THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA

The road to Paso Robles.

Moonstone Beach in Cambria.

A Harbor Seal on Moonstone Beach.

Abner and Me.

Abner guards the garden.

The last couple of days have been great. We haven't done a whole lot. Yesterday we drove through the hills of the Paso Robles area and tasted some wine. We drove over to Buellton and ate at the Hitching Post restaurant, which was featured in the movie Sideways. That was fun. Today we wandered around the shops in Cambria. There is a shop called the Garden Shed that I like a lot. It has plants and garden ornaments, which is nice, but the thing I really like about it is the resident cat, whose name is Abner. Abner is an enormous peachy colored, long-haired boy who presides over the store and the garden. He's very friendly and likes to be carried around on your shoulder while you shop. I wish I could take him home. I don't think Sophie would be too happy with me though.

We spent much of the day sitting on the beach. Paul read a book and I looked for moonstones. I found a nice handful. The moonstones on Moonstone Beach are actually chalcedony and not the true feldspar type. They're really pretty and I've picked up many of them over the years. I wonder if I could get a job picking up moonstones on the beach?