Trip to Huntington Beach Fourth Day

My fourth day was Monday and everybody got back to their normal routines:  school and work.  Everyone except Robert who developed a nasty little cold over the weekend and stayed home.  True he was not sick enough that he was unable to practice his guitar but sick nonetheless.

After the kids got off to school, I went to campus with Galen for his office hour before class (no one came by) and then his lecture in the mechanics course.

His lecture was interesting and engaging because he used his bicycle as example.  I actually understood why my front wheel brakes always seem stronger than those on the rear wheel:  static friction on the front wheel is greater and poses the greater risk of going end up especially going down hill.  After class we stopped by The Sports Authority so I could pick up a long sleeved rash-guard t-shirt for sun protection on our bike ride.


Once back home, I had a couple pieces of fruit and we set off on the recumbent bikes.  Click here for a link to our ride.  It was a beautiful day with a nice tail wind on the way out and a head wind on the way back.  Everything went well till we were making the transition from the beach trail to the street on the way back home.  I failed to negotiate the pole auto barriers and crashed into one.  Fortunately neither I nor the bike were injured, just a bit sore:  me not the bike as far as I know.

We had pizza for dinner and then out to one of my favorite places, Cherry on Top, for self serve frozen yogurt with a huge variety of toppings.  All for 39 cents an ounce.  Nice.  Tonight I was the first to go to bed!

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Trip to Huntington Beach Third Day

As those of you on Facebook know, Sunday began with Galen baking cream puffs!  They were delicious.  Unfortunately we ran out of whipped cream so I volunteered to leg it up to Trader Joe's to get a fresh supply.  When the cashier thought I needed it for early morning coffee, I proudly explained that my son was baking cream puffs for the family.

I polished off several of these as I was finishing up Christopher Moore's Bloodsucking Fiends the initial volume in his vampire trilogy.  At Sean's urging, I have discovered his work and have been enjoying it immensely.  In discussing all this with Galen, I had said that I need to get to Barnes & Noble to get the second volume, You Suck: A Love Story.  He suggested that I use his Kobo reader to borrow it from the Monroe County Library System back home.  I could then send the reader back to him.  I check the MCLS resources and the book is available for e-borrowing.  I have downloaded to my laptop and will transfer to the Kobo today and start reading.  This will be a good test for me of an e-reader.  I probably wouldn't go with Kobo but the Color Nook looks promising.  I just checked and think it will support my Rhapsody membership.  I know that Meg just got a Color Nook and look forward to learning of her experience with it.  With the android 2.2 upgrade, it is looking like a really good buy.

After breakfast, Galen got his second recumbent bike set up for me and I gave it a try.  Once I got it going, it wasn't bad but clearly I would need more experience before I would bike with him to work along the Pacific Coast Highway.  So on Monday afternoon we are going to some biking on some side streets and trails where the worst that I can do is run into something rather than run the risk of something running into me.  I believe him when he tells me that it takes about 500 hours before you get really comfortable on one of these in traffic.


After a quick lunch, Galen and I took the three youngest to a program run by the anthropology department at Cal State-Fullerton at the Fullerton Arboretum which is on the campus.  They got to experience presentations about the life of native peoples in this area, the Chumash:  arts, crafts, games, and canoe building.  They also were able to participate in a "dig" which they seemed to really enjoy.  Graduate anthropology students were assisting as well undergraduates from the general education anthropology course.  Toward the end, Galen noticed that the undergraduates were all reading different MLB caps.  I noticed a young woman with a Royals cap.  turned out that her family was from the Kansas City area and she was a Royals fan.  We had a nice conversation.  After witnessing the canoe launch, we drove home.  Robert, by the way, had spent the day at Knott's Berry Farm with a friend.

After a brief recovery at home, we went out to dinner at Don Ramon's, a Mexican restaurant nearby.  That's where we learned about the death of Osama bin Laden actually via a phone call from Robert who told us it was on CNN.  This seemed strange to his parents until we realized that he had not returned home but to his friends house where he was informed by his parents.  Robert is not that 14-year-old who comes home and immediately checks CNN for his news update.

We returned home to watch more coverage on CNN.  This night I was the last one to go to bed.  Quite a day!

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Trip to Huntington Beach Second Day

Galen was up early and baking.  He made brioche.  He uses Julia's recipe.  According to Galen, when it is a French bread, he does exactly what Julia says with no innovation on his part.  His only change is that he bakes it as rolls rather than a loaf since that works better with a "grazing" family.  They were yummy especially with the lemon curd.  I also had a chance to get some nice photos of Marshmallow, the family pet.  He is obviously the guardian of the family remote control.

Galen, Laura, and I took Maggie and Thomas to Shipley Nature Center in Huntington Beach where the annual community event was underway.  I went last year as well.  We visited the booth for the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve.  Laura is active in the leadership of the Bolsa Chica Stewards, a group of volunteers that work in the reclaiming of the area for native plants.  Galen and I hiked around some of the trails with Thomas and Maggie.

When we returned home, I took Robert and Henry to the movies.  They chose "Paul" which, as Robert said, was a lot better than he thought it might be.  For some reason they didn't want to see "Fast Five," the latest "Fast and Furious" release.  That was disappointing to me since I rely on adolescent grandsons to justify my attendance at...well, more adolescent movies.

Then it was back home for some sliders.  After dinner we all watched "Fantastic Mr. Fox" which was quite good with great voice talents:  Bill Murray, Meryl Streep, and George Clooney.  As usual I hit the sack earlier than everyone else and am now up at 5:00 a.m. writing this before even Galen gets up.  Sunday promises to be big day as well.

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Trip to Huntington Beach First Day

After a flight delay, I arrived in Los Angeles around 1:00 pm,  Galen was there to pick me up.  It was a bit on the cool side although temps should get to 80 over the weekend.  We got to the house just in time to join Laura in walking to the grade school to meet Maggie and Thomas.  They are as energetic and lovable as always.  We also stopped to see the courtyard/atrium that Laura cleaned up that morning.  Working with kids from Maggie's and Thomas' class, she installed some new native plants.  They are not finished but it looks great and will be even better as a few more are added along with some mulch.

After a trip to Trader Joe's to get some food for dinner, Galen and I took Maggie and Thomas to their karate class.  We had a delicious dinner topped off with some ice cream for dessert.  We put off a trip to Cherry on Top till Saturday when we have a lot of outdoor activities planned and it will be HOT making a frozen treat all the more enjoyable.

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Visit to Kansas City Fourth Day

My last full day was Sunday.  We began by picking up Anola and going to her parish, St. Therese, for Mass.  With all her demands to bring her novel to publication, Anola has temporarily stopped singing in the gospel choir.  Nonetheless we enjoyed the Mass, the music, and the wonderfully diverse and friendly assembly.

We returned to Mom's apartment and spent a lazy afternoon napping (me), working crosswords (Mom), and chatting (both of us.)  The temperature got to 90 which led me to run out to Starbuck's for some ice tea which we both enjoyed.

Around 4:00 we left her apartment for a tour of the city before we met Anola, Peter, Gerry and Kara for dinner at Pierpont's in the Union Station.  Mary had told us Saturday about the new public art at the MAX bus stops.  We  had visited two Saturday night and decided to see the third on the way to dinner.  It is located at 31st and Troost, a place where we would often walk for movies at the Isis Theater which is now a vacant lot on the corner...well not vacant but home to a MAX bus stop, a park and ride lot, and an impressive public art mural.  View a video pan of the entire mural.

The high point was the sculpture at the bus stop that was set in motion by the approaching MAX bus.  I am always impressed and proud of my hometown for its commitment to public art.  There is a local ordinance that any public construction project (roads, bridges, buildings, etc.) must include  a certain percentage for public art.  Marilyn and I always comment on the art integrated into what would otherwise be very ordinary overpasses.

We continued our tour of downtown Kansas City, commenting on how much things had changed since we used to come downtown on the streetcars to shop.  Suddenly I saw a structure that simply took my breath away.  It is the almost completed Kauffman Performing Arts Center.  It is a gift to Kansas City from the Ewing and Muriel Kauffman Foundation.  Kansas City is blessed with people of wealth who use that wealth to improve the quality of life of the community.  They set an example for all of us, even if we are not wealthy.

Finally we arrived at the Union Station and had a wonderful meal with the others.  It was great to spend some relaxed time with Gerry and Kara, whom I had last seen at their wedding.  It was my coincidental good fortunate that a wedding in Texas had brought them to the US from Abu Dhabi.

I left the next day fro home and arrived safely and on time.  My next visit to Kansas City will be July for Mom's 99th birthday.

Visit to Kansas City Third Day

I started the day with a visit to Starbucks and a conversation with my sister, Louisa.  She is in the final few weeks of rehab after knew replacement surgery.  She is feeling good and I couldn't notice any limp in her walk.  After we finished, she went to mom's to set her hair in preparation for dinner tonight at Sweet Tomatoes and Sunday at the Union Station.

The temperature on Mom's thermometer on her deck reached a high of 92.  So hot, in fact, that when I returned from a trip to the Plaza, she asked me to turn on the AIR CONDITIONING!  Believe it or not!

We picked up Anola and then drove to Sweet Tomatoes where we met Louisa and Mary and Bob.  We had a leisurely meal and good conversation.  One of the things I learned was that the MAX bus system in Kansas City has been commissioning works of art in and around the major transfer points along Troost Ave, the main thoroughfare of my growing up in Kansas City.  After dinner Mom, Anola, and I visited two of them:  at 75th and Troost and 39th and Troost.  There are a couple of more--one of which sounds spectacular--that I plan to visit Sunday.

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Visit to Kansas City Second Day

The day began with breakfast in the dining room.  Mom typically does not get going early enough or she just doesn't want to go through the hassle of going down, but when she has company we usually do go down. Then it was off to do some shopping.  She is always concerned about getting her place organized and putting things where she can remember their location.  She has decided that she needs another under-bed storage box.  So off we went to Walmart.  There were some but Mom thought they were too expensive so off we went to Lowe's.  Same result, of course.  However we did find some extra large film storage bags.  These were reasonably priced and that sealed the deal.

I had lunch with my brother Terry.  It was an enjoyable two and a half hours of conversation and humor.  It was wonderful that he and Johnny were in town for one of their extended visits.

Back at the facility, Mom and I had dinner at her usual table.  It was good to see Bill, Bill (there are two Bills at the table), Barbara, and Rose.  The wait person was Joanie who it is always nice to see.  I went out after dinner hoping to find some good light for some photos.  Alas, I should have stayed at Mom's.  When I got back, I took some lovely shots of her and Gertie.

The day is ending as it often does in Kansas City this time of the year:  severe storm warnings.  I have seen lightning or heard thunder since last summer.  I am looking forward to it although the golf ball sized hail is a little off-putting.

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