California Dreamin'

My lucky little self got to spend 25 days in California during September and October and got in lots of family time. I saw my sister in Ukiah, my friends in Chico, my family in Corning, and even some of Stevie's family in El Cerrito and Atlanta on the return. There's no place like home!

Looking fancy for MaryJo and Mike's wedding at the beautiful Palms in Chico.

Mom and Dad

The old oak tree

Hungry hummingbird

The olive grove

The Coke family

Mom and Pops

Cookin' for the picnic

Tucker Coke

The hens

Montgomery Grove, near Ukiah

Approaching landing into Amsterdam, sunrise just beneath the clouds.

Brugges, Belgium

Stevie's brother, Chris and his girlfriend, Edith came to visit in Amsterdam and then we took a road trip to Bruges, Belgium. It was another old charming city. We loved it!

Our hotel- Lodewijk van Male.

Market Square

Market Square

I think this was just a post office.

Hello over there.

The bell tower

Lots of canals, like Amsterdam.

Edith and Chris

Greece and Turkey

After flying into Athens, we boarded the ferry to travel to the first island, Kos. The boat ride was 9 hours. We enjoyed the scenery along the way, but it might have been nicer to take the one hour flight instead. We stayed one night on Kos.

Our room

The Greek beers we had with dinner.

The fortress on Kos. It's typical to see a castle in the harbor of some cities.

Kos

Drinking ouzo, which tastes like licorice.

Tigaki Beach, Kos

Our next stop was Bodrum, Turkey. The ferry ride was just one hour from Kos.

Our best night's stay- the Salmakis Resort in Bodrum. Too bad it was only for one night, too!

Bodrum

The castle in Bodrum.

The whole castle.

Next, onto Santorini. The island is an active volcano, with black sand and red sand beaches. This is the city of Fira, famous for the view and the buildings on the cliff.

Ready to watch the sunset!

It was an awesome sunset!

The church

Our hotel in Santorini was called Smargdi. It's run by a Greek family, the whole family. The women make all the meals, and they went out of their way to make everyone feel at home. It was the best hospitality we've ever had at a hotel.

Perissa, the black sand beach.

One last glimpse as we rode away on the ferry. It was our favorite place of the entire trip.

The island of Naxos

A nighttime walk on the beach.

Agia Anna beach, Naxos

Local products

We ate several gyros from this stack of pork. They were De-li-cious.

The Acropolis in Athens, amidst a big modern city. The structures were built in the 5th Century BC. It was hot up there, 44 C (110 F).

The Parthenon, which seems to be under restoration constantly.

The Parthenon

The Erechtheion

Zurich, Switzerland from up above.