There is a fine hotel called The Raymond, but it was closed at this time; so that our friends, though attracted by the name, could see only the grounds and the outside of the buildings. It is set upon a hill commanding a fine view, and in the winter season is filled to overflowing, but it is always closed in April. They found the hill on which it stands an excellent point of view of the country, and itself a mountain of bloom, color and fragrance; and it was evident that the views from the windows and broad verandas—views of orchards, gardens, pretty villas, purple foothills and snowy ranges, must be fine indeed.
“What a beautiful place it is,” exclaimed little Elsie when they had gone about the house, viewing it and grounds from side to side. “I wish it was open so we could stay here. Papa, it has our name; are the folks who own it related to us?”
“I don’t know, daughter, but I hardly think so; it is not an uncommon name,” replied the captain.
“It’s a good name; I don’t want any better,” said Ned sturdily.
“I’m glad you are satisfied, and I hope you will never do anything to disgrace it,” said his father, with a gratified smile and an affectionate pat of the small hand which happened to be held in his at the moment.
Our party found a great deal to interest them in and about Pasadena. There were the fine hotels, the pleasant boarding houses, the Public Library in the town, and three miles away the old mission of San Gabriel. They made various trips in the vicinity of the town—to Mt. San Antonio, ten miles away, but none too far for a little trip, they thought; also to Mt. San Jacinto, whose height is twelve thousand feet above the Pacific.
Our friends found Pasadena so delightful that they lingered there for some weeks. Then they passed on in a southerly direction till they reached the lovely city of Santa Barbara, where they lingered still longer, finding the place itself wonderfully attractive and the many drives in the vicinity delightful. They found that there were as many as twenty-eight distinct and beautiful drives, and almost every day they tried one or more of them. They greatly enjoyed the scenery—the mountains, the valleys, the beautiful villas, with their trees, shrubs, vines and flowers, one grape-vine in especial with a trunk eight inches in diameter, with foliage covering ten thousand square feet, and which they were told yielded in one year twelve thousand pounds of grapes.
Another drive took them to the lighthouse, where from the balcony there was a fine view of the fields below, the blue sea beyond them, and the blue sky overhead. There was hardly anything which the ladies of our party and little Elsie enjoyed more than the sight of the vast profusion of roses—hundreds of varieties and vines covering many feet of arbor or veranda.
Santa Barbara proved a place hard to leave, and they lingered there for a number of weeks, all of them—especially those who had been on the invalid list-feeling that they were constantly gaining in health and strength. News from their homes was favorable to their stay; everything seemed to be going on very well without them; so they yielded to the fascinations of this Western fairy land and lingered weeks longer than they had intended when they came.
The summer was nearly over; they began to think it time to be on the move toward home, and after a little talk on the subject decided to start the next day, go on to San Francisco, tarry there a few days, then travel eastward to their homes.