Maxima

For Halloween we gave out eyeballs.  Fudge eyeballs, carmel eyeballs, and peanut butter eyeballs.  mmmmmm sounds delicious right?  I like the fudge the best.  Blips has no preference…..just digs into the bag and is happy.

I take the window out of the front door and then I can give out candy without opening the door each time.  Last year, a three year old was so into the magic of Halloween…..that when I put the candy in his bag, he said to his mom…..”Oh wow, look mom, she can reach right through the window!”  So, I did it again for the mom to see my magic.  We never told him the truth. hehehehehehe

This year we had about 45 kids.  That is not many at all.  On a good year it is about 150.  So, the last ones were getting a hand full of candy instead of just a couple pieces.  And quote of the night is: “Bubble gum!  I love bubble gum.  I’m not allowed bubble gum”. 

The black kitten was first at our door.  The two girls on the outside used to live in our house and the green hat is our neighbor.  The SWAT team, GI Joe and the witch were flabbergasted they got a whole hand full of candy.  I told them Mona was really my daughter dressed up to be a dog.  For a second they bought it and then the girl started laughing.  The boys were really looking over Mona to see if she was a dog or a girl dressed as a dog.  Nice bark for a girl.

Last night was our Andre Rieu concert.  Just before we left, Blips says to remember just one thing:  he is carrying the American passport tonite.  What?  He said, Andre Rieu likes to play jokes, so if he asks if there are any Dutch in the audience, remember….I am American only tonite!

We had planned on having dinner at a rather expensive buffet since it was a special occasion.  YES, I am able to wear my wedding ring again.  I have lost enough weight that I can get it on my finger without risk of slow amputation.  But neither Blips or I were very hungry so we decided to go for our favorite Mexican.  Boca Chica.  I had shredded chicken taco salad and Blips had red pork chile burrito.  The trick(hahahaha , Halloween thrown in here) was to not get any on our fancy clothes.  We then drove downtown and parked at the Rivercentre paying $15 to park.  You know how that pains me to pay to park.  But I had on 3 inch heels and there is no walking any distance in those.  We went early because the concert was sold out to over 10,000 people and we wanted a place to park.  So, being there early, we found a coffee shop 4 blocks away and had a mocha. mmmmmmm we were almost finished when they kicked us out …..closing at 6:30pm.  Ok, concert is at 7:30 so we go back to Rivercentre.

Our seats were row 53 on the isle.  That is alot farther away in real life than on the diagram when I got the tickets.  Andre Rieu entered from the back and walked right next to us.  We could have reached out our hands and touched him.  That was a nice surprise to see him so close.  The entrance music was exciting but the couple behind us talked loudly through the whole thing.  The man was blind and she was describing everything to him.  What is he(Andre) wearing? bla bla bla  What are the girls wearing?  bla bla bla  What colors are the dresses?  Do they blow in the breeze when they walk?  Are they wearing alot of jewelry?  Does it sparkle in the lights?  Are they carrying their instruments or are they up on stage? Do they sit or stand?  What are the curtains like?  What is on the big screen?  ohhhh there are two big screens?  Does he smile when he plays?  He smiles and winks too! AND he raises his right eyebrow!! (insert his laughter here) Are there flowers on the stage?  How many, what colors? where are they?…..ok, you get the idea….now make it rather loud as they had to talk OVER the music.  I tried to be tolerant because I know this is how he enjoys the concert.  I thought about a ‘blind accessory’ where all this information could be on a little hand held electronic thingy so we ALL could enjoy the concert.  The guy got quiet when Andre began to talk.  phewwwww finally.  But then my heart kind of hit the floor when the music started again and the guy hummed and sang the wrong words.  Actually there were no words but he made some up.  I mean he sang, “doodle, doodle da da da dada” to great romantic waltzes.  I really really had to concentrate hard on the music.  It was like taking a test in school.  Concentrate hard…..harder, harder!  I started thinking of how much I paid for the tickets.  Then I remembered when we went to the movie Phantom of the Opera and the guy next to me sang the whole thing.  Ok, that was only $4.50 for an afternoon movie and I can go again.  Blips and I were snuggled together and held hands and at times I think I even forgot about the guy behind me.

At the intermission, Blips insisted we go for a walk and I started to ask Blips if he ……ohhhhhhhhhh yah! Yup, he could barely enjoy it either.  Ok, I was going to try something.  I went to the usher and explained our situation and my reluctance to tell the guy to be quiet.  The usher thanked me profusely for not saying anything to the guy and moved us up to row 34.  OHHHHHHH nice seats.  VERY close to the stage.  We did not need to look at the screen.  We were now in the middle of all the excitement of the second half.  We danced, balloons fell out of the ceiling and we bounced them to other people, we swayed and forgot about the ‘doodle doodle da da da guy”.  Tears fell on my cheeks when they did “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” from Evita.  That is one of my favorite songs.  He did romantic, sentimental songs and you really really had to be there to know how magical a moment it was.  He also did some humor between and during some songs.  It was so enjoyable.  And I was glad the blind man could enjoy it too. Well, can I say, I was much more glad the *second* half.  

Today I stopped at my favorite store.  It is called Home Goods.  Lots of stuff for the house and although I don’t buy much anymore, I do like to look at all the holiday stuff out.  It is just fun to look.

Well, I heard this voice behind me that sounded familiar say, “Jacob?”  So, I started to turn and then she said it louder again, “Jacob?” into her cell phone.  Just as she said it the second time she passed just 4 feet from me and my knees got weak. THAT IS THE WITCH THAT TRIED TO BULLY ME WITH LIES!      What is she doing in MY neighborhood and in MY store!  Witch with a B!  Go back to your cave where you can be a bully.  Integrity…..yah, that is her fake slogan.  Here she is at 1:30 in the afternoon shopping instead of working.  Integrity of a witch.(with a B of course)

So, wanting to get her out of my system, I knew I had to burn off that energy with physical work.  I drove by the construction site where I had spotted a pink rock.  From the path by the pond, at least it LOOKED like a rock.  I brought along my dolly(that is a little push cart on 4 wheels that can be tipped onto 2 wheels) just in case it was too heavy for me.  Wellllllllllllllllll, up close it was more like a small boulder.  But it was beautiful.  And pink is hard to find.  I have a 3 inch bruise on my right shoulder from another boulder that I got last Tuesday.  That one took me an hour to get.  It fell off the dolly twice.  I could not get it into the car, so I had to walk the dolly home about 5 blocks.  About now you are changing your mind that rock hunting is easy work. Nooooooooooooo.  This one took me 1/2 hour and only fell off once. I have not been able to lift smaller ones into the car without help.  But this pink one…..all the way in on one try.  My adrenaline was pumping! (I better stay away from Meth……Maxima on meth, able to toss bolders with one shot). See the cream colored one (far right)is the ‘bruiser’ rock and see that lovely pink one!  I made Mona sit in the picture so you know how big the rocks are.

And it worked……got the witch with a B out of my system.  Now, how do I keep her out of MY favorite store!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVKtKBJDWec&eurl

(pounding fist on desk….again and again)

I tied repeatedly to find the address of Janis Joplin in San Francisco.  I just wanted to stand there and feel her going in and out of her house, hear her laugh, smash a beer bottle or two, see the wind mess up her hair………

It was a difficult location to find.  Every time I tried, all I got was the address and reviews of a new broadway musical called… Love, Janis.  All about her life and times, I guess.  But, thousands of reviews and locations all over the US.  NOT where she lived in real life.  Just the locations now of the play.

HOWEVER, last night I finally found it on a site of San Francisco trivia.  AND….pounds fist again,…..the picture I took of the house I imagined her in…….well, that is TWO blocks from the real address!  The pic I took is on (100 block) Masonic Street and her house is just two blocks over.  Two stinkin blocks.  AND we drove by it as we left Haight-Ashbury.  pounds fist again.  So, I saw it but I did not know it.  jeeeezzzz louise I am bummed out.

I also found that the Grateful Dead lived at 710 Ashbury and that is 4 blocks from Janis’ house. We parked half way inbetween them, just two blocks from each one.

The other piece of trivia that I found was that Patty Hearst was held for most of her captivity at 1827 Golden Gate #6, between Baker and Broderick.  That is in the same neighborhood.  She was also kept at 1235 Masonic Street for a year and was arrested at 625 Morse Street.

When I go back, the first place I visit will be 112 Lyon Street.  Maybe I’ll leave a bottle of Southern Comfort on the steps.  Then again, maybe I won’t.  Some things should just stay a dream, I guess.  Did I tell you her house is beige now.  Beige. 

That’s just wrong 

Well, Sherlock Blips Holmes did a trick that you all will remember when you think of us standing in the driveway, shivering, Mona barking, and the keys to the house are on the table INSIDE the house.

First of all I decide I will ALWAYS take a key with me next time  

Blips tries an extra battery from his camera accessories.  No that does not work either.  Now, I am thinking, that something went wrong….like the door would not stay shut(kept opening itself) so it was unplugged or something like that.  Blips keeps walking around the house trying to get in.  I expect to hear breaking glass soon. About 15 minutes pass.  I am just standing in a corner dreaming…..wouldn’t it be nice if a neighbor came out with a cup of coffee and said, welcome home?????  Nice dream.  Dreaming about our 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix…sure would be nice to wait in the car, or go get the extra keys.

No, he returns and takes the original battery out of the palm of his hand.  He has been warming it up.  He tells me that if a battery is low, and it gets cold  (yah, it was 23 F the last two nights) then the power is reduced.  So, he was warming it up.  It has one shot after it is warmed up.  He puts it back in and…….walla…..the door pops up.  woooo hoooo  we are in.  I felt like I had been on a Mission Impossible assignment. We had to outwit the enemy.

I bet you never thought of that!  So, now if you ever need a battery for a one shot thing…..just warm it up.

And Mona was so glad to see us.  She had been sleeping in our computer chairs while we were gone. Here she is cleaning up Blips.  I guess he smelled like California.  And Summer had made us homemade chicken soup.  Ohhhhhhhh that was so good after restaurant meals for two weeks.  And back to Senseo.  Bye bye Starbucks until next vacation.

A day at Universal Studios:

Parking…..   $10.00

Entrance….  $102.00

Starbucks… $6.70

Food…….    $22.00

Souvenir Picture………priceless

We decided to take our chances on the saliva Starbucks.  The gal was not there that sucks on her pen, so we went in and ordered.  Just as we gave our order, she came out of the back putting her apron on.  I was whispering to myself, hurry up, hurry up….so saliva girl would not help out.  And we got ours just in time as she took over after we got our coffee.  Saliva free, I might add   And here is Blips having coffee behind the fence.
We headed out on the freeway to Lomita to see if we could find the three apartments where I lived and see what happened to Taco Bell.  This is kind of a pig in a poke because I don’t have any addresses.  I remember the direction I would walk when I left Taco Bell but that is all.  So, Blips was not saying much about my quest but he tried his best to sound supportive.  Afterall, I wanted to find three apartments in an LA suburb and I did not have an address, just a memory from 38 years ago.  Ok, should not be too much a problem.
On the way we stopped at a Chinese Buffet and they had green tea.  mmmmmm I have missed green tea.  Most places have black tea, so I was feeling lucky already. 
Around here, the main street of a town is called by the towns name.  Like Lomita Blvd is the main street of Lomita.  Manhattan Beach Blvd is the main street of Manhattan Beach.  Ok, you get the idea.  So, when we turned onto Lomita Blvd I got all sentimental again.  My plan was to find Taco Bell and “walk home from work” as I did in 1968.   Scathingly brilliant, I know.  I was able to find the first apartment right away. It’s on the right side, front door is just in front of the yellow flowers. Then we spotted the NEW Taco Bell on the wrong side of the street and I got discouraged about my plan to walk home from work.  BUT, I recognized Neno’s Pizza as MY old Taco Bell.  The arches were open air and not enclosed.  People walked through the arches up to the window where I took their order.  My girlfriend and I usually had to work the window because you had to balance the cash register to the penny.  And California kids either did not care or could not count.  My Taco Bell is now aqua and white(does that make you want pizza?).  Now I could find the second apartment.    That is still there too.  Amazing   Again second door on the right, just behind that tree trunk.  We are parked on the street out front.  The apartments usually go back from the street making a common courtyard but no private garden. The third is a house and I have only a general idea where to start so, I decided  3 of 4 was good enough.  Success!  Many things have changed but I did recognize some things.  I was glad to find that Lomita does not have bars on the windows.  I bet it is still safe to walk home from work at Taco Bell.  Well, in the daytime anyway.
We then headed to the beach.  I picked Manhattan Beach because…..of course, you guessed it…..that is where my girlfriend and I used to go all the time.  We park one block from the beach and walk down this street.  It is a steep street and the houses are like stepping stones(each a layer lower than the other).  I love the one on the corner and add a picture from the front.  Manhattan Beach is a beautiful light sugar sand beach.  No rocks.  And what a wonderful way to end our California vacation but with the waves crashing on the beach.  We walked along the beach until the sun set. 
We were amazed at how close Manhattan Beach is to LAX.  We did not have to get on a freeway again and that was a nice feeling.  We got to the airport early because it is Friday night so expecting long lines, and traffic(but excaped that).  However the Sun Country gate does not open for two hours.  Blips finds two chairs near a socket so we can do our blogs.  A guy from Portland is there and he tells us about his new yoga class.  Blikiu ??…oh that is not it but it is a certification for 26 yoga postures done in a hot room.  Now we are not to call it hot yoga because some people are doing any old kind of yoga in a hot room and that is not the real stuff.  He left us his chocolate soy milk and coconut water.  Coconut water is for our electrolytes.  And soy milk is just good for anything that ails you.  We drank about half of each since we are full to the gills with our own water.  No, we did not sign up for yoga classes in Portland.

You cannot bring any liquids past security anymore.  So, the trash can fills up with bottles of water.  I think they should put a donation container for the food shelf for all these things that cannot go past security.  We tossed 3 bottles of water.  At least the chocolate soy milk and the coconut water were not wasted. It was organic for crying out loud!

You now have to check yourself in and get your own boarding pass.  Then you take the boarding pass and go to the desk to check in your luggage.  Did you think you are done ……………..oh no!  After you check in your luggage(all they do is weigh and tag it), you now drag it behind you and down the hall to be scanned by security.  You must leave it unlocked.  Guzzle your liquids and NOW you can go up to be scanned yourself.  You still have to take your shoes off, laptops out of the bags, 3 ounces of hand lotion needs to be IN a bag……..  We find that water is $2.79 for the .80 cent bottle we just threw away.  Well, three of them actually.  Blips has a mini meltdown and refuses to buy water for 3X’s the price.  I think he said gouging over 10 times.  He is right but I need water for the flight, so I go back later and buy water. The flight was only 1/2 full so people were sleeping all over the place even though they said the flight attendant must be able to see that your seatbelt in on.  I got comfortable with my ear plugs, two pillows and next I hear is the pilot announcing the weather.  I think, how dumb to announce the weather of LA.  Blips says we are home.  What?  Yah, he said I slept the whole flight.  Did you know that you can now purchase a blanket and pillow for $7.00?  Blips almost has another mini meltdown when they announce this.  I was glad I had brought my own.

We take a taxi home and entered the secret code on the outside remote to open the garage door.  Nothing happened.  Have we been gone that long, that we forget the code? No, it just is not working.  Bummer, big bummer.  Ohhhh I hate to ring the door bell to wake either daughter because it is 6:30am.  Then I realize there is no car in the driveway. (I had told them they did not have to stay Friday night because we would be home so early)  I am thinking…NOW is NOT the time to listen to your mother! because you see, …..we don’t have a key to the door.(door keys are on the car key ring left on the table).  We try to jiggle a window or door but no luck.  Oh I really don’t want to call either daughter to bring a key because of the time and it also takes 45 minutes to get here.  It is Saturday and none of the neighbors are up yet.  We are freezing our butts off because it is 33 F and we only have on a thin California sweater.  So, what do you think Sherlock Blips Holmes did?  It’s elementary my dear Watson.

Monkey had a dream last night.  He dreamed he was back at Monterey beach.  I think he left his heart in San Francisco too.

You know how we head for Starbucks first thing in the morning.  Well, this one was…oh how can I say it…scary?  And I don’t mean Halloween scary either.  As we pulled up we noticed the patio was fenced in with an 8 foot wrought iron fence.  hmmmm  Then the line was about 8-10 people long.(so plenty of time to think)  There are just two people working and they are working very hard and fast.  BUT, I notice the gal is putting her pen in her mouth while she makes the coffee.  When she is done she takes another order and TAKES THE PEN OUT OF HER MOUTH WITH HER HAND AND WRITES ON THE CUP and then puts the pen back in her mouth.  Then with the pen hand she touches everything…..euwwww.  I try to turn away but the memory of getting sick in Las Vegas makes me look again.  I was hoping it was just a one time thing.  I told myself I could live with that.  THEN SHE DID IT AGAIN.  My stomach starts to turn and I tell Blips that we have to leave.  Now you have to understand, in America there are new rules as we get ready for the bird flu.  Don’t shake hands, sneeze into your elbow, don’t share pens, sanitize your phone and computer…AND wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands!  NOT wash your hands and suck on a pen while you work. 

So we head for Universal Studios without coffee.  It is 11am and there is a traffic jam just to get onto the freeway. (picture is before we even get to the freeway.  Three lanes each way gridlock)  Traffic jam on the freeway is off and on.  You never know when it will stop so there are alot of ‘quickstops’ where you are just glad you don’t run into the guy in front of you.  You don’t have the time to even think about the guy behind you.  You just hope they are not a tourist from Minnesota  

We get to Universal Studios and find out they close at 6pm.  The people from Ohio in front of us are surprised also.  It cost $59 each to get in, extra for food and drink.  You can pay an extra $20 for ‘front of the line’ privileges.  That means at all the rides, you go to the front of the line.  We skip that.  They also wanted us to pay premier parking $20 instead of $10 and try to scare us that we will have to walk for miles.  We skip that and pay the regular $10 and our parking was just as close as premier.  Only because it is off season but who cares.  We found a coupon at the hotel for $8 off each person.  yahhhhh, feeling like home to use a coupon.

We go in and  there is a Starbucks.  Ok……getting the day started right again.  Next we go on the Studio Tour.  We get on a tram and are driven around the lot.  It took some planning but we have the two outside seats so he can video without heads in the shot.  When I did the tour in 1968 or was it 1979(I am not sure which time) we were allowed to get off the tram and watch a TV show being taped.  They would tell us when to be absolutely silent…”QUIET ON THE SET”.  But now the tram is 4 cars instead of one and a tram every 10 minutes.  So, too many people to keep track of I guess.  We are not allowed inside of the studios but are told which large building ER, Crossing Jordan, CSI, Ghost Whisperer, Desperate Housewives each tape in.  CSI was taping as we drove by.  It was like being told……the candy is over there kids, but you  can’t have any!  grrrrrrr 

Here I am being interviewed by Access Hollywood on the red carpet.

But next was the outdoor sets and they were soooooo interesting.  They showed in little videos above our heads the movie made from each outdoor set.  And how they slightly changed each set to make it look different for each movie.  Amazing.  And we saw them setting up infront of the big green screen where they do all the action shots with just the actor and add the surroundings later.  It is about a couple blocks long and just sits there outside.  Doesn’t it rain in southern California?  Well, I guess not if you believe everything in the Beach Boys songs.

We ate in Jurassic Park.  However we did not eat dinosaur but I had orange chicken, and  ceasar salad.  Blips had bacon cheeseburger with french fries.  He is craving french fries lately.  Add a water and that comes to $22.00.  We noticed on our way to the Jurassic ride a sign that said CHILD SWITCH AREA HERE.  I said…..how nice, if your kid is acting up, just wait here and switch with another family and see how that one works out.  hehehehehehee  We had a good laugh (dreaming about how nice that option would have been when our kids were little).  Of course, we would like to make sure there was a ’switch back now’ spot so we could get our own precious girls back before we went home

It is hard to describe the ride.  They make it seem like you are actually in Jurassic Park and the dinosaurs pop out at you as well as the waterfalls.  It was very well done and absolutely fantastic.  At the end there is an 84 foot straight verticle drop.  Oh, did I tell you that you are in a rubber raft type thing.  You have to pull the chest harness tight at the beginning of the ride so it locks you in.  Blips and I kept pulling and pulling (it was still 8 inches from our chest) until we noticed a very fat guy in our row.  The chest harness was against his belly so it WAS locked.  Oh crap!  I thought about that the whole ride.  So, when we hit the verticle drop at the end of the ride, I was already scared that I was going to fly out.  Well, not out but maybe break my nose or something like that.  Or fly up and have my weight land on my stomach and throw up maybe.  You know, those kind of worry thoughts.  Then there was the drop and just about the time I start to fly out, you hit the bottom.  I bet they have that very well designed to do that.  It was so much fun.  And the picutre……you know they take a picture that they sell for outrageous prices.  Well, ours is priceless……so we paid $18 for the smallest one.  We will scan it.  I am not saying a word……you will have to see it in a few days.

Next was the Backdraft movie and special effects studio.  They re-enacted the warehouse fire scene and at the end when it is all on fire, and very hot and smelling like chemicals…..our railing gives way.  We are in the front row.  Everybody screams including me…. that was so real and scary and then the fire goes out, everything goes back into place and the audience starts laughting……but kind of a relieved laugh.  This was also fantastic.

Now is time for Back to the Future ride.  Story line is Biff has stolen the DeLorian(time travel car) and we have to get him back or the history of the world will change from 1955 on.  We are put 6 to a car in the DeLorian and we are taken on a time travel and even are swallowed by a dinosaur.  euwwww as we went down the throat and into the swishy stomach food and then are belched back out. I think they did that for the preteen boys.

We had time for one more ride…..the rides are rather long and the wait is also about 15 minutes to 1/2 hour.  Terminator-3D was Blips decision!  NO heart conditions, no pregnant women, no children under 6, no neck, back injuries.  OHHHHHHHHHH sounds good.  Really really done well and the 3D makes it seem like Arnold Schwartznegger saves the world again.  Yup, he looked at the audience and said…..”I told you I would be bok (back) !” …..and rides off on his motorcycle.  Cool.

5:50 pm and time to go and we have only seen 1/3 of the park.  Bummer.  I would have liked to see the Blues Brothers put the band back together.  Also there was a Shrek adventure, Waterworld death-defying stunts, Van Helsing Dracula, Nicelodeon Blast zone, Fear Factor live(but they were on location), Revenge of the Mummy …..

We went to the parking lot and got monkey and took a few pictures and then went back to Santa Monica.  Tomorrow is our last day and we will spend it walking the beach and searching Lomita for where I lived and worked.  Then we will head for the airport, turn in our fabulous car(see how Blips does all those roadtrip videos) and catch our plane to Minnesota at 1am. 

That’s Beetlejuice saying goodbye with a great big belch.  And I mean GREAT BIG.

We enjoyed our Starbucks coffee along with a sample of maple latte and some kind of egg on english muffin.  I guess Starbucks is getting into the healthier breakfasts.

Again we had a beautiful sunny day and it was a lovely drive through Monterey.  Along the beach we saw Dennis the Menace Park.  So we stopped and let monkey play.  He drove the train and then monkeyed around with Dennis.  We stopped at a park next to cannery row.  This is where John Steinbeck wrote about ordinary people.  I have read some other Steinbeck novels but not any about the canning of sardines in Monterey.  I read the history of this business and it is not such an easy thing to do.  I have a new appreciation for sardines.  There were several very expensive hotels with lovely gardens.  Our lunch was prepared for us at a small family mexican restaurant.  We got it to go and ate near one of the fountains in the flower garden of the nice hotel.  I had a chicken taco and blips had a chicken burrito.  Both were the best we have ever had.

We had been told that the 17 mile drive on a peninsula was worth the $8.75 fee.  This is a gated community and includes Pebble Beach Golf Club.  I’m not a golf fan but even I have heard of that golf Club.  There were a few houses(mansions) for sale.  Most had a sign that said, “by appointment only” but one had a sheet so I got out and looked.  9.4 million.  And it was not even one of the fancy or modern ones.  The view was wonderful and we spent an hour on the drive.  Next was Carmel.  We had spent alot of time on the 17 mile drive so we did not stop in Carmel but we could see it is just as beautiful a place on the seaside.  No spottings of Clint Eastwood.  I guess he was at City Hall acting (heheheheehe) as mayor.

I thought I knew what Big Sur was.  I thought it was a lovely drive along the coast.  HOWEVER, I was in for a big surprise.  It is an area where the mountains meet the ocean and a road has been blasted along the cliffs.  And yes, the view is spectacular and at times we were ohhhhhh at least a quarter mile up from the ocean with just a drop off at the edge of the road.  There are many many turnoffs where you can pull your car off the road and take pictures or just enjoy the view.  And they often put big boulders there to stop you from driving over the edge.  My camera will not really take a decent picture of such a distant view.  But there were these “feathers” on a stem that looked like arrows all over the hills.  They were about 5-6 feet high and were so interesting looking.  We saw a sea lion on one rock and I thought I spotted a whale but without binoculars, I could not be sure.  Whales migrate south for the winter along the coast.

We watched the sun set on Big Sur and were one hour out from our sleeping destination.  Ten minutes before we got there, blips said, “I have an idea…Let’s drive all the way to LA tonite so we have a full day tomorrow”.  That’s 219 miles and it is 7PM.  OK, blips gets the true meaning of a roadtrip now.  You get an idea and sell it to the others and walla…new plans and you are on the way.  Monkey and I talked it over with some officers. One said he drives that all the time at night.  So, walla…….3 votes to keep going.

We get to LA at 11pm and I thought there would be hotels along the freeway that we could pick from.  Nope.  We have to get off the freeway and pick Santa Monica Blvd.  Bars on the windows, bail bonds and payday check cashing spots.  Geezzzzz does all of LA have bars on the windows?  We see a Shell that has gas for $2.65 which is cheap here.  It is normal for $2.89.  We tried to use the two $25 gas cards I got for free for test driving a 2006 Grand Vitarra.  One worked and one did not.  I hope that is an innocent mistake and not a scam.  Send me a gas card and I can’t tell it is not good until I try to use it.  BUT, the kid at the gas station says there is a Days Inn just down the road.  We find it and they want to charge us $50 more than we have been paying.  In the end, he gave us $10 off for booking two nights.  We did not want to spend Thursday looking for a hotel.  I guess part of a roadtrip is paying extra for a hotel at last minute.

There is a Starbucks just 5 blocks from here…..at least we won’t have to search for that and there was no one waiting in bed for us this time.  Not that that is boring or anything Tomorrow….Universal Studios, The Entertainment Capital of LA.

We checked out of our hotel and went directly to Starbucks.  We sat outside on the patio in the beautiful sunshine.  It was already noon when we came across the bay bridge.  This is a smaller bridge that connects San Francisco and Oakland.  It is just south of the Golden Gate Bridge.  There is a toll of $3 to enter San Francisco but no fee to exit on the same bridge.  We drive through SF along the bay and get almost all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge when we see a lovely spot for our lunch.  We take monkey along and give him a little lecture on where bad monkeys go when they don’t listen. (see Alcatraz in the background)

Monkey wanted to rent one of these gocarts but at $40 an hour, he will have to do a little more around the house first.  We did allow him to sit in one and feel like a big boy.  You can’t see it but he is smiling very big

 The same toll policy applies to the Golden Gate Bridge.  $5 to enter SF but nothing to leave on the same bridge.  Going across the Golden Gate Bridge (GGB)only takes a few minutes since it is just 1.7 miles across.  There is also a fenced in pedestrian/bike path to walk/bike across the GGB.  You cannot do that on the bay bridge.  But the GGB is so enormous.  Huge Huge Huge.  We stop at the usual viewing spot and monkey meets “flat Stanley” from Philladelphia.  Try saying that twice…flat Stanley from Philadelphia, flat Stanley from Philidelphia(FSFP)…….ehhehehehehe.  FSFP is getting his picture taken at the GGB also.  A doubledecker tour bus pulled in.  The stop is timed and some of them have to pick…toilet or pictures of the bridge.  Beep beep , time to go. 

I had talked to a local guy who recommended we go up a little known road on the other side of the hiway from the normal viewing spot.  OMG was he right.  Just a few cars were there and we had fun taking some pictures.  A guy took this picture of us and it is so perfectly spaced that it looks fake.  But no, it IS real.  We sat for a long time on a bench overlooking the bridge, the bay and SF in the background.  Sitting there I was so overwelmingly grateful for everything I have.  Good friends, the love of a good man, my health, our children and grandchildren.  I gave thanks and said an extra prayer for the restoration of the health of one daughter and one brother.  It felt good to know they are in God’s hands. Then we headed out of San Francisco to end our first trip here.  We were in rush hour traffic at 3pm in the afternoon.  The only good thing is I advanced 8 numbers to 043 from the thousands of cars we traveled with.  wooohooo

We went back to the Days Inn in Salinas because it has great internet connection and a great shower.  They gave us 10% off as return customers.  That’s nice.  Is there such a thing as California nice?  We took the key and opened the door to our room and there were two people in bed!  I am not sure who was more surprised, them or us.  I was going to ask them if they called for a taxi but decided to just say SORRY! and shut the door.  No, I don’t have a picture but she had on a lovely pink sliky thing.  You are just going to have to take my word for it   We got upgraded for free to a king bed….I wonder what he did for the other surprised couple???

Tomorrow we go to all the nice beaches along Big Sur and Monterey, Carmel, Pebbel Beach……..  We are taking two days along the beach,

Here’s a picture of blips as he films the GGB from the other side yesterday.  That was when were not too close.  I was standing just to the right of him (DUH) when I took the pic I put on yesterday. 

Having a blast, feeling blessed and now on to where Clint EAstwood is(was?) mayor of Carmel, CA.

Blips had great directions for Twin Peaks. That is a very high spot in San Francisco. The view as we wound our way up the hills is spectacular but when we got to the top it takes your breath away. You can see the whole city, Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz and the bay. It is hard to see but just at the bottom of the curve on the street(Market Street) is the Castro District.This is where the main Gay and Lesbian community is. We met a California family and took pictures for each other. Here is the mom and dad, who are about to become great-grandparents. Grandson is about to set out on a 5 week trip to India. What a nice family to chat with.

It is behind a hill on the left but is called Haight-Ashbury. Named after the two streets that intersect. This is where my role models hung out in the 60’s…Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jim Morrison and the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead.  I got all sentimental to see the area that these people at one time called home. We had coffee at the Peoples Cafe and an ‘alternative, wonderfully addictive vegan cookie’. That’s what the wrapper says. I had Double Chocolate Decadence and blips had Pistachio Mystique.  The coffee was nice and strong. Haight-Ashbury is rather normal now with a Gap and Ben&Jerry’s. But it is still colorful and unique only to San Francisco. I did not have the address of where Janis lived so I picked out this house. It is actually way more purple than the picture shows. Can’t you just hear her laughing as she did at the end of “me and Bobby McGee”? Freedom is just another word for nothin’ left to lose. The first album I remember from her was Cheap Thrills.  It is a good thing I left Worthington for LA in 1968 instead of San Francisco. I never would have left San Francisco! I love it here.

We then drove along Pacific Coast Hiway. There is the ocean and beach on one side and Golden Gate Park on the other side.

 Suddenly we spotted the Dutch Windmill we had read about in a book. There we had a great talk with Samuel, (originally from China) and Susan, originally from Hong Kong. We had so much in common. Queen Wilhelmina Garden is absolutely beautiful. I noticed the flowers were red white and blue. The blue were just done blooming so do not show in the picture. A very peaceful relaxing and romantic place. And I noticed that mothers let their children run and play and have fun. Because of the design, they did not have to be too careful of the traffic.

We then met two people originally from Chile. She now lives in NY and he lives in SF. They stopped at Queen Wilhelmina Garden within Golden Gate Park to take pictures with their surrogate family. She is holding a brother (with the big mouth) and he is holding a friend(with the pink hair). The brother and friend could not make the trip. So, these are their stand-ins. We really regretted leaving monkey in the hotel room. A pic of monkey, pink hair and big mouth would be priceless

Ok, the pictures do not match the text but it is really late here, so you have to match them youself. You can play that game where you match text with picture. Have fun

Tomorrow Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped at a lovely spot on the hiway but it was getting dark. Here is one pic of the bridge far away.

We got an early start to Fisherman’s Warf and good thing.  As we read the map, our BART train route was color coded blue or green.  So, yesterday when we got our tickets and the first train was a “blue” BART that pulled into the station, we hopped on.  Well, we soon realized that yesterday, we got lucky that we even got to Fishermans Warf.  That is NOT how the trains run.  The trains are labeled by their END destination and you watch the board for the announcement which track and how many minutes until it arrives.  So, when we got on a “blue” trian on Sunday morning, by the announced stops, we knew it was not going to our destination.  CRAP!  We got off downtown and after talking to a few locals, got on the correct one.  Our BART’s final destination is Daly City……so we ride the Daly City BART.  To return to our hotel we need the Dublin BART.  And later we  got a big laugh when we noticed ALL BARTs have a blue stripe down the side.  No wonder yesterday the first train to arrive was a blue one! hehehehehe

We found a Starbucks downtown San Francisco and it is even cheaper than  Salinas.  Heck, each time we buy it, it gets cheaper.  Now it was $6.30 for two latte’s.  We did alot of walking…downtown is the equal to Peer 1 and Fisherman’s Warf is Peer 39, and the marina is Peer 45.    Of course, the best spot to film the Blue Angles is up some steep hill and what would be Peer 60 (if there was one).  So, thank goodness for my new Birkenstock clogs.  Not ONE blister or complaint.  Blips was not happy that 11 hours before our flight, I came home with new shoes.  He has since said, the shoes were a very good idea.  Even at $130.00… gulp, yup, but worth every penny so far.  The Blue Angles were awsome and good thing, since I have a $25 souvineer hat.  We went to a different Starbucks and ……walla….it was. $6.10 for two lattes

We took an early evening ride on the cable car.  It is exciting to look back and see the hill you have just come up.  It stopped at Chinatown.  I wanted to eat at a Chinatown buffet but blips was afraid it would be all fish.  So, we just looked but did not eat in Chinatown.  We did find a place on the warf where I had a fresh salmon salad and blips had a B-B-Q pork sandwich.  Again, we were both very happy with our dinner.  We also saw Nob Hill but did not walk the hills because we had walked for hours already.   We knew EXACTLY which BART to take back to our hotel   Saturday and Sunday we were gone from early morning to late night.  The day goes so fast.  We are having a blast.  Flowers are downtown San Francisco and sign is from a little shop where they were selling fleece jackets.  And blips is so thrilled that we each have our own computer but here is a shot of what he has to go through to make it happen.  I wondered why his suitcase was so heavy.

If your going to San Francisco be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.  I put some flowers in my hair and we set out to learn how to ride BART. Bay Area Rapid Transit.  One station is close to our hotel and the hotel has a shuttle every 1/2 hour to the station. You find the price of the ticket on the wall to the destination from your location, buy a ticket and go to the the train level.  BART travels above gound, below ground and under water.(under the bay between Oakland and San Francisco).  It costs about $30 to park a car, and BART was $6.70 round trip per person.  We took BART to Fisherman’s warf because that is where the Blue Angles were going to do their air show at the marina.  It was quite crowded because it is Fleet Week.  Fleet Week is when many military ships dock and the Port of San Francisco shows it’s appreciation to the sailors for their service.  We talked with a couple sailors in Starbucks and they said so far they went to a movie and were not allowed to pay.  It was free. And at Starbucks, their normal coffee price is $4.50 and they were charged $1.50 instead.  They were feeling very appreciated.  Our best laugh of the day was when I said to a group of sailors, “gentleman, may I take your picture?”  And ..flash, in two seconds they lined up perfectly for a picture.  I was so stunned that I pushed zoom instead of click.  They started to move on and I said, “I pushed the wrong button!”….and slam…back in perfect place in two seconds.  Blips said it was so fun to watch.  I pushed click this time and they fell out again and another woman said, “wait, I want a picture too”…and slam, back into perfect place.  It was a once in a lifetime moment and I hope you can imagine the scenerio I described.

We then looked very hard for a place where blips, who does not like fish, could eat at Fisherman’s Warf.  We did, find a spot.  I had Calamari and blips had a meatball sandwich.  We both were very happy with our dinner.  What a great beginning.  This picture is inside our return ride on BART, each car was crammed full, every seat and every square inch of standing room and sitting on the floor.  The sun is strangely bright here.  It shined directly down on you instead of at you.  Sunglasses don’t do any good, since the sun shines behind them.  So, I had to get a hat.  And of course the only one available is a $25 Blue Angles souvineer hat.  There are flowers all over the place just like the middle of the summer.  Here is just one such spot at Fisherman’s Warf on the beautiful 80ish day.

We left LA today for a few days in San Francisco.  Specifically, blips wants to go to the Blue Angels air show which is over the bay and should be quite spectacular.  I mistakenly thought it was a four hour drive to SF but instead it is FOUR hundred miles.  So, I got the four correct but in the wrong category.  Ooops!  We started out rather early (for people on vacation) at 9:30am and pulled into a Days Inn in Salinas, CA at 4:30pm.  We are 100 miles south of SF and stayed here because it is less expensive and we can be there by noon tomorrow anyway with time to explore a little before we booked a hotel in SF.  BUT we like this Days Inn so much that we booked one in Oakland for 3 days.  Now we won’t have to search tomorrow for a place to stay.  Done deal.

Here is a picture of monkey(the first one of my collection.  And he has no name, just monkey) playing one last game by the pool and sitting on the stairs that went up to our room. 

We stopped on the way to SF at San Luis Obispo at an Applebee’s.  I asked for a no smoking table.  SHE SAID ALL OF CALIFORNIA IS NO SMOKING!!! What the heck?  At our hotel with no address, we had to sit at the pool to get wi-fi.  We have been smoked on with cigars and as many as 9-10 cigs at a time.  Now we find out they are all criminals also.  They can smoke in their room but not at the pool in our air.  It is California law.  I thought they had a clean air act!  Our motel room here in Salinas is really nice because there is no smoking in any room at any time.  So it has never been smoked on and then perfumed and called clean. 

Anyway, I woke up this morning to chanting.  I thought maybe those boys actually were Jehovas Witnesses, since we saw them going door to door.  And they were having a service.  But I also heard them using the F word last night and that did not fit.  So, I opened our door and listened.  It was a motivational coaching meeting.  Some guy said something and they said HARDER HARDER, as if to remedy their missed quota the day before.  And then they chanted “I can do it” (also twice).  Those poor kids are hooked up with some creep that is using them to make money.  I knew it was something weird.  I wonder what they get out of it.

Tomorrow I am about to go to SF for the first time.  I am so excited.  The scenery on the way here today was breathtaking.  The mountains and the ocean and sometimes the combination in one view.  I can’t wait to see what it looks like tomorrow in SF.   They have muffins for breakfast here.  I am going to count the blueberries.