Wednesday August 13, 2014

Wednesday August 13, 2014: Catch up time again. Nancy and Bob have spent a busy past week. Wednesday August 6, We all get up at 0530. Today we are taking AJ back to LA. We are traveling United from GR to Denver to LAX. The flight went off without a hitch. When we got to LAX we headed to Fox Car Rental. We had to wait about an hour to get our car. We rented a Toyota Yaris, a really small car. We got to Missy’s condo in Brentwood around 1300. Missy and AJ had a happy areunion. Nancy and I are staying at an extended stay place called, you guessed it, “Extended Stay”. It is located in Torrance. Torrance is almost half way between Steve’s place in Long Beach and Missy’s LA condo. For dinner Missy and AJ drove down and we had dinner in a local pub in Torrance. Thursday August 7: Once again we get up at 0530. We take surface streets to Steve’s place. It took about 20 minutes. In fact we were very early so we stopped at Starbucks for a coffee. Today we are taking Grandson Lucas to Santa Catalina Island. Santa Catalina as in the song “26 miles across the sea Santa Catalina is the place for me. We are catching the ferry at Long Beach. It is about a one hour boat ride. It was a very pleasant day. The ferry was very crowded. The ferry lands at the small village of Avalon. Avalon is a small area of flat land surrounded by mountains. I would describe Santa Cantalina as Mackinaw Island with Golf Carts. Golf Carts are the main mode of transportation. We sensed that Lucas might get bored just walking around the Village looking at shops so we rented a Golf Cart. It was a great move. The rental place gave us a map showing a scenic drive. It was indeed a scenic drive. We started at sea level and climbed the hills surrounding Avalon. It think the peak is about 2500 feet. The view of the harbor and town was spectular. After our ride we ate at a local hamburg place. After lunch we had some time to kill so we played minature golf. Nancy won. It was a pleasant trip back to Long Beach. Veronica and Alessandra were attending a soccer dinner so Steve, Lucas, Bob and Nancy had dinner at Super Mex. Alessandra and Veronica joined us later. It was a great day. Friday August 8: Today is my sister, Helen’s birthday. Happy Birthday Helen. I remember when Helen and my mother came home from the hospital. My Dad picked my mother up in his arms and carried her upstairs. Quite a feat. Today is Alessandra’s day. We stopped by the house and picked her up about 0800. We went out for breakfast at Alessandra’s favorite place. After breakfast we headed to an amusement park. This park has rides suitable for the 5-10 year olds. The park opened at 1000 and we were the first ones in. Alessandra headed for the roller coaster. We had the coaster all to ourselves. We took two rides. During our stay we rode on every rides. Alessandra even got a special frozen lemonade. Yes I bought the cup. We left the park about 1400. Our next stop was Barnes and Noble. Nancy and Alessandra picked out several books that she wanted. Our last stop was Jamba Juice where Alessandra bought her favorite driink. For dinner we met the rest of the Scott family at a favorite restaurant of Steve and Vernocia. We sat outside and had a great meal. I love a relaxing dinner sitting outside and talking with family. The end to a perfect day. Saturday August 9: Bob and Nancy slept in today. We drove to Missy’s and had breakfast at AJ’s favorite place IHOP. It really was quite good. Missy and AJ are attending a birthday party so Nancy and I spent some time at the Century City Mall. We waited around Missy’s condo until they came home so we could say goodby. We stopped at a fast food place for dinner. Sunday August 10: Today is a travel day. We returned the car and left LA at 1300. We got home a little after 2200. Monday August 11, 2014: Back to the routine. I did the at-home and then because of possible rain I drove to MVP for my swim. All the lanes were full but the lifeguard recommended I swim in the outside pool. I did and I enjoyed the swim. Spent the rest of the day catching up. We had a light dinner at home. Tuesday August 12, 2014: Rain prevented me from riding my bike so I drove to MVP. After the swim I came home and Nancy and I ran some errands. Nancy fixed pork chop with dressing for dinner. Wednesday August 13, 2014: My easy day so I slept in and then because of the bright sunshine I got on the bike and headed to breakfast. Today I ate at a place called the “Gathering Place” on the corner of Cascade and Thornapple River. I had the cornbeef hash and it was good. After breakfast I took a two hour bike ride around the neighborhood. On every ride I find new points of interest. I did stop by the SE YMCA to check on their pool schedule. It is not as good as MVP. Nancy attended a Japenese Garden meeting at Meijer’s Garden this morning and then she did her normal routine at the fromt desk. Ms P and I ran some errands. I did take a short nap this afternoon. I also took a walk and met some folks who live in the neighborhood and were members of the old MAC. Every day I seem to meet some neighbors who I know. Nancy has book club tonight so I had pizza with Ed Namey. We met at Uccello’s.