Headed for Arizona

This afternoon, our visit to San Diego too soon finished, Concetta and I turned the RV in the direction of Arizona and began our journey to Mark and Nancy's house near Scottsdale. The past two days the Tioga was parked in cousin Angie Campanella's front yard (with barely and inch to spare) and we tried hard not to use the black water holding tank too much since we wouldn't be able to pump it until we reached some future RV park. Yesterday we spent the entire day touring southern California, and more specifically, Hollywood, in an effort to show Angie's granddaughter, Vivian, the sights before she returns to her home in Washington D.C., and, in the near future, college in Vermont.

The first thing we did is arise at the tender hour of 5:00 a.m., bolt down a bowl of cereal, and then head for Interstate 15 in the direction of Glendora and, eventually, Pasadena where we planned to abandon the car and take to the light rail. Before leaving San Diego we stopped to pick up Vivian's friend, Megan. Then it was headlong into the commuter fray and, hopefully, a decent arrival time in Pasadena. This we managed to pull off in grand style and in a short two and a half hours or so we were exiting the Route 210 on Allen Street and were pulling up in back of a McDonalds where we all hoped to use the bathroom and maybe grab a quick snack.

Angie and I had the oatmeal which turned out to be surprisingly good. Once everyone was back in the car we were soon pulling up in the underground parking garage in the Paseo Mall on Colorado Street. We locked up and then set out on foot for the Del Mar station on the Gold Line light rail.

After a short ten or fifteen minute wait the train pulled up and we all took our seats for the run to Union Station. I always find the gold line run to Union Station a very relaxing and fun trip. It doesn't take very long and you get to see lots and lots of interesting historic houses along the way. Angie especially enjoyed the trip as she befriended a young Mexican chap who told her he came from just outside Mexico City and was in L.A. all by himself trying to make a living. Hard to imagine but true. I wonder if any of us could do the same in Mexico City.

Once at Union station we herded everyone toward the Red Line to North Hollywood and continued our journey. Angie again managed to find a young Hispanic man to converse with and seemed to have a great time talking to him for the eight or nine stops we intended to travel.

When we reached Hollywood and Vine station climbed the stairs to the bright Friday morning sunshine and began our trek down Hollywood Blvd., just taking in the sights. Crowds were pretty manageable until we crossed the street to see the Groman's Chinese theater where seemingly everyone on Hollywood Blvd. eventually intended to congregate. We spent a good thirty minutes there just looking at all the signatures and hand/foot prints in the concrete.

The teenagers spent lots and lots of time photographing the sidewalk stars and getting their photos taken with characters like Johnny Depp who lined the sidewalk in every direction.

Just after noon we stopped at a sandwich shop and topped up our appetites then headed out on the sidewalk again. Angie had an idea: she wanted to show the girls Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. I was a tad skeptical, but Angie seemed to have the route all figured out. So off we went to find the correct bus. Our "All Day" ticket for the light rail also worked on the city buses so we didn't have to spend any money.

Despite the fact that I was skeptical that we could get there from here, Angie navigated us to Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive were we hoofed it around for an hour and had a great time. When we were done we found a nearby ice cream shop that, for some reason, had only chocolate ice cream left in stock. So Angie and I had some coffee-flavored chocolate ice cream, Concetta had mint flavored chocolate, and the girls had peanut-flavored chocolate. Crazy but good.

Once the ice cream interlude was over, we could see that the afternoon was headed toward evening and we still had to retrace our steps to Union Station so we could catch the light rail back to the car in Pasadena. Once again, Angie the Navigator came through and guided us to the correct bus that soon dropped us at the Purple Line station at Western and Whilshire. Then, almost before we knew it, we were pulling up to Union Station and then were disembarking the Yellow Line train at Del Mar in Pasadena. Then, to make matters even more incredible, we discovered that it was only going to cost us $9.00 to park the car all day long at the Paseo Mall parking lot.

It turned out to be a long drive home in the dark, but for the most part we didn't experience too much congestion due to rush hour and by 8:30 we had dropped off Megan and then dropped in on Dick and Nancy who lived nearby. Dick regaled us with tales of his "rat and rabbit hunting" in his back yard. The critters are doing lots and lots of damage to his garden plants.

When we left Dick and Nancy's it was only twenty or thirty minutes and we were back at Angie's house and I was sure glad to get out of that car. It had been a long, long day and I had spent at least five hours behind the wheel. Since none of us had eaten anything since the ice cream extravaganza at 5:00 p.m. Angie finished the evening by heating up some leftovers which I sure appreciated.

This morning we slept in until 8:00 or so and then Angie whipped up a mess of flapjacks and fresh fruit for breakfast. They were some of the best flapjacks that I have ever tasted and, along with the great coffee and fruit, we enjoyed it immensely.
Once breakfast was over it was time to visit Tony and Francis Montisano. Our visit also turned out to be memorable as Tony's daughter and ex-son-in-law, Kevin, were there as well as Tony's grandson, Joey. It was great to see Tony since he's been bedridden and not doing too well these days and we never know how many times we'll be able to see him.

After our visit we returned to Angie's house where we took the Tioga off the blocks, unhooked the electrical, and prepared to leave. Even though it was getting late in the day for travel -- about 1:00 p.m. -- we decided to try and get in a few miles and camp in El Centro or Yuma for the night. Before leaving San Diego we did just a bit of grocery shopping and, while Concetta was doing that, I walked over to Starbuck's Coffee and had them fill the thermos for our lunch.

Once on the road the miles clicked off swiftly as we listen to the last of the Kellerman mystery CDs. As it turned out, we found ourselves in El Centro right around the time we usually stop for the day. We stopped at a park recommended by the AAA group and it has turned out to be a darn nice park, though their internet policy is pretty onerous. Still, it's right on a lake and next to a golf course. Along the perimeter of the property is a line of old wagons that I photographed and it even comes complete with a bocci ball course, pool, and lots of other recreation features.

As the sun set in the west, Concetta and I walked the bluffs above the golf course and lake and snapped a bunch photos. It was truly a wonderful vacation moment.