Nepenthe and Big Sur

Greetings from Carmel. We are having a wonderful time with our best friends; we surprised Dave so much when we arrived. He simply couldn't believe we came out for his birthday! We celebrated at a restaurant near their house; let me just say Aletha is a gourmet cook and last night fed us the most incredible dinner. I think I'll need to join a gym when I get home! Yesterday we drove down to Big Sur, stopped at some shops and then had lunch at Nepenthe~ classic bohemian Big Sur style and at one time Orson Wells bought it  and gave it to Rita Hayworth.

Loved seeing these mushrooms with the Dogwood growing next to them.  We have the variegated Dogwood at home and it was fun to see it here.

This view was from the deck surrounding the restaurant; the green grass you see is land owned by the David Packard Family Trust.  Hubby's dad was good friends with the Packards and hubby grew up vacating at their summer cabin on Lake Tahoe~so this made him smile.  

The last photo is from Dave and Aletha's deck looking out towards the Reserve-the private golf course.  It will be a rainy cool day here today and we will be watching the Broncos game.  Aletha is feeding us so well, I will try to take photos of dinner tonight.  

I hope your weekend has been so relaxing and enjoyable.  

Until tomorrow~

Noreen