Category: Journal (Page 2 of 953)

I’m back to school again today. Yesterday I spent some time in my classroom after church to get ready for the week. One of the things I had to do was plan my elective period. I’m doing some origami lessons.

I will start with Sonobe units. You fold individual pieces that connect together to make larger shapes. I’ll show the kids how to do a cube, but I also wanted to do another design suggested by the webpage I got the design from – it’s two cubes intersecting each other.

I ended up spending a LOT of time on this, but it was enjoyable. In the picture below, I’m touching the single unit. The cube is made of six of them. The other shape is twelve units.

I made a slide show to demonstrate how to fold the Sonobe units back in 2017, so I already had that part done, thank goodness.

I got an early start yesterday to come back home. Fog and clouds were clinging to the road for a big chunk of the morning. It was cool.

I planned to stop along the way, but kind of made it up along the way. The first stop was the Bixby Bridge. People take pictures of it a lot. When it was built in 1932, it was the tallest single-span arch bridge in the world.

There are lots of pull-outs, where you can look at the ocean crashing against the rocks. There were usually otters in the water too.

At one of the pull-outs, I took a path down to the beach.

It was a cool beach, and I wanted to look up the name of it, so I opened my phone map:

There was a stretch of almost two hours I didn’t have a phone signal. It was interesting. I have a raging phone addiction, and couldn’t even get texts. But the road was entertaining and beautiful.

Here’s a cool tunnel structure thingy I drove through:

Because it was wine country, I stopped at a winery for a tasting. It was fun. There was a beautiful courtyard, and the wine was tasty.

The final stretch of the road was a little harder to take. I was tired, and there was traffic. But I was happy when I got home.

After a hotel breakfast yesterday morning, I shopped a little in Cambria. There were fun things to look at, but I didn’t buy anything.

Yesterday’s main attraction was Hearst Castle. It was so interesting to hear the story of its conception and construction. It’s a little ways from the ocean up on a hill:

It was built on the twenties and thirties, and is beautiful and lavish. Here is a guest house.

Since it is up on a hill, it has spectacular views:

Its pool is famous. It was ahead of its time.

Mr. Hearst was an art collector. Here’s an ancient Roman sarcophagus:

And here is Sekhmet from Egypt. I mean, like actually from Egypt.

The main house was big and breathtaking.

The rooms were grand and filled with art and antiques.

Many of the walls were paneled with pieces from European churches. The churches had been damaged in World War 1, and Hearst bought the panels at auctions.

Besides the outdoor pool, there was an indoor pool. It was beautiful.

I loved the mosaic floors and walls.

By the time the tour was over, the day was moving on, and the night’s goal was Monterey, which was two and a half hours away.

It was mostly a straight shot there, but on the way, there was an elephant seal spot, so I had to stop and see them.

I got to Monterey in time for dinner. I checked into the hotel, then walked to the wharf.

I had some delicious clam chowder for dinner. Mmm…

Today I go back home. I’ll be on the Pacific Coast Highway for most of the trip, so it will be beautiful.

I’m on a road trip! Woo hoo!

I left yesterday morning later than I meant to, but hey, sleeping in is important too.

I made an unplanned stop to get some jeans at an outlet, and then shopped in Paso Robles for a while, but finally made it to Cambria.

The hotel is right on the beach! I can see the ocean from my window!

Ok, that’s kind of just a peek, but a short walk down the parking lot…

…and the beach is right there!

Here’s the front of the hotel.

Those beach-facing rooms were expensive.

I got some good sunset shots.

It’s colder here than LA. My room has a fireplace!

But I really got warmed up when I sat here:

Ahhhh…. I love hot tubs,..

This morning, I’ll hit some shops in Cambria. They were all closed by the time I got here. Then I’ll head a little farther north for some more adventures. Woo hoo!

Happy Birthday to my niece Tara! Yay!

Yesterday was the first day of my spring break! Woo hoo!

I relaxed at home in the morning, but then I went to a movie.

I saw Project Hail Mary. I liked it. I will say no more, so I don’t spoil it if you mean to see it yourself.