I spent most of the past week in Cambria, California with Dawn, my best friend since the 7th grade.  It’s so incredibly beautiful there, and we got lucky with flawless weather.  Her house is up in the hills on a fairly wooded lot with a view of the Pacific Ocean below.

The wildlife and vegetation flourish in that area, despite the water shortage.  We watched the deer stroll through her yard every evening, and I was awoken at dawn every morning by the gobbling wild turkeys.  We saw hundreds of (stinky but impressive) elephant seals napping in the sand and enjoyed the scenic (and much better smelling) citrus groves and vineyards.

After exploring the tidepools two minutes from her house, we collected moonstones for my daughters along the shore of Moonstone Beach.  We spent a day in San Luis Obispo, where we visited the mission gardens, had lunch at a little Mexican restaurant along the river, and explored the many boutique shops.  On the way back to Cambria, we stopped in Morro Bay and watched the sea otters swim and play.  We took a scenic drive through the foothills over to Paso Robles one day, where we enjoyed a lunch of dungeness crabcakes and seafood chowder, followed by a selection of fruit sorbets and creme brulees.

The best part, of course, was enjoying a nice long visit with my good friend.  Despite the miles and the years that have passed, she remains one of my closest and most treasured friends to this day.