Cambria trip

I got a little deal on line to Cambria (I think) for a couple of days.  Cambria is up north from us...just north of Morro Bay and just south of Hearst's Castle right on the ocean.  Probably not such a 'great' on-line deal, but I thought so at the time.  I called up Melodie and asked if she would like to go. I'd pay the room if she would pay the gas and drive.  Now, that's a great deal for moi, since all I do is drive everywhere.  Rarely, do I get to look around and really take in the scenery. And, Melodie was wonderful.  I'd say, "Let's see this," and she would pull the car over.  No questions asked. How cool was that!  I was in heaven :0)

First stop was at the Ventura Harbor after picking up a long time friend of Mel's, Tasia.  I'm sure she would shoot me if she saw this photo of her hair standing on end.  The wind was blowing on the harbor.  Ah...who cares?  Tasia is a long time belly dancing buddy of Mels.  Both are belly dancers or were or still are.  Tasia had this amazing apartment overlooking the ocean.  Plus, she is an AMAZING accomplished painter.  I loved all of her works of art.  She booked us brunch at the Greek Inn at the harbor.  First thing she noticed was the good looking bartender.  My type of gal :0)  Breakfast was wonderful overlooking the water. I had a Greek omelet and it was to die for (except) a bit of heart burn later in the day.  It was okay.  I had some Prilosec with me. Always be prepared...the girl scout motto, even though I never made it out of Brownies.  LOL  When we got back to Tasia's apartment I insisted that I see a video of Melodie belly dancing.  AWESOME....like totally incredible.   What an art form that is!  It was like watching an ice skating routine without skates to belly dancing music.  It was so mesmerizing.  Total out of body and meditative.  LOVED it.  I thought Mel was insanely gorgeous and oh, so talented.  What a great way to start the trip.

We stopped at my ever favorite place in Pismo Beach.  But, it was Mother's Day and there were a zillion people there.  It was a bit cool, but I still enjoyed a bit of a walk-about.  We stopped at Morro bay, also, so I could go to my favorite fast food place on the water for their clam chowder.  YUM.

Finally, we arrive at the Cambria Pine's Lodge.  Here's the weird part.  Melodie and her husband, John, got married at this lodge 22 years ago.  Who'd a thunk?   Strange that I would invite her to where she got married, don't you think?

Picture of our suite.  We had two bedrooms, two fireplaces, two TV's, a shared shower.tub bath and the kitchenette and make-up area were in the hallway, kinda.  That sounds extravagant, but honest, it really wasn't all that fabulous.  But, at least we were in the pines and not working. :0)

View off our front porch.  I love the pines with the spanish moss hanging off of them.  Probably not great for the pines having a fungus hanging on them, but it looks so cool.

Our Mother's Day meal was on the house with the deal I picked up on line at the lodge (kind of).  You know, the wine was free if you wanted a bottle of rot gut, so we paid extra for the next best thing, plus if you wanted the soup before dinner that was extra.  Plus, the dessert was extra.  They got you every which way from Sunday if you what I mean.  hahahaha

A picture of a small part of the gardens where Melodie and John got married.  All of Cambria is one huge garden.  Everything and anything grows there.  Even I would have a green thumb if I lived here.  The temperature and humidty is garden PURRFECT.

 A few of the smaller cabins at the lodge.   It is a very dog friendly lodge.  In fact, ALL of Cambria is dog friendly including the restaurants in town.  They almost all have outside seating for you and your pets.

This was some of the outside seating for pet owners at the Lodge.

This is the BIG tree outside of the pool/spa area with spanish moss hanging on it.  Tuesday morning, our last morning, we arose and went straight for the spa.  Spa, pool, spa, pool , spa, pool.....you get the idea.  What a nice way to wake up.  Then, later we went to town for brunch.  I had eggs benedict with fresh crab...to DIE for. :0)

A cool photo of spanish moss covering a tree on our horseback ride.  A little touch up by moi. :0)

We went to dinner at this Vietnamese restaurant in town that sat maybe 10 people.. It was named the Wild Ginger.  Well, folks....the food and the everything was spectacular. Our waitress could have been a young Miss World contestant and her mother came out several times to make sure everything was to our liking.  The food was presented most artistically and was to die for. Mel had the salmon and I had a pork pot roast with a dark ginger gravy with baked cherries.  I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven.   We had salmon and creme cheese wontons that were out of this world for an appetizer.   Plus, I had their coconut soup with huge chunks of butternut squash.  Just shoot me now.  WOW!

Everything is beaautiful in Cambria.  In the next couple of days I will try to post some of the zillion photos and videos that I took of the elephant seals several miles north of Cambria.   I could have stayed there for hours watching them.