California Lutheran University

This morning we drove to Thousand Oaks to visit my alma mater, California Lutheran University. Twenty years ago I graduated from this small university. Homecoming is being celebrated this weekend and my class reunion will be held on campus. When I received the invitation, knowing we would be here, I briefly considered attending. Reunions are not really my thing though so I didn't RSVP. I did want to visit campus and pick up something from the bookstore while we are here.

We have benefited tremendously in so many ways from my time here and the education received. It was exactly where I needed to be at the time. Here are a few photos of the always lovely campus.

The Luther Statue aka Enormous Luther

If you would like to know more about the history of this amazing statue and Martin Luther, here is a link: http://www.callutheran.edu/about/history/enormous_luther.php

Some of the many lovely flowers on campus.

If anyone knows what these incredible trees are, please let me know. There are lots of them where are camped too. The burls on them are magnificent!

Diversity Fountain and the unique architecture of many older campus buildings in the background.

But this, oh my, this is my favorite flower and there are many of them on campus. They were such a joy for me to see on a daily basis when I was a student here. These days, one of our nephews is a member of the crew that keeps this campus so breathtakingly beautiful.

How about this scene on our drive back to Simi Valley from Thousand Oaks!

And back at our campground, here are a couple more photos of some of the many awesome trees in this area.

This one, with its many burls, stands next to our motorhome.

Lovin' Life ~~ And Cal Lu

"My" Bridge

Mid-morning we drove over the Ashley River into Charleston, then crossed the Cooper River on my favorite bridge (more about that later) to this island. Are you puzzled over the fact that it's named Isle of Palms?

We drove past many ocean front homes in that distinct style where the house sits high on pilings to allow storm surges to 'hopefully' not rise up into the house itself. There are many unique elevations so each of these gorgeous home has its own personality.

After refreshing our memories of the Isle of Palms we crossed to Sullivan's Island at Breach Inlet. There are large signs forbidding swimming or even wading because the strong rip tides here have taken many lives. They don't have to threaten me with fines; I stayed clear of the water. Can you see the round house at the end of the far spit? Doesn't it look like a wedding cake...white, with three round tiers!

The pelicans had no fear of the surf here though and we watched them for some time. My favorite pelican sightings...Galveston Island, TX; LaJolla, CA; Garrison, ND; and now Sullivan's Island, SC! I love pelicans!

We circled back around to have lunch at Sticky Fingers on Isle of Palms which is Rich's favorite restaurant here. He got to come to Charleston two of the six times I attended that conference.

You know I prefer a BBQ place where you pick your own sauces.

This was Rich's Ribs Combo with four different styles of ribs. Thankfully, he shared bites of two of them because they were meaty, very tender, and so flavorful! My lunch was not what I had hoped.

Returning to Charleston we again drove over the Cooper River on my favorite bridge, the Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge. Construction on this 2 1/2 mile cable-stayed suspension bridge began in 2001; my first conference visit to Charleston was in October 2001; and the bridge opened in June 2005. Since I had the privilege and joy of watching its progress on an annual basis, I kinda consider it to be "my" bridge! Isn't she magnificent? **sigh**

We parked downtown and began walking through Charleston's Historic City market. It only took a couple of minutes to realize that it had been completely renovated since I was here last...and it was in desperate need of renovation. This evening I learned that the eighteen month project was completed near the end of June in 2011. This is the main entrance on Meeting Street but you can also enter the market in several other locations along its four block length. Notice the sweetgrass basket vendors on either side of the entrance. Some of those baskets are intricately designed and require many hours of painstaking weaving to make; all of those baskets are works of art.

This is a long, side view of a section of the Historic City Market. The first buildings in the market date back to 1804!

And another section showing how each one is somewhat unique in design.

At our RV Park I had picked up a brochure for this store, which has only been here for about three years.

How cool is this? Did you know that Moon Pies come in Banana and Orange flavors in addition to Chocolate and Vanilla? They also carry lots of nostalgic games and candy and collectibles; a fun-to-browse store.

There are many beautiful churches in Charleston but these two caught my camera's eye today. Both are Anglican churches and are situated only a couple of blocks apart.

St Michael's Church was built between 1752 and 1761 on the site where the small, original 1680s St Philip's Church stood before the population outgrew it.

Since by 1727 the town had grown too large for the original small church, St Philip's Church was built to accommodate the increased population. I think it was the similarities in the design of the steeples that brought these particular churches to my attention as we drove through several blocks of the city center.

There will be more to share about our return to this historic and beautiful city over the next few days!

Lovin' Life ~~ Exploring Charleston Anew

A Country House for Family and Friends

That was the goal, I read, when George Vanderbilt built the Biltmore House on his 125,000 acre estate in the mountains of North Carolina. If you are interested in the history or seeing more photos of the house, there are many online resources. Here is Rich standing on the front lawn of this 250 room country retreat.

We were so fortunate to visit now because the home is completely decorated for Christmas, including nearly 100 decorated Christmas trees. There are seven large Christmas trees in the Banquet Hall alone! Here are photos of that room. In the first, the top of a 35 foot tall tree reaches toward the Grand Organ Balcony where you can see the pipes.

  

It takes at least two hours to tour the home and, if you go, when you buy your tickets be sure to spring for the audio tour that describes each room and provides stories about the family and their guests. Don't we look quite dapper sporting our headphones and audio player? This balcony overlooks the grounds to the rear of the house.

After touring the home, we had lunch at the Stables Cafe. Yes it is the actual stable! The smaller of the original stalls have been fitted with booths. Notice the wrought iron hay rack; there was one at the back of each stall.

The larger stalls contain three or four tables. Just look at those doors and the hardware. They left all the gouges and wear from the many years it served as the estate's stable. I wish you could see the brick floor; I could almost hear the clatter of hoofs on it.

The atmosphere and service were perfect; the food was ample and delicious.

After the shuttle returned us to our car, we drove around to the Walled Garden with its brightly patterned beds of mums.

The estate is now 8,000 acres and you can drive through about half of it, as far as the French Broad River and the Lagoon. Here is the Biltmore from the other side of the Lagoon.

There were so many awesome ceilings (I LOVE ceilings), portraits, chandeliers, furnishings, wall coverings, tapestries, floors, stairwells, wood paneled walls, etc making every inch of the house a delight to see.

Lovin' Life ~~ Touring This Magnificent Home

Pikes Peak or Bust

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Since it is 63 miles from Royal Gorge, where we are parked, to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs we had to get up and go! Our original plan was to catch a Segway tour of the Garden but, when we arrived at the Visitor & Nature Center, we learned that those tours ended Labor Day. That was okay because we also wanted to go to the top of Pikes Peak so Rich called and we could still get on a train today.

This view of the north entrance was taken from the balcony of the Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center. The Kissing Camels are on the right and Pikes Peak is clearly visible in the background.

We had time to drive through the Garden before going to the train and spent most of that time at Balanced Rock and Steamboat Rock.

I remember climbing around on these rocks when my family came here on vacation in 1963; Rich and I were here in 1993 when we seriously considered moving to The Springs. I love this area!

We're hoping to spend more time here in the next week but had to get over to the Cog Railway station in Manitou Springs for our train to the top of Pikes Peak. This too I had experienced on that family vacation but Rich had never been up there. I am always fascinated with how rapidly the terrain changes in the west. Here we go!

See the diamond?

See the sleigh?

Years ago this was where the section gang lived; this is at 12,129 feet. The caretaker's wife cooked & cleaned for the dozen guys who lived here with them. Any of you want to complain about your job today?

Yes, we are still breathing at 14,110 feet! It was chilly, in the 40s, but the sun is so warm in the clear skies of Colorado.

If you are not on your train when it's scheduled to depart you turn into a ... any guesses? ... a Hiker! harty, har, har!  That was but one of the jokes from the guide on the train.

We switched seats coming back down since there lots of empty ones. That gave us much better views and a very special sighting too!

There are several reservoirs on Pikes Peak; most are man-made.

A train headed up to the top as we are coming down. This gives a good view of what the trains look like.

As for our special sighting...as we came down there were four Bighorn rams grazing on the mountainside. Even though we have now seen ewes and lambs two different times, these were the first rams I was able to photograph. Aren't they beautiful? Just look at those horns!

These are called Lion Rocks because the rangers have seen mountain lions sunning themselves here. I zoomed in close after uploading the photos but didn't see any lounging there today.

As we neared the railway station, there were stands of Quaking aspens...you must know by now how much I love seeing these graceful, colorful trees!

We were going to take time to have dinner at Giuseppe's, a restaurant in the old train station where we had eaten the last time we were in The Springs. When we got there, we discovered it is now closed. Oh well, it was time to get home to the girls anyway.

Lovin' Life ~~ Visiting Special Places