San Diego County Fair, June, 2013

In June 2013, we went to the San Diego County Fair.  It was a great county fair. The best fair that I have actually been to.  The kids went on all kids of rides.  One of the rides was actually from Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch.  The fair was held at the Del Mar Race Track and there was an aerial ride you could take to view the entire fair.  There were also animals, including an elephant, ducks and a butterfly garden.  There was some interesting food there such as fried Reeses peanut butter cups and bacon wrapped cheese bombs.  We will definitely be going in June 2014.

The Union Hotel, Los Alamos, California

Last June, we visited the Santa Ynez Valley near Santa Barbara.  We stayed in the town of Solvang, but we toured around the area.  We went to the town of Los Alamos because I had read about and old hotel there.  The Union Hotel & Saloon was built in 1880.  I read about a cool description of the hotel.  Here it is..the romance of the old west meets the beauty of the wine country.  If you are ever in the area it is really a cool part of history.  We walked in the lobby, the saloon and the gardens.

Nojoqui Falls, Solvang, CA

Last June when we went to Solvang, we took a ride out to see the Nojoqui Falls in Solvang.  It was a beautiful drive through the Santa Ynez valley and countryside.  We walked through the woods for a about a mile.  We were all a bit nervous because the sign at the park said to make a lot of noise so as to not startle a mountain loin.  We had our dog, Leo so we hoped that would help.  When we finally got to the falls, they were dried up.  Apparently, there is more water when there is more rain.  As we were walking back, my daughter, Daphne was a bit nervous about the mountain lion sign.  She was anxious to get back to our van.  All of sudden, Daphne stopped and said, "Mom, is that a mountain loin?"  I looked at where she was pointing and it looked like a mountain lion crouched down and ready to pounce.  My heart sank a little.  Then I looked a little closer and it looked a little too dark for a mountain lion.  We started to walk closer and we realized it was a log made to look like a mountain lion with ears and everything.  Maybe the forest ranger made it.  We laughed with a sigh of relief.