California Dreamin'

What's not to like? Try 7 million people and smog on most days. But this day in February was stunningly gorgeous. Cathy and Don were so gracious to us, taking us to Santa Monica pier where we had lunch.

At Bubba Gump's.

Then a one day excursion to Santa Barbara where we mixed with the local folks in an antique shop and...

a restoration furniture shop. Look this sofa is even too deep for me--4 feet deep.

On another day Don, Cathy, Glenda, and I went for a walk around Bridgeport community--just another relaxing day.

Then, of course, there's bowling.

And more bowling, which is wonderful for us to reconnect with Don and Cathy's friends, who do remember us.

Well, we flew into pea soup fog in Portland on our way south. Two hours later we were enjoying 70 degree temperatures. As the weekend approached, the temperature climbed to the 80's. Ah, the joy of acquiring new freckles! We so appreciated our time with Cathy, Don, and Darryl. We learned a new card game, "Bikini," which was quite revealing. Naturally, Darryl beat the socks off all of us--we came home barefoot! We traveled to Santa Monica and breathed the really fresh air and warm sunshine. We drove by the house I lived in since I was six months old. Our daughter Christy saw it with us last year, and its shape is even worse now. There are multi-million dollar houses on the same block, and this one looks like it is a prop for the movie, "The Grapes of Wrath." By the time we headed back for Bouquet Canyon that afternoon, we met at least 3.5 million of the residents of Los Angeles as we all were going home. Give me Bend! We are so grateful for Don and Cathy taking the time to spend hours with us. On another evening we gathered at a Mexican restaurant to have dinner with my cousins and their kids. What a blast from the past! We drove to Santa Barbara, had lunch at The Shack, and cruised Main Street while enjoying the shops. It was cooler but very nice. We even enjoyed the Walk of Heroes, where Mark Vander Ark's footprints are glorious displayed. (Okay, so I made up that part; but I needed to say something grand since he's Glenda's boss.) We also enjoyed watching my sister and her husband bowl--Cathy won over $100 one night--that's when we discovered we were being charged room and board. All in all the week was very pleasant. The weather was fantastic--no smog, clear skies, and warm temperatures.