Friday, February 16, 2007

Monterey Bay

A pretty wild poppy--Matilija poppy?-- growing on the edge of the sidewalk. Lots and lots of flowers, even in February. I won't bore you with all the flower pictures I took, though... let this one stand in for the rest of them.

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures at the aquarium, mainly because I've done it before and let's face it, one picture of a tank full of fish swimming back and forth is pretty much like another picture of a tankful of fish swimming back and forth!
But I did take this one of the aquarium itself...I just love this view. And yes, the sky was a beautiful blue. The weather has been perfect since we've been up here. We'll see if it holds for the whole time; there is rain in the forecast, but we all know how forecasts go!

The coastline shot was taken from the deck on the upper floor of the aquarium, looking across the bay. If you look reallly closely you will see a pinkish block on the far shore--that's our hotel. Sorta stands out, huh?
The boat is actually inside the aquarium, part of a display of the building's former history as a cannery. Did you know this is the original Cannery Row that John Steinbeck wrote about? Monterey is prime Steinbeck country--the aquarium's bookstore has a complete set of his books, as well as biographies etc. Yeah, the old bookseller has to visit bookstores even on vacation.

Time to pack up the hotel room and move to the park. It will be interesting to see what kind of internet connections might be available. Imagine if I had to live my life "in person" instead of on line...

Thursday, February 15, 2007

On the Road Again...


View from the 11th floor, Seaside, CA, aka Monterey Bay. The adventure begins.
Well, it's really not that adventurous--we're talking a nice hotel, a pleasant drive with great weather, nice and clear and sunny. Not too warm, not too cold...
Today is the "hiatus" day and gives me a chance to do a little computer stuff in the hotel before we head out to the Aquarium. Look for those pictures next. Hoping to see the baby otters, but don't know if they will be on display or not.
Knitting will be happening today, I'm sure... and then it will be 5-6 days of quilting. The projects all got packed and it will be fun to see what's in the supply tubs.

Yes, tubs. I should take a picture of the inside of the car, shouldn't I? Four sewing machines, each in its case; lots of bags, boxes, and tubs of fabric and tools. Not to mention a couple of suitcases full of clothes. Two women, 12 days, quilting and knitting, what more do you want?
Anyway, the tubs are still packed from last year's excursion to Asilomar. This tells me a couple of things: the major one being that I have sorely neglected my quilting. I think there are a lot of things that have taken a back seat, and I'm hoping to use this time away to assess and evaluate and maybe see what directions I should be moving in.
'Nuff with the serious stuff. There are fishes and otters and other sea critters waiting for me, so I'll be back (hopefully--depending on hotel wi-fi for this!) with more!