High - 'Anything Can Happen Day'... How could I have forgotten the Peacocks?
Seriously, how could I forget 'Peacock Day?'...
Whenever we vacation we have a family tradition... It's called 'Anything Can Happen Day'... The rules are:
We actually had 2 'Anything Can Happen Days' on this trip. The first was a drive DOWN the coast. That was the day we discovered Crystal Cove State Park. The second was a drive UP the coast (not to be confused with our LONG drive up the coast to Carmel/Monterey.)
Sarah and I wanted to show the boys some of the sights we happened upon during our drive along the coast last year. Unfortunately, I forgot that we didn't stay on PCH (Pacific Coast Hwy.) that entire trip... At one point we branched off to Beach Blvd. which ran along the ocean and we took in some incredible sights in Long Beach. However, miss Beach Blvd. and PCH takes you into some neighborhoods where the term 'incredible' has a whole different meaning. Needless to say, the guys were NOT impressed.
Eventually I acquiesced and 'allowed' the GPS to point the way to Palos Verdes. We were getting hungry so my husband broke the other rule and that way to allow the GPS to point us to a restaurant. I forgave him because the restaurant was in a quaint little mall and I'm always up for shopping at quaint little malls. The bonus was the restaurant looked over an ice skating rink where we watched adorable little girls practice their spins and jumps (little jumps, but hey, even Kristi Yamaguchi had to start somewhere.)
Anywho, following lunch we got back on track with 'Anything Can Happen Day' when I forked over $2 to step into a machine that simulated a hurricane.... Having my hair blown into a tangled mess? Not something I'd normally be up for BUT, it WAS (say it with me now) 'Anything Can Happen Day.'
So we shopped around a bit and eventually found the cutest little toy store that soaked us for a $20 gizmo for my niece & nephew. But as we were leaving the store we noted a sign out front hawking a book about the 'Wild Peacocks of Palos Verdes.' I urged my daughter to go back in and find out more... yeah, okay, I HAD to go with her. What we discovered was there are hundreds of wild peacocks which were brought to the area YEARS ago, long before multi-billion-dollar houses littered the hillsides... Back when some foreign sheik owned all the land and determined it was MUCH too quiet up in those hills, so he shipped in a bunch of peacocks (notoriously noisy birds... beautiful but noisy.)
So the owners of the shop pointed us to a street called Strawberry Lane, which was quiet a bit further away then we had anticipated but thanks to the GPS we were able to find it.
At first we thought the lead was going to be a disappointing one but then "LOOK!" Nature Girl shouted from the back seat. "There's a peacock right there!" And as I slowed the van eventually we started seeing them everywhere! Some of the peacocks were quite bold and ventured right up to the van hoping for a handout but we were fresh out of breadcrumbs... Well, not quite, there were those stale 'Cheeze-its' in the back but we thought better... It simply wouldn't do to return the rental car with peacock dents all over it.
It really was an amazing sight though to see peacocks just lazing in peoples yards, hanging out on their driveways, sitting on their fence posts... And OH, what yards, driveways & fence posts. Nature Girl says she's decided where she wants to live when she leaves home............ Um yeah, good luck with that!
Since I was driving the following pictures are courtesy of my husband. So if you consider these less than stellar shots?.... It's his fault.
Anything Can Happen Day?... It was a real HIGH!
Whenever we vacation we have a family tradition... It's called 'Anything Can Happen Day'... The rules are:- Get in the car and drive.
- See what happens.
We actually had 2 'Anything Can Happen Days' on this trip. The first was a drive DOWN the coast. That was the day we discovered Crystal Cove State Park. The second was a drive UP the coast (not to be confused with our LONG drive up the coast to Carmel/Monterey.)
Sarah and I wanted to show the boys some of the sights we happened upon during our drive along the coast last year. Unfortunately, I forgot that we didn't stay on PCH (Pacific Coast Hwy.) that entire trip... At one point we branched off to Beach Blvd. which ran along the ocean and we took in some incredible sights in Long Beach. However, miss Beach Blvd. and PCH takes you into some neighborhoods where the term 'incredible' has a whole different meaning. Needless to say, the guys were NOT impressed.
Eventually I acquiesced and 'allowed' the GPS to point the way to Palos Verdes. We were getting hungry so my husband broke the other rule and that way to allow the GPS to point us to a restaurant. I forgave him because the restaurant was in a quaint little mall and I'm always up for shopping at quaint little malls. The bonus was the restaurant looked over an ice skating rink where we watched adorable little girls practice their spins and jumps (little jumps, but hey, even Kristi Yamaguchi had to start somewhere.)
Anywho, following lunch we got back on track with 'Anything Can Happen Day' when I forked over $2 to step into a machine that simulated a hurricane.... Having my hair blown into a tangled mess? Not something I'd normally be up for BUT, it WAS (say it with me now) 'Anything Can Happen Day.'
So we shopped around a bit and eventually found the cutest little toy store that soaked us for a $20 gizmo for my niece & nephew. But as we were leaving the store we noted a sign out front hawking a book about the 'Wild Peacocks of Palos Verdes.' I urged my daughter to go back in and find out more... yeah, okay, I HAD to go with her. What we discovered was there are hundreds of wild peacocks which were brought to the area YEARS ago, long before multi-billion-dollar houses littered the hillsides... Back when some foreign sheik owned all the land and determined it was MUCH too quiet up in those hills, so he shipped in a bunch of peacocks (notoriously noisy birds... beautiful but noisy.)
So the owners of the shop pointed us to a street called Strawberry Lane, which was quiet a bit further away then we had anticipated but thanks to the GPS we were able to find it.
At first we thought the lead was going to be a disappointing one but then "LOOK!" Nature Girl shouted from the back seat. "There's a peacock right there!" And as I slowed the van eventually we started seeing them everywhere! Some of the peacocks were quite bold and ventured right up to the van hoping for a handout but we were fresh out of breadcrumbs... Well, not quite, there were those stale 'Cheeze-its' in the back but we thought better... It simply wouldn't do to return the rental car with peacock dents all over it.
It really was an amazing sight though to see peacocks just lazing in peoples yards, hanging out on their driveways, sitting on their fence posts... And OH, what yards, driveways & fence posts. Nature Girl says she's decided where she wants to live when she leaves home............ Um yeah, good luck with that!
Since I was driving the following pictures are courtesy of my husband. So if you consider these less than stellar shots?.... It's his fault.
Anything Can Happen Day?... It was a real HIGH!Labels: Family, Traditions, Vacation
posted by EmBee at 7:59 PM
3 Comments:
That is the best idea ever!!! I'm totally gonna steal that soon. Once at home and maybe once on our annual road trip.
And if we end up in Cali then I'm gonna look up some peacocks. ;)
boy, anything really can happen! great shots of the peacocks too. but why didn't you post a pic of your hurricane hair? hehehe
Hey Katy, I highly recommend it! And when in Cali, look for Strawberry Lane in Palos Verdes.
Lime, Um... I think that shot is on another laptop. :-)
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