Paula Taylor's 100th Birthday Party

September 5 – September 8, 2013

Back up to the Walnut RV Park in Northridge to spend time with Norine and Paula. Paula isn’t doing well, so we were more of support for Norine than for Paula. It was a nice visit though.

On Sunday, the 8^th, we had Paula’s 100^th Birthday Party and most of her family was there. She didn’t know anyone, but she enjoyed the cake and ice cream. She seemed to be especially enamored with Xavier, her Great-Great Grandson,

which gives the Taylor family a five generation spread.

Seal Beach and San Diego

August 29, 2013 – September 1, 2013

Left SLO early this morning, south on the 101 to Seal Beach Naval Weapons FamCamp. This is a really nice campground, and we enjoy staying here.

We had all of Phils siblings over for dinner one night so they could discuss what to do next for Paula’s care, and put the final touches on the 100^th birthday party. We spent one day in Chatsworth visiting Norine and Paula.

We made a side trip on the way to see Norine, stopped by at Inglewood cemetery to see if we could find the grave for Phils Grandfather. The girl in the office found it on the computer and directed us, with a map, to where he was located. There was no stone, so we had to do a lot of counting, rows and plots to make sure we had the correct spot.

The traffic in Los Angeles has not improved one bit, and I hate it!! It takes forever to get anywhere which makes me not want to go anywhere.

September 2, 2013 – September 4, 2013

We made a quick stop in San Diego to see my “Little Sis,” Patty. While we were there, we made a quick trip to the vital statistics office to see if I could get a copy of my Grandfathers Affidavit of Birth, which I’m sure he did in San Diego, but they have no record of it on their computer. Phil did manage to get a death certificate for one of his relatives.

We stayed at Admiral Baker Field, which is a really nice FamCamp, and just happens to be right across the street from where Patty lives. Right now southern California is having a heat wave and it’s hotter than a pistol and Patty’s a/c is on the Fitz. Not good timing!! But we had a good visit anyway.

Pismo Beach and Morro Bay

August 28, 2013

Cooler temperatures this morning, so we put the bikes on the back of the truck and drove down to Pismo Beach

to look for a place to ride. We didn’t find exactly what we were looking for, but picked out a neighborhood park that had some bike paths. So, we rode around the park and the neighborhood for about an hour. The park was up on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Just below the bluff was a seal,

laying on a rock, soaking up what little sun there was.

From Pismo Beach, we drove up to Morro Bay. It was so foggy up there we could only see the bottom part of the rock. As we cut through a parking lot where there were some guys cleaning fish and throwing the scraps in a dumpster. Along with the standard Sea Gulls fighting over the scraps were some young Pelicans.

Pelicans are fairly graceful in the air and on the water, but on land they are clumsy. Watching these young birds trying to balance on the edges of the dumpster, rocking back and forth with wings flapping was hilarious!!

When we got back to the base we stopped to see their little flight museum. Most of these specimens were in pretty rough shape.

As we were driving back to the campground we passed a small herd of Mule Deer (that’s my uneducated guess), they were looking a little scrawny,

there isn’t much fresh grass growing wild in southern California.

The state has been suffering from a long term drought, which is also why it is so tough to stop a fire once it has started.

Hearst Castle

August 26, 2013

We took a drive up the coast to San Simeon to see Hearst Castle.

We had both been here as kids and toured the main floors, so today we did the upper floors and private living quarters of Randolph Hearst. No matter where you look, in the castle or on the grounds there is grandeur and opulence and beauty.

Hearst was a collector extraordinaire, he collected the finest antiques he could find from Europe, he collected the rich and famous, the artists and literary giants of the time. He hosted elaborate parties and flew his guests into San Simeon on his private planes. He collected exotic animals for his private zoo where the animals would roam the acres from the beach to the top of the mountain where the castle sits overlooking his domain.

Ahead of its time, the castle was designed to withstand the earthquakes California is famous for, so it is basically constructed of reinforced concrete. To hide the bare concrete floors, walls and ceilings Hearst covered them the same way they did in the European Castles of old, with tapestries

and drapes on the walls, dropped ceilings that hung from wires and various floor coverings.

Guests at the castle had a multitude of entertainment possibilities,

tennis courts, complete horse stables, two swimming pools (one indoors and one outside), complete library, game rooms, billiards or just wandering the beautiful gardens and grounds to name a few.

Our tour was 1-1/2 hours, then we spent another couple of hours wandering around in the gift shops and museum at the bottom of the mountain.