Driving down the Coast: Arroyo Grande, CA 5/22/08

We were in total vacation mode and slept in this morning. In fact, I think we were still gathered around the breakfast table, chit-chatting away at 11:15. Nice! We finally pulled out of Nancy’s around 12:30 and decided to take Highway 1 and enjoy the coast. Ned’s parents used to live in Pescadero and he thought it would be fun to take a drive through the town. What a great decision! There’s a local restaurant called Duarte’s (pronounced Doo-Arts. I’m sure my Portuguese ancestors are rolling in their grave at that pronunciation!). Ned’s family has eaten there for years and we recently saw it on the show “Diner, Drive-Ins and Dives” so we decided to stop in for lunch. (Yes, day two and we are already eating our way through the US). I had a bowl of the best ever artichoke soup, Ned had a crab-melt and we split a piece of Ollalieberry pie, a-la-mode, of course;-) We also visited the Russell Administrative Building named after Ned’s parents, Oak and Marion Russell. It was so sweet to see their picture and plaque in the lobby. After hearing all these wonderful stories about his parents and how much they gave back to the community, it brought tears to my eyes to see how much they are still honored. We also drove by their old house, an amazing place that sits high up on Bean Hollow Road surrounded by artichoke farms, with a great view of the Pacific Ocean. We continued down the coast highway cutting over to Salinas and then headed down to Arroyo Grande. We pulled in at Polly & Eric’s place around 6ish. Eric built a huge deck, about 2000 square feet, that overlooks the valley towards Lake Lopez. (Hey, Patti I’m sure we can see your brother’s place!). The above photo is taken from the back deck. It was great to catch-up with Eric and Polly. Turns out that they will also be doing a road trip, heading to Chicago, and we might be in Zion about the same time. So, if the stars align right we might hook up in Zion – imagine that?! Eric and Polly are early risers and are planning on breakfast at the Village Café at 6:00 am!!! Looks like I’ll be getting up a titch earlier manana. We plan on heading towards San Diego early anticipating the roads packed with the holiday traffic. I’ll let you know tomorrow if I managed to actually be up and functioning. p.s. Tonight is the last night with a “house shower.” Starting tomorrow it’s only campground showers. Eric and Polly were forewarned to expect me to be in the bathroom for a good hour soaking up the last of luxurious civilities.