Didn’t sell a manuscript, though. My mother-in-law bought us the tickets. We spent about 9 days there, two summers ago – it was wonderful. It’s so unlike the West Coast. Out here we have dry summers and even mostly dry falls and winters. We don’t get much rain until well after Christmas, and it usually stops by the end of May, at which time everything dries out and the hills turn golden. Out there, it rained most days. We were shopping one day, and the rain hit like mad, but then stopped after about 20 minutes and the sun came out. The light was spectacular.

Everything there is so much older than it is here – a lot of the houses had little plaques on them stating they were built in 1770 whatever by Captain So-and-So.

Out here on the West Coast, the missions are the only things that even come close.

Anyway, we’re looking to go back again. 3 years ago

or something like that – they own a set of bath houses on a private lake, and she’s gone back to manage them for the summer, which she does every summer. I’m working on selling a manuscript, so I told her if I do sell it, my daughter and I will come out to spend a week and sightsee. 7 years ago