Tourist Time 2022 Reprise

In all the time we lived up in the Bay Area, we never had time to visit most of our favorite spots on those few occasions when we did drive down to visit. Katy coming to visit less than a month after we arrived helped to jumpstart our trips to the wonderous places.

 Victoria Gardens

After arriving a day late and a couple suitcases short, we take a quick trip back to Ontario Airport to check on that luggage situation. Nope...not there yet. Apparently, Katy's clothes are still enjoying their side trip to Nashville. Snow is smothering the Midwest and East Coast, yet, here we are sunshiny and lower 60s for temperatures. 

Early in that first day, we take Katy down to Ontario Mills Outlet Center. Thank goodness the pre-Christmas crowds have dissipated. Just a couple of weeks ago, there were long lines outside most stores. People waiting forever just to begin shopping. Then, to top off the day, we went out to Victoria Gardens for ice cream. I was hoping their Christmas tree would still be up, but by January 5th it was gone. 😞

Sake 2 Me

On our second trip to Sake 2 Me in a month, we met up with Tessa and Adam. It has been years since these three sisters were all together. 💖

Chinatown -- Los Angeles

As weekend number one rolls around, we head to Los Angeles to visit Chinatown. Always beautiful, it is sad to see how many of the tiny shops have not survived the Coronavirus. We parked in our normal parking lot, up near the Twin Dragon Gate  and walked down to the Chinatown Central Plaza. In and out of a few shops for some small trinkets and a stop at the Wonder Bakery for almond cookies and butterfly pastries.

Farmer's Market -- The Grove

We finish up the day at The Grove. Just blocks away from Thomas and Zach's old apartment, it is bittersweet to be there without them. Dinner at The Original Farmer's Market, and we head back home.

 

On Sunday, we spend the day at the beach! We walk the sands near Balboa Pier. After having pizza in the Balboa Fun Zone, we ride the ferry over to Balboa Island. Finally, we sit down back into sands at the beach and watch the sunset over the water.

Newport Beach

Natalie's Birthday -- Tessa and Adam's place

Mid week, we celebrate Natalie's birthday at Tessa and Adam's place. They moved into their new place three weeks after we came back to SoCal. This is the first time we have seen their sweet new home. We bought dinner at Buca Di Beppo, just blocks from where they live and ate in their brand new dining room. 

Disneyland

No visit with Katy is ever complete without a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth. Blue milk in Galaxy's Edge, Beignets at New Orleans Square and pizza at Naples Ristorante. It was a delicious day!

 

Fast forwarding to weekend #two, we find ourselves at San Diego Bay on Tsunami Day! A volcanic eruption in Tonga caused all of the beaches from San Diego up through the Bay Area to be closed due the possibility of a tsunami. Add some rain, and the day was interesting. 

We toured through the Maritime Museum of San Diego. A fascinating place that I would be sure to visit again. We were told that the Soviet B-39 Submarine that we saw was due to be taken out and sunk within the next couple of weeks. In amongst the ship we were able to walk through was the ship used in the filming of the movie, "Master and Commander" with Russell Crowe. There were several photos posted around the ship to show movie scenes. 

Intending to show Katy the humungous statue of the kissing couple, the rain and tsunami threat had us pointing out the statue as we drove by when leaving. We finished off the day with food, of course! We met Natalie's friend, Nicole and had pizza at Pizza Nova down on the Bay. 

San Diego

Our last big adventure during Katy's trip was a visit to Universal Studios Hollywood. We had butter bear to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, got soaked on the Jurassic World ride, has a face to face encounter with Blue and watched the water burn at the Water World show. We also got wet at the show!

Universal Studios

 

Venice Canals

A few days after Katy flew home, we drove down to visit the Venice Canals. One of my favorite places of all to go, I didn't even know these canals existed until seeing them in the movie, "Valentine's Day". At lastly, we walked out to the end of the Venice Beach Pier for the very first time. In all of our trips to Venice Beach through the years, we had never actually walk out onto the pier.

The pier at Venice Beach

Our first month-plus back in the Southland was busy, busy, busy. It is great to be home!

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Christmas Lights

 Those Christmas lights Light up the street  Down where the sea and city meet

May all your troubles soon be gone Oh, Christmas lights keep shining on

Widmer World

As the Holiday Season shifts from Christmas Present to Christmas Past, let's look back on some of the shimmering shining sparkly sights of the season. This season gave us the unique experience of checking out the amazing light displays in both northern and southern California.

Early on, we walked through the lights at Widmer World in Pleasanton. This has been our go to lighting fix since moving north. Sadly, last year they were closed due to Covid. So glad to see them back and bustling.

 

We visited this sparkling display just as we learned we would be moving back down south. So happy to have been able to fit in a last?!? visit!!

Victoria Gardens

Just over 24 hour back in Rancho Cucamonga, we took time to drive through Victoria Gardens to see their Christmas display. 

Greg and I went back a couple of nights later to walk through the Plaza. Just a week before Christmas, the place was filled with last minute shoppers. Shrek Santa has been replaced with the more traditional Santa while we were away. Sadly, Greg was not up for visiting Santa and giving him our list of happy thoughts for Christmas.

Lights on Thoroughbred

One of the things I missed the most during the Holiday Season up North was visiting the lights up on Thoroughbred Avenue. I loved when we were able to walk through all of the beautiful lights. They have changed their rules so that there are only a few days where walking is allow. Coming down so close to Christmas, those walkthrough days are already over. 

It took almost exactly two hours to drive the couple of miles from Baseline up the where the lights began on Carnelian Avenue. It was very much worth the wait!

 

Again, arriving just two weeks before Christmas, with moving, unpacking and normal Holiday events, there were a couple of things we missed. The Balboa Boat Parade and going through the flowery floats after the Rose Parade in Pasadena. Absolutely on the list for next year!

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It never rains in Southern California

It never rains in Southern California, except when it does, for weeks on end. Thanks to the new Disney policy of required registrations, we end up at Disneyland on a rain soaked day, just before Christmas. I love the shimmery shiny photos the rain created. Other than those photos, it was a rather miserable time. Cold, wet and crowded. 

We very quickly purchase rain 'coats' from the Emporium. This is the first time in the eleven years we have lived in California that we have been at Disney on such a miserable day. Before reservations, we would have just passed on going to the theme park in such weather. I know we could have canceled and registered again, but it was the only day we were able to reserve before Christmas, thanks to said required registration. 

I truly wanted to seen all the Holiday lights and decorations that we have not had the opportunity to see in the past five years. Somehow, driving south from the Bay Area just to see Mickey didn't quite fit into our schedules during the Holiday season.

We stop for chicken and mashed potatoes at the Plaza Inn. Out on the covered porch outside of the restaurant, we were kept warm with heat lamps. The tradition of eating 'Christmas' dinner at the Plaza Inn started way back in 2012, when Thomas worked for the mouse. Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, 24 hour days. So many memories from way back when wrapped into that wet day at Disneyland. 

Even though the day was dusk dark early in the middle of the afternoon, the colorful lights are not lit up until the normal time, 5:30pm. Soaked through, we wait for the lights on It's A Small World to light up, rode through the enclosed (away from the rain) ride, then headed towards the exit. An hour long wait in the pouring rain, kept us from riding the Haunted Mansion ride. My favorite ride, even more so from the fall into the Christmas season, would have to wait for a more weather friendly day.

After just a bit over four hours, we casually headed out. A stop in this shop and that, along Main Street was not rushed, just damp. Even a wet day at Disneyland is still a good Disney day!

 

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#SoCalAdventuresBegin

“You have to trust in something; your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever, because believing that the dots will connect down the road, will give you the confidence to follow your heart.” Steve Jobs

After almost four years, two spent inside this crazy pandemic world, we head back to Southern California. A decision that took just minutes to embrace, happened in the middle of Thanksgiving week. Christmas decorations up. Presents half finished and spread through the apartment, we decide to move back down to Rancho. In THREE weeks!

Those three weeks pass by swiftly. With all of the chaos and confusion in finding a place to live, let's just say motivation ebbed and flowed minute by minute. After losing one apartment, three days before moving, Natalie and I went to Blackhawk Mall to say goodbye to our geese. A very unproductive day.

 

With just two days left before we leave the Bay Area, we finally get the apartment situation worked out. We end up getting a different type of apartment than planned, but at least we have a place to move into. Then, a quick trip down to Fremont to pick up the U-Haul, and we are set to begin packing it up. Oooops, too bad we aren't even close to being finished packing. 

One day before Move Day, the cats seem very unperturbed by the chaos surrounding them. Minutes later, the bed would be down. 

 

Yup, these photos are from the day before we leave! Things are not going well.

We left the front door open while packing up the U-Haul truck, and this rafter of turkeys comes right up into the door and gobble, gobble gobbles at us. Scared the bejesus out of us. Interesting moment in our last day of our #bayarealife This is four of them shuttering away! We passed a flock of at least thirty of these feathered beasts as we were pulling out of the apartment complex for the very last time. They could have eaten us alive. I wonder if they like white or dark meat? 😛

We work all day and well into the night packing that truck. At 2am, we give up and go to sleep on a pile of blankets in the middle of the almost empty bedroom. Up again at 5am, our original moving time, we are not even close to ready. By 9am, it is determined that Greg will stay and finish the cleaning while Natalie and I head down in Stormfly. If we are not here before 6pm, we cannot get into the apartment. The last thing we two girls do is help load up Reba onto the U-Haul trailer before we leave. 

  

375 miles south! With a short stop at the Love's Travel Stop, the halfway point, we are making good time. We grab a bag full of snack foods and head on our way. We hit fog in the Grapevine. Always interesting to drive through cloudy nothingness on a mountain pass, but soon we are driving past Six Flags in Valencia. Almost there! 

Then!! We hit Los Angeles traffic! Almost of third of our travel time is spent driving the last fiftyish miles.  

We also learn from Greg that we have to stop and get a money order to pay for the first month's rent. By this time, the day is running long and our chances to actually get into the apartment before the office closes is looking iffy. With money in hand, we arrive with just minutes to spare. Tessa and Adam are waiting for us at Homecoming when we arrive. In the back of their truck is a bed for our first night's sleep. 

After a short visit, Natalie and I head over to Target for some blankets, pillows and FOOD! A panicked Luci is not much happier to be in this strange new place than he was on the long trip down. He hides under the newly set up bedframe and refuses to come out. He definitely misses his big brother, Severus. 

With the sun setting just as we arrived, we don't get a real look at our new surroundings. Before we even make any of the food we bought, we crash in bed. 

Up early, we get our first real view of the San Antonio mountains. Snow covered mountain tops loom almost 9000 feet above us. The photo above is taken from our new patio. The apartment we had never seen before last night still feels strange. With very little to unpack from Stormfly, we take a quick walk around the Homecoming complex. Having lived in this very same apartment complex ten years ago, it feels like coming home.

Having left Livermore at 3am, Greg arrives with our U-Haul full of stuff just after 10am. Lifting and moving and stressing and unpacking, we get the living room in this brand new place set up and ready for guests.

 

Thomas and Zach, Tessa and Adam arrive to take us all out for sushi at my favorite spot ever! Sake 2 Me. We are home!

 

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