Not Halloween

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host 

October 31 is not Halloween for my household.  Every year we celebrate my wife's birthday on that day.  It's pretty nice, usually.  While everyone is out Trick-Or-Treating, or getting funky at some Halloween Party, we have our choice of empty restaurants to go to so as to celebrate her birthday.

This year we decided to do a little traveling to the Central Coast of California.  Below are a handful of the pictures from that trip as we approach the day we will be returning to our everyday lives.

We drove up Interstate 5 and then cut across to the Pacific Coast Highway at about Morro Bay.  We traveled PCH (Highway 1) along the coast between Morrow Bay and Monterey, going through areas like Big Sur and Carmel by the Sea.  The scenery was breathtaking, but as we were reminded from the last time we drove that route, it can be a brutal drive.

We stopped a few times along the way to breath in the cool, fresh air, and snap a few images.  We got our feet wet in the Pacific Ocean.  We observed sea lions.  We viewed lighthouses.  And then, on the way back down along Highway 101 we visited two Spanish Missions.

In short, it was a pretty spectacular weekend. . . despite a constant battle with rain and overcast conditions.

The grand finale today will be a quick jaunt to Universal Studios.  We have annual passes so it only costs us the parking every time we go. . . which happens about once per month.  The above pic of my wife with Frankenstein is from the time before last we were at the Los Angeles amusement park.

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