Alisal 2012

Still playing catch-up.  In late April/early May, we went on our extended Bendheim family vacation to Alisal Ranch in Salvang, CA.  We absolutely love, love, love this vacation.  Here are some pictures of the grounds.

The Ranch has horseback riding, archery, fishing, hay rides, a petting zoo, a golf course, volleyball, swimming, YUMMY FOOD, and huge lawn areas where one can play botchy ball or have a hand-standing contest. 

I usually gain at least 5 pounds on this trip each year.  The food (which is included in the price of the room) is. to. die. for.  The type where your taste buds win in an internal argument with your belly and brain which are screaming you're stuffed.  The kind of meal you have to loosen the buttons of your pants.  Uh-huh...that type of meal.  And this year I again, gained those yummy 5 pounds.

First morning we went on the Breakfast Hay Ride...They take you to this beautiful location on the property and cook outdoors.  Some of us rode the horses, the rest of us sat on hay on a trailer.

 

Pool Time!

Taking photos of Livy and cousins...

 And here is one night at dinner.

And here is us on Cinco De Mayo, which also happened to be the night my Aunt Julie coordinated a Kentucky Derby celebration.  She requested all wear a hat.  Well, I was the only one with the brilliant idea to combine the two celebrations.  So - behold my Mexican Derby Low Budget creation.  Go big or go home, right?   

 

Monterey Trip: Part II

I am so behind in my blogging!  I blogged about this trip, in part, over a month ago, or maybe even 2 months ago, and was supposed to post this part 2 shortly thereafter.  Oh brother.  And for that matter, this trip occurred in March.  So I'm grossly behind in my blog posts/journal.   

To see Part I of Monterey click here.

I mentioned this before, but I absolutely loved this trip.  And I love Monterey.  It is beautiful, charming, and serene.

I've already covered Friday and Saturday.  So Sunday of our vacation (back in March (so embarrassing)), started off with a classy breakfast at Denny's, followed by going to church in Cody's old chapel, and then we made our way down the 17 mile drive to Pebble Beach.  Here are some of the photos:

The rock below is called Seal Rock.  Do yo see all the seals on it?  There are a ton!

This is the lone cypress tree.  It's on a ton of postcards from the area.  The view should be enough reason for the popularity, but the Monterey Cypress is famous because of its unique location on its rocky perch and its endurance and age (over 250 years old).

The 17 mile drive ends in Carmel.  We walked around the cute shops of this small beach town...Camel-By-The-Sea is the full name of the town which is so money.  A town without street numbers and oozing in charm.  "Oozing in charm?"  Wow that last sentence was a bit cheesy.  My apology.

On Monday, we went to lunch with Cody's friend from grad school  and then went to Fisherman's Wharf again to enjoy it in the sun instead of Friday night's rain.  We stayed and watched these seals fight over property on this platform.  It's amazing how they can jump out of the water and get high up on the railing.

They are clumped here waiting to make their move and fight for property on the platform.

 The beautiful Harbor and Wharf...

We then went to cannery row:

And we took PCH 1 home.  We saw this lighthouse on the way:

And went through Big Sur:

It was a great trip.  You should really go.  I mean it.  You won't regret it.