From Oxnard we headed back east into the Mojave Desert for a few days of rest and relaxation. We stayed at Edwards AFB where I managed to get in a round of golf that I prefer not to elaborate on. We went to the Air Force test museum and thoroughly enjoyed the displays and especially the movies of the Air Force test history. Seeing Chuck Yeager’s Bell X-1 that broke the sound barrier as well as many other great airplanes was interesting. Edwards is on the Rodger’s Dry lake bed where the Space Shuttle lands when it cannot land at Cape Kennedy (Canaveral). Two 747s built to carry the Shuttle from Edwards back to Kennedy were parked on the ramp at Edwards.
We left Edwards for Travis AFB and were able to make a quick tour of Sequoia National Park. The weather in the mountains broke just enough that’ with rented chains for the tires, we were able to get up to see General Sherman, the largest tree in the world. The giant forest was simply spectacular and the snow that was over 8’ in places added to the experience. At Travis we stayed for about a week. Their fam-camp is ok but they have more rules than Alcatraz has and it was almost like being in prison. Regardless it was a great place to base while touring San Francisco. We rendezvoused in town with a very special couple who used to go with me out to Horn Island in Mississippi. They always said I was to call them if I ever came to California so we did. They met us and gave us a grand tour of San Francisco. From the government buildings, the Presidio, Golden Gate Bridge and more we drove all over the town, saw and rode on cable cars, drove down the most crooked street in the USA (Lombard Street), had some great food, saw so
me great views, and just had a great time. We attempted a whaling trip with Jennifer and Joey but wind, rain, and high seas made for a rather rough outing. We have rain checks and maybe we will get another chance. Sandi and I had been anxious for sea food and finally had a great meal at Fisherman’s Warf – Dungeness Crab and fresh salmon. We took a tour of Alcatraz, bought San Francisco sourdough bread, and just had an awesome time.From San Francisco we went back south to Monterey. This has been another great stop. We drove along the Big Sur. Great waves crashing on rocky shores, sea lions, harbor seals, giant redwoods, some great birds and one breath-taking view after another as we cruised south along the coast. A stop at a farm market provided some of the freshest and tastiest strawberries and artichokes. We hiked trails in a most interesting National Estuary Research Reserve and I picked up a couple more life birds and then we spent a day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Not nearly as big as other aquariums we’ve been to like Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Baltimore, but every bit as good. They had a very natural display full of live shore birds. Black oyster-catchers, snowy plovers, marbled-godwits, American Avocets, assorted sandpipers, phalaropes, and more. All in the open and within arm’s reach. We ate lunch in their awesome restaurant sitting against big windows and enjoyed more sea food while watching harbor seals, pelagic and Brant’s cormorants, pigeon guillemots, and especially sea otter--all in the wild in the Monterey Bay. Their kelp forest display, and sea-horses were awesome.
Sandi and I have picked up a hitch-hiker in the form of a Barbie doll called Belle from the Beauty and the Beast. We take Belle with us and she gets to write back to her best friend and “Mommy” our four year old granddaughter, Braelyn, who though that since she could not travel with Nana and Pop Pop, maybe Belle could go. Remember Flat-Stanley?
Golf is great here as it should be. Sandi and I toured Pebble Beach and ate more seafood from the veranda of the clubhouse overlooking the famous 18th hole. I would have liked to play a round there since the course is open to the public but the $500 green fee is just out of my range. If I could only find a sponsor.
