The Stretch Drive Home From San José to Camarillo

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

How could it even be possible that . . .

. . . this tragic day happened

60 years ago today?

If you were alive on November 22, 1963, anywhere in the USA, then you will remember vividly when and where you were when you first heard the news of President John F. Kennedy's shocking assassination in Dallas, Texas.

I was a Junior at St. Francis H.S. in what was then simply called the city of La Cañada sitting in my third period U.S. History class.

Our teacher was also our Head Football Coach, Jack Friedman, and he was uncommonly late for class.

An avid JFK fan, coach constantly wore a PT 109 tie clasp that always caught my eye. The PT 109 was the boat that JFK famously and courageously skippered during his stint in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II.

Then about ten minutes into the teacher-less class, Father Emilian, our Principal, came on the public address system to inform the student body about the stunning news.

Coach Friedman never did show up to class that day.

Do this very day, there are still so many questions and conspiracy theories surrounding that now long ago day's unfathomable events.

60 years . . .

We left San José at a reasonable hour for the stretch run of our week long odyssey as we needed to have our rental car back at the Camarillo's Enterprise Rental Car agency by 5:00 p.m.

We drove three hours before stopping for lunch at one of the California Central Coast's fun little cities. 

Pismo Beach

Clam Capital of California

A cool mini-auto

One finds so many unusual things and places in Pismo Beach.

Mo's Smokehouse BBQ is a

MUST if you visit Pismo Beach

Mo's is noted for their

BBQ inspired fine dining menu

We both opted for sandwiches.

Laurie enjoyed her pulled pork one while I devoured my delicious tri-tip concoction slathered in my favorite Mo's BBQ sauce . . .

. . . Sweet Carolina's was the

BBQ sauce for me!

Normally we buy a couple of bottles of it to bring home.

Laurie said that we were out of the Mo's Sweet Carolina's at home and needed to replenish our pantry. They were out of the 10 oz. bottles that we usually purchase but they did have these much more cost effective 64 oz. jugs of Mo's Sweet Carolina's BBQ sauce for sale.

SOLD!

Pismo's streets already had Christmas

decorations up and it was still just

the day before Thanksgiving

Is that Pismo Beach's version

of Stonehenge?

No, it was just a set of student backpacks waiting for their owners and teachers to return from journey to the nearby pier.

A beautiful, warm day in late

November attracted some hearty

souls into the Pacific Ocean for a dip

I'm a big fan of murals and mosaics

in public areas like this one

A sad reminder that we did

not have tacos yesterday

We took two of their amazing

cinnamon rolls home for our

Thanksgiving Day breakfast

On to the wine country villages of Los Olivos and Ballard . . .

A fine church in Los Olivos

If you've been to Los Olivos enough, then you know that this church has free, pristine public restrooms that few tourists know about.

It's good to be in the know.

One of Laurie's MUST stops in

Los Olivos is this great garden shop

The Blackjack Winery in Ballard

Of course Ballard has a

Shetland pony farm

We would have loved to stay longer, but time was becoming an issue.

Off of the Rincon, a view of the

Channel Islands

I think that is Anacapa Island on the left and Santa Cruz Island to the right.

After seven action packed days full of new memories shared with my bride, we finally arrived in Camarillo with plenty of time to unload the car, fill it with gas and return it to Enterprise.

What a GREAT week!

News from the internet . . . 

A picture is worth a thousand words

Or maybe just one, YIKES!

Go Oregon State GO!

The Huskies are wearing special

uniforms for Saturday's Apple Cup

game against Washington State

What do you think?

I like them.

Go Huskies GO!