If spontaneity is the spice of life,
our little road trip on Sunday was a mediterranean street festival on wheels –
a true feast for the tongue, delight for the nose, treat for the eye, and a joy for the spirit.
The first stop on our adventure was
Before entering the mission,
we went into the San Juan Bakery and Grocery for a pick-me-up.
And what goes better with a cup of coffee than a ginormous Bavarian crème donut?
Fully fueled, we strolled through the museum,
taking in the mood of mission life at the turn of the 19th century,
Then we meandered about the garden for a time…
and into the church
(c) Ann Caviness
Next stop,
the Monarch Sanctuary in Pacific Grove
Besides being smitten by these three beauties
Yours Truly, Ann Caviness, Pamela Livingston
the crowd was mesmerized by the thousands of butterflies
(7,874 to be exact, according to the count they made on Monday, January 26th)
floating and flitting,
flapping and fluttering, clustering and resting throughout the grove.
When these five sat still enough to be admired,
Ann managed to capture their magnificence
(c) Ann Caviness
(c) Ann Caviness
(c) Ann Caviness
Once we had our fill of danaus plexippos, we headed farther south, down 17-Mile Drive.
The toll road hugs the coast, sporting views beyond words
(c) Ann Caviness, but with my cell phone camera
After a late lunch in Carmel-by-the-Sea
we headed home again, but not without saying good night to an exquisite day
(c) Ann Caviness
Donna Gwinnell Lambo-Weidner 
So nice. I am so in love with butterflies. How in heavens name do they count them?
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I have NO idea…one by one? I thought of you and Neola and the loverly time we had in Carmel. So, when are you coming back?
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You made me hungry. Time for a snack.
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The turnovers there were enough to make you dance, too!
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What a fabulous day you had – feeding, fluttering, vista-ing. What a treat to see sights not all monochromatic white. Sigh.
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I am truly blessed, Susanne…by my surroundings and new friends. Sounds like you need a vacay down south. Stay well!
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well, i do expect the b e s t of my daughter since i feel the same way. as to the butterflies..i hope they find a home in california since they’re losing their home in mexico, the monarchs, i am talking about. love mom
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Thanks Mom! Love you too.
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This starts out like sheer poetry. And then lowered the boom on me with “ginormous Bavarian crème donut!” Oh my goodness….the rest of your day HAD to be great after that. 😉
your sweet-tooth Bloomy (blog roomy)
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The apple fritter made the Bavarian creme look like a Dunkin’ Munchkin. Your entire family could fill up on just one. Have a sweet weekend!
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This looks like a lovely day out!
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It was stunning A. And I think it hit one of the points on your bucket list…the butterflies?
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Hmmm….can’t remember where I mentioned butterflies, but for sure “stunning” sounds like a good descriptor of your day! I do thank you for the follow on my site as well….I thought we were already following each other, but when you followed me I checked to be sure I had you on my list and lo and behold you were not there! So have rectified that now and figure I probably have a whole lot of catching up to do on back reading on your site!
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Hmmm…my boo boo. I also thought I was following you. Ha! Look at us…must’ve been in a former blogging life. Glad we could catch up again!
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