Judith--Summer Visitor #1

My sister Judith visited from Pennsylvania over Memorial Day weekend. She came seeking warm Southern California weather and sunshine. She didn't get quite that--it poured Friday night when we were at the CSULB baseball game and remained chilly and cloudy for most of the weekend. However, we still managed to have a little fun.

We went to the wineries in Temecula Sunday. Temecula isn't Napa but it is only an hour away and is in a beautiful area. Plus, there was wine. This is Judy and Pat at Wilson Creek, a beautiful winery that makes the most amazing almond champagne (and I don't even like champagne).

Judy and I at the Falkner Vineyard.

Pat and I at Falkner.

We also traveled 22 miles across the sea to beautiful Catalina Island. Most of the island remains wild backcountry with just two small villages on the shore. William Wrigley, the chewing gum magnet, began visiting the island in 1922 and is largely responsible for its preservation. The Chicago Cubs even held spring training on the island from 1921-1951. And--get this--there are a herd of bison on the island which are left over from a movie shoot in 1924. We didn't get to the interior of the island to see the bison. We saved that for next time.
We did a five mile hike that climbed two and a half miles for great ocean views and ended at the Botanic Gardens.

The scenery was beautiful!

This is the huge momument to William Wrigley at the top of the Botanic Gardens. I think his remains were buried here at one time. All the building materials including the tiles were made right on Catalina Island!