This was our best summer ever. Except for Kitty's terrible bike accident. It was great having everyone in from both coasts visit us. And a French girl to boot.
We flew out to LA and stayed with Debi and Harold in Orange County. The first half of the week I slept at a hotel because I'm allergic to all of Debi and Harold's pets ,except Lenny who is one cool animal, but I shoulda slept in the tent the entire stay. Other than the pighogger facestuffing breakfast I didn't need to stay in the hotel. Note to self: next time buy some groceries and stay in the tent.
Our second day, Harold and I biked a 20 mile bike path and met the girls in Huntington Beach. No traffic for 20 miles. How sweet it is! Huntington Beach is a wonderful beach. Big and clean with lots of parking. In a car culture like LA's, parking is key and Huntington has a handle on it. We had a great day at the beach. Harold and Moise biked back home while Debi patiently waited for the girls and I to get our fill of the beach. It was a long wait!
I found out the hard way that saltwater washes off sunscreen. I even burned the inside of my belly button. Ouch!
The girls and I went to Newport Beach the next day. While it's no Huntington it was still a nice day at the beach.
We spent a nice afternoon at UCLA with Danny, his girlfriend Danielle and his dog. It was really nice to spend time with Danny in his old stomping grounds. Danielle is a cute girl. What a beautiful campus.
Harold loves to mountain bike. I am always curious to experience another man's bliss so we hit the trails one morning. I'm in really good shape, but Harold has steel springs for legs so I paid a price to be on the trail with him. While I was recovering from a particularly steep bit, a guy it turn's out is a friend of Harold's, came flying down the trail toward us. He narrowly avoided mowing Harold down and had to do a really cool skidding, sliding stop. That was a sight to behold. A lesser cyclist would have taken us all out. After chatting for a while Harold and I saddled up and Harold proceeded to tear my lungs out again. It was fun though.
We went to Laguna twice. Oh, Laguna. The jewel of Southern California. The first time, all of us ,including Nikki, drove down. We swam and walked all afternoon and then bought picnic food which we ate in a park on the bluffs overlooking the ocean. We then enjoyed a glorious sunset. What a beautiful day.
Leaving the girls with Nikki we drove up to Montecito to visit Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Marty. They graciously welcomed us into their charming home and served us homemade cookies and juices. We toured their garden which is a sight to behold. Marty is a Horticulturist by profession so their garden is fantastic. The garden covers their entire property and everywhere you look there is more more more. Words and even my camera can't do the garden justice. We were thrilled we got to visit such nice people in such an extraordinary setting.
On the way to the highway we found an estate that was so elaborately gardened it had to be Oprah's. It was like an arboretum.
On the way home we stopped in Ventura for dinner. What a cool, fun looking town.
While we were in Santa Barbara, Nikki took the girls to Hollywood. As luck would have it they stumbled upon a Teen's Choice Awards party. The girls got to meet and take pictures with a bunch of kid stars! They were thrilled.
A few days later we gave Harold and Debi a break and drove down to Laguna with the girls to spend the night. We discovered every beach, every nook and cranny beach in Laguna has a lifeguard! That means you can swim in places you have no business swimming and when you get in trouble there is a lifeguard to save your dumb ass. Thankfully, the thought that it might be my dumb dead ass the guard plucked from the surf kept me at the main beach. We had a wonderful day at the beach.
As luck would have it we were there for the monthly art gallery opening night. Moise and I had a great time browsing the galleries and taking advantage of the free refreshments ;) Later, we grabbed the girls and went to dinner. Laguna restaurants don't care about their upscale menus because they know that you have to eat, so pay up Bitches! I was so happy to be there I didn't even care. I was in Heaven.
On our last night in LA, Debi and Harold took us to this crazy Italian restaurant in Fullerton, which is also a cool, fun looking town. The restaurant is like a neighborhood Italian restaurant if said neighborhood restaurant was on steroids and operated by Salvador Dali. A trip is the best way I can describe it. But good.
If Millenium Park is the 8th wonder of the world, the highway system in Southern California is the 9th. That highway system is an engineering marvel. You can get anywhere and everywhere and you even have choices of your route! A great experience navigating the LA area.
So; bike rides, beaches, pets and most of all family. We had a ball in Southern California. Spending our vacation with family made it all the more fun.
We flew out to LA and stayed with Debi and Harold in Orange County. The first half of the week I slept at a hotel because I'm allergic to all of Debi and Harold's pets ,except Lenny who is one cool animal, but I shoulda slept in the tent the entire stay. Other than the pighogger facestuffing breakfast I didn't need to stay in the hotel. Note to self: next time buy some groceries and stay in the tent.
Our second day, Harold and I biked a 20 mile bike path and met the girls in Huntington Beach. No traffic for 20 miles. How sweet it is! Huntington Beach is a wonderful beach. Big and clean with lots of parking. In a car culture like LA's, parking is key and Huntington has a handle on it. We had a great day at the beach. Harold and Moise biked back home while Debi patiently waited for the girls and I to get our fill of the beach. It was a long wait!
I found out the hard way that saltwater washes off sunscreen. I even burned the inside of my belly button. Ouch!
The girls and I went to Newport Beach the next day. While it's no Huntington it was still a nice day at the beach.
We spent a nice afternoon at UCLA with Danny, his girlfriend Danielle and his dog. It was really nice to spend time with Danny in his old stomping grounds. Danielle is a cute girl. What a beautiful campus.
Harold loves to mountain bike. I am always curious to experience another man's bliss so we hit the trails one morning. I'm in really good shape, but Harold has steel springs for legs so I paid a price to be on the trail with him. While I was recovering from a particularly steep bit, a guy it turn's out is a friend of Harold's, came flying down the trail toward us. He narrowly avoided mowing Harold down and had to do a really cool skidding, sliding stop. That was a sight to behold. A lesser cyclist would have taken us all out. After chatting for a while Harold and I saddled up and Harold proceeded to tear my lungs out again. It was fun though.
We went to Laguna twice. Oh, Laguna. The jewel of Southern California. The first time, all of us ,including Nikki, drove down. We swam and walked all afternoon and then bought picnic food which we ate in a park on the bluffs overlooking the ocean. We then enjoyed a glorious sunset. What a beautiful day.
Leaving the girls with Nikki we drove up to Montecito to visit Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Marty. They graciously welcomed us into their charming home and served us homemade cookies and juices. We toured their garden which is a sight to behold. Marty is a Horticulturist by profession so their garden is fantastic. The garden covers their entire property and everywhere you look there is more more more. Words and even my camera can't do the garden justice. We were thrilled we got to visit such nice people in such an extraordinary setting.
On the way to the highway we found an estate that was so elaborately gardened it had to be Oprah's. It was like an arboretum.
On the way home we stopped in Ventura for dinner. What a cool, fun looking town.
While we were in Santa Barbara, Nikki took the girls to Hollywood. As luck would have it they stumbled upon a Teen's Choice Awards party. The girls got to meet and take pictures with a bunch of kid stars! They were thrilled.
A few days later we gave Harold and Debi a break and drove down to Laguna with the girls to spend the night. We discovered every beach, every nook and cranny beach in Laguna has a lifeguard! That means you can swim in places you have no business swimming and when you get in trouble there is a lifeguard to save your dumb ass. Thankfully, the thought that it might be my dumb dead ass the guard plucked from the surf kept me at the main beach. We had a wonderful day at the beach.
As luck would have it we were there for the monthly art gallery opening night. Moise and I had a great time browsing the galleries and taking advantage of the free refreshments ;) Later, we grabbed the girls and went to dinner. Laguna restaurants don't care about their upscale menus because they know that you have to eat, so pay up Bitches! I was so happy to be there I didn't even care. I was in Heaven.
On our last night in LA, Debi and Harold took us to this crazy Italian restaurant in Fullerton, which is also a cool, fun looking town. The restaurant is like a neighborhood Italian restaurant if said neighborhood restaurant was on steroids and operated by Salvador Dali. A trip is the best way I can describe it. But good.
If Millenium Park is the 8th wonder of the world, the highway system in Southern California is the 9th. That highway system is an engineering marvel. You can get anywhere and everywhere and you even have choices of your route! A great experience navigating the LA area.
So; bike rides, beaches, pets and most of all family. We had a ball in Southern California. Spending our vacation with family made it all the more fun.
