Baja, Mexico July 2011  We've been back in California since mid-May.  Pat has been offered to relocate to Australia for one year with his company.  Of course, we are up for the adventure.  While awaiting his work visa, we've decided to take a road trip to northern Baja.  We've rented a casita just south of Ensenada, on a hilltop overlooking the ocean.  It's a bit isolated, but the views are very pretty and it's a great area for walking, jogging, and enjoying the ocean. 

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View from our casita

We visited Bar Andaluz in Ensenada where supposedly the margarita was invented in 1948.  The bar was part of a resort frequented by the celebrity crowd in the 1930s and 40s, including Myrna Loy, Lana Turner, Ali Khan and Lucy and Desi Arnaz.  The bartender spent 10 minutes preparing the famous margarita, and we had to admit it was the best we ever had!

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We visited the fish market in Ensenada and bought some delicious stone crabs and smoked tuna....sooo fresh!

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A visit from a coyote at our casita...

Carlsbad, California    We headed up the coast and rented a cottage near the beach in Carlsbad.  It was a great place to ride our bikes, enjoy the ocean and to take the Coaster train to San Diego. 

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Pat enjoying the beach

Ojai, California    This is our first visit to Ojai, a small community 30 minutes from the ocean in the foothills of Los Padres National Forest and just south of Santa Barbara, near Ventura.  The town is very cute with lots of good restaurants, boutiques and a terrific farmer's market.  There's so much agriculture growing here...groves of oranges, tangerines, avocados, lavender, nuts and vineyards.  There are no store franchises here.  We did some wine tasting and bought some exceptional wine.  Some celebrities have homes here, including Reese Witherspoon and Anthony Hopkins. We rented a cute cottage on a family's two acre home nestled in the foothills of the mountains.  The setting was serene and perfect for exploring, biking, hiking and jogging.  We had fruit and veggies from their garden and fresh eggs from their chickens....mmmm!

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driving into downtown Ojai

Our cottage in the countryside.....

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our pool

Eureka, California, New York and Washington D.C.   We had a chance to visit family....our son Armand in Eureka.

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Armand in Eureka

Our next stop was a visit to Pat's family in Liverpool, New York.

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Pat, mom Frances and brother, Jim

We took the Amtrak train from Syracuse, New York to New York City.  We had a great time eating a great restaurants, including a nice dinner with June and Nancy, former colleagues from Susan's job at the United Nations, and seeing Jersey Boys on Broadway.

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Susan on Broadway

We took the train from Penn Station in New York to visit Isabelle in Washington, D.C.  Here is picture of Isabelle and me, Mom.

 

We're leaving Ojai, CA on July 19 and will head back to the Bay Area of California to wait for Pat's work visa for Australia to come through. 

Looks like the visa has come through and we're leaving for Australia on August 19.  Woo hoo!  We had a nice trip to Napa ending up at Mumms which was a great way to say goodbye to beautiful California.

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enjoying Mumm's champagne

 

 

 

 

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