Hanging out with Jodi & Dale in San Clemente!

December 20, 2013

Moving along from LA, which I loved, we continued on down the Pacific Coast Highway thru all these great small beach towns.  I would love to spend at least a week in every one.  Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach really caught my eye and I think that I will have to insist on driving back North a bit to revisit those beach towns.  I really want to park this rig directly on the beach for a night or two.  Since we are still in the middle of holiday season I think we will find it wide open next week.  

Our timing was perfect to meet up with our long time friends from Chicago, Jodi & Dale, who are in visiting some friends that recently moved to the area.  We were able to find a spot just a few minutes from their friend's house and they all came out to the campground.  

We were "dry camping" for the 4th night, meaning no water or electrical hookups.  It was a bit more dusty/dirty than we like.  We prefer the heated pools and hot tubs! The kids weren't that into it but, once our friends showed up, we got the party started and had a blast! We had lots of laughs, drinks, apps and s'mores by the campfire.  We had such a great time.  

I look so short...I think I am standing downhill! LOL

and their friends Janet & Gary

The kids had fun playing with some long exposures on my camera...Jack made a peace sign with his flashlight purely on accident...or was it? Either way, it was definitely a sign, and one we all relate to!

So, we made it San Diego today!  The weather is beautiful so we wasted no time jumping on our bikes and heading off on a nice long bike ride thru the Mission Bay area and over to Pacific Beach.  We found a taco joint with the walls covered in surf boards and ate some authentic Mexican food for lunch.  We got a bit lost on the way over, but only on the scenic parts and I used my smart phone to get us back easily enough.  It is so nice having the bikes but we are picking up a rental car tomorrow as some place are just a bit to far to ride. 

I didn't lug my camera on the bike ride, just a couple of cell phone pics today.  

Cheers!

ice cream place on the beach, refueling for the ride back!

So nice to see so many familiar faces in California and there are a couple more from home on their own vacations (Robin & Deb) that I know I will see soon!  

And don't worry, as fabulou$ as California i$, I don't $ee u$ moving here anytime $oon.  For now, I am happy to take in all the wonderful $ight$!!

~Linda

Holli!

December 29, 2013

So happy to have gotten together with Holli yesterday for a ladies lunch at Shutters on the beach in Santa Monica. For all of us, it has definitely been a highlight of this trip to see friends along the way, as well as meeting new ones.  

Holli and I were inseparable from 4th-8th grade.  I was the one who went to her house everyday before school to curl her hair when she had a broken arm.  Her Dad introduced me to chocolate chip pancakes, and to this day, they are still my all time favorite! She had the coolest bedroom ever! I could go on and on...

The best part of Holli is who she has grown into.  She is the same old Holli I always new, but, the grown up version is just more finely tuned. She is light and love, full of positive energy and just someone you want to know and to be with.  She lives with intention and I admire that!

XXOO

~Linda

Santa Monica, CA

December 28, 2013

Here we are...we are actually in a really nice neighborhood tucked in the city.

Today we went to the Santa Monica Pier.  There were a lot of things on it.  There was even some rollercoasters!  Ollie’s twin brother and sister, Henry and Mimi, were crying so much.  I sped up a little to get away.  We went down to the beach and I started skim boarding.  I let Oliver try but he wasn’t as good as me.  When my back started getting sore, I wanted to stop.  We went back up and went to the In ‘n’ Out Burger for lunch.  We started watching Star Wars when we got back.  I used the twins’ building blocks to make a tower.  Mimi helped, but Henry knocked it down.  I was sad when we had to go.  I wouldn’t see Ollie again for a long while.  As we drove away, I kept yelling goodbye out the window, as he chased us on the sidewalk yelling it too. 

~Jack

LA is happening! Everyone is out and about enjoying the beautiful December weather!  I love the hustle and bustle of the city and I can see why so many people gravitate here.

We enjoyed the day with Ollie's, his parents Kristie & Dave, along with the twins, Henry & Mimi.  We spent the day in Santa Monica at the Pier.  I had no idea that this was the end of the trail!  I guess we need to turn Left and begin the long journey home...see you in April! LOL  Actually, we have no idea how long it will take to get home.  As it is, we can barely make a plan 24 hours in advance!

Jack got in a bit more skim boarding...

We all enjoyed a late lunch/dinner at In n Out Burgers.  I never thought I would get Scott to eat there, but upon further reconnaissance, he believed he would get real food. It was good, especially the chocolate milkshake!

Tyler is feeling pretty cool in LA! 

haha I had to borrow Dave's hat...time for some maintenance!

That's all for now...I am very excited about today but you will just have to read about it later!

~Linda

Waking up on the streets of LA

We made our way about a 100 miles south down the Pacific Coast Hwy down thru Santa Barbara, Malibu and into Santa Monica.  Rte 1 is now basically at sea level  with lots of pull outs and beaches to stop at along the way.  One beach had a row of at least 30 RV's parked bumper to bumper parallel to the water. One step out the door and you were in the surf and sand!  We pulled into a State Beach near Malibu, had a nice lunch al fresco and let Jack break in his new skim board.

The look on his face, carrying his skim board, was priceless.  He was just so excited and looked pretty cool exiting the RV.  I think he is liking this California lifestyle. 

The weather is perfect...just about 80 degrees.  

Sand Angels instead of Snow Angels!

We drove into Santa Monica and are literally waking up on the streets of LA right in front of Ollie's house!  Ollie is Jack's friend from home who just moved the LA in August.  Jack said this is the highlight of his trip, seeing his friend.  We had a delightful dinner with is family and lots of stories and laughs.  The boys are having fun on their computers and hanging out together.  Off to Santa Monica Pier today and more photos later.

~Linda

Today we are going to Oliver Ralph’s house!  I was so excited because I hadn’t seen him in a while.  He was in our school, but moved to Los Angeles.  So, we went to his house.  He was so excited to see me!  I was pretty excited to see him too.  We went to the park and we played soccer.  It was Ollie and me verses Tyler and Ollie’s Dad.  It was a pretty rough game, but we won of course.  

~Jack

~Linda 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

This is the first Christmas that the kids have not been with their Nana & Grandpa.  Every year, the kids patiently wait for them to come over and watch them open up their gifts! We did miss that this morning along with Scott's incredible beef tenderloin dinner he usually does on Christmas Eve.  Instead, we had an excellent Shephards Pie, all organic with beef from the Hearst Cattle Ranch...the best part was he didn't spend the entire day in the kitchen!

What I did not miss was the all the last minute running around, the crowds, stress, cleaning, spending an entire day wrapping gifts the kids didn't even want!  This year, we put our faith in Santa and he delivered! The boys asked for 1 item each, they got 2!  Jack really wanted a skim board that he saw in a shop last week.  He really wanted us to buy it and we didn't.  We just kept saying that you have to Believe to Receive....it worked! He got it. A few days ago, Jingle, their Elf had finally tracked them down so I was fairly confident that Santa would find us, as long as we stayed put!  The other gift I won't mention here, was something Tyler really wanted but we had to get 2!  This was a big gift that parents usually give but I think Santa made an exception because our space was limited.  Of course, Jack was happy with just the skim board.  Tyler also got a portable badminton set...he loves playing that game.  He really got into it the last couple of summers while entertaining our exchange students, Alex & Ellen from France!

We have spent the last couple of days relaxing at the pool/hot tub, biking, reading and having campfires after dinner.  We started to tell stories and would take turns as all of us added to the story.  This never resulted in anything great so we moved on to singing some Christmas carols...we are so musically inclined, this family!  The 12 Days of Christmas was a challenge...5 Golden Rings...that one I was certain about!

nice weather in the mid 70's this week! 

We biked down to the beach.  Getting there is easy, it's all downhill.  It's getting back that is hard!  It was low tide so we were exploring the tide pools and finding lots of cool things.

I call this my Rock Star parking...front row!

They spent some time building totems...

I then challenged them to find me some heart shaped rocks.  I got this idea from my friend Keri whose husband looks for them whenever they go to the beach.  Thinking this would be a difficult task, I said I would give them $10 for everyone they found.  Here is one...

and a couple of more...

This is getting expensive...

So now I am changing all the rules...$10 for the first one, $5 for the second, $2.50 for the 3rd...but then, some of them aren't really that great so I'm taking 30% off that value of that one...etc.  This math lesson cost me about $20 when it was over!  The good thing is that they never actually ask to get paid!  I think we just keep a running total in our heads!

a favorite

Spreading their Xmas cheer in the park.

We will be rolling out of here tomorrow and heading to Los Angeles where we hope to meet up with several friends over the next week.

~Linda

El Capitan Canyon - Santa Barbara

December 23, 2013

"Santa" Barbara sounds like the perfect spot for Christmas.  It has been nice and relaxing here for the last couple of days.  

Christmas is almost here and we are staying until that.  We found ourselves a nice RV Park with a pool and hikes.  We just hung out, biking around the RV Park.  One day we biked down to the beach.  It had a lot of rocks.  Our Mom told us to look for heart shaped rocks and we’d get $10 for every one we found.  Tyler and I were looking everywhere.  We started finding so much my Mom said everyone would be $1.  My Dad was looking for some anemone.  There was a lot!  There was even a big one taking up a puddle in a rock!  We moved on along the beach and my Mom and Tyler headed back.  I just took a little walk with my Dad.  WHOOSH!  A wave hit me.  I was soaked!  We headed back and I was really uncomfortable riding on my bike when I was drenched in water.  I went in the pool and hot tub.  My brother kept trying to get my Dad into the pool.  I went in the shower after that.  It made me feel much better.  We biked down to The Cliff Store the day after to check it out.  It looked just like a gift shop.  Downstairs was a place where they served food.  We went there for dinner.  That night I made a fire.  We roasted marshmallows too.  Christmas is here!  I got an Acer computer (it doesn’t work at all) and a skim board.

~Jack

We had to change spots yesterday, so it was the perfect time to head into downtown Santa Barbara. As we were leaving, we had a little snafu and drove away with the RV still plugged into the electrical unit.  Scott had everything ready to go and was waiting for me to come back from the shower and thought I'd probably want another cup of coffee, so he left it plugged in and forgot about it.  At the time, it wasn't that funny.  Scott said he wasn't going to worry about it and would fix the wires later. The funny part comes later.

Here we are at the Santa Barbara Harbor and Stearns Wharf, which is the oldest working wharf in California.  Lots of people of their bikes, runners, walkers, dogs, & kids. The beach runs along the main thoroughfare and is lined with palm trees. Walking around made me think of Michelle and our time in Marbella and the seaside towns of Spain.  All the architecture is very Mediterranean with arched doorways and red tile roofs.  We enjoyed lunch al fresco on Stearn's Wharf, had a nice ice-cream and made a quick stop at Trader Joes.  

from Scott:

Have you been doing your random acts of kindness?
Yesterday, I spotted a man holding a sign outside of Trader Joe's "Hungry, Need Help". After leaving TJ's I handed him a bag of apples, a bunch of bananas, and a loaf of multigrain bread.  What really got me was he was crying when he said thanks. That made my day until I had to get out of that tight parking lot in a 32 foot RV.

I manage to direct him out of the tight spot...I had to get out of the RV and hold up traffic! People were very accommodating even though I saw them laughing at our predicament.  I would rather see them laughing than getting mad, right?

Scott had us all wired up again in no time flat...so glad he is so handy! What a guy...I'm so lucky!

Upon arrival in our new spot at "camp", and this is hardly camping, we met our new neighbors that will be next door for the next four days. 

Oh my goodness, what a fun couple with their 10 & 13 yr old boys.  Scott was relaying the story about the electrical and the guy was hysterical...almost like they were playing out a scene from the "Christmas Vacation" RV movie.  When Scott backed out earlier, there was a guy with a front row view, watching from his chair.  Scott heard something, looked in his rearview mirror and all he saw was the neighbor, with his hand up like a stop sign.  No emotion whatsoever.  So in retelling the story, anything Scott said, our new neighbor had some hilarious comment.  

The next few days should be interesting and full of belly busting laughs. We are just going to relax by the heated pool and hot tub, head down to the beach, ride bikes, and wait for Santa.  Jack told us of one thing he wanted the other day.  We did not buy it at the time.  Now that we are staying put, he is a bit concerned he will not get it.  You have to believe to receive! 

Did I mention that Jingle has located us? The kids were shocked and so excited. Here is a pic of our Christmas tree, it's a rosemary bush.

~Linda