Pacific Coast Highway

In 2009, we visited California for the first time. I'm scrapbooking our album from that trip and posting my favorite remembrances. This first one stars the Pacific Coast Highway and the trip we took from the LAX to Long Beach. It took all day using this route, but it was well worth it.

PCH (a.k.a. The Pacific Coast Highway) We had the time. Steve's conference didn't start until the following day. We had a convertible with the top down. We didn't want to take the freeway. We had a beautiful, sunny day. Pacific Coast Highway it was then!

First we headed north. We found a restaurant right on the beach. I ran down to the water to touch the Pacific Ocean for the first time. As we sat there eating, a pod of dolphins swam by corralling their own food. Magical!

Then we headed south. We saw glorious homes, quintessential beach scenes and the LA power plant. On one stretch of the PCH, Jesus' parable about the foolish man who built his home on the sand came to life. All along the roadway were signs warning about the danger of the shifting roadway. To the left we could see where mesas had just collapsed like glaciers calving into the sea. On the right, pounded the ocean. A bit scary!

We stopped on a headland and just gazed on God's beautiful creation. We cruised through towns and envied their fortunate inhabitants. We crossed a bridge that soared into the sky high above ocean liners and transport loading below. And hours later we arrived in Long Beach, entranced, inspired and in love with California!

Asheville, NC

You like arty, Asheville's got it. You like redneck, Asheville's got it. You like mountains, Asheville's got 'em. You like rivers, Asheville's got 'em. You like shopping, Asheville's got it. You like good food, Asheville's got that, too. IMHO, it's the perfect little city.

We spent time with the Jones' who own a little stone house on a hill in Asheville. We visited the yummy Chocolate Lounge, a dessert/drinks place that serves the most decadent chocolate confections imaginable. Steve bought a chili, chocolate drink that started sweet but ended up spicy as it slipped easily down his throat. We drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mt. Pisgah Inn, where I dined on freshly caught rainbow trout filleted right at the table. We tromped around all the streets we could find in downtown Asheville, shopping in stores we didn't even know existed. We explored used book shops, a cigar store, a couple environmentally friendly clothing/furniture stores, knit shops, and a Celtic store owned by a particularly chatty, opinionated woman who almost forgot we were there to purchase from her rather than just talk. We sampled our way through the Biltmore winery with a childhood friend of Glenda's and just missed meeting Glenda's sister. We found the perfect grocery store, Earth Faire, bigger than Trader Joe's and cheaper than Whole Foods. Steve even got in a game of golf with Ron and Russell. The weather was lovely and the company unparalleled. The end of the week and the end of time in Asheville came too fast.

Pumpkin Hat

Last year I found a cool pumpkin hat pattern for little kids. I figured that I could adapt it for adults. My resulting hat was a hat made with size 11 needles was huge. I made a stuffed pumpkin with it.

This year I used smaller needles (size 8) and success. I ended up knitting three of this hat, one for me and two more for my office mates. We wore them Friday. Turns out that our principal wanted one, too so I'm knitting a fourth one and going to give it to him.

Here is the pattern: http://www.knitpicks.com/patterns/Pumpkin_Hat__D10558220.html Now it is no longer a free pattern, and they did all the work of figuring it out for adults. It only costs $1.99 though.

The Bluegrass State

We actually didn't see any blue grass. Neither did we hear any bluegrass music. We did see Steve's old work mate. She retired 4 years ago much to Steve's chagrin. He missed her. He emailed her when we planned to drive near her home in London, Kentucky, and she said "Come on!"

We drove past her house the first time (durn GPS) but once we found it, Snooks and her husband were models of hospitality. We had figured we'd only spend the afternoon with them. They had other ideas. After dinner (!), Snooks said, "Of course, you are staying the night!" So of course, we stayed!

The next morning we slept in and then headed out to breakfast at Golden Corral. They paid despite our protests. After that, we visited a Flea Market. Didn't buy any fleas, har, har but got a pair of ace slip on loafers. Snooks got another rug. That evening she said, "Of course, you are staying the night!" So of course, we stayed again.

The next morning, loaded up with jams and jellies that Snooks had made but without the beagle that she tried to sneak into our car, we continued on our trip.

Wielding the Big Bats

You walk in past the biggest bat ever (Paul Bunyan would have a time with this one that measures 120 ft.) into the factory where over 60 % of Major League players get their bats--the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.

The tour starts out in an interactive area. You find out what kind of wood is used for bats and how it is harvested and learn how to tell if it is good enough for the joes (average that is) or the pros. You can compare bats from past players with those of current ones and swing them to see how they travel through the air and how they are balanced.

From there, you go into the factory itself. You see the hand lathe that used to make the bats and the computer-driven one that now makes them. Each player has his own template. The computer is programmed with his template to make his bats. Then the bats are painted or stained. The player's name is either painted on or burned into the wood. All along the tour, you get to touch and swing all sorts of bats. Especially cool were the special pink bats used on Mother's Day and then sold on eBay for breast cancer research. At the end of the tour all participants receive a mini-bat made from wood that has too many flaws to be used for bigger bats.

We then explored the wall where all the players who ever used a Louisville Slugger are listed by their signatures. There's a special spot for the Hall of Famers like Cal Ripken, my personal fave. We visited the Negro League Art Gallery, the batting cage area and of course, the gift shop. We even saw a movie about hitting taught by the pros, past and present, called "The Heart of the Game." 5 pm and closing time came too soon. (literally for us; we didn't realize that we'd passed back into Eastern Standard Time and lost an hour. :P) Next stop, Snooks'!

More Missouri

Disney Trivia--where did Walt Disney pattern his Main Street USA's after?

Give up?

Marceline, MO. At least that's what trivia buffs say. Steve and I couldn't see the resemblance really when we stopped by to visit the Walt Disney Hometown Museum, housed in the old train depot. It was kinda exciting to be so close when trains went past at full speed. The miniature Disneyland upstairs was cool, but really the museum was underwhelming.

The Loopy Ewe in St. Louis, MO stirred my knitter's blood though. I love this store online and when I heard that we'd be traveling close enough to visit, I jumped up and down with joy. Imagination proved no contest to the real thing. Loved the socks on the wall, loved the knitting quotes, loved the masses and masses of yarn, loved meeting Sheri and Knitting Daughter. Then she gave us a suggestion for dinner at a nearby pizza joint with double decker pizza. Wow! What a great stop! More than made up for the lameness of the Marceline.

Truman Library

1.You might not want to read this post. You might find it boring. It's not going to have any pictures. I couldn't find them on the computer. I tried. The Lord Himself knows I tried but to no avail.
2. So we've got to go on with my skills as a writer. For that, see 1.

Anywho, here it goes.

At the Eisenhower library, Steve and I picked up a brochure of all the Presidential Libraries in the US. Being the wonks that we are, we decided that in addition to visiting all the major league baseball stadiums in the US we should try for all the Presidential Libraries, too. Lo and behold right in the next town over in Independance, MO, Truman had opened his Presidential Library. Joy and rapture! Off we drove.

After a bit of a tiff on where we should park (which I chalk up to long hours stuck together in a small car), we entered the wide front hall to pay and start our journey into Truman's life. We started with a film about his life to get an overview. Hmm, he lived through FDR's death, dropping the A-Bomb, the end of WWII, recovering from the war, the Berlin Airlift, the start of the Cold War and the starting of prosperity in America. Okay, I guess we didn't need to run out screaming.

Before we entered the exhibits proper, we entered this roundish room filled flanked by two exhibits one on letters from Truman to his wife (sweet) and one on something else that I don't remember now but thought it was clever at the time. The roundish room was a mock-up of the Oval Office during Truman's time. Truman's desk was huge and set up for two people to work on it. The artwork and decorations were certainly mid-west and masculine. Fascinating to see the seat of all power here in the US.

More fascinating, however, were the exhibits. I especially loved the interactive ones called Decision Theatres in which the viewer could examine how Truman did his job i.e. make world altering decisions. He seemed to be an out-of-the-box thinker who also was swayed by his heart. He was liberal for his time, but I, conservative that I am, agreed with all his decisions. Could the liberals of yesterday be the conservatives of today or do liberals just push the envelope so that liberal today is even more way out? Or am I not really conservative? Also, I had never really thought about post-War Europe and how ravaged it was and strapped for cash. Helping sort all that out was a great part of his legacy. I had also never thought about how television,televison advertising and all the news available really changed America in the 1950's. I just love being stretched. Really.

After leaving the Presidency, Truman established his Library and could be found there most days, getting there even earlier than the staff and even answering phones. Apparently, like Disney, he thought that the library shouldn't ever be static because there were very modern exhibits and even a children's interactive area.

Steve and I enjoyed the Truman Library even more than the Eisenhower one, even though we really enjoyed that one, too. I love getting a sense of the man and his times. Now I can't wait to go back to California and see Reagan's and Nixon's libraries.