Wednesday, August 31, 2011

1 Want to Comment?

Cats At Work

Photo is of two of our cats "working". Oops! Can't get it......Um..Maybe......?






Moon is the gray guy, and Kiki is the black and white. Moon owns the house and Kiki is trying to take it over.

On Friday, I returned from my month-long vacation out west. My brother owns a house on the Oregon coast that's my favorite place, especially in summer. The coastal temperature runs about 62 degrees with maybe wind at 20 percent. At night, the temp goes down to about 45 degrees. There aren't any mosquitoes, hardly any traffic, and just a few tourists. It's a very quiet town with no night-life and hardly any during the day. There are magnificent views and walks on the beaches and mountains. That's about it.

I mailed my clothes out and brought only a carry-on rolling suitcase. (That way I wouldn't have to face the airline losing them again and I wouldn't have to haul a heavy suitcase.) My brother bought a new bed for his second bedroom where I sleep so I was very comfortable. We watched television at night and luckily, we agreed on shows. (My brother is one of the easiest people in the world to get along with.) We bought new pots and food, I cooked, and he cleaned up. The big stores are 50 miles away but my brother drives the distance as if it was nothing.

In the middle of August, we started on the drive to Los Angeles because my brother teaches there during the school year. I carried his adorable cat Aggie, except when he sat in the back looking out the window and entertaining people walking by. We drove through the coast, stopping at a friend's house in Petaluma, a small city close to San Francisco. The fellow is renovating a 130 year old Craftsman house there. I'd been in one Craftsman house in Lawndale, Philadelphia. That one had been purchased from Sears in the early 1900's. This Petaluma house was built from scratch all those years ago. I had an idea that the old California houses had been destroyed during the various earthquakes. I was so wrong. There was a whole section of lovely Victorian and Craftsman homes in Petaluma and throughout the west. Westerners don't seem to get excited about the earthquakes. My brother slept through the last one.

Eventually, we drove into Malibu and then Los Angeles. I was impressed again by the diversity and fabulous choice of restaurants. However, there are so many people there and almost the whole population drives so the traffic is horrendous and parking is terrible. LA is so spread out that it takes hours to get from one end of the city to another. Going anywhere takes a long time. It's just that way. When I was about to fly out from the John Wayne airport in Santa Anna, it took two hours to drive the 50 miles. My flight was cancelled and I caught my brother only one hour away and got to stay one more day.

I had a wonderful vacation. Harry doesn't like flying or Port Orford, so he didn't go and I missed him. I wish my brother lived near us. I love the Oregon Coast, but it's so expensive to go visit him. Nevertheless, when family is good, there is nothing like them. Spending time with my brother is one of my biggest pleasures and I wouldn't miss that for the world.

Labels: , , , ,

1 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

I enjoyed your post. It’s a lot like college – we should absorb everything we can but ultimately you need to take what you’ve learned and apply it.

Chevy Kodiak Turbo

3:20 AM  

1 Comments:

I enjoyed your post. It’s a lot like college – we should absorb everything we can but ultimately you need to take what you’ve learned and apply it.

Chevy Kodiak Turbo

By Blogger Unknown, at 3:20 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home