Southern California: LA to Coronado Island

We left Cambria in the fog yesterday morning after making a few pictures of the formal gardens that surround the lodge: There are formal gardens, butterfly gardens, desert gardens, and most interesting of all, a "Bed of Flowers" made of an old bed frame and dresser and decked out with flowers. There is a photo shoot there today, so I included the photographer in my picture.

We stop for a walk in Pismo Beach, which has miles of flat sand beach and a fishing pier, and arrive in Agoura Hills, north of Los Angeles, where my sister and her family live. Agoura Hills is an old horse community, and my sister and brother-in-law live on a little less than an acre of land that has a barn, but more cars than horses (they swear they are selling some of them.) Laura's house is veritable beehive of activity. Outside, the workmen are finishing up a frame for the new patio that they will pour tomorrow; inside, Laura has just finished painting the bedroom we'll be staying in a deep red (which by the way is a very sootheing color for a bedroom -- I slept wonderfully) ; one teen, Logan, is already home from school, her oldest Daniel, comes by on his way to his Dad's from school, and we go pick up Ben, who is in middle school. In the meanwhile the two-year-old wakes up and has a snack, and Laura and Shawn's two dogs, the well-mannered Grace and Paco the Evil-Doer (for the back story on this guy see "Roadtrip: The Pilot" for my previous encounter with Paco) are milling around with Ethan.

The evening continues in this vein as we reacquaint ourselves with the children, including these three and Taylor, my neice, who shows up for a later dinner after tennis practice.

In the morning the patio pouring begins, and we bid our farewells. Ethan, who has been a perfect houseguest, barks at his hosts out the back window of the car.

The freeway is congested, but not as congested as it would be had we waited until afternoon. We're headed for Coronado Island, to visit my friend Kate and her husband Nick on the way to Tucson. At their suggestion we stop at the Meditation Gardens adjacent to an Ashram in Encinitas. THe gardens are as beautiful as they said they were, and overlook the ocean. I am sorry to leave and return to traffic, but we arrive on Coronado Island mid-afternoon. I am told that there are many dogs booked for this dog-friendly hotel, and that there is a dog beach.