This was our 3rd time staying at the Mission Inn in Riverside California.
The Mission Inn is THE place to go see the lights at Christmas and Mario's Place, right across the street from the main entrance, is our go to restaurant when we stay.
We took an amazing driving trip through New England in the fall, and ended up in NYC to meet up with Brianna.
We went to Lourdes today and walked through Sacre Cour and the grotto, where Saint Bernadette saw the virgin Mary.
It was fantastic, so many religious leaders, priests, sisters, ministers, and so many people looking for healing.
The mosaics from the early 1900's were just amazing.
Depicting all phases of Jesus life and resurrection.
We spent three weeks driving all over Spain and parts of Portugal. These are a few pictures from our days in Barcelona.
We stopped in Tarragona which was the seat of Roman Power in spain, to see the gladiator coliseum.
Just amazing, those Romans know how to live? I just love driving in Europe, and driving yo the coast trying to navigate roads that are not in English are a challenge, but the rewards is so worth it.
Our first full day in Alicante Spain. It took 5 hours to drive from Madrid, but we found Europe along the Mediterranean Sea.
If this is what we will find in Barcelona and north, we are in for a great trip.
Tomorrow we drive inland to visit our favorite Spanish wine, Clio.
The first thing we did before checking into our hotel was to explore the castle, just amazing.
Then I dropped Kara off and had to drive for blocks to underground parking and find myself back to the hotel, CRAZY!
No one told us how dry and dead everything looks in Spain. It is dryer than at home.
Tomorrow we will see how the coast looks, should be amazing!
Amazing night with my hon in Riverside at the Mission at Christmas!
Laguna Beach is a must go location if you are in Southern California, it is a paradise by the sea.
The Saw Dust Festival and art shows were a must, but the highlight is the Pageant Of The Masters.
We have seen it at least 3 times.
All was going so well, until silver man stole his girl. He looked happy with the trade for a guitar, but then reconsidered and thought, maybe I should take the guitar and his tips. At this point silver man could take no more, and returned his girl, and retrieved his guitar and tips.
All was right in the world once more!
We took Dakota, Kia, Mary and Sheldon to Cabo San Lucas and stayed at the Monte Cristo's at Pueblo Bonito, our timeshare.
We ALL had such a great time.
We bought a house out of short sale in Oxnard on the harbor.
This was our second trip to Bora Bora, and Kara got the Denge fever, so it will be our last, but still so beautiful!
During our visit to Cabo, we took a bus tour up to Todos Santos. What a wonderful little town. We had WAY to many margaritas, but check out this food. I would eat this food every day!
This was our last stop on our trip around Lake Michigan. Reed and Tammy met us there and we spent a nice couple of day, including visiting some skates blues clubs, including Buddy Guys world famous club.
We drove up the Peninsula and stopped to see Paradise Lighthouse and Lake Superior.
There is great meaning in this area for all of the ships that did not make it.
We drove from Chicago over to Detroit, then we planned to drive to the upper peninsula. Even though I lived in Birmingham Michigan, a Detroit suburb, I had never been to the upper peninsula. On the way we saw a sign for Mackinac Island, check it out!
When our niece Tracy came out for two weeks we took her to Las Vegas. Sitting in the Paris Hotel looking down at the fountain is special. Check it out.
We really wanted to give our niece Tracy Herman the best vacation in So Cal possible, so we took her to Long Beach and visited the Queen Mary. The ball room looks so amazing!
They had a booth set up where you can have your picture taken with lion cubs from the local zoo.
If it claws your face, I guess you could sue yourself because good luck, you are in Mexico.
We had a timeshare at Pueblo Bonito where we stayed for at least 10 years.
We decided to trade our Cabo San Lucas Pueblo Bonitos timeshare unit for one at their sister property in Mazatlán.
What an amazing week we had there. We once again risked our lives doing something crazy, traveling into the heart of the city by open cab, called a pneumonia, to visit a night spot we had seen during our day tour. We found out later that shootings had taken place around the city during our visit, and trucks with armed police were all over the place. Tour ships had stopped coming to Mazatlán because of the street violence.
But as usual, we had a blast that night!
If you find yourself in Los Angeles at Christmas, you MUST drive out to Riverside and stay at the Mission inn.
We made it out almost every year for 5 years. The way they light it up is magical. So many U.S. Presidents have stayed here!
If you can't make it, check it out here!
The journey to Magdalena Bay to see the gray whales and their babies is not for the faint of heart.
You have to drive into the heart of Baja on very sketchy road, with who know who on those roads.
What an amazing adventure it was. Check out my video of the day!
