Part One - Thur to Saturday

Thursday - Friday

Of course I was up until midnight packing. I got up at 4am Friday morning to shower and ready myself for the trip. I drove to the airport and flew out around 6am. We had about an hour layover in Cleveland before continuing on to Los Angeles. I called the Sullivans to check on Helen. She and I spoke briefly but she was able to give me a status on her health situation and about the boys. Joe and Patrick are now very much into Star Wars. How happy does that make their pseudo-Aunt? SO happy!! AND, their favorite one? That's right - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK!!! Of course it is!!! I love those boys!!! Now that Joe is moving away from his crocodile/dino obsession, I have more ideas of things to send them. tee hee! Helen said that when they are playacting, Joe is Luke and Patrick is Darth Vader. How appropriate!

I got into LA right on time at about 10:40am. I took a Hertz shuttle and waited an hourish for my convertible. I have to say that convertibles are not all that exciting. They really suck in city driving where all you hear is traffic and breathe in pollution. But it was fun driving. I drove with the top down most of the way to Santa Barbara where I was going to meet up with Gail, who scored tickets to a Kenny Loggins concert. That's right. I said Kenny Loggins. Now, the thing here is that she had met him somewhere and he took a liking to her. I didn't know what to expect with the show. It was with Jim Massina, who was Loggin's musical partner in the 70s. They are talented musicians, but I didn't really care for the songs. I also didn't really know the songs either. We sat in the same row as his ex-wife. It was in the orchestra pitish area at the Santa Barbara Bowl. It was a lovely night. After the show, we were invited to the after-party where Gail, Mary Ann and I danced the night away. We had a great time. I was totally exhausted from flying all morning and having little sleep the night before. I crashed at Gail's place.

Saturday - Day
In the morning, Gail and I went to breakfast at Sambo's. Sambo's was one of those restaurants I went to as a kid because they had the best pancakes around. On the walls were depictions of the characters taken from a story written by a British woman who travelled to India in the late 19th century. Totally controversial at the time. Basic story is a kid is chased by tigers who steal his clothes. They run around a tree and turn into butter that the boy takes back home. Justice is served. But within the original story, the characters are depicted as negative African stereotypes. The new, cleaner, PC Sambos has a more Indian ethnic boy with a happier ending for the tigers. In spite of the controversy, the breakfast was delicious. I then drove down to Ventura where I met Liz, Kerry, Dianne, Michelle and Stephanie for lunch at Joe's Crab Shack. I have known Liz and Kerry since junior high school at Anacapa. The others I met in high school. I saw Liz when I went to CA in May and Michelle on my way out East. The others I hadn't seen in a long time. It was just like old times. We had lots to chat about and it was just nice being together. After lunch, I went home and FINALLY saw my mom (and Cousin Kim.) It was great seeing them, but I had little time to chat. I had a reunion to prepare for.