Inside Hearst Castle & Indoor Pool

Ancient tapestries in Living room depict a French revolution and a particularly beloved leader who is still sung about today in their National Anthem. The long narrow dining room at Hearst Castle is of Gothic design with the high ceilings and narrow walls of dark wood. Apparently everyone who visited the Hearst "ranch" was expected to attend dinner, after dinner drinks, and movies that could go on to all hours of the night. If you fell asleep in the theater that was fine, but you had to show up. Other than that, guests were free to entertain themselves. When guests came into the dining room they would look for their name card at the table to find their seat. If after a few days it started inching its way down to the end of the table by the fireplace where Joey is standing, then you knew your stay was drawing to a close. Carey Grant was a frequent guest. If he saw his name moving down he would simply switch it with someone elses to prolong his visit just a bit. I think my very favorite piece of artwork is the teak carving of Mary and Jesus in the center picture. I think it is simple elegance, and quite touching.


The indoor pool is breathtaking with all the beautiful blue and gold mosaic throughout. At the bottom right picture you can see the shallow pool set back into another room. It was only three feet deep and was called the sissy pool. It was mostly for the Easterners who did not have swimming pools and had therefore never learned to swim well. Hearst allowed his staff to swim and participate in most of the events of the day. He expected his guests to treat his staff well. While back East they were called servants at Hearst Ranch they were staff and a guest would be asked to leave if they didn't treat staff as "almost" equal.

Solvang and Hearst Castle

Fun times in Solvang...Wish I had more pics. The 1914 Indian motorcycle that Joey is standing next to was bought by a
man about 1915 when his girlfriend was going off to college in another state. She decided she didn't like college and came home very soon after starting. The poor guy was apparently too afraid to mention to her that he had splurged on the motorcycle so he hid it in his barn and married his sweetheart. He forgot all about it after only putting about 700 miles on it. It was found in that same barn in 1976 when someone was looking for another item for the bicentennial celebration that year. I thought I needed a picture of the Danish motorcycle since we were in a Danish community. Although only neighbors with the Dutch, Solvang made me think of Grandma Walker. I'd love to take her there.

Here is the start of my Hearst Castle extravaganza of pictures. I have not much to tell...but oh my goodness...Wow!

The oldest artifact at Hearst Castle is in this collage. Can you guess what it is? I'm sure I can give it away by saying that it is from
before Moses time or some insanely unbelievable thing like that. I know she mentioned Moses...can't remember if it was before or after.

More of Santa Ines

It seems that any time people do good for others in the name of Jesus Christ that the Holy Ghost is present and you can feel the peace he brings. That is how we felt at Santa Ines. It was very much a sanctuary.

Santa Ines Mission

I'm a bit surprised at what I didn't take pictures of...None around our resort in Solvang...None around town in Solvang...None with the girls and me at the theater, Kiss Me Kate...Darn. However, Lacy and I thoroughly enjoyed our walk over to and tour of this mission/museum. From the back of our resort there was a walking trail in a big open field with 1003 lizards and 57 squirrels and absolutely no snakes...(we hope). Joey and I were on a walk one morning and found out that this field was a short cut over to the Santa Ines mission. Joey took Charlie to an incredibly expensive and elite golf course just a half mile up the road from us...They had gps in their golf carts but couldn't figure out how to use it...=0) While they were basking in the luxury of teeing off in style, and while Delila was every so lovingly babysitting the Little Luke, Lacy and I ventured over to the mission. I don't think we would have made it had we gone through town. We met some girls who volunteered to take a picture of Lacy and me together while I was snapping a shot of Lacy. I asked them what they do in Solvang and they said they were massage therapists. Naturally I had to talk to them a bit more.

Vast Ocean and Many Mini Horses

A day at the beach in Santa Barbara. Joey and I were a bit surprised that the kids didn't want to go any other time, but it was chilly and overcast on that part of the ocean most of the time. We did have fun for the little while we were there.

I think everyone enjoyed the short ride to the Quicksilver Miniature horse ranch. These horses are 26" and under. Pretty adorable...the little filly in the center was only six weeks old. Joey and I thought this could be quite an enjoyable retirement endeavor. The fillies sell from $4-6000 and the colts at about $2500 (or something like that). When you consider that they require a minimal amount of feed and sell for more than many full size horses...hmmm...it's a thought. This ranch was beautiful and immaculate. I loved it...

Nojoqui Falls...Almost Dry In August

It was a bit less awe inspiring than if gushing water had been falling from the top but still quite impressive in a peaceful way. I wanted to give you the feel of how tall the falls were. Although the picture above Joey was more close up, the two pictures together only barely overlap. Wish I could have gotten a little better perspective but these square pics can't do much in that regard. There were so many places in Santa Ynez valley (where Solvang is located) that are difficult to pronounce. This falls topped our list. I could think of a dozen ways to try and "mis-"pronounce it. Finally I gave up trying to come up with something reasonably foreign or Native and settled on NO JOKE EE... As you might have guessed...emphasis on "Joke". So what do you think the pronunciation is. After I've heard from everyone, I'll let you know. No cheating though. You can't look it up... or google it...or any such thing. Just let me know your best bet. Lacy if you remember...don't tell.

Back from Solvang and Indio!!

We are back!! We returned from our trip to California (one week in Solvang and 2 nights in Indio) on Tuesday night. It was such a wonderful time being able to spend a week with Lacy and Luke. We only had a couple days with Jason since he was unable to get out of work... We would have liked more time with him but admire all that he is trying to accomplish. Hang in there, Jason!

So no pictures yet because my head is still kind of spinning with trying to get back into a routine and all... but I am here and expect to be posting very soon.
Love You Family,
Wendy