”.
Our vacation in June included all of the above and more. I
love trying new things and staying in new and different places. While the main
part of our vacation was to visit kids and Grandkids we did have some fabulous
side trips.
The first three days of our trip to California we stayed at
the Railroad Resort in Dunsmuir, CA. Instead of a motel room we stayed in a
retired Caboose. There was even a Crow’s Nest with stairs inside to climb up to
the top. The walls were adorned with pictures of what the Caboose looked like
when it was in service. As you can imagine, lots of story ideas popped up
during the stay.
From our Caboose we went out exploring each day. Castle
Crags State park was just down the road. And we were a short drive from Castle
Lake, an Alpine lake created by a volcanic action long ago.
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| Food Network picture |
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| Wild Plum Cafe and Bakery |
Out of the way of the tourist traffic, set back from the ocean a few blocks, in an older section of
town, "The Wild Plum" proved to be wonderful, medium priced menu, and organic fresh
cooked food cafe & bakery. The chef came out and chatted with us and we told her how we found
out about the restaurant. Never would have found it, if we hadn’t watched the
Food network show. My husband and I are foodies. We love trying new restaurants
and not fast food or chain restaurants.
Visiting son Paul and his fiance in Monterrey we were
privileged to go to the famous Monterrey Aquarium with them. I headed for the
Octopus exhibit. Can you guess why? In my soon to be released novella, “The
Witch with the Trident Tattoo”, Ella the sea witch has a familiar, James the
octopus.
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| Monterrey Aquarium vacation June 2015 by Diana McCollum |
This fella in the picture I’m posting was so friendly. He
has a large aquarium to swim around in. But he stayed in the corner by us. I’m
sure he was trying to communicate. He would stretch out his tentacles feeling the glass where I placed my hand.
We’re home now, and back to life in Bend, OR. I'm thankful I
have a camera and can look back at all the wonderful pictures and enjoy my trip
all over again.
Are you taking a vacation this year?
I write paranormal romance. I released two short stories in the Anthology:
Love & Magick anthology
website: Diana McCollum --check out my website for more info on future releases.
I write paranormal romance. I released two short stories in the Anthology:
Love & Magick anthology
website: Diana McCollum --check out my website for more info on future releases.
13 comments:
I love Food Network, Diana (along with Home and Garden Network). I think I watch them more than all the other television channels lumped together.
Not knowing much about octopus other than that I really don't find them tasty, is this guy (or gal) really purple? If so, I didn't know they came in colors.
Vacation? not really. I'm going to the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Dr. William Glasser's "Reality Therapy" in Las Vegas later this month. Just finished up my presentation this morning so now I'm really ready.
If I was going on a vacation, most likely I'd spend a couple of weeks on the Oregon Coast in the Depoe Bay/Lincoln City area. Not this year - maybe next.
Loved the recap of your adventures on your vacation in Cali. So glad we got to spend some quality time while you were here and go to our favorite Thai Restaurant!
Beautiful purple octopus, didn't know they came in colors either :)
Wow fun vacation. I love Castle Crags and climbed last spring. I've never done the caboose motel but looks like fun and love the purple octopus.
Sounds like you had a wonderful trip, Diana! I love the octopus, and love that your see witch in your book has an octopus for a familiar! Can't wait to read the story!
Thanks for stopping by, Judith. I love DIY channels along with the garden and food network channels. So you really aren't going on a vacation if you have to make a presentation. I hope can manage one soon.
Ahh, Lisa, Thai food was awesome too. We would have never found that restaurant without you , daughter dearest!! Love you.
Kate, I would love to hike Castle Crags, maybe after my knee surgery. Thanks for stopping by!
Sounds like you had a wonderful vacation! What fun times!
Thanks Sarah! and Paty for stopping by!! We did have a fun and interesting trip!
And yes to Judith and Lisa, there are purple octopus. This one was flashing in and out of colors of purple and pink. Google Purple octopus and you will see a lot of pictures. National Geographic site has some good pics. A new deep water octopus has been discovered off the coast of Canada. It looks like it has shorter legs than most other octopus.
Diana:
We should meet up and hike it after you're all healed up and anyone else here too. It's just spectacular. Forgot to I'm a DIY fan, too. And we will be vacationing mid August near Klamath Falls, then Bend, then the Dalles and Hood River. Sure hope it stays cool for that!
Hi Diana,
Sounds like a fun vacation. I love trains--will need to put that hotel on my to-do list. :-)
Love you blog, makes me want to get in the car and go somewhere. Can't wait for your story to be published. A vacation is more fun when you find interesting places to go see, especially ones off the beaten track -great idea.
Sounds like a fun time with lots of good eating. Thanks for sharing.
Hope we can meet up in August Kate! We may have a wedding to go to in California around the 22nd. Yes! I'd love to go hiking.
Thanks for stopping by, Lynn! the web page for Railroad Resort in Dunsmuir, CA has pictures of the inside of the cars too!
Hi,Louise, yep, you and I love to travel , don't we?
Thanks for stopping by,Anna!!
Hi Diana,
It sounds like a fantastic holiday! I recently posted a picture on my blog of the 1940s caboose my dad and grandfather travelled in over Botswana's dusty roads during their holidays. Very different!
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