we found the ocean

Even before this State Department stuff, I was the kind of person who wasn't sure which place was home. Maybe that was because my parents felt like transplants in Oklahoma, where I was born. Then when we moved back to California, I felt out of place with my dip thongs and pale skin.  I went to eighth grade and high school in Santa Barbara and never had a day go by that I wasn't amazed at that spot of God's Earth....not just the natural beauty, but the architecture as well.  Then when I left for college I travelled back and forth between Utah and California and always felt a surge of gratitude to call this view my kind of homecoming.When Grant saw it he exclaimed "We found the ocean!"

When we got in to town I asked Courtney to take the Carrillo exit so we could drive by the condo where we lived and then up Meigs road to Cliff drive, then down to the beach. I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of the condo, but here is the deli that I loved to walk to, just two doors down.  It was one of those I knew them and they knew me things that I love, kind of like Jenny Lou's.

We called this Hendry's beach, though now the sign says Arroyo Burro.  It is the best beach for tide pools and walking reflectively...if you like that sort of thing.
This was Courtney and Zoe's first time to touch the ocean.

A walk on the beach, without swimsuits was what I had in mind, since it was already five o'clock,  Mary started in to the water timidly.

But soon the water became irresistible.

Grant's elbows were flying with happiness.  He loved the feeling of the sand under his feet.

I dug the kids' fresh clothing out of the back of the van and they traipsed back and forth from the showers until we had recovered from the spontaneous swim. Then we went on to my favorite pizza restaurant (still in existence...never forgetting the now out of business Sonny's) Giovanni's
Pizza.

That's where we met up with the star of our road trip, my good friend from high school, Amy Mills.  She invited us to come and stay in her parents' home.  I am grateful to Amy and her family for encouraging and allowing our fun adventure!  I am also grateful to Courtney for being willing to accompany me and for doing the bulk of the driving, without which I would probably have driven off the road somewhere in Nevada, due to my chronic daytime sleepiness.

Here's Amy.  We went to the park on Cliff Drive to eat dinner.

Doesn't this pizza look amazing?

stupid road trip musts

Tuesday morning...day two of our road trip. I wanted to get the kids excited about the world's largest thermometer in Baker, California. They were skeptical.

We stopped at the Barstow Station McDonald's...for lunch and more nostalgia.

I didn't remember all this stuff for sale inside.  Now you can buy Mexican food and Panda Express as well.

Grant was excited to eat lunch in "Thomas."

So how do I keep up with everyone?  I
 admit sometimes not very well.  I couldn't find Grant for a few minutes.  A lady recognized my panicked expression and said, "He's sitting on Ronald's lap." Everyday I am grateful for angels.

thelma and louise plus ten?

...or the lonely pregnant wives club heads west. No driving with the top down or barroom fights involved... but I do plan to let the kids wear the same clothes the whole week.

Monday morning... began our trip to California. Off by eight o'clock, not too bad. First stop: Provo... this could take a while. My fault, I couldn't find the cookie aisle in my favorite Smith's.

Next stop: just down the road Ben reports we've got a stinky in the van. Good thing cousin Zoe's so cute.
But look how Nephi's grown. So much to see already.

By Beaver we had another stop requested. I took a picture of this diner because it reminded me of route 66 road trips with my family when I was a child. I would eat at places like this now, if I thought we could afford that many orders of chicken fried steak.  Imagine how we'd trash the place.

The corner of Arizona.

We arrived at our scheduled destination, Primm, Nevada, at about 4:30....slow by my college days standards, but we all felt triumphant upon arrival...still time to swim. Why Primm? It's on the border of California It's dirt cheap. Easy on easy off, that sort of thing. We stayed at Whiskey Pete's when we moved from Utah to Riverside, California nine years ago. The boys remembered it. Grant was excited that it looked like a castle. Sam wanted to stay at Buffalo Bill's across the freeway, but I wasn't sure it would be as inexpensive.

You have to go see Al Capone's car with the bullet holes.  I had the kids wait by the get away car with Courtney while I checked in...didn't want to overwhelm the reception desk.

A very kind man from India told me that I could stay there for ninety-nine dollars that night, or across the street for twenty dollars. The management  wanted to encourage people to stay at Buffalo Bill's this weekend.  Interesting.  Sam was thrilled.  See the roller coaster?

So what about this place?  Twenty dollars a night each for two adjoining rooms with two queen size beds, leaky of sink, runny of toilet, creepy characters, cockroach in the elevator...(I think.) I didn't want to look too closely....but the room was surprisingly pleasant, and the pool was large enough for the many occupants (lots of families), though cold due to that big shadowy building, I assume.

Sam was on the verge of an anxiety attack about getting to the roller coaster.  I hate taking the kids through the casino...creepy characters and all...but we had to wander through the slot machines, pulling Grant away from them, of course, to find the family section, which is actually quite large.  What a relief to find this enclosed kids' arcade where I could play with the little ones while Sam took his only willing companion, Bethany, on the roller coaster.  We were happy to see that rides were free the month of June, otherwise eight dollars each...highway robbery...

There were more takers for the log ride. Olivia said it was boring because the drop was dumb.

By the time I satisfied Sam's need for speed it was almost ten o'clock Utah time, safe to have dinner. I was grateful to see a McDonald's there in the family area. There was a long line, the kids were wired, and we were more of a spectacle than Siegfried and Roy. I was grateful for my China training.
This was a beautiful sight.

spiritual radical

Friday we went with Grandad to the BYU bookstore. We wanted him to pick out his birthday present. He chose a book about Benjamin Franklin. Grant chose a book called Spiritual Radical. We always camp out in the kids section for a while, then make a big scene at the Candy Jar...another frenzy, this time about cherry sours.

On the way to BYU we drove by this place. Sam was especially interested.

Then we drove back to what the kids call the best neighborhood in the world. When we arrived at the park Grant couldn't wait to get out of the van. He bypassed the kids' door and pushed passed me to go out the driver's side. "I love this playground!"  He said. He ran, with elbows flying, to the slides. I thought that maybe he remembered the park because it was the first park he ever went to as an infant, or maybe it was from when William was born.  "How cool," I thought.  Then I remembered we played there last summer too.  Still...there was that connection.

Grandad and Judith made a picnic lunch for us. We ate and talked and enjoyed the swings and wasted a lot of water keeping William occupied.

Saturday I felt tired most of the day, didn't sleep well the night before...as usual.  We stayed at home until around five o'clock when I finally felt some energy...I think I am still experiencing jet lag.  I feel like a vampire.  We went to Walmart again, this time for camping supplies.  We bought a couple of tents and a bunch of sleeping bags for our trip to California...more about that soon.  We had pizza night.  I felt better.

Sunday was Stake conference.  Ben wasn't that excited about it, so I offered him the follow William around job.  I haven't sat for a whole session of Stake conference for years.  I like having teenagers.

In the evening, Judy's family came over to Grandma's house for dinner. The kids couldn't resist the sprinklers.  This time Sam started something with the swing.. over the gimmicky hose...a kind of water park ride.  Why am I not surprised?  Ben added the element of fastening the hose in the tree.  Grandma thought it was too much fun for a Sunday evening.  I thought it made a beautiful picture though.