Well, we spent the last week in Southern California despite the fact that we’ve been trying to get back home for a few days. The trip from Billings, Montana to the San Francisco area took us through some scenic country, with huge pine trees and beautiful rivers. We drove west down Interstate 80, through Donner Pass. I thought it a little ironic that the sign to Donner Park had a fork and spoon on it! Go figure.

The Lake Tahoe area was pretty to see, too. Then we took a load from San Jose to Phoenix, thinking it was great to get about half way back home. No such luck . . . they sent us from Phoenix back to L.A., but when we got there we noticed a fuel leak on the truck and had to put it into the shop for repairs. We thought we’d get to leave the next day, but the repairs ended up taking four days! The company put us up in a hotel, so we decided to make the best of it and rented a car. We drove down to Huntington Beach south of L.A. and found a “Dog Beach” where we could take Buster and Katie for a walk. Of course, they didn’t mind their manners, barking at every other dog in sight like they thought they were the hall monitors for the doggie beach. The surf was really nice, though, and it felt good to walk along the shore and get our feet wet.

*Travel Tip #1 – Walking along the surf in ankle-deep water may feel good to you, but even full grown dachshunds are only about as tall as your ankles, so keep them on a leash and drag them back to shore when the undertow tries to drag them out to sea, with their short little legs thrashing frantically, never to be seen or heard from again. :0)

Actually, Katie loved it and swam out and back, but Buster ran from the waves like they were monsters and tried to stay in water that was only up to HIS ankles.

We also drove to Hollywood and made the trek down Hollywood Blvd before heading back to the hotel. The next day, we took a drive up into mountains of the San Bernardino National Forrest and back down facing the desert toward Edwards Air Force Base. We could just envision Chuck Yeager flying across this valley when he broke the sound barrier in 1947 and the space shuttle landing here in the 80s. On our way back across the mountains, we stopped at a little café called Mountain View Café and got a burger. It was a quaint little place that boasts of the test pilots stopping by for a meal enroute the Edwards. A neat place, anyway, and the burgers were great.

Later, we drove over to Beverly Hills to see what all the fuss is about and took some pictures of some of the stars’ homes. I doubt I can remember which was which, but the whole area makes you stop and think about the haves and have-nots of this world and the status that celebrities hold in the pecking order. Here you are, within a mile of some pretty seedy neighborhoods, and you come into this area with highly manicured lawns, Mercedes, BMWs and Limos everywhere you look, and a police department that claims it can respond to any call in the area within 1 minute. That quelled our desire to run up and knock on Brad Pitt’s door and run around the corner and hide. I’ll bet you wouldn’t get far walking around the neighborhood after dark with a roll of toilet paper tucked under your arm, either :0)

Afterwards, we drove back down to the Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica Beach before heading back to the hotel.

Anyway, they finally got the truck out of the shop and sent us on another load. As I type this, we are passing through the northwest corner of Arizona and are about to cross the Utah state line. We’re headed to Salt Lake City, then hopefully toward home. We came up from Los Angeles through the Mojave Desert and passed through Las Vegas on the way. For the life of me, I don’t get the attraction to that place. Maybe I’m demented, I don’t know. Anyway, the mountains and red sandstone buttes are something to see, and I snapped way too may pictures.

I’ll upload a few here once I get them downloaded (Huh?). We’ve been to and through 45 of the contiguous states and parts of Canada now. I’m looking forward to going home for a few days.

Jim and I are both going through training to teach online classes for the University of Phoenix. He’s also in the process of getting on faculty at Argosy University to teach online for them, and I’m still teaching literature classes for WTC.

A big congratulations to Kara and Zac on their new baby boy, Hunter Wayne Dwyer and to Chris and Sarah on their new arrival, Jackson Perry Post. Congratulations to the new grandparents, too. Thanks to my good friend, Janet, for sending me the birth notice. And thanks to Candice and Trina for sending pictures of Dace and Ella. It’s always great to get pictures and see how they are growing. Michelle sent me a picture of Braison, too, and he’s growing like a weed. As for Kathy, I need some new pics of little Chase.

Our prayers are with Trina as she recovers from her surgery and also with Travis to have a speedy recovery from his recent surgery.
Drop us a line if you get a chance.

We’d love to hear from all of you and pray that you are safe and well.