Oct. 31, 2011 Kapa'a, Kauai, HI

Breakfast in the room

Morning coffee on the beach

Morning walk for Tom along the beach, south to public access, to The Brick Oven and a secluded road towards the Wailua River

Swim (12 Lengths Front Crawl)

Lunch at Kauai Pasta

Pose for Halloween pictures on the beach

Oct. 30, 2011 Kapa'a, Kauai, HI

Breakfast in room

Morning walk north along the beach.  Ended up at ABC

Morning Swim (10 lengths Front Crawl)

Shopped at Safeway (Very busy for a Sunday night!)

Dinner in room:  BBQ Chicken, pasta and sauce

Oct. 29, 2011 Kapa'a, Kauai, HI

Breakfast in room

Morning walk for Tom along beach (south to a sacred burial ground)

Morning coffee on the beach

Morning swim (8 Lengths Front Crawl)

Dinner:  TC's Island Grill

Oct. 28, 2011 Kapa'a, Kauai, HI

Morning Swim (6 lengths Front Crawl)

Dinner in suite: BBQ steak, baked potato and carrots

Oct. 27, 2011 Waikiki Beach, Oahu, HI

Breakfast at starbucks (and left over dessert!)

took 8:45 am shuttle to the airport

Caught the 11:04 am flight to Kauai

Landed in Kauai at 11:40 am

Taxi to our hotel  Plantation Hale Suites   in the Royal Coconut Coast in Kapaa.

Checked in to our room at 12:00 noon

Unpacked

Took a tour of the grounds.

Met some "local" condo-owners who told us all the good spots to go to.  They also suggested we get club cards at the local Foodland and Safeway.

Lunch at The Courtyard Marriott (just next door to our complex)  We had chicken pesto flat bread and a mixed green salad (with mango poppyseed ranch dressing?)

Walked the beach. 

Toured The Coconut Marketplace

Walked to downtown Kapaa (7 minutes)

Shopped at Safeway

Got some groceries (for Breakfast, Lunch and dinner)  Got a steak to BBQ by the pool.

Dark at 5:45 pm.  Too dark to BBQ so we had Peanut Butter toast for supper.  YUM

Oct. 26, 2011 Waikiki Beach, HI

A cloudy morning (but still warm)

Starbucks for breakfast (on our deck)

A walk downtown

Poolside

Dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.  We shared a caesar salad AND spaghetti and meat sauce.  We were still full.  Still ordered dessert:  Sharon had the Pumpkin Cheesecake and Tom had the 30th Anniversary chocolate cheesecake

Oct. 25, 2011 Waikiki Beach, Oahu, HI

A bright, sunny, warm morning

Starbucks for breakfast (on our deck)

Bus tour (2B) to Pearl Harbour, Punchbowl Crater and downtown Honolulu

Swim by the pool

Sunset shots at the pier.

Surfing Dog (Bongo) at the beach

Dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville

Shopping for Terrance Gavin's Laird Hamilton Shirt

Oct. 24, 2011 Los Angeles, CA

up at 5:45 am to catch the 6:30 airport shuttle

Caught the 8:52 am from LAX to Honolulu

Took a taxi to our hotel  (Park Shore Waikiki)

Walked the beach

Mai Tai's at the Amoana Surfrider

checked in

Caught sunset

Dinner at California Pizza Kitchen

Window shopped "The Strip" and caught a Hawaiian dance show at the ???? center

Oct. 23, 2011 Newport Beach, CA

Woke up to a cold morning (64 degrees)

Had a coffee and a walk through Jo-Anne & Craig's neighbourhood.

Jo-Anne showed us pictures of her travels.

We shared our pictures with Jo-Anne.

Went out for Brunch at R&D's in the Fashion Island Shopping Center

Toured the plaza.

Jo-Anne and Sharon go Shopping while Craig and Tom hang-out at Peet's Coffee Shop

Sharon and Tom pack our things and drive 1 hour north on the 405 to our Holiday Inn Express.

Check in to the hotel.

Return our car.

Return to our hotel.

Make arrangements for a 6:30 am shuttle to the airport.

Dinner at McDonald's !!!! ($7.00)  YUM

Oct. 22, 2011 Simi Valley, CA

Woke up to a beautiful, warm morning.

Had breakfast with Jean and Roger.

Made our way along 118 East to 405 South towards Newport Beach.  Foggy and colder and lots of traffic (for a Saturday).  Traffice jam while an accident was tended to.

Met up with Jo-Anne and she escorted us to her house. 

Jo-Anne and Craig took us to Huntington Beach to see the AVP Beach Volleyball tournament.  Went up the main street.  Did the Huntington Beach Pier.  Watched the surfers.  Made it back to see the last game of the girls semi-finals.  Watched a bit of the first game of the boys semi-finals.  A $30000 prize to the winners !

Drove to Newport Beach and had lunch at El Tarantion ???  Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach.  The sun tried to come out.  Walked the main drag, saw a wedding, saw the beach, saw amazing homes.

Back to Jo-Anne's for dinner YUM!  (and a little "Beverly Hills Housewives)  YUK!

Oct. 21, 2011 Santa Barbara, CA

Had a good continental breakfast at Al's Diner

Shopped at Macy's for some cheap shirts (both of us)

Shannon, the sales girl was an ex-B&B host so she gave us some amazing tips on where to go (and how to get there)

We made it to Cliff Road and Hendry's Beach.  A nice walk east on a "prit-near" empty beach.  A local told us the tide was low enough for us to walk to the concrete steps and then retrun to our car along cliff above the beach.  This cliff turned out to be the Douglas Family Preserve with great views of the beach.

Shannon told us how to get the the main pier of Santa Barbara.  We quickly checked that out on our not-so-sunny-but-at-least-dry day.

We continued on to Stella Mares for what we thought would be q quick dessert.  We ended up having corn chowder soup AND dessert.

Made our way to Jean's in Simi Valley.

Jean and Roger had David and Fran over for appetizers and dinner.  Josh, Beth and Boston came over after dinner

Fun times !

Oct. 20, 2011 Carmel, CA

Had a nice continental breakfast at Mission Ranch

A Foggy and cool morning in Carmel.

We got gas ($20.00) and headed to the Garland Ranch Regional Park

Did the Lupine and Buckeye Trails.  Very sunny and much warmer.  Learned alot about the local vegetation and trees.

Took Carmel Valley Road to the G20 (found that with some help) at 2:00 pm and took the 68 to the 101S

Drove south to A pit stop at King City

Stopped at the Gaviota rest stop.  Sunny!

Took the turn to Santa Barbara |and lost the sun.

Got gas at  Goletta ???  ($25.00) and used GPS Serena to find the Sandman Hotel.

Checked in around 6:00pm

Went for dinner at Chuck's Hawaiian Steak house

Made it back to our hotel to Skype with Jenna.

Oct. 19, 2011 Monterey, CA

Had breakfast at Alisomar at a table with 3 other couples.

Did the 17 mile Drive.  The sun came out !  We saw a harbour seal.

Checked out of Alisomar.  Took some sunny pictures (to make up for yesterdays)

Drove down to Big Sur taking some coastal pictures along the way

Did the Valley View Trail with a vist to the waterfall  (3 miles return)

Checked in to our hotel, The Mission Ranch (owned by Clint Eastwood ??)

Toured the property and then tourend downtown Carmel.

Checked out the Carmel Beach.

Back to the hotel for a shower and dinner.  Tom had ribs (Yummmy) and Sharon had a Chicken Breast.

Not a spectacular sunset.  Very cloudy.

Oct. 18, 2011, Santa Cruz, CA

Had leftover lasagna for breakfast!  A Sincere YUM!

Walked to downtown Santa Cruz for  a coffee.

Found a bank, got $$$$ and then found a Starbucks.  (We like the Pike's Place coffee)

Checked out of the hotel and made the foggy trek down Hwy 1 towards Monterey.

Saw all sorts of strawberry fields and some Brussel Sprouts (?)

Very fertile land between the highway and the dunes to the Pacific Ocean.

Made our way to The Monteray Bay Aquarium  from 11:00 am - 1:15 pm

Very cool place.  I loved the Jelly Fish !  A hmely Great Sea Bass was also quite the model.

Had lunch at Paradiso Trattoria Restaurant  (I liked the pesto!)

Made our way to our hotel  Asilomar Conference Grounds  A very cool place.  An old YWCA camp from 1913 that has been majorly restored.

We hiked down to the still foggy beach and hike down to Rocky Point, thru a golf course, along part of the 17 Mile Drive and eventually back to our unit at Asilomar.  Our unit is call The Stuck Up Inn. 

Too full so we skipped dinner.

No sunset  :(

Oct. 17, 2011 Highway One South, CA

Quick Snack Breakie at Hotel

Quick Shop in plaza

Lunch.

Gas fill-up in Petaluma

Drive down Highway 101 South to California

Over the Golden Gate Bridge ($6.00 toll)

Missed the turn to Hwy 1 so we had a familiar tour through San Francisco (???, Pacific, Presidio, California) to Hwy 1

Stopped at the first beach we saw (Pacifica State Park Beach).  Toured the beach, got our toes wet.  Continued down Hwy 1 thru Half Moon Bay, Davenport and ended up at Santa Cruz.  Many amazing views along the way.  Stopped for pictures every now and then.  Fog rolled in after Half Moon Bay.
Beaches we we like were Big Basin, Scott Creek Beach, Coast Dairies (just across from the town of Davenport.
We lost the fog before Davenport.

Checked in to the Ocean Gate Inn in Santa Cruz.

Had dinner at Ristorante Italiano  (very good ceasar salad and lasagna)

Made arrangements for our next two nights

Talked to Joanne about a visit to her place

Oct. 16, 2011 The Sonoma Valley, CA

Had continental breakfast

Checked out the Lagoon Valley Regional Park

Drove to The Sonoma Valley

Walked the plaza and main street

Had lunch at The Girl and the Fig

Walked to the Home of General Vallejo        (  Check Wikipedia for his blurb   )

Checked out the Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma

Drove up Highway 12 through all the vineyards.

Went through Santa Rosa to a hotel  Good Night Inn  in Rohnert Park

Read by the pool.

Skyped with Shane and Jenna

Dinner at Chili's Grill & Bar Restaurant

Oct. 15, 2011 The Napa Valley, CA

Continental breakfast in the Fairfield Inn Marriot: Vacaville.

Drove to The NAPA Valley.

Went to the Sterling Vineyards in Calistoga for a 10:30 am $25.00 self-guided tour, took an aerial tram to the winery.  We totally beat the crowd.  Had a taste of 5 different wines:

• 2010 Cellar Club Pinot Gris
• 2009 Cellar Club Carneros Chardonnay
• 2008 Cellar Club Petite Sirah
• 2007 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon
• 2010 Cellar Club Malvasia Bianca

The winner was the Pinot Gris.

Amazing vineyard, facilility and staff.  We got to keep our "Sterling-Engraved" wine glasses.  We loved seeing the HUGE line-up for the tram on our way out.

Went to the Castello di Armorosa Castle and Winery.  Caught a 12:20 pm tour of the the castle (and Winery) with our our guide "Joe". We met Joe at the Visitor Center in the town of Napa yesterday. Two other couples were with us for the 2 hour tour and tasting (for $32.00).
Amazing castle and tour.  The wines we both tried are:

• Pinot Grigio (T & S)  white
• Chardonnay (T)   white
• Gewurtzraminer (S)   white
• Gioia (S)   white
• Pinot Nero (T)   red
• Cabernet Sauvignon (T)    red
• Simpatica (S)    sweet
• Gewurtztraminer (S)    sweet

Apparently their best seller is something called  La Fantasia  (SWEET in a sugary way!)

We were going to do a quick taste at Beringer's and Robert Mondavi but both were too busy.  NO parking spots availalble.  Beringer's is a beautiful facility.

LOVED watching the horrendous line of traffic going North on Highway 29 for their late afternoon tours of the wineries as we drove south on 29 pleasantly "toured" out.

Picked up picnic lunch/dinner items AND got a AT&T Go Phone for $15.00.  Now we have unlimited texting to Canada for only $2.00 for every day that we use it.

A nap and then a picnic dinner.

Texted both kids successfully but of course it is Saturday night in Kingston and they have lives.  Will set up a skype/facebook chat session for a later date.

Oct. 14, 2011 San Francisco, CA

Awoke to noise (all thru the night) and the smell of cigarette smoke wafting into to our 4th floor hotel room.  Not a good sleep had by Sharon or I.

Continental breakfast at the Nob Hill Hotel.

Blindly booked a place "close to" the Napa Valley (we didn't have a map of the area yet)

Walked to the Visitor Center at Union Square.

Got lots of good advice from Volunteer Dave (an advocate of the Home Exchange Program)

Looking for an AT&T Go-Phone so we can text Canada but got way-laid BIG TIME by a Dead Sea Cosmetics saleswoman.  No AT&T booth in the downtown mall anymore.

No luck on the phone but Sharon got a nice shiny finger nail.

Made it back to the hotel in time to check out by noon.

Took a taxi to get the Car rental   (A Nissan VERSA with 21310 miles on it)

Left San Francisco on a sunny Friday afternoon.  (foreshadowing ...)

Decided to visit The Muir Woods.  Took Hwy 1 (with all its switchbacks) only to discover all the parking spots for The Muir Woods were full (and then some) because it was sunny and FRIDAY.  We decided to avoid all the tourists and get out of there. 

We made our way to the city of Napa and found the Visitor Center.  We booked a tour at the Castillo di Amorosa Castle & Winery for tomorrow at 12:20 pm.  We had lunch at Downtown Joe's Brewery and Restaurant.  I think a few of you will see the humour in Tom gettng his beer in wine country.  The "Lazy Summer American Wheat" was the best American beer I have ever had.  I was unable to purchase a 6 pack (for our travels)  SADNESS!

Just to let all you Foodies out there know, the food sucked at this restaurant.

Did the town thing and then made it to our hotel.  Yes, there were many traffic tie-ups and slow-downs because it is FRIDAY.  OOPS, we hope we never make that mistake again.  But in fairness to us practicing retirees, we never know what day it is!  BIG SMILE!

Checked in to our luxurious (by comparison) room at the Fairfield Inn Marriott: Vacaville.  King sized bed, A/C and lots of floor space.  Oh, and quiet too !   NO sirens, buzzers, traffic.  NO smell of smoke.  HAPPINESS!

Had NO luck find a parking space at all the "good" restaurants ... because it is still FRIDAY  but we had an amazing all-you-can-eat buffet at a place called  "Fresh Choice"  Decent meal at a good price.  Foodies would approve of the nutritional content.

Loaded some pics to Facebook.

Updated Blog

SLEPT!

Oct. 13, 2011 San Francisco, CA

Continental Breakfast at the hotel
Coffee on the roof garden of the hotel.  (A beautiful sunny day!)

Cable car along Hyde Line to Lombard Street.  Amazing Switchback down.  Beautiful gardens and houses.  I would not drive down this road.

Walked to Fisherman's Wharf.

Cruised the Bay with the   Red and White (Fleet  Prince ???)  The ticket lady says we are very lucky with the weather, usually it is very foggy!  The cruise had headphones that gave us blurbs about what we were seeing (with a little time delay).  Saw the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, a dolphin or three, and sea lions lounging around Pier 39.

Walked the Fisherman's Wharf.  Found the sea lions up close and personal and they were putting on a show.  They were lounging around big time and some were playing hide and seek among the boats in the marina.  Very entertaining AND free!
Lunch at Players  sports bar.  Tom wins with the  Cadillac Margarita  (on the rocks, with salt in a beautiful glass)  The bonus was the Grand Marnier and fancy umbrella.  Ask Sharon about her Strawberry dacquiri.
Walked along all the piers to the Port of San Francisco (Pier 1)

Took the California Line Cable car back to our hotel.  Met some nice "locals" who gave us insights as to where to go.  I guess we really looked like tourists (the camera's, maps, and knapsacks must have given us away) but we welcomed their advice.  Very nice locals here.

Napped a bit. (but not really)

Tom learned a lesson on chivalry on the way to the bus from a vagrant.  Apparently I missed the lesson on wallking on the sidewalk closet to the road (to protect the lady from the vehicles)  Sharon did thank me for protecting her from the vagrant.  I don't think there is a chivalry course.  I'll look into it.

Took the 38 bus (and 44)  to Golden Gate Park.  Saw the St. Francis washing machine along the way. A beautiful garden, pathway, aquarium and planetarium.  We didn't do much there in the hour that we were there. We really just wanted to read in a smoke free, quiet area.  I'd recommend at least a half day there.

Took the 44 bus (and 1) back to our hotel.  Had a complimentary wine at Happy hour and then decided to catch the moon again at Hyde and Greenwich before dinner.

We missed the moon but caught the sunset over the Golden Gate bridge from the viewing area at Fisherman's Wharf.  Amazing !

Had dinner at  Cioppini's  Bestest spaghetti and meatballs for Tom and Spaghetti bolognese for Sharon.  Tom likes Stella Artois|!
Walked the wharf, found the moon so we took a streetcar (Oh those passes are worth it).  Took the street car along the Embarcadero to the Port of San Francisco.  Caught the moon overlooking the Bay Bridge.  NICE!
Took California Line Cable car up to the Fairmont to see San Francisco from the glass elevator (another suggestion from the locals) but the elevator wasn't operating.  SADNESS.

Walked back to our hotel.  Hoping for a good sleep tonight.

Oct. 12, 2011 San Francisco, CA

I was up at 5:03 am  (before the wake up call AND the alarm)

We caught the 5:30 am shuttle to Terminal 1

Checked in with Air Canada pretty seamlessly.

Entered the line for security at 6:00 am  and boy it was a long line!

Got thru security by 6:50 am.   Sharon had a quick pat down.  I was clean.

Quickly browsed for reading material in between ordering and eating breakfast.

Had breakfast (AND COFFEE) before going to gate 134 for a 7:55 am departure to San Francisco

Five hour flight to San Francisco.

Hot and Sunny  (74 degrees celsius ... you do the conversion to celsius)

Took a taxi to our hotel (The Nob Hill Hotel)

Got there at  11:00 am  (their time)

Our room wasn't ready so we checked our bags, got advice from the front desk clerk and then wandered for lunch (Chicken Pesto Crepes & salad)

Got a Cable Car pass  ($21 for 3 days) otherwise every ride was $6

Took the California Line down the the Port of San Francisco.  They have a clock there with a roman numeral 4 like  IIII   (Just like Grant Hall at Queen's University)  What's with that?

Toured the piers, viewed the bay bridge, birds and walked the Escaradero Avenue.

Bought a single Large Coors Light at the local Cala-Store, checked in and tried to have a nap.  (It's loud in San Francisco ... Hyde street anyway.)

Our Hotel is very rustic (interpret that accordingly) but it does have a very cool elevator that is over 100 years old.  Neat !

Cable car along Hydy Line to Fisherman's Wharf.  We kept walking and happened upon the most beautiful moon from Hyde and Greenwich.  Check out the pic:

Had dinner at   Capurro's San Francisco Fish House.  Tom had Clam Chowder!

Walked the wharf.  (very Touristy, kind of like Niagara Falls and Wonderland)

Cable car back to the hotel.  (saw some furry critters while waiting for the cable car)

Oct. 11, 2011 Toronto, ON

Packed for trip AND emptied the upstairs "basement" in preparation for the new flooring.

Stayed at the Westin-Bristol Place on Airport Road.

Went to The Keg for dinner.  Best Caesar ever (the waitress provided me with TWO celery stalks)

Asked for a 5:11 am wake-up call   (YIKES!)