We needed this day to regroup before we started our trek back up to Seattle.

Top on list for Jeff.  Resurface the roof of the motor home because he was going to stop the leak we had one way or another.

         

 

Top on the kids list. Swimming and a fashion show with all of the clothes that were given to us by a couple in Wyoming.  You may ask why we were given clothes?  I am still asking the same questions and have been pondering how to write about our experience with this couple without sounding too negative.  But here you will get see the wool clothing that was given to us in case a sudden ice age hits.

    

 

         

 

Top on my list.  Check out this place called Runyon Canyon.  I made it there…well just outside the gate.  There are no pictures to show of Runyon Canyon.  The only picture I have of this day is the insurance car of the truck I backed into while trying to turn around.  Always remember to shift the car to drive when moving forward.  Reverse takes you to places you never need to be, especially when most of LA is watching you.  I never did make through those gates of Runyon Canyon, next time.  And the drive home… that’s a whole other story.  People talk about the traffic in LA but for me I had a hard time keeping up with the insanely fast pace.  Pure and simple… driving in LA sucked for me!

 

We are headed back north, with the sights and smells of Interstate 5 right by our sides.

This smell… like no other I have experienced thus far on this cross country adventure.  It silenced my family of 6 as we all pinched our noses and held our breath.

    

 

A few more sights…

    

 

We are anxious to get back north where the water is fresh and lands are green and lush.  But we leave here with a new attitude about clean water.  As we saw dying farms and dusty dry lands it prompted much conversation around this natural resource called water.   We take it for granted that when we turn our faucets on and water our lawns that water will always be there.  California is hurting, farms are dwindling, farmers have no work.  I don’t have a solution to this problem but what I do know is that this entire country relies on California for much of their produce.  Praying for a miracle! 

11/28/14

Our Thanksgiving plans were… well we didn’t really have any.  We thought maybe we would be in Redwoods National Park or maybe the Oregon coast.  We weren’t really sure how or if we were going to be cooking a turkey.  After we decided to head south to LA to visit friends we knew Thanksgiving would now be celebrated there.  But what we didn’t know was that we were going to be invited to my friend’s brother’s house for the big meal.

Thank you to John and Renu for opening up your beautiful home(of 2 weeks) to us for a Thanksgiving feast.  And to my dear friend and Jersey girl Sherry for cooking. What a day?

Can you tell these kids had some fun?

    

           

 

We got to hold a one hundred trillion dollar bill… yes please!

    

 

And take a picture with an Emmy Award.

 

And be reminded how thankful we are for good friendships!

 

11/27/2014

We figured since we were in the Santa Monica area that we would reach out to our friend Alex who lives there.  He was excited to hear from us and just as excited to offer to take us out to lunch in Malibu…. he didn’t have to twist our arms, we were excited to see him and be treated to lunch.

It was great to see our friend and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with you Alex.  Thank you!

Hanging outside the restaurant.  Note Makenzie, she is reading.

 

Walking on the beach. Note Makenzie in the background, reading.

 

A little bit of cliff jumping.  I love these pictures.  Note Makenzie, you guessed it, she is still reading.

              

 

Dipping our toes in the Pacific and Makenzie is still reading.

 

In every picture I have from this day Makenzie is reading but there were moments she took in the view and felt the frigid pacific ocean waters splash on her toes.  This kid… I’m so in love with her.

11/26/2014

So when you get a message on your phone that your friend is flying from NJ to LA for Thanksgiving and you happen to also be in Cali but 7 hours away, what do you do?  You remind yourself that you are currently living in an RV and that traveling is your way of life.  Then you call that friend back and tell her that you will see her in 2 days.

So look who I found in Santa Monica 2 days later:

 

 

  

 

We were also loving the blue skies and the warm weather here in LA.

    

 

At some point some guy on the pier threw a snake around Koah’s neck and all the kids necks for that matter.  It was a pretty sneaky way to then ask for a donation to help a cause that I don’t seem to remember the name of.

 

We also got our first taste at a trampoline park with our friends.

    

 

This was a really great start to our time with friends here in Southern California.

11/24/2014