Thanksgiving in Laguna Niguel with Family

This year, we were lucky to spend Thanksgiving with my cousin Cathy, her husband Greg and their children Sarah, Ryan and Michael.

Thanksgiving desserts baked by Sara - oupss! I forgot to take a picture of the delicious turkey that Cathy cooked up!

Bidou fast learned that he and Greg had a lot in common - especially electronics. They are trying to fix the keyboard on my laptop.

CCTop parked in Laguna Niguel California for 2 days

Kyle Brown

There are people you meet along the way whom you will remember forever. For me, it will be 5 year old Kyle Brown. We met at the campground where we stayed in Bakersfield for a week. Kyle lives full time in a very run down 21 foot trailer with his young mom, dad and his young niece.

Kyle told me that his favorite outdoor activity was to climb trees!

Here he is showing off his macaroni neckless and his indian hat that he made at school for Thanksgiving.

Here he is doing another one of his favorite activity - walking neighboor dogs!

Kyle had tears when we left...we'll miss you too Kyle!

Sequoia National Park

We just couldn't be in California without seeing the giant trees at Sequoia National Park. On Monday we took a day trip to the park but initially we did not quite realize the exciting day that laid in front of us!

First we were told at the entrance of the park that we needed chains for our tires. First time experience for Bidou and $43 dollars later for chain rentals!

Bidou and I in front of the tree at the Giant Forest Museum - once we got on top of the mountain there was a major snow storm hapenning...but with our rental chains...we felt invincible!

In front of the General Sherman, the largest living thing on this planet. The giant sequoia tree is 274 feet high, 36 feet across its base and 103 feet circumference. It's HUGE!

Bidou and Camille

Fun Weekend with Bidou

Friday afternoon while picking up some groceries at Walmart, I had the bright idea to pick up a 1,000 piece puzzle thinking that it would be a great weekend project for Bidou and I. During the first 20 minutes of working on the puzzle, I realized that puzzles were NOT my thing. So I basically avoided my "husband and wife" plan and spent all my time with my Jodi Picoult novel while Bidou worked and completed the puzzle.

Friday Evening - Bidou came to bed at 1 a.m.

Saturday morning - still working on it - the deer is almost done!!

Saturday mid-afternoon - bottom part of puzzle completed!

Sunday 4 p.m. - Bidou inserting last piece of puzzle!

Picture of the final weekend project completed - next time I have great weekend project idea, now I know that I will think twice about it!

Are we there yet??

This little girl just couldn't get comfortable while we drove to Bakerfields, CA!!

Here she is on the left side of the driver!

Another view of her squeezed between the driver left hand side and the door!

Houston, there is a problem!!

Last week, the water heater broke so instead of calling a repair man, Bidou wanted to take on the task of fixing it. After 2 visits to Radio Rack and a couple of shocks - we are now able once again to take hot showers!

In Paso Robles CA

The campground where we stayed for a week while we were in Paso Robles. It was the NICEST campground that we've seen so far! It was so clean and very nicely landscaped. I am sure that it was designed for the rich & famous - right up our alley, ya right!!!

The beautiful outdoor heated pool that we did NOT use!

The outdoor adult only spa area that we did use on our last night!

Next door to the campground is the Firestone Vineyard - remember the Firestone Bachelor a couple of years ago?? it is indeed the same one, however, he has sold the vineyard since appearing on The Bachelor!

Elephant Seals at Piedras Blancas Point

All the elephant seals gather at Pedras Blancas vista point to rest, give birth, nurse and mate. They are amazing to watch.

Up close!

They are cute in their own way.

Even Camille was fascinating by them. At first, she thought they were
squirrels on steroides but Bidou explained otherwise! :)

Playing in the water

Big Sur, CA

Driving on Highway 1 along the Big Sur region is a one of a kind driving eperience because of the magnificient coastal scenery and the very narrow curves. Thank goodness we were not driving CCTop!

We stopped for a lunch picnic at Carmel Rive State River before

driving southbound on Big Sur.

Beautiful!

~ Camille posing but isn't too sure ~

Just gorgeous!

The Enchanted Hill - Hearst Castle

Hearst Castle was built by William Randolph Hearst on a site that is also called The Enchanted Hill. He created this fabulous and very private retreat high on a mountain top overlooking California's scenic coastal Highway 1. This magnifience Mediterranean-style house features guest houses, gardens, pools and terraces and was once accessible only to celebrities and famous guests. It's a definite must see thing when you are on the Central Coast area of California.

The Enchanted Hill

W. R. Hearst adored statues - here is one among many many others!

The "Neptune Pool"

The very long dinner table where he hosted
dinner parties for the rich & famous.

The indoor pool - note the fancy camera shoot that Bidou portrayed.
You see the shadow of the statue in the water. Wow -

The Hollywood Experince

I can describe my Hollywood Experience as being just okay - nothing fabulous but still happy than we went!!! Los Angeles is a huge and a very busy jet set city with way too much traffic!!!

We stayed at the KOA in Northern Los Angeles \ Acton area

The campground was located in a valley - we were surrounded by many high mountains. We had no cell phone reception nor satellite tv.

The famous Hollywood sign!

This is the only picture I have from being on the Dr. Phil show. We were not allowed to bring cameras and cell phones in the studio and they were very strict about it. Bidou & I attended 2 episodes - Dr. Phil is all pre-taped. I was very surprised by the smooth flow of the taping. Dr. Phil is exactly as he looks on tv (if that makes any sense!). Robyn is gorgeous!!! All guests received a book called "On the Right Track" by Marion Jones.


Me on "The Talk"

The Talk is film lived! The ambiance is very lively. The guest start of the show was Jerry O'Connell who is very funny. The co-host that surprised me the most was Sara Gilbert - very petite, serious and pretty person.
Unfortunately, we received no freebies!!! We were not allowed cameras, however, I still was able to snuck in a couple of pictures of the studio.

The Studio

Another picture of the studio

San Francisco a la Speedpass !!!

We only had a day left in San Francisco - and we still had a lot to see in this great city. Even thought it was rainy and grey outside, we dressed warmly, grabbed Camille and headed out !

Our first stop was at Haight\Ashbury... since we were pressed for time, I decided to jump out of the car and take a picture of the famous district. Total time spent was 5 minutes. But at least I can tell people that I was there!!

The picture!!

Our second stop was Twin Peaks... I wasn't too sure what to expect of Twin Peaks (wasn't it a tv show?) but concluded that it is just a very big hill with great views of San Francisco. Total time spent there was another 10 minutes! But now I can at least say that I was there!!!

A view of Golden Gate Bridge from one of the Twin Peaks!

Camille & Bidou with a view of SF from Twin Peaks!!

Now for our third stop... Golden Gate Bridge. We found out that we were able to stop at different view points to view this great bridge. Our first view point stop was at the south entrace of the bridge.

South view entrance picture.

Then we needed to take a picture from the other view point aka - the other side of the bridge so we drove there but was surprised to learn that we needed to pay a $6 fee toll to get back!!!

A pic of Camille & I from the other side of the bridge.

The family picture

We can now say that we have been to San Francisco and saw all of the touristy things/places!! Highly recommend this beautiful city to all friends and family!!