Califoregon Living

The next morning, after our San Jose afternoon, we slept in and then drove to Filoli
and spent about four hours walking the house, gardens, estate trail, gift shop, and cafe.

We were welcomed by a doe and her two fawns as we entered the property. On the way out, we saw three adult deer, one with antlers; a spike I think. Also on the property, next to the Visitor’s Center was a peacock! He was constantly preening. It took a while to get a photo of his face.

The courtyard and entrance to Filoli…

We did not take a tour, but just wandered around. We did not want to disturb the tour guide ahead of us, so we waited in the music room until the guide left the dining room. This is a photo of the boys quietly dancing to the lovely piano music being played by a pianist on a grand piano…

The dining room. The gorgeous three panel screen at the far end of the room is actually all needlepoint!!

The Butler’s pantry.  This is where meals were plated and all the china and silver was stored.  Next to it, the gorgeous kitchen…

The amazing garden…

Then, the one mile estate trail loop. After that, lunch in the cafe, and a visit to the gift store. We got to see the peacock on more time!

After the Winchester Mystery House, I took the boys on an Urban Adventure Quest
-San Jose version. It is kind of a scavenger hunt that takes you through town. We have done the Sacramento one and really enjoyed it.  This one was a little frustrating. We kept getting challenges/puzzles wrong and for the sake of time, just started skipping them and moving on to the next location.

The quest began at the Children’s Discovery museum and led us to a path along the Guadalupe river (like a creek) that runs through town. One of the clues was took us to this plaque and shoe sculpture.  The boys thought is would be fun to pose in the shoes.

Another clue took us to this little playground that had animal structures and a huge Monopoly board.  Ryan is working on the clue in this photo…

A nice water feature we found on the way to another clue…

Another clue took us to this Veteran’s Memorial…

Then…wait, what? “Mom it’s Adobe! This is where Adobe is! Can we go there???” (Alex uses their products regularly)

So, we detoured from the Quest and went to explore Adobe Headquarters…

The building was called the “Customer Experience Center”, so we decided to check it out inside. We walked into the lobby and immediately moved to the right and saw this beautiful piece of art…

Next to this was the cafe. It was lunch time so I asked if they wanted to have lunch in the Adobe cafe. They were so excited! We ordered our sandwiches and learned that our fountain beverages were free! They make their own chips; the boys called them “King of all chips”.

Their water options were still and sparkling…

After lunch, we went back into the lobby and I went up to the reception/security desk. I asked the security agent if they had any tours or anything to see for people visiting, and she said that there was nothing. I then asked if we could walk around the rest of the lobby and she said that we weren’t even supposed to be in there. (She was polite about it.). I then questioned why they named the building the “Customer Experience Center”, yet customers could not interact with the space. Ironic and misleading, in my opinion. I am not not even sure if we were supposed to have eaten in the cafeteria. Oh well. Still a lovely experience.

Back on the Quest, a clue led us to the Tech Museum. This interactive exhibit was located outside the entrance. We were really interested in this museum and would have spent the rest of the afternoon their, but unfortunately, they were closed through September 15th. We will have to come back to see it some other time.

It was nearing late afternoon and we were only half way through the quest. We were getting hot and tired, so we decided to end the quest and head for the hotel. Checked into the Hampton Inn in Mountainview. Had dinner delivered to our room and watched HGTV for the rest of the night. (We don’t have cable, so when we travel, I binge watch HGTV.)

I took the boys for an overnight trip to the San Jose area. Our first stop was to the Winchester Mystery House. Sarah Winchester, the widow to the man who made Winchester rifles, built a house in San Jose. She was told by a medium that she’d be haunted by the souls of those killed by Winchester rifles if they found her. So, she had builders work on her house 24 hours a day/7 days a week. There are stairs that end at the ceiling, doors that open to nothing, and over 140 rooms. Fascinating history and an entertaining place to walk through. The last time I was here we were not allowed to take photos, but we were this time. We just could not take photos of the other guests or the staff.

Exterior photos. It’s interesting to note that this house is completely surrounded by commercial buildings. The city built up around the house.

These little stairs are called “easy risers”.  Mrs. Winchester suffered from arthritis and could not step up a regular step. There were regular stairs for her staff, but she had special stairs made for her as well…they are situated all throughout the house.

The beautiful grand room where she would see visitors. The chandelier had 12 lamps, but she had it altered to make 13, her favorite number.

The bell tower.  Mrs. Winchester would have the bell ring at midnight to call in the spirits and again at 2am and send them away…
today, the bell chimes on Friday the 13th only.

The blue light in Mrs. Winchester’s seance room.  It is a small square room where the is only one door leading in, and three doors that only allow you to go out. There is also a door that opens to a hole that overlooks the kitchen…

Mrs. Winchester had beautiful stained glass all throughout the house, as well as backstock for future projects. Here are some windows that were located in the room titled, “Daisy Room”.

A room close to the Daisy Room (or in it, I’m not sure…) has a door that opens to nothing. No balcony. On either the second or third floor…

Some areas were bright and cherry, others were dark and some areas, creepy.

Sarah Winchester’s bedroom. None of these furnishings are original. Every item in the house was bequeathed to her favorite niece.
What she did not keep was sold at auction.

Mrs. Winchester had a fondness for spiderwebs and the spiderweb design was throughout the house.
There were a series of these lovely windows in a hallway.

This is the only photo os Mrs. Winchester on her property. Also, a ruler that shows her height at 4’10”. Here’s photos of the boys as they stack up against her…

A custom stained glass window containing her favorite spiderweb motif and apparently 13 (her favorite number) orbs on the webs.

One of the stairwells that leads to nowhere.

We got to have visitors overnight! Baby M’s first road trip from Oakland. Uncle David got some good snuggle time in. <3