Easter evening in Old Town

Gold Country for the day!

Left Turlock at 9:00 and drove up to Ironstone Winery by 10:30.

Walked around the beautiful grounds, ate a delicious lunch then took a guided tour at 1:30.

Welcomed by a 49er

Took a look at the museum with the 40+
pound gold nugget first - discovered in 1992.

  There's still "gold in them thar hills!"

Beginning the tour

Original bar that came around the horn

Beautiful

Loved spending time with friends in an amazing place.

Pinnacles National Monument

March 16, 2015.  Another beautiful day before our anniversary.
We took a not too long drive to Hollister and then down through the lovely valley to get to Pinnacles.  We began going clockwise on the path so that we went through the caves first.  So exciting but no bats.

Talking with the condor researcher.

Got a lot of Connie getting a lot of pictures!

Reservoir lunch.  No it was not half way:0

After the caves we arrived at the reservoir which is calm and reflects the rocks nicely.  The water release provides the sound effects for caves....where is that water coming from?

After visiting with the scientist monitoring recently released condors, we saw them.  Very exciting.  We also met a large group who were hesitant to continue since the hike had become "scary".  I took this photo of them making their way in one of those cracks in the rock. Can you see them?

I hope they made it....
The rest of the hike was pretty much downhill and very hard on the knees.  8+ miles.  A great day all around.  Glad we did it again after 20 years.  Probably won't go again!
Thank you for teaming up with us, Tates!

Alluring Aptos

Rattlesnake

 Parking?

Nice picnic at SJB park 

Pretty amazing for one hamburger

Beach with lots of driftwood

Concrete boat with unusual history!

After a lovely sunset wedding Saturday evening, we ventured down to Sunset Cliffs State Beach and took a long walk.

We also drove home at a leisurely pace, going through Watsonville, stopping at Driscolls produce(closed) and San Juan Bautista.  The best stop was Romeros Viewpoint overlooking the San Luis Reservoir and learning how much water it takes to make a hamburger!🙀

Gorgeous Day for a Walk on the River

Just perfect. Blue, blue skies.  Thunderhead clouds in the distance.  Bunnies, quail, hawks and herons. And green, lots of green!  Looking forward to our next visit already, when there should be heaps of wild flowers.  Finished off the afternoon with a movie at the state theater.  And the final episode of Downton Abby👏!