I wanted to share the great experience we had visiting Waimea Canyon in February,. It was a gorgeous day driving there from Lihue. We went to the top and visited the Kalalau Lookout. It was clear and there was an incredible rainbow. I am posting pictures of the gorgeous vistas we encountered.

Gorgeous view from Top of Waimea looking at the Napali coast.

Rainbow from Kalalau Lookout

The gorgeous view we were so blessed to see on this clear day from the wettest spot on earth!

Vibrant rainbow we encountered on our way back down the mountain.

We spend a lot of time eating out in Kauai . Some of our favorite places we revisit each time we are there.  Thought I would share a few with you.

-Kauai Pasta in Lihue has great pasta and fish dishes. My favorite dish is the steamed clams. The sauce is to die for.

-The Garden Isle Bar-b-Que is a favorite with locals and with us. Great Chinese food awaits you with good prices and service is fast. Not much atmosphere.

-Lihue Bar-b-que Inn is a top favorite for us. They have great food at reasonable prices. You can get authentic Hawaiin dishes here. My favorite dish is the Ahi Tuna salad.

-Monico’s in Kapaa has the best fish tacos on the island in my opinion.

-Tomkats grill in Koloa has the best mussels on the island. It is a fun place to eat with great fish dishes and burgers. It is a real family oriented restaurant.

I will never tire of this island, the beauty and the people all make it one of my favorite places in the world. Hope you can use some of my information to make your visit a memorable one.

One day we decided to check out The back country on ATV’s. I had never been on an ATV before. We found Kipu Ranch Adventures and decided to book a trip with them. What a great time we had with our 2 great guides Eric and James.

“Kipu Ranch is a 3,000 acre property extending from the Huleia River to the top of Mt. Haupu. It is home to many movie sites and wildlife! The ranch has seen many changes through the years, from a sugar plantation to the working cattle ranch it is today. Kipu Ranch is a private ranch – not accessible to the general public. Ride through the ranch on your very own ATV or kick back, relax and take a ride on one of our passenger vehicles! Come and let us share some of Kauai’s hidden beauty with you and your family.”

Ready to take off and see the Ranch.

The beautiful view of the beach that is part of the Ranch. Same view we saw in the movie "The Descendants".

The other fabulous experience we had was with the ” Napali Riders”. This company had a wonderful staff that has been taking Groups whale watching for over 20 years. We began our experience at 6 am watching the sunrise as we headed out to the Napali coast. We saw over 50 whales that morning and an amazing double breech!

Napali Coast at Sunrise

What an incredible feeling to see whales so up-close. They are Magnificent creatures!

I highly recommend this company. They give a thrilling day and the ride is a blast. If you have a bad back it might not be a great choice- otherwise the staff is knowledgeable, friendly and in love with what they do.

Morro Bay- a wonderful place to explore.

This Thanksgiving we decided to get away. Our family were all busy or too far away and getting together was not going to work out. We decided to meet my husband’s Sister and her husband half way and have a golf vacation. We had a great time and really gorgeous weather. We were so thankful for this great week together.

We spent 6 days in Morro Bay . We stayed at Sea Pine Lodge where we were able to get a great package which included daily breakfast, golf and 2 bottles of wine. The rooms are not fancy and the ambiance is low key and very quiet. The resort has every amenity one needs and it is clean. The best part of staying there is the feeling of total relaxation and the friendliness and service from the staff. We had a delicious Thanksgiving meal at the restaurant. It was so wonderful to not have to cook! Every meal at the restaurant was excellent and breakfast was my favorite.

With the golf package we golfed at 3 different golf courses. There are 10 you can choose from. The Sea Pine Golf Course is a fun little 9 hole executive course . We played there twice. We played Monarch Dunes and Morro Bay Golf Course.  We enjoyed each golf course , but especially love Morro Bay Golf Course because of the spectacular views.

View from 3rd hole On Sea Pines Golf Course

Difficult shot at Monarch Dunes

Morro Bay Golf course - view from clubhouse.

In our down time we hiked and rode bikes. There is a hot tub  at the resort and we loved resting our sore muscles in the warm water.

The area is so beautiful. There is so much to see and do. We still can go back and experience things we missed. Between golf, hiking, biking, exploring wineries and shopping there is the lovely stroll around the Sea Pine property and lots of places to relax and unwind. There is , also , many wonderful restaurants.

Sunset hike in Los Osos state park

Sunset at Pismo Beach where we went after golfing Monarch Dunes. You can drive on the beach and there was hundreds of people camping in Motor homes and tents for the weekend!

View of motor homes

We ate at 3 restaurants and enjoyed each one. The 10th St. Grill was my favorite. I had vegetable raviolis with a light pesto cream sauce that was to die for. We ate at La Casita Mexican our first night there . The food was great, fun atmosphere and the price was right. I loved the chile rellano. We ate Italian at Jimmy Bumps. This is a family run restaurant, very small  in size so call ahead to eat here. It is inexpensive and the food is good. I had the eggplant parmigiana and enjoyed every bite.

As you can see we ate well and far too much! Back on the old diet now. I highly suggest this area for a fun get-a-way. I love California. We are so blessed to live here and have the access to such beauty every day.

Hiking from Sea Pine resort. The colors and texture of the scenery were awesome!

Gorgeous hike along the coast

Blue angels heading towards Marin

We spent Columbus day on the very top peak of Mount Tamalpias watching the Blue Angels. The fog was moving in and out the whole day. The view was spectacular from where we were. I had a great day taking photos and enjoying the ever changing fog patterns.

View of the Golden Gate Bridge with Fog swirling about it.

Blue Angel flying past City.

City is magical and the plane leaves it's tracks far left.

Marin with Bridge in Background.

View of Bon Tempe lake from Mount Tamalpias.

Planes performing over the City

Marin and San Francisco.

Ocean Beach in the background

End to a spectacular day enjoying our home- The Bay area.

Picture from Mt. Shasta Golf resort. The mountain appears at almost every hole!

Day 2 we hiked to Hedge Creek Falls where we had a spectacular view of the Sacramento River. It was an easy stroll through the forest to view the falls. Came back from that hike and headed uphill to the wedding. The wedding was really perfect and the setting was truly a Shangrila. The web site for this venue is: http://shastaweddings.com/.

Hedgecreek Falls

Day 3- Today we visited an old Railway Hotel and Museum. A very cool place to stay with cabooses being used as hotel rooms. Loved the idea of spending the night in a caboose all furnished as  hotel room. After that we headed for Vista peak and a view of the Castle Craig and the Mountain. In the afternoon we had another round of golf and then dinner at a wonderful restaurant in Downtown Dunsmuir called Magdalena’s cafe. The food was fabulous and great service and ambiance. I highly recommend eating here if you are ever in the area.

Castle Craig - view from Vista point

Day 4- Headed for McCloud first thing in the morning. We hiked the McCloud River and enjoyed the waterfalls along the way. This is a very special area and whether you like to hike or ride you can see all 3 falls along this river. After hiking we went to the town of McCloud and bought dinner at the produce market there. Lots of delicious fruits and vegetables. We went back to our Cabin and grilled ribs and vegetables. A great day!

Middle falls McCloud

Lower Falls with swimming hole.

Day 5- Today we played golf at McCloud golf Club. This is nine holer that you play twice. It was very fun and challenging with such spectacular views and a fun walk. After golf we had a picnic lunch then headed to Lake Siskiyou to rent kayaks! This is a pretty little mountain Lake with kayaks, Paddle boards and other kinds of boats for rent. It is a fun swimming Lake, also.

Golfing with the bears!

Lake Siskiyou

What a great Lake!

Day 6- Today we went North to Gumball mountain above Lake Siskiyou. We had heard hiking along the PCT there was really worthwhile. We found the 7 Lakes trail and took a 6 mile hike along the PCT. It was another day in paradise!

Pacific Crest Trail

View of Shasta from the trail

First of 7 Lakes

Captured while walking

Pacific Crest Trail sign and me!

Day 7 has arrived and we are packing up and going home. This week was wonderful- great days soaking in with gratitude this wonderful area. I always have to reflect on the beauty in this world and the joy it can bring to the heart. We really do not have to travel far to experience the gift of this earth that is here for all of us to appreciate and love.

A view of the Sundial.

“In addition to being a functional work of art, the Sundial Bridge is a technical marvel as well. The cable-stayed structure has an inclined, 217 foot pylon constructed of 580 tons of steel. The deck is made up of 200 tons of glass and granite and is supported by more than 4,300 feet of cable. The structure is stabilized by a steel truss, and rests on a foundation of more than 115 tons of steel and 1,900 cubic yards of concrete. The McConnell Foundation, a private, independent foundation established in Redding in 1964, funded the majority of the bridge’s $23 million cost.”

This beautiful Bridge in Redding is well worth visiting when in Northern California.

“World renowned Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava conceived the Sundial Bridge’s unusual design, his first free-standing bridge in the United States. Calatrava has built bridges, airports, rail terminals, stadiums, and other structures around the world. His notable designs include the new PATH transportation terminal at the World Trade Center site in New York City and several projects at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, including the main stadium where opening and closing ceremonies were held.” See more about the bridge at  http://www.turtlebay.org/sundialbridge.

A view from the bridge of the Sacramento River.

The food at the restaurant in Turtle Bay Park right next to the bridge was delicious and reasonable.

We had a wonderful night tour of Vegas in a plush limo provided by Celebrity Coach line. Here we are at the first stop- the famous “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign.

Happy to be here!

The Bellagio was built in 1998. It was the most expensive hotel ever built at that time. It cost 1.7 billion dollars to build and Has the world’s largest chocolate fountain . Be sure you see this hotel when in Vegas. The lobby and atrium with all the fresh flowers are really something to behold.

Inside Bellagio, Dale Chihuly’s Fiori di Como, composed of over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers, covers 2,000 sq ft (190 m2) of the lobby ceiling.

The Bellagio has the largest chocolate fountain in the world!

The fountain in front of the Bellagio- so impressive and beautiful! The Eiffel tower and Paris Paris are across the street.

“If you were to fly around the world today there is no other water feature you would see that has the same scope, same spectacle, same emotional impact,” said Fuller. “We were very choreographed and prescriptive about how the water moves and how we tie that with the music. Nonetheless, the moment those water molecules leave those jets and loft themselves into the sky, they’re completely subject to the forces of nature and the whims of the sunshine. Even if you see the same show, you never really see it twice.”

We visited the Old downtown of Vegas and had a great time watching the light show and visiting  The Gold Nugget.

The Fremont Street Experience (FSE) is a pedestrian mall and attraction in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. The FSE occupies the westernmost 5 blocks of Fremont Street, including the area known for years as “Glitter Gulch,” and portions of some other adjacent streets.
The attraction is a barrel vault canopy, 90 ft (27 m) high at the peak and four blocks, or approximately 1,500 ft (460 m), in length.

This is an attraction not to be missed!

While in Vegas we went to see “The Lion King” – a fantastic night of visual fantasy and incredible music. Loved the show very much.

This blog has just skimmed the surface of what there is to do and see in Vegas. I just want to give you a taste of what you can experience. I want to thank Vacation.com for a extraordinary conference and the opportunity to experience this great city. My only complaint was that it was a bit warm outside- 107 degrees!

The last night of the conferance we were entertained by “The Mosaic’s” – A wonderful Accapella  group – they literally have no instruments and using their voices sound like a live band! Check them out at  http://www.notaboyband.com/

15 minutes after birth

Trees covered in snow and white vistas everywhere!

We spent the week skiing with our grandchildren. What a great time we had. We are so blessed to have a beautiful family and the health and ability to ski with all of them. It is one of my favorite parts about life.

Shawn, Mary Beth and boys

Off and down the hill we go.