My Girl’s Birthday
And now for the most special birthday of the year. Who would that be? My girl. My wife and the best person in the world – Tu McKenna!
Big Fun in Big Sur
Big Sur is a very sparsely populated area on the Central Coast of California that is famous for some of the most dramatic coastline in the entire world. Big Sur got its name from the Spanish name, “El Pais de Grande Sur” which means the big country of the south (because it is south of San Francisco).
Big Sur extends from San Luis Obisbo to Monterey and it is some of the grandest and most amazing coastline that you could ever visit. Before HighWay 101 was built Big Sur was so wild that it was nearly inaccessible so very few people would ever go to visit. Up until the 1950’s only two homes in the entire region had electricity. This was truly the last of the last of the wild west.
Can you imagine coming to this area in the 1800’s? It must have been amazing. Too bad that during the Gold Rush most of the Coastal Redwoods were cut down. That is a tragedy. The area has since been designated as a park and it is well protected.
When you drive through Big Sur, the road winds and zig zags for miles and miles and miles. About 60 miles actually. You will need at least half a day if not a full day to make the entire drive because you will want to stop at many of the scenic views along the road.
The first white settlers moved to Big Sur in 1862 after they were promised 160 acres of free land if they went to the place and built their homes. The settlers would primarily make their money by harvesting bark and selling it.
We stopped off and saw an amazing location that looked like it was an Oasis straight out of the movies. A waterfall descends on a white sandy beach and stone outcroppings with trees and vegetation grow from the sea. It was simply an amazing place.
Big Sur is heavily populated with thousands and thousands of sea otter. In fact the whole coast is populated with tons of wildlife, seals and birds. Big Sur is a great place to camp and hike.
The cliffs in Big Sur are so dramatic and so steep that it can be pretty alarming when you stand on the edges. In some cases you could drop several hundred feet on to the rocks below. Here, Tu stands on tree stumps. Just behind her, the cliffs drop off what must be 500 hundred feet or more to the coast below.
Bixby Bridge is one of the most iconic photo locations in California. If you come to California or see any pictures of the most beautiful places, Bixby Bridge will definitely be on the list. I put Bixby Bridge and Big Sur on my list of the 10 most beautiful places in California – 10 Most Beautiful Places in California.
Bixby Bridge actually looks great when the skies are cloudy and dramatic. This is a picture that I took last time I drove there and I like how the skies a little cloudy which made the pictures more interesting.
You can see our gallery of pictures here – Big Sur Gallery.
Vintage Ballerina
What girl doesn’t dream of being a ballerina? Kathy had a vintage Ballerina costume that was in in the 1940’s. It fit Tu perfectly so she put it on and danced like a Ballerina on the bed.
And he didn’t want to take any pictures.
Ryan wasn’t feeling so good. But his mom convinced him he should. She said, and I quote, “he will make you look like a rockstar” which was very kind.
Sometimes I sit and wonder to myself, how is that I am able to get people to do almost anything in pictures. Take for example Ryan here. He was completely hung over. Yet somehow he was convinced that putting on a ladies hat, his mom’s frilly jacket and a pair of size 7 woman’s boots was actually a good idea and would make a great picture.
Actually I think it did. Thank you Nash – Mr Ryan Nash. You do look like a fabulous rock star here.
The Proper Cowboy Distance is 2 Feet, Maybe 3.
The Nash Family are a Western sort. By and By they might put on their Sunday Fancies and take pictures and such. But theres not much time for such things and the like, particularly not with chores to do around the house.
First there’s Papa Nash. Papa Nash is keen on fine spirits of the varietal found south of the California border. Down there, Whiskey and the like goes by the name of Tequila and legend has it that is created with cactus. Imagine that, Whiskey from the Cactus of all things. Moonshiners and like minded folk out there in the desert creating spirits from Cactus!
Papa Nash, on a particularly parched afternoon, is known to take a long tug from the bottle and exclaim to himself, “My my my, the Gods themselves have created a nectar so fine. I do declare”. Occasionally he will partake of that nectar a second or third time as a honorable gesture to those Gods so as not to get them riled for lack of respect of their most charitable gift to humankind.
And Mama Nash, she spends her time a keepin up the house. A sweepin and a hootin and hollerin at the boys to keep their dusty boots off the floor and such. Them boys know all to well that Mama Nash will not tolerate idleness and filth inside the house.
If’n they keep on a doin it, she claims, “they’ll be hell to pay boys” (and she says it two times on account of Papa Nash needs a double warning to heed her.
Mama Nash keeps the good humor in the house and makes a downright wicked plate of twice baked grits on hard tack with beef jerky drippins.
Mama Nash and Papa Nash been married and such on and so forth for a goin on a more years then it takes a stubborn mule to travel to them Chinese parts on the other side of the world. Now, the proper Cowboy distance between a Man and Wife is 2 feet in public and 3 feet when they’s in private.
Occasionally Papa Nash tries a sneeky smooch. “We’ll have none of that”, Mama Nash yells and quickly draws her gun from her holster to a show him she means business. She once fired a shot in the air to prove she was serious.
The pride and joy of the Nash family is them youngins. Young strappin boys that can bale a yard of hay quicker than you can yell, “bale that hay boys”. And they can eat. Mama’s twice-cooked grits go down real fine like after a hard day toilin in the Sun. Mama Nash shore do love them boys.
Youngin Ryan, the elder of the youngin’s is known for a whoopin and a hollerin something fierce when he goes to that big city – The Town of Las Vegas Neeeevada. Why just the other night he closed down every Saloon in the city and the local papers reported that he wasn’t drinkin Sasparella but the devils juice itself. Would you imagin that? The other youngin Kevin is a minstrel, wandering towns a singin a songs like a bird with a harp.
Well, that there is the story of the Nash family. A good family. A wholesome and clean living sort that isn’t beyond having a hearty laugh when temperaments allow. On the by and by we’ll see them soon I reckon.
