Beautiful Tribute to Yosemite National Park

"Project Yosemite"

Time Lapse Photography by Sheldon Neill and Colin Delehanty (using the Canon 5D Mark II)

This is one of the most beautiful tributes that I've seen to one of our country's oldest National Parks. Stunning time lapse photography and use of movement...especially love the night scenes~

Yosemite HD from Project Yosemite on Vimeo.

August 12, 2011

Photo Shoot with Cynthia Ziemer

Friend, Superstar, and Fellow Djun Djun Mama~

by r.s.thurston photography

"There is just one life for each of us: our own." ~Euripides

*Feel free to leave your sweet comments at the end of this entry~

It's a dream to have the chance to photograph more girlfriends and among those a very special group of women: the Djun Djun Mamas. I've photographed both Lisa Beck, our leader, as well as Kris Oster another phenomenal woman in her own right.

Each of the women in this group are extraordinary. Accomplished. Creative. Kind. Generous. Wise beyond this life. And radiant.

Cynthia is all of these and more. I continue to learn more about her through moments together like this shoot. How she is capable of giggling and smiling most any day of the week. How she loves bringing coconut water to our Djun Djun Mama potlucks. How she adores driving her '64 Red Corvette (which has a story of its own). How she loves music concerts and volunteering locally. And how gorgeous she looks in jewel tones like purple, green, and turquoise!

We had originally planned this shoot b/c she'll be featured on the back of an upcoming issue of Casa Magazine with her company Prospect Mortgage.....but it gave us the opportunity to have way more fun with it and get a little more artsy.

And not surprisingly through the process of working with her, I learned that Cynthia is truly a beautiful woman inside and out.

And now for the slideshow...

If the music doesn't come on when you play the slideshow. Refresh your webpage and restart the slideshow.

Enjoy!

Panzumo's Spring Equinox Concert at the Music Academy of the West~

Montecito, California

by r.s.thurston photography

"We ought to dance with rapture that we should be alive and in the flesh, and part of the living, incarnate cosmos."

D.H. Lawrence

Please feel free as well to share this link with your friends and family~ The more "likes" and shares I get the more opportunities there will be for these photos to reach a larger audience~

I felt so euphoric after this concert for several reasons. It's a true gift when you find a sense of home among a group of individuals. Over the years, I've sweat, I've laughed and I've cried with these men and women. Many have become good friends and others I'm just getting the chance to know.

On Friday, March 25th I had the unique opportunity to both perform with the Djun Djun Mamas as well as photograph the whole event. I've been involved whether as spectator, supporter, or performer with Panzumo for the past 10+ years and this, by far, was their most amazing performance to date.

Set in the Music Academy of the West's brand spankin' newly renovated Hahn Hall the seats were nearly packed. Lisa Beck and Budhi Harlow organized and choreographed the night's program of West African rhythms fused with keyboards, viola, and horns as well as Tribal Fusion, West African, and Bollywood dance performances and a thundering performance by the Djun Djun Mamas. Afterwards, we poured outside to fill our bellies with scrumptious homemade dishes of coconut pudding, soups, fresh fruits, salads, and drinks.

It's a rare thing to have the opportunity to watch world-class dancing in a venue like Hahn Hall and then get fed afterwards!

Please make sure to watch the slideshow and tell me what you think~ If the music doesn't come on right away then "refresh" your web page and the click "play" again~ Lisa and I both thought this song would be a purrfect fit for the night!

If you're interested in purchasing any prints, click on "visit gallery" in the upper right hand corner of the slideshow. You can purchase prints individually from the gallery~ Feel free to email me with any questions~ Enjoy and thanks again for your support!

"Rachel S. Thurston: Entertaining and Lovable"

Featured Guide by Santa Barbara Adventure Company

Turns out I have attributes curiously similar to a Border Collie. ;)

I had the distinct honor of being featured by The Santa Barbara Adventure Company on their website blog this past month. I've worked on and off with them for around six years as a kayaking, biking, hiking, ropes course, team building, and wine tasting guide. During the last eight years I've known him, Mike Cohen has done an extraordinary job of growing his company into a force to be reckoned with in Santa Barbara. He and his fleet of super fun, experienced guides put together some truly awesome trips.

But enough about them and more about me.

Check out this article. It was so fun doing this interview and reflecting on where my interests and attention has been going the past several years~

A big thank you to Suzanne Cohen for putting this all together!

Check it out here:

http://www.sbadventureco.com/blog/rachel-thurston-entertaining-and-lovable/

For more info about their uber-fabulous trips check out:

www.sbadventureco.com

Photo by Karen Custer Thurston

Full Version of Article From Santa Barbara Adventure Company:

Magical Moments in Santa Barbara....

‎"Our hearts were drunk with a beauty our eyes could never see."

George William Russell

July 25th, 2010
Santa Barbara, CA

Co-Creating The Journey:
Photo Shoot With Lisa Beck and Budhi Harlow of Panzumo
West African Dancers and Drummers

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
Ursula K. Le Guin.

I don’t’ even know where to begin with explaining my relationship with Lisa and Budhi. Friends. Mentors. Co-creators. Teachers.




We perform together. We dance together. We drum together. We commune together. And we occasionally sing together. It’s difficult to separate out the levels of relationship that we have together. But one of the most cherished of these relationships is as their photographer. In the past ten years, we’ve had several photo shoots together which have unintentionally archived our journeys as artists from their first music cd around nine years ago with their first band to their connection with the ocean and Lisa’s growth as a dance teacher to this summer during which our creative energies only seem to growing without abandon and Lisa has become something of a mythical creature…graceful, gorgeous in a very unself-conscious way, strong. There is so much that I wanted to create with her photographically this time around that we decided to do a separate photo shoot of her as goddess portraits (to be released soon) and another of her and Budhi shining in their musical elements….



Budhi is a phenomenal musician, composer, teacher and performer. And in the past ten years, Lisa has not only blossomed as a highly talented musician and dancer but she has become one of the most gifted dance teachers I’ve ever known (up there along with Vanessa Isaac and my beloved Mamacita). Her humility, grace, unending ability to combine her multiple talents have helped make her such an amazing leader. Together they have helped to create a truly beautiful community of drummers and dancers in Santa Barbara over the past several years and one which I consider to be one of the many amazing blessings of my life.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. There is a beautiful synergy that occurs when creative spirits come together with a similar vision and you can almost taste it in the electrical texture of the photos….This is the path that I have envisioned for many years to come. It’s difficult to imagine having more fun than we did together on this shoot but, after years of experience with them both, I know it’s always possible! ;)

Weekly Teaser....
Here's the first shot I've edited from my recent Goddess Photo Shoot with Lisa Beck~
LOVE IT! More to come....

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~John Muir

Kern River Trip With Family And Friends~

The first river you paddle runs through the rest of your life. It bubbles up in pools and eddies to remind you who you are.
~Lynn Noel

For those of you who have known me in my pre-Santa Barbara Days...I spent many blissful years living and working on rivers. For nearly five years I worked as a park ranger, a commercial river guide, and as an Outward Bound Instructor (yes, I made many young teenagers occasionally cry but was compassionate all around!) throughout the American West (California, New Mexico, Utah/Colorado, the border of Texas and Mexico, and along the border of Minnesota and Canada.

Those were some of the best years of my early adulthood...seasons spent running rivers, living out of tents and tupperware, living into the strength of my body, pushing my physical and psychological comfort zones, basking in the intense desert heat, and living as a nomad through the winters when I traveled throughout Latin America and Australia.

It is true that you can never step into the same river...twice. The same goes with revisiting those years lived on and along the river. But like any river rat, the river continues to have a sweet spot in my heart with deep roots. I still have occasional midsummer night dreams of navigating whitewater in some foreign wilderness. And every time I visit the river I am a different person living out a whole new chapter of my life...but yet the river remains some constant unchangeable force.




I was fortunate to recently return to the river on an incredible trip with family and friends. Although it has been years since I went down the river and even longer since I gave an impromptu "safety talk" or lesson on reading whitewater, it felt so encouraging to know I still had the chops! All those skills came immediately back. I was in absolute heaven being on the water again. My heart sings on the water and I feel like I am home again...all the rivers seem to be one and to contain the same fluid energy.

I'm so grateful to the Abbeys for putting together another Amazing Trip and to the rest of the Rousseau Clan and to my friends Richard and Michele for making the weekend into such an amazing trip! I can't wait to go back to the river and the Sierras with good friends and family~

Life continues to move quickly along...at sometimes speeding up...but when I'm on the river, something seems to have stayed the same if only for a brief moment in time.

March 26th, 2010
The Best Family Portrait Shoot (I love that I can say that!)
Elaine, Mike, and The Little Man...Mister Ethan Best

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses.
~Joyce Brothers

I had a truly wonderful afternoon photographing Elaine, Mike, and their young son Ethan at a nearby beach. Although the beginning of the shoot got off to a somewhat chilly start for the little tyke we really gained some great momentum as the sun set lower over the ocean and we tried out a few fun poses. I especially love the little Scottish Hat that Elaine brought along for Ethan...a few of my favorite pictures feature him silhouetted against the sand and lapping waves...the images could just have easily come from Isle of Skye, Scotland as Santa Barbara. Ahh, the magic of photography!

Instead of posting individual photos, I'm going to post slideshow of the shoots I'm doing. I'm so incredibly stoked that I've found a new service which allows me to create slideshows which maintain the integrity of the photos' vivid colors and sharpness! Enjoy some of my favorite pics of the Best Gang. I hope you enjoy them!

Zenfolio Here I Come!

I am so incredibly stoked to have found an incredible new online photo viewing and purchasing company called Zenfolio. I have been having an absolute blast uploading some of my latest portrait galleries and creating slideshow which I can finally upload to my blog! It's been a heck of a lot more user-friendly than another company which I've been using.

Here's my first slideshow "Dancing Goddesses!" featuring the ever so talented West African Dancer and Drummer Lisa Beck (Panzumo) and Turkish Egyptian Dancer, Percussionist, and Choreographer Karen Custer Thurston.

(www.turkishegyptiandance.com).

BABIES, BABIES, BABIES!
A Shoot With Princess Corianna Camenzind
San Francisco, California

There is only one really pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.
Chinese Proverb



I had the opportunity to go on another fantastic road trip with Steve up to San Francisco last fall to visit some friends of ours and attend a Hard Assets Conference (more his thang than mine). The coolest part of the trip was the fact that I had just bought a brand-new Canon 7D which shoots gorgeous pics and takes digital high-def video (which I went on to shoot a lot of on my trip to Ecuador!).


My first shoot with the 7d was with the veritable and charming Princess Corianna up in San Mateo....
What greater beauty than to see a little naked baby on a sheepskin rug....she was gorgeous! And takes quite a bit after her Mama and Papa (Peter and Lisa Camenzind). After a crazy holiday season and a month long trip to South America, I've finally had the chance to edit and post a few of my favorite pics from the morning with them.









How do you spell "adorable?" C-O-R-I-A-N-N-A!

Pugs, Play-Time, and Parenthood
Photo Shoot with Jeff, Hilda, Quinn, and Sturgis Kirchmaier
With Special Guest Appearances by Buster and Rocky



Okay, I really have it rough. I've braved it as a kitten wrangler and now I'm courageous enough to take on pugs. I originally met Hilda and her family through my Baby Love (aka "Steve") but never had the opportunity to spend more than an hour or so with her family. Let me tell you, you really get a sense of family dynamics and how someone is as a parent or a child when you're photographing them. I was truly blown away by what good parents both Hilda and Jeff are and how patient their sweet kids Quinn and Sturgis are. And as if that wasn't enough, I got to shoot the pugs, too!







I'm a total sucker for puppies and kittens, I've gotta say. I grew up with animals (peacocks, bear, turkey, exotic deer, crocodiles, ferrets, raccoons, horses, dogs, cats, and so on...just your typical Midwestern Childhood on an exotic animal farm) and I feel real comfortable with them. But it's a true treat to have the chance to work with them as well! And let me say, these were the most photogenic, patient puppies you could imagine...as soon as they knew I was pointing the camera at them, they relaxed and put on their best "mugs." Since they're growing fast, Hilda wanted to catch some great pics of the family with the little ones before they get any bigger. At the time of the shoot, they were a couple of months old.

OH MY GOSH. THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!





Towards the end of the shoot, the sky had turned really dark from storm clouds. I had hopes that we'd get a thin sliver of light down at Hendry's Beach before nightfall. We raced down there and literally had about three minutes to get in a couple of really magical moments of light before it was gone. Such are the moments in photography. As an old friend once told me, "Everything in life, like in photography, comes down to two things: good timing and good lighting."
Touche!

2009 Year Of The Phoenix: From Fires, Floods, and Mayhem To Gingerbread, Pumpkins, And Afro-Cali Dance

Okay, so I'm not naked but it is a cute picture, isn't it?! :)

*So after spending weeks working on my holiday newsletter in three different programs and beating my head against the wall b/c of technical issues, I thought it might be best to take the path of least resistance and post my newsletter here where I can upload pictures and maintain the format I wanted...besides, newsletters are supposed to be fun, right?! ;)

2009 seems to have been a year of transitions and challenges…I've decided to call it the Year of the Phoenix where elements need to be destroyed to be reborn again. I’ve experienced many changes within my family that have presented incredible opportunities to deepen my connections with loved ones. I’ve also had several health challenges this past year which have reinforced my desire to take care of my health and to have compassion for those friends I know who are given similar “health opportunities.” That all said, I thought it best to write my newsletter in a different format and one of gratitude:

Twelve Things I’m Grateful For From 2009 In No Particular Order:

1) That after nine months of fighting some health challenges and major fatigue (long story…) I am feeling vibrant and full of energy again for the first time in about a year. I am able to dance, to sing, and to socialize with friends with the vibrancy that I used to!

2) That I was able to travel back to Indiana four time in five months and reconnect with an incredible group of friends, families, and neighbors there. That I was with my Dad and good friend Mike when my stepmother Susan passed away on June 1st. That I had the opportunity to be there for that amazing transition with my father and with her and that we were able to throw one of the most incredible Memorial Life Celebrations for her that any of us could have invisioned….bluegrass band, scrumptious food, wildflower bouquets, limericks and stories by some of her best friends and family members, a neighbor flying over the party and dropping colorful streamers on 150 people, sharing laughter, tears, and limericks….I've included a picture of Dad, Susan, and I from three years ago~



3) That my Dad’s in Texas on a hunting trip for Christmas and doesn’t have to suffer through another year of watching “Pride and Prejudice” for the 49th time, decorating and gift giving…he has the luxury of stuffing himself with frozen burritos, and spending hours on end reading his favorite books on economics and travel adventure in a one-room cabin with some of his best friends. Enjoy it now, Dad…you may get roped back into the holidays next year. ;)

4) That Steve and I have such amazing families….that they all share such great sense of humors, relish scrumptious food, travel, reading, and being with us. We had the opportunity to go on another Abbey family vacation to Punta Mita, Mexico for surfing, kayaking, and gorging on Chilaquiles. Steve and I also made a trip out to visit my Mamacita for the Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival this past October...four days of non-stop travel adventure filmmaking (I posted a blog about my favorites in October). My Dad also came out to visit Santa Barbara for the first time in about six years…and we had a blast watching movies, going target shooting (it's an Indiana thang), and whale watching.

5) That we have a roof over our heads and are financially solvent. It’s been a hard year for so many people who may have lost their homes in the fires here or through financial woes. I can’t help but feel blessed that we are living in Santa Barbara in a beautiful home. That our house and our kittens are fine and that although our house was evacuated during the third huge Santa Barbara fire that ravaged the hills above us...we're still here!

6) That I’m amazingly blessed to be heading on another adventure with my beloved Mama Chihuahua (Karen) and Baby Love (Steve) to Ecuador after the New Year for adventures in the Ecuadorean Andes….chasing wild horses, photographing wildlife and Quechua markets, trekking along ancient Incan roots, immersing ourselves in the gorgeous sounds of Spanish, and giggling together as much as possible~



7) That I’ve had the opportunity to engage again in the incredible Afro-Cali community of dance and drumming with my friends Lisa Beck and Budhi Harlow of Panzumo….that I’ve made such incredible friends through this family of musicians/dancers and that I continue having the opportunity to perform with Panzumo and the Djun Djun Mamas. If you're curious what kind of dancing and performing we do, I've included a couple of links to some short clips of our latest performances:

Djun Djun Mamas Drumming Ensemble on Winter Solstice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukDHHdBfL08

Panzumo Dance Performance of "Djole" at the Unitarian Church (Scroll to one third of the way through the clip to see our dancing): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huCzBNTVhgo

Tribal Arts Fair Performance (On Facebook ): http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1215179744326&subj=626981652

I'm also super grateful that Steve is engaged in something which brings him equal joy: Jiu Jitsu! He recently earned his blue belt and is completely obsessed with studying new moves…regularly practicing “choke holds,” “rear naked chokes,” and “triangles” on me when we really should be cuddling instead. ;)

8) That King Bee continues to perform into our ninth year….We’ve been through so much over the past nearly a decade now…and we continue having the opportunity to play for such wonderful people and venues. It's been an incredible nine years, guys! I'm so grateful to have music in my life on a regular basis and to be playing in a community which truly values good music.


9) That Steve continues to be my intrepid partner on the good days and the more challenging days and that, no matter what issues arise in our lives, we’re able to communicate with each other through love, respect, and humor.

10) That I’m so blessed to have the friends in our lives that I do. Some of whom live several states away but whom are always close to my heart. These friendships are the bedrock of my life and give me the strength to keep going and the inspiration to do better on a daily basis!


11) That I’ve had the opportunity to grow professionally on several levels. This year I had my first national magazine feature in Women’s Adventure Magazine as well as several other fun stories in Destination Wine Country. More importantly, my photography has continued to evolve and grow. I’ve had the opportunity to photograph several incredible individuals this year with whom I’ve been able to deepen my connection. I look forward to this next year when I plan to devote even more of my time and creativity towards my photography. You can see some of my latest portrait sessions on this blog throughout the year or check out some of my new portrait galleries at www.rsthurston.com. I'll be regularly adding to my galleries there.



12) That my Mum and I continue to deepen our relationship with each other and continue to follow those pursuits which bring us so much joy! She’s doing lots of horseback riding, hiking, cooking, and dancing with her performance group, “Al Rakasaat.” If you haven’t seen her dance website which I finished this past spring, you’ve got to check it out here: www.turkishegyptiandance.com. I'm very proud of it! Besides putting the whole thing together for her, I also did all of the photography on the home page.

Overrall, I’m ending the year feeling incredible grateful for the gifts of this past year and I go into 2010 with the feeling that the ground has been cleared for some really powerful things to happen in this coming year. I was recently given a very heartfelt gift by my stepmother’s aunt who is a talented, whimsical artist. On the back of the canvas was a quote by Friedrich Nietzsche I’d like to live by in this next year of creativity and gracious living: “The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.”

And as my stepmother was famously known for saying, “Life is good, isn’t it?! “
Hoping that you have the courage to face things in your life which you need to change, the wisdom to recognize things you can’t, and that you start and end each day feeling grateful for all of the blessings in your life.

With Love, Great Affection, and New Year's Wishes,
Raquelita

Road Trip to Big Sur with Mama Chihuahua!
Photography by Rachel S. Thurston and Karen Custer Thurston

*Although I'm posting this on August 19th, I originally wrote this blog on Wednesday, August 5th 2009
Big Sur, California

Listening to the angelic a cappella songs of a Russian Choir and the crackling, low roar of our fireplace…Mom and I are stretched out in our little cottage along Highway 1….long stalks of sunflowers stretch out beyond our windows beside clumps of lavendar…across the road is the Big Sur River winding its way through the redwoods….

We walked today along vertiginous cliffs amber in the light under a cloudless sky…the air was perfect….the hot breeze moving up the hillside carrying the fragrances of sweet musky sage and the occasional aroma of eucalyptus…a mixture of menthol and dill pickles, unmistakeable and surprisingly pleasant...smells that are uniquely reminiscent of California. We wander along one of the paths in Julia Pfeiffer State Park to one of my favorite waterfalls spilling out onto a crescent-shaped beach where the water laps up at such a perfectly gentle speed you’d think it was created for a Hollywood romance….it’s divine!











At sunset we climb an unearthly looking rock island until the only bit of earth separating us from the expanse of the Pacific is a 200-foot cliff face of golden rock studded with lichen and a blaze of red….the ocean so supple….gently rippling…so benign from here….the sky studded now with clouds stretched thin like cottonballs torn into long, transparent strips…..their underbellies a light pink…the Santa Lucia mountains behind us are turning amber…the chaparral and forests are deeper shade of jade…..and then the moon rises just as the sun sets….a brilliant yellow orb and below it the water shimmers like a luminescent spill of gold paint….a cool wind carrying the scent of salt water and summer sweeps past us….one of the docents shares a few rather lame ghost stories…I think a few of us were hoping for more ghosts stories….so Mom and I share stories of our own on our way down the hill…

The air has been deliciously warm and cool like lakewater that’s been stirred up after a hot day….it’s so relaxing here to be hunkered down in our cabin and to be still…

Tomorrow we head South to San Simeon and go on see the Hearst Castle...

August 16th, 2009
Mother Daughter Shoot with Vickie and Jeannette
Santa Barbara, California

I continue to be blessed in shooting incredible women….this past month I had the opportunity to shoot Victoria, a friend of mine through the Afro-Cali Dance Community (Panzumo), and her lovely and elegant Mamacita Jeannette. I love shooting mothers and daughters because of that incredibly deep bond that connects them through time and space unlike any other….no matter our ages, we remain daughters and mothers, sisters, and ideally, friends. I count myself lucky to be so close to my own mother and I could see that Victoria and her mother have a similarly close friendship. I think that being close to the women we love never fails to bring out our innermost goddess qualities and with that comes our greatest beauty and lights….

Directly below is the slideshow. The pictures have been condensed for the movie but it gives you an idea of the slideshow I created for them both....Just push the "play" button:






I had originally wanted to shoot at sunset along the ocean but the winter sun wasn’t in the right position so we found a garden setting instead that was even more resplendent in the late afternoon light. In the end, the choice was divine….the white and lemon-colored angel trumpet flowers, giant oak tree, and miniature orchids brought out even more of Victoria’s playful spirit and Jeannette's irresistible smile. We had planned on shooting for only an hour or so but, as always, I fell in love with the colors, the light, and their radiance….it was too much fun! The only challenge was getting Victoria’s blind, aging dog Lily to pay attention to the camera and not sulk….I managed to get a few good shots of her before she completely threw a fit and let us all know it was time to call it a day~

We all went home in the early evening euphoric from the shoot…except maybe the dog who was just relieved to be done with the whole ordeal.... ;)







The sweetest sounds to mortals given
Are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven.
~William Goldsmith Brown

“Staycation in Big Sur”

It’s funny how you can live with someone and be together for most hours of the day but not necessarily get quality time together. I think I’ve learned that Steve and I both need little mini getaways every month or so to refresh our connection with each other and get out of our heads and our work.

We both work from home so you’d think we’d have more opportunities for quality time together (which we do at different meals and impromptu parts of the day) but when you work at home, I think there are more challenges to unwinding at home and not having the details of your work invade your brain. We’ve learned how important the value of a little getaway can be, whether it’s a short camping trip or an overnight at a Bed & Breakfast. This past weekend, we met up with some friends for part of the weekend in Big Sus.

I think it was my third trip through there but we had more of a chance to explore a little more deeply. I’m still surprised by how expensive it can be staying there but it is possible to be frugal and camp in the state parks or book far in advance at some of the campgrounds (Fernwood, Big Sur Campground). Check out the Chamber of Commerce's sight on accomodation options.

A Few Cool Things About Big Sur:

~There’s a full moon ghost tour around the lighthouse every month during the peak season. Check out their tour schedules....


~Famed American novelist, eccentric, and Big Sur local Henry Miller once quipped that “Big Sur is as God intended the face of the earth to look.” In danger of sounding overly cliché, I have to say that Big Sur truly is gorgeous during all types of weather. From the dramatic, mystical quality of fog rolling up the cliff faces from the sea to the expansive blue skies and jaw-dropping sunsets on clear days….it’s difficult to go wrong. Pack for all kinds of weather.

~Continuing their tradition of fostering a thriving artistic community, The Henry Miller Library offers Wednesday night open mic nights, outdoor movie nights, and regular music concerts throughout the summer. Check out: www.henrymiller.org

The view at Nementhe is one of my favorites....the food, like most places in Big Sur, is fairly expensive so we opted for a light dinner and ordered some wine and paired it with smoked salmon and bruscetta topped with warm goat cheese and candied pecans. You just can't beat sitting at that overlook watching the moon rise from behind the mountains and passing slowly overhead...



~Big Sur is close to the elephant seals, awesome shopping in Cambria, and the Hearst Castle in the South and Carmel and the Monterrey Aquarium (check out the fiery jellyfish in the sapphire tank and the mating sea otters!).

~Electricity didn’t come to this largely rugged and isolated area until the early 1950s....

~Loads of artists, musicians, and outdoor lovers. Besides Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson have both called Big Sur home at one time.



I'm still getting to know the area bit by bit with every trip and feel that I've only scratched the surface. I was so thrilled with this past trip that I've already booked another trip for later this summer with Mama Chihuahua. Stay tuned....