Meditation and Gambling

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(The next few entries are from the California trip...I had to order a new card reader to go with the new memory card I bought....thus the delay with posting!)

Friday night, we had a great dual birthday dinner for Walter and Cindy in Little Italy.

On Saturday, after going to the street market in Little Italy, we all headed up the coast for some real California time..it was sunny (still cold though..) and people were surfing...and roller skating...and just being cool...
Walter drove us from north of Solana Beach to within sight of Tijuana. We started the day off with a drive to Deer Park Monastery, where I had attended a retreat with Thich Nhat Hahn a few years ago. I wanted to show Bill the beautiful setting and participate a "Day of Mindfulness" if possible. We arrived there just as the sun came out and had a peaceful walking meditation up the mountain, followed by a question and answer session (it was the end of youth retreat, so the questions came from that group).

We left the monastery and decided to drive to the Palomar Observatory. We looked for place to eat, and finally settled on an Indian casino. The meal was uninspired. I decided to bet a dollar in the slots on the way out, and we won $4.00...helped to offset the meal....The drive continued through scenic hills and valleys, but as we started up Palomar Mountain, we were quickly in the clouds. We tried to make the closing time of 3:00pm, but didn't suceed....

The drive back was through miles of citrus groves..I was surprised to see them at a relaitively high elevation.

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Photos

Little Italy at Night
All the neighborhoods have refurbished or recreated the old signs that once identified the area. We ate dinner down here...the streets and side walks were packed with people strolling....