PTR-Cheating on Mickey w/Harry!...OMG! Only a month to go!

[ACDSNY]

You will be in for a surprise, Fran was.

Uh-oh?!?

By the way the SacDismeet is now going to the Disney Family Museum. Want to come?

 

[franandaj]

Uh-oh?!?

By the way the SacDismeet is now going to the Disney Family Museum. Want to come?

Let's just say that I'm sure the guys from Pixar have been here!

I'd live to, but just not going to fit in the schedule.

 

[ACDSNY]

Let's just say that I'm sure the guys from Pixar have been here!

I'd live to, but just not going to fit in the schedule.

Now I'm really curious to see the cars.


With PIO's stop over in LA we'll all get a chance to visit.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I have eaten at Anderson's at Santa Nella on I-5.

 

[franandaj]

I saw that place on the cooking channel, and they were saying how much pea soup they sell a year and I was like Who knew that many people still ate pea soup?

The room looks nice and the food looks good, The Germ Killer is what caught my eye.... You know everything taste better and looks better after a little vodka...

I missed this post earlier....yeah, I don't like peas, so I've never really wanted to stop here though I've passed it many many times. The germ killer was good, but they didn't have my favorite, Belvedere, I had to go with Ketel one. Oh the suffering!

Now I'm really curious to see the cars.


With PIO's stop over in LA we'll all get a chance to visit.

Who said cars...

I have eaten at Anderson's at Santa Nella on I-5.

Seems a lot of people have been to these restaurants. it was interesting to learn today about how much the Anderson's have done for the area's economy.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Who said cars...

Wait.....Did you get to meet any celebrity????

 

[dgbg100106]

. The germ killer was good, but they didn't have my favorite, Belvedere, I had to go with Ketel one. Oh the suffering!

 

[rentayenta]

No pea soup? You were at Andersen's for haven's sake.

 

[franandaj]

Wait.....Did you get to meet any celebrity????

No pea soup? You were at Andersen's for haven's sake.

I don't like peas... Definitely don't want pea soup

 

[franandaj]

When we woke up the next morning, Fran was feeling substantially better. We were awake by 7:30AM and headed over to the Continental Breakfast at 8:00AM. It was pretty lackluster, the coffee was brown colored water and they had toast and some local danish patries. We decided that we'd rather eat something from McDonald's than have more here!

Fran was still tired from the drive so she sent me out for breakfast. There was a Mickey D's less than half a mile away, so soon I was back with her sausage burrito, a yogurt parfait for me and a coffee. Sad that McDonald's was better than the hotel. I decided that for Sunday I'm either finding Starbuck's or later on Saturday we saw a local drive through coffee shack. Anything has to be better than what I'd already had.

We didn't have to be anywhere until 9:45AM so she just rested while I DISed and helped PIO plan her next US visit! Just before 10AM we met up with our group at the rear of the hotel and they gave us our driving instructions and let us know how the rest of the morning was going to unfold. Shortly after 10AM we were on our way. Most of the drive we looked at this.

The drive took us through the countryside

Through a little bit of Solvang

And then back out through the country.

Our caravan passsed through a variety of regions in a very small area.

We passed through Wine Country

Though I didn't get pictures, we saw Long Horn Cattle, Goats, Ostriches, Sheep, Deer, Cows and Horses along the drive.

After about an hour, our ride was coming to an end for our next experience to begin.

What's that? You'll have to wait for my next update for that one!

 

[dgbg100106]

tease....

 

[PrincessInOz]

I think I even recognised some of your drive.


So.....where's the next update???

 

[franandaj]

tease....

I think I even recognised some of your drive.


So.....where's the next update???

It's in progress. I had to shut down the computer to pack it up to come home. But, since I saved it in word, the DIS won't eat it up and I can come back to it when I'm ready. We literally just walked in the door to 91 degrees. I'm waiting until later to bring in the luggage. I did get the cooler and the computer in. Will be working on it soon.

 

[Ccann]

I just sign on to your thread, I notice on your 1st page of this PTR you have a picture of a hotdog with pickles I couldn't help but noticed even when you were cheating on Mickey, Harry gave you a hidden Mickey in form of pickles..... Just had to share

 

[franandaj]

I just sign on to your thread, I notice on your 1st page of this PTR you have a picture of a hotdog with pickles I couldn't help but noticed even when you were cheating on Mickey, Harry gave you a hidden Mickey in form of pickles..... Just had to share

That's funny, I stole that picture from the Friendly's website, so they did that! I never noticed!

 

[franandaj]

We arrived at our destination right around 11:20AM and we were scheduled for an 11:30 tour of the

The angle of the sun was bad so if you can’t read it, the sign says, “Historical Museum and Carriage House”.

The place opened at noon, but they had arranged a special early entry for us at 1130AM. There was a small donation at the door and we were informed that the docent who would be conducting our tour was running a little late, so they told us to just wander around and enjoy the exhibits until he arrived to give us the full blown tour that we were waiting for. I had no idea what was really going on, so I was like, “huh?”

The room that we entered was full of all sorts of riding gear and other ranch accoutrements. There were signs talking about California’s history, first as a Mexican Territory, then it’s acceptance into statehood once gold was discovered. The ranchos in Southern California changed hands several times as different governments took over. Cattle branding was very important to the ranchers as were the hands who rode the horses and kept the cattle out of harms way so as to provide a nice profit at the end of the season.

The next room was “the Indian room”, but unfortunately DC has all the really cool Indian accoutrements and all that was in this room were a couple dozen woven baskets, they don’t photograph really well, so no pictures. The next room showed some of the items that had been donated by local families that had been passed down through the ages. Real home furnishings that you would have found on a farmhouse back in the day.

I thought that the kitchen stuff was fascinating. On the stove in the front right in the middle you see a waffle iron, a clothes iron, obviously spoons and tea pots and stuff.

Over here, the meat grinder. The one on the right must have been for coffee or spices, something like that. I’m sure glad we can get our food products today at the grocery store!

The bedroom was quite nice for a frontier bedroom, I’m assuming this is more from the 1920’s than 1800’s.

Of course the musical instruments always fascinate me!

By this time we had received word that the Docent had arrived and was ready for us in the Carriage House, but first a photo op with the Bell, those of you from California are familiar with this sight.

So we entered the Carriage House, I don’t know what I was expecting to see, (remember this is a club of car officianados), but I physically gasped when I entered this room. I had no idea we were going to be seeing something so huge, and by the end of our hour or so there, I was astonished at how much I had learned in such a short time.

We started off with this one which is not an original, it’s a replica built in Texas, and cost well over $100,000 to build. It demonstrates one of the average carriages of the late 1800’s. Nine passengers could fit inside. Three in front, three in back, three on the bench in the middle, then three could sit in front over the driver and shotgun passenger and three could ride backwards. I think he said each passenger could have 25 lbs of luggage. In the heyday of the gold rush, it was $200 to come to California and $100 to go back.

Someone asked a question as to why there was so much leather on the coach, and we turned to one of the authentic coaches to answer that question. Notice the curved leather strip at the bottom of the coach between the two wheels here.

I tried to take a close up of it here, but it’s kind of dark. These were the “shocks” on the coach.

He also explained about how the horses were “hooked up” to the coach. Notice that the bar below pivots back and forth as the horse takes strides with either hoof. The horses don’t tire out nearly as quickly with this pivot bar. Another interesting fact he shared was that the horses only pulled the carriage for a short run. You notice the coach we are viewing says Redwood City, La Honda and Pescadero. That was the route, another coach would pick up the passengers from there. Today you can make that drive in an hour or two depending on traffic and how leisurely your pace. But the horses would “learn” their route. They would ride a day, take a day off and be back on again. Some horses knew their routes so well that the drivers barely had to steer them, they practically drove themselves!

Now the two on the right are actually not considered “coaches”, maybe they are just buggies. I can’t remember what he called them, but since they are not covered they have another name. The coach above was meant to be pulled by six horses, while these could be pulled by just one horse.

This is our docent explaining all this information to us.

This is a food delivery wagon, usually pulled by about two horses.

I believe this was a “tour coach” which would take people sightseeing along the beaches. I believe that this one operated out of Long Beach.

Now this is technically not a coach, but it was used locally to transport children to one of the local schools in the area. Perfectly restored, it is in beautiful condition.

He spent a good deal of time explaining to us with this horse about the different types of reins, bridle, and how they were used to guide, discipline and reward the horse. The whip had many different uses, to speed up, slow down, steer, and soothe the horse when it was performing well. I would have had no idea. As far as I knew there was just one and you pulled on it when you wanted to stop. Shows you how much I knew!

[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

This was another one of those distance carriages (though when I say distance it is all relative), it would ride for say half a day, which now in our times, we can get to such places in about an hour with proper roads and such.

I think we all know what this one is, and I think we have seen one strategically placed, but with a rather different sort of horse in the front!

Now this is a mail truck.

Notice the grates to keep people from stealing the packages in side. Evidently this docent had been showing this vehicle for years and it took a child with down syndrome to point out to him that these are the same colors that FedEx Ground uses in their logo.

This was also a touring wagon, probably used for a hotel to shuttle it’s guests around town. There is no luggage storage here, so it would more likely be taking guests for a visit or a spot of tea at some prominent location.

I believe that this one was akin to the “sportscar” of today. Notice the mud flap in the front so that the horse doesn’t kick the mud up at you while he is trotting at a fast gait.

They called this one a “mudwagon” because it has no doors. Riding around the town, you could easily be splashed from puddles and mud in the streets. Another interesting fact is that we all learned about the pony express in school and at least out west it was drilled into us hard as if it went on for decades. But carriages like these brought on the demise of the pony express. It was really only in existence for 16 months.

Now this black carriage (sorry it’s so blurry), was designed by a rather portly Englishman. Remember all these other carriages fit quite a few people inside them because people of the 19th century were quite a bit smaller than we are today, even the early 20th century people were a lot smaller. However, this man wanted some room for himself and easier access, so you’ll notice the lower door with a step and the door itself is wider. These are the ones that I think of most when I think of old movies (which are not based in the west). This is more of a City Slickers type of carriage.

This is a “Shire wagon”, and horses all came from where they are named, so the various different names of horses were bred in those towns in England etc. (kind of like the French and their wines). Well so this wagon would be something that you would imagine horses like the Budweiser Clydesdales pulling in a parade. This is strictly a show wagon.

Now this is probably the most common type of wagon, it was a work wagon. The top can easily be separated from the bottom. Let’s say you want to haul lumber, take the top off and load your lumber on the bottom part. What if you wear out the top box, get a new one. If you wear out the bottom, get a new one. It’s much less expensive than having to replace an entire carriage. This was like the pick up truck of the 19th Century.

This one completely escapes me. Perhaps it was the “family wagon” for those going about town, who did not have a driver and the dad did the driving. Maybe the son sat “shotgun” and the ladies rode in back.

This one had something to do with going down a mountain. See the little flap on the floor, that could be used as a “brake”. It was meant to haul large quantities, and there were a few other features that he showed us that allowed the driver to control the speed going downhill.

I think this one speaks for itself!

Now this was an actual tour vehicle for Yosemite. They acquired it from a private collection and notice that it has not been restored whatsoever. Our guide really liked some of the pieces to retain their natural patina and wear and tear. He said it gave them character. Notice the tears in the seat on the second picture.

Everyone hung around and asked questions for probably another 15-20 minutes. He had all kinds of fascinating things to say, and I hope that I’ve related most of them to you. I didn’t realize I should have taken notes for this one and couldn’t have even if I wanted to!

Next we went to finish up the other two rooms and stuff. You don’t want to find yourself in here!

They had a couple rooms with some local history of the towns in the area and the local nursing college. I didn’t take any photos because it just wasn’t that interesting. However, they did have some old farm equipment that I found amusing.

So that’s it for the Santa Ynez Historical Museum and Carriage House!

Up next, Smorgasboard!

 

[usnuzuloose]

That is very interesting , never knew there were that many carriages. I would love to go someday. Solvange, I remember the streets. But not much more than that. I hope I am caught up. I am so bad...Great pictures also!

 

[ACDSNY]

Not quite the transportation mode I was expecting, but very interesting. We have quite a few of the household items and outdoor stuff around our place.

 

[ACDSNY]

Those with cows dancing on poles better watch out for this...milker