It was almost time to leave for California north to South but first I went to Small world and ran into Seva and Laura and then back at home, the food was being prepared for the office holiday party as the Main Street people admired the wall of food and then cups and desserts as well as salad items were prepared and this was my dessert.

Next day,w e left early and flew across country where we met up with Jacobo who took us to this Taquerio and shared with Suzanne photos of his pet squirrel as Ben and Jacobo watched and I took this self portrait even as Suzanne enjoyed her soup and the rest of us our sandwiches. We then took along walk past Giants stadium where we were warned about beer bottles, no doubt, and saw the Barry Bonds record that is now in dispute as Suzanne posed and then was joined by Ben and me before we celebrated Pabst Blue Ribbon.

The next day was rainy (as were many of the days) but we made our way to Boogaloos for brunch where this was the menu that Suzanne and Sarah studied before our meals arrived and we made our way away from the restaurant and explored the neighborhood where I found this collection of interesting signs and this remarkable facade before Sarah posed for the obligatory phone booth photo. That evening we went to Straw which has a game arcade theme to it and menus delivered in childrens' books and goldfish to eat while waiting for your food to be ordered from this menu as our drinks had a childish tone to them, mine having cotton candy in it as the salad arrived along with my comfort food French fries and then notebooks with dessert menus into which we were to write our thoughts. The bathroom was quite remarkable before returning to our table and building a tower in the spirit of the restaurant.

Jane arrived late one night but we were all out and about the next morning heading to the ferry building but stopping at the Abraham Lincoln Brigade from which we could also get good pictures of the ferry building before finding a table for brunch and settling in before the orange juice arrived along with our meals. After brunch, we walked across town towards the art museum, SF MOMA, stopping to admire this sign and this sculpture along with the dinosaurs. The museum had some remarkable exhibits where photos could not be taken but we did see this Rothko as well as these brains which inspired me. From the museum, some of us headed to Escape from New York pizza where we met up with Matt Traylor. After an unrecorded visit with Amy and Ben, we headed out to dinner where these were our meals complete with Brussels sprouts and desserts

This was unfortunately the day we decided to drive down the coast because the rains were non-stop. We stopped at Nepenthe for lunch because of the excellent views but after looking at the menu and recording ourselves and the waiter, delightful views to be sure, this was all we could see outside. Fortunately, the french fries artichokes hot sauce and sandwiches prepared us for the dessert menu which was studied and discussed with Jane who posed with me as Suzanne and Ben posed and then we began the treacherous ride through heavier rains, rock slides, fog, ... all of the things you don't want on that road until we got to Cambria. Once settled in Cambria, we headed to the West End Bar and Grill and studied the menus with televisions in all directions and this martini helped me to forget the drive as Suzanne had her wine and we ate our various meals though this soup seems to not have agreed with Jane even as the sandwiches served the rest of us well.

The next morning, we awoke to a beautiful day and took a short walk along the beach

before returning for breakfast at the Fogcatcher Inn

and a look at the heated pool (couldn't be heated enough) and we then gathered our possessions from the room and headed for Hearst Castle where they sent this profound message and in the gift shop, I tried on this hat as we gathered and posed for a green screen photo from which we could later claim our pictures and we got our tickets studied our map enjoyed our wristbands and boarded the bus for the ride up the hill where we were met by our tourguide and headed to the main building outside of which I took many photos

including the fountain.

Once inside, we were escorted to the living room where there was artwork people admired before being escorted to dinner

and next we went to the dining room where we saw the table surrounded by flags and wood carving in all directions not to mention the mustard and ketchup on the table as we admired further the room before returning to the table directions and then the most remarkable Xmas tree and the newspaper ending prohibition as we made our way into the billiard room where we saw the owl accompanying the tapestry and so focused on the owl who looked just like ours and the mosaic and the balls racked for the break by one of these cues.

This ended the tour, but we were free to room outside which we did

stopping for flower photos before admiring sculptures and the most remarkable view with brick stones at the building side and another brick stone as we made our way to the outdoor swimming pool which was remarkable

and then past the tigers and the scaffolded fountain and olympian to the succulents which we admired

and after a pause for a family photo a look at the view and another family photo we were back to succulent admiration

After another amazing statue and the views we headed along the path and past a few more plantings

until we got to the tennis court and the remarkable indoor swimming pool

before heading back to the bus for the ride down the hill and down to the beach where we promised to not feed the squirrels and admired the bird while reading the sign that described what we would see when we went to stare at the elephants seals taking quite a few photos

breaking for a flower shot and then getting back to seals

before we got back into the car and drove to the Madonna Inn where we visiting the famous urinal and sink and then drove past Halcyon Drive on our way to the In N Out Burger experience including this collection sign in the mens room. Driving further south on the 101, we were happy to see Santa Claus Lane, it being Xmas eve and we watched the sunset and a fire in the hill before we got to Larry and Janet's house and saw their new kitchen complete with fruit bowl as we settled in to dinner as Paige held the cat.

Next morning was the Xmas holiday as can be seen from the excitement on Paige and Larry's faces as Ben Suzanne me and Jane joined and these further photos of me were taken before the ceremonial exchange of hot sauces and soft drinks all gathered together on the table as we walked past the political/religious sign in the neighborhood.

We then drove south to San Diego for our Xmas dinner which started with this drink and moved on to these courses

with this warning as we left the restaurant.

Next morning, Rob Pinkel came to visit and Syl took these group photos before this photo of the photographer was taken alternating with the group and back to the photographer.

The next day we made our way to Sammy's where we found Suzanne and Ben who had bought this hat for me and this for Ben before we made our way back to La Habra where we met up with the cat.

Next day, we went to the farmer's market where the vegetables were beautiful

and then to the surplus store where we searched for broken jelly beans finally finding Belly Flops and then took a walk along a path that had some banana trees growing nearby. This was while waiting for our pizzas from Pizza Mania which looked great even better than the box and this seemed to amuse Mikey Suzanne Ben Jane Janet Paige me and Larry as Dave arrived to do his repairs. For dinner, we went to the Blue Agave, where my drink was appropriately blue.

The next day we had to head home and our driver was appropriately named Laxman.