So-Cal Baby--Day Four!!

The long journey home began. Along the way, we drove down a canyon where they were battling a blaze. It was a hot and smokey ride down the canyon...

One more stop @ the beach in Malibu along PCH:

One more "must-see" for me was Andersen's Split-Pea Soup House. It's another old CA fave, and I have always wanted to stop in for some famous green goop, which I found surprisingly tasty!

I bought two bags of the famous split-peas home with us. I was going to surprise Lancer with a big bowl in a few weeks, but I was dying to see the recipe, and it was inside the bag. So, I spilled my little secret to Lancer. It sounds surprisingly easy...I will let you know how it turns out!

So-Cal Baby--Day Three!!

We started our day out with a trip to the Quiksilver Miniature Horse Ranch. Yep, it's exactly what it sounds like. The horses are about the size of Dobbie, and are the cutest things I have ever seen. Now, instead of badgering Lance for a pony, I'm going to badger him for a lil' mini pony. This should be somewhat less annoying/more financially attainable for him.

Next stop: Ventura Beach for a little sun and boogie-boarding. Lance did all of the hard work, whilst I laid in the sun reading trashy magazines and ogling my hot-hot-hot husbie. Yum. Thanks for keeping me busy, Lance & Glamour!

Done boogie-boarding, and ready to join me on the beach for a little relaxing in the sun:

So-Cal Baby--Day Two!

Next stop was Solvang, a little Danish town. You can pretty much sell *anything* here as long as you describe it as "Olde" or "Danish," whether or not it really is. Methinks the fudge recipe is neither olde nor Danish, but I'm not one to split hairs. Fudge is fudge is fudge.

You can't stay in Solvang without eating aeblskivers from Arnie's Famous Aeblskivers. I can, of course, because I'm allergic to wheat. But the rest of you must have at the jam and puffed pancake concoction (lucky!!):

Licking my lips and rubbing my tummy in anticipation of Lancer's tasty delight:

After a day of Danish living, we headed back to the Hadsten House for a nice, long nap before dinner. Our dinner was incredible. Lance had the halibut, and I had the salmon atop a risotto cake, drowned in butter.

After dinner, we chilled in the room, and then decided to pop on down to the indoor pool and spa.

The town fireworks were cancelled, because, well, all of California happens to be on fire, and they don't want to purposely add to the troubles.

We were okay with this policy:

Because we were hanging out here all night instead!

So-Cal Baby--Day One

Husbie and I decided to take a last-minute trip down to So-Cal for the 4th. We planned a few different stops along the way, which mixed it up. I am reminded why So-Cal is great--the beaches are actually warm...you don't have to wear a sweatshirt and jeans like our beaches, which was really convenient for me, since I believe vacation-time is small-amounts-of-clothing-time.

The beautiful drive there:

Checking out the beach. I love the 2nd pic--but I think it looks like an engagement ring and/or sunglasses ad, yes?

Our first stop was my future residence, Hearst Castle. It was ol' Willie Hearst's digs, and it was absolutely amazing, which is why I will live there some day. The free movie stated that he was a visionary....but I think he just spent a lot of time in Europe, and brought the look and feeling home with him. No complaints here!

I was quite tempted to trespass and be arrested for a dip in the Neptune Pool:

Next stop--the hilarious Madonna Inn. So...this kinda-crazy-guy-with-a-kinda-crazy-wife built this pink, gawdy monstrosity known to us CA peeps as The Madonna Inn. It's so cheesy, even the table sugar is pink and kitschy. Naturally, I loved every moment of it. I have been dying to go there for years, and Husbie thought it would be a funny stop along the way, so he let me book the room, and keep it a surprise.

We stayed in one of the aptly named "Rock Rooms," pulling down the Lucky Rock Room for the night. The walls were all rock--even the bathroom (and shower!!) were solid rock. I found Lance sleeping halfway down the bed during the night. I suspect he was scared of hitting his head on the "rock headboard." Valid point.

Drink in the cheesiness below:

Grody-Ala-Mody

Due to an error on my part (aka a rotting, disgusting, melting cantlope hidden in a bag that leaked onto our carpet...bleh!) we had to rent a Rug Doctor. How very suburban. We lugged the machine home, and cleaned our carpets. Now....we are clean peeps. So, can someone please tell me how it's possible to have pitch black water spilling out of the used water tank?? We ran through 4 tanks...all pitch black. I need a cruddy, juice-spilling-potatoe chip-crushing kid to blame things on. Perhaps it was our obese and furry friend, Dobbie?? I like that theory, so I'm sticking to it.

Bleh:

Bleh again!

The likely culprit: