Holiday Update

We have been in Bakersfield for the holidays with daughter Stacy and family. Christmas Eve we spent at Stacy's in laws. Had a great dinner. Stacy's husband Jason made a great meatloaf. All together there was about 20 people. Afterward we went to Stacy's to exchange presents with Terry & Sarah. They had to leave early Christmas morning. Christmas morning at Stacy's started with a breakfast burrito bar. Then on to the good stuff. Here are some pictures that capture the day.

Grandson Ramey



Grandaughter Ciera



Daughter Stacy opening wedding set Jason had fixed.



Most of the rest of the day was spent playing Rock Band on the Wii.



Poppy Ed did get to play golf with Ramey.

Travel Day to Bakersfield

Yesterday we left Van Nuys after spending Sunday evening once again singing with friends and family. Although we were glad to get back on the road, it is sad to say good bye. But we have promised not to stay away so long this time.

Our trip to Bakersfield started at 10:00 am. It had been raining just about all night but it did stop for us while we were unhooking everything. We stopped at Camping World for a few things we needed and hooked up the car there. If was raining a bit but not bad. We had no trouble getting up to the top of the grapevine on the 5 freeway and when we stopped at Fraizer Park for diesel fuel the sun was shinning. However, by the time we finished, the fog had blown in. I mean it was a very thick fog!! We came down the grapevine going 35 miles an hour. Thankfully when we got to the bottom the fog was gone. When we arrived at the park the sun came out long enough for us to get everything set outside.

Daughter Stacy and her husband Jason and grandson Ramey came over and we went to a local Pizza place for dinner and Monday Night football. Good times!!

Need to finish last minute shopping today. Son Terry and wife Sarah are coming tomorrow for Chistmas Eve and will stay with us, then leave early Christmas Day to spend the day with Sarah's family.

I just want to take this time to wish all our friends and family a happy holiday.
We love you all and sooner or later we will be by your way!!

Weather

Have not posted in a while. Not much happening. Last Monday, we pretty much stayed inside and didn't go anywhere. It rained so I took the day and baked cookies. Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Raisin. Tuesday evening we went with Terry and Sarah to a local place and played Trivia. We came in 3rd place and had $13.00 taken off our dinner and bar tab. Not bad! Wednesday it again rained all day but was much colder that Monday. The snow level was down to 2500 feet so a lot of roads were closed around here. You could not get to Bakersfield over the grapevine and you could not get to Palmdale/Lancaster up the 14 freeway. Wednesday was Terry Coultas' birthday and we were supposed to go to dinner at a favorite of ours - Sweetwater Cafe - in Aqua Dulce. We never made it there because of the snow so we went to a place called Backwoods Inn. Another favorite. Good meal with good friends.
Weather has been sunny but cold here. Lets just hope that Monday the weather is okay for our trip up over the grapevine to Bakersfield.
Till later...

Reagan Library

Friday we took a drive out to Simi Valley to visit the Reagan Library. What an impressive place this is. Right from the drive up the hill you get the feeling of history. There are flags of every president on the way up the hill.
This is the statue that welcomes you to the library.



You first walk through his early life as an actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild. Then on to the years as governor of California. I didn't realize that he had attempted to win the presidential nomination in 1968 and also in 1976.

In his first presidential term, Reagan implemented bold new political and economic initiatives. His supply-side economic policies, dubbed "Reaganomics," included deregulation and substantial tax cuts implemented in 1981. He survived an assassination attempt and took a hard line against organized labor when he threatened to fire the countries air traffic controllers when they went on strike. He also ordered military actions in Grenada. Reagan's second term was primarily marked by foreign matters, namely the ending of the Cold War. His "Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall" is famous.
Here is his own piece of the Berlin Wall.


Another very impressive exhibit is Air Force One. It seemed small but was very compact and was indeed a flying Oval Office.

Of course the last place you visit at this library is the grave site.


The views from this spot are truly magnificent and you really feel you are on top of the world.
It was a very good day.
Till next time....

Target Shopping

The San Fernando Valley here in LA County is very congested. Land here is premium. One of the things that we have seen that really made a lot of sense to us, is this Target Store.



The store is built above the parking lot. Well, you might ask do you get your cart full of merchandise to your car? Why you use the cart escalator.





Isn't this so cool! Just had to share..

Karaoke

When we lived here 7 years ago, one of the things that we did a lot of was Karaoke.
Our good friend Sharon Coultas is a KJ. Here's a picture of Ed getting ready to sing.


If you like to sing, check out their web page: www.karaokeunlimited.com They have a lot of neat stuff.

Today was a very warm day here and we took advantage of it and washed the motorhome. Since we had it detailed in September when we were in Florida we have tried to wash it down when ever we get a chance. I have also learned now to go behind Ed with the ladder and dry off the windows. We are expecting some rain next week but since the roof is clean we should not get a lot of streaks.

Till next time....

I Love a Parade!!

I really enjoy hearing the bands. It brings back fond memories for me. When my children were in high school they were all part of the band. I was the typical band mom and tagged along in all the parades. Sunday we went to see the Granada Hills Holiday Parade. This parade just happened to go down Chatsworth Street where Ed's daughter Tina lives, so it was really easy for us to park at her house. It was a really long parade, 2 hours, with several high school bands and a lot of cute children. Another reason I wanted to see this parade is that my son Terry was in the parade with his YMCA Papoose Tribes.


The YMCA also had a group from the Red Hat Society.

If you can't red the sign it says "Scarlet Skinny Dippers". (They all do water exercise at the Y.)

Of course, no holiday parade ends until Santa goes by.


It was a fun day.

Visiting with family

I haven't updated the blog in a while. Really not much to write about. We have spent the week having dinner with Terry and Sarah on Tuesday. Tina and Jesse came to dinner on Wednesday. Friday we drove over to the Harvest Festival at the Pomona fairgrounds.
Even at 11:00am on a Friday the traffic was bad.


Debbie, Ed's sister-in-law had a booth there. She is a massage therapist and she makes her own oils and lotions. She calls her products Feminine Charms. See her web site at www.myfemininecharms.com/. She has some really good stuff.

I finally took a picture of our site here at Birmingham RV park.



Another angle.


Our site is right on the end of the row so our car is parked right next to us. Other people have to walk a little to their car.

Till next time..