strip...where The Doors played.
Mel's Drive-In, also on Sunset Strip, where American Graffiti was filmed.
Entering Beverly Hills...
Rodeo Drive...elite (expensive) shopping district.
Lots of movie star impersonators lined the street.
Grauman's Chinese Theater
One of many signed cement squares with handprints in front of the theater.
The Star Trek crew! (enlarge to see Spock and Krk at the top)
After spending most of the day in LA, we drove north to Solvang. It is a little town settled by Danish immigrants which has turned into a tourist spot. The architecture is fun and it is well-maintained. It has grown to include more than the cultures/traditions of Denmark...Scandanavia (Sweden & Norway) and Holland, but it was all enjoyable. 
Fabulous brickwork and bells at this antique shop. (enlarge and look closely)
Another angle for the clock tower.
More good bricks at this little shop and an interesting shingles...I bought a new mushroom here.
Most of the buildings had storks and nests on top.
We had a great dinner at Pea Soup Andersens...yumm. We all had the pea soup and bread for starters and I had a breaded veal cutlet and red cabbage. Dad had the biggest pot pie you can imagine. We talked about it for days afterwards. Wish I had a photo!
Our motel in Solvang.
We ate breakfast outside (under the blue umbrellas) at Paula's pancake house. They were the best pancakes ever with your choice of strawberries, blue berries, or cinnamon apples (we all tried different ones) and whipped cream. I also tried a great Danish Sausage and hot chocolate. Hey! the diet is over!! (Note red flag of Denmark and the timbers on the roof.)
Hans Christian Andersen monument
Replica of the Little Mermaid statue. (I was able to visit Denmark when I was a teenage and saw the real thing in the Copenhagen harbor.)
One of many Danish Pastry shops...more storks.
Trying to choose was a difficult task...we each bought 4 different pastries!
Our goodies!!
After a morning of walking around Solvang, we drove north to Pismo Beach. It was gray and windy at first. Dan never did wear a jacket.
Surfers along the beach.
Dan and Mary on the huge pier.
Pigeons on the pier.
Within about 30 minutes of arriving, the sun came out and the skies cleared and the winds died down. Here I am, "Pismo beach and all the clams you can eat."
Dad on the beach with the pier. Quite a few people were fishing.
Dad enjoyed taking photos of the birds, of course.
Big pelican.
Another great pelican shot.
Friends, waiting for a handout. We saw a fishermen give one of them a small fish (a no-no) and it was pretty amazing to watch the bird gulp the squirming fish down whole.
Mom on the beach.
I like the different colored bands of water in this photo. I think my walk in the water and sand, looking for shells, was my favorite part of the trip.
Mom with a clam...a whole one...and yes we ate fabulous clam chowder and tuna sandwiches in a little cafe just a block from the pier.
Gull with a prized clam.
After lunch we were picked up and driven along the beach a mile or two to the Oceano Sand Dunes where we rented dune buggies and spent an hour and a half rodding around in the sand. What a kick!
Mom in our buggy. We got stuck in the sand just once (when I was driving, of course). Note the back tire.
Dad...he's the man when it comes to driving.
The dunes went for miles and miles paralleling the beach and rising into some scenic hills and civilization beyond. We lost track of the Murrays for most of the time. This photo is taken on our way back, almost to the rental trailer on the ocean. There were also ATVs and jeeps and motorcycles on the dunes...but we didn't see them very often. Evidently this is the last stretch of beach in California where you can drive your own vehicles on the sand. We saw a number of 4-wheel-drive pickups close to shore that were being towed back because they had gotten stuck!
Photo at the finish (we stayed out until the last minute, so Murrays beat us back). The only bad part was having to wear the helmets and goggles. All in all, it was lots of fun on a sunny afternoon. The sparkling water was beautiful. Felt like I was with Steve McQueen in the original Thomas Crowne Affair! 
Lots of amazing vineyards on our way to San Simeon.
Day #3...two tours of Hearst Castle. You ride a bus 5 miles up into the hills to see the home built by William Randolph Hearst, newspaper magnate/publisher. It was impressive...money was no object. This guy brought back statues, ceilings, furniture, artifacts, etc. from around the world and started building this home when he was in his 50s and worked on it for 30 years until he died. It's lavish...showy. He entertained lots of movie stars here in the 20s and 30s as well as athletes and politicians. We enjoyed 2 of the 5 tours as well as a 45-minute IMAX presentation about it's history. The views towards the ocean from the house were awesome. Many of the rooms were a combination of gothic, renaissance, and art deco furnishings all thrown together (eclectic and somoetimes gaudy) and then 1930's clothing was displayed to remind you of the era when the house was occupied. I preferred the simpler rooms, but it was all amazing and interesting. Hearst worked with a woman architect on almost everything...unusual for the day.
Looking up the hill from the bus.
A veiw of the main part of the house.
Close-up.
The 2 pools were fabulous. This is the outdoor Neptune Pool. Movies such as Spartacus were filmed here.
Another view of the Neptune Pool.
Dad with a cannon and a big pot.
Me in front of one of the guest houses.
One of my favorite rooms, it's yellow of course, in one of the guest houses.
Another good guest house bedroom.
The grounds were also beautiful with well-kept gardens.
Statue sample....there were lots
A burial vault...one of several
The long dining hall
The library, check out the ceiling and the Grecian urns.
Hearst's bedroom
Hearst's office, main desk is up the 3 stairs in the sunlit "porch."
Probably my favorite room...the Honeymoon Suite in one of the towers It is octagonal in shape with great views...what a ceiling and bed posts!
The kitchen. The little wooden refrigerated cabinets were filled with midnight "snacks" for guests such as David Niven.
Another kitchen shot.
The most fabulous thing in the house is the indoor Roman Pool made of tiny (1/2") blue, orange and real gold tiles. The water is 10 feet deep except in the smaller ("ladies pool") braching off the main pool in the center under the high dive platform. Can you see the tile patterns on the bottom of the pool?
Looking back the other way from the low diving board. The water was crystal clear.
Closer view...sorry, we were so impressed, we took a lot of photos.
After leaving Hearst Castle we drove to this old Mission in San Luis Obispo.
Mission courtyard.
Old rock and brick building...part of the Mission. Not sure how they positioned some of those huge boulders. Kinda small and high-up windows?
We spent the last night in Carpinteria (named for carpenter settlers). It has some of the best tide pools in California, but unfortunately the low tide was around midnight and it was rainng on and off that night and most of the next day. We did go looking for harbor seals...here's one swimming into shore. 
...to join the family sacked out on the beach.
We managed to work in 2 geocaches...fun for us, maybe not so much for the Murrays! We spent the rest of the morning on a scenic drive through the Malibu Mountain Range into Ventura. (We saw Topanga Canyon!) We ate a Californian Pizza lunch and went to the Farmer's Market and bought some great chocolate and toffee.
One last thing. We went to Sony Entertainment for a tour of the studio, stages, grounds, etc., on the last afternoon, but since it was raining pretty hard and we had to fly home that evening, we changed our minds. However, in the lobby there were displays of props and costumes, etc., from a number of Sony (and other studios such as Columbia which they have merged with) films. FUN to see. Here is the orginal Howard in the backpack and letter from Annie seen in "Sleepless in Seattle."
Here's the original movie game. Good photo to end on...our 4 days were quite an adventure. 