Sacramento Bound

Happy Friday!  It is a little gloomy today and a few rain drops have fallen, but that will not hinder my joy!!  We are hitting the road for a quick weekend roadtrip to Sacramento, CA.👏 I LOVE road trips!!

We have been staying pretty close to home for the most part. First, because of this covid,-19 pandemic.  Second, because of the city wide curfews and civil unrest as a direct result of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement. 

SIDEBAR: Yes, murder, I said it. 🙏 RIP MR. FLOYD.  I pray, along with millions across the globe, for justice. I pray that WE, all people, every skin tone, become more united as a result of this tragic, unjust atrocity. People are people, we all bleed red. We do not get to choose the color of our skin when we are born, any more that we get to choose our parents or siblings. I pray that the eyes of the bigoted, prejudice, uneducated people are opened  and they gain understanding and compassion. I pray for unity and peace.🙏💞

Heading North is always a nice drive once you get out of L.A.

I love driving down long country roads. The song “County Road” by John Denver will inevitably play in my head as I enjoy the rolling hills, sweeping views and long highway stretches.

SURPRISE!

We arrived at our destination late in the afternoon; the Higgs’ Family home. 🧑🧑My twin  grandsons Reign and Remil have been long time friends with brothers Terry and Allen who moved from AZ to Northern CA about two yeas ago. The Higgs family had been a “second family” for my grandsons. Our boys hold a special brotherly bond.  Well, this year my grandsons and Terry graduated from high school. So our visit was a surprise for Terry, 🤭 boy, was he SURPRISED!🥰 The four boys greeted each other with hugs and love that only brothers, who have missed each other, can express.

As I mentioned the four boys have been very close, and our daughter Muneca (Spanish for doll) has been close with the boy’s parents. Craig and I had met them once before in Arizona; they were very warm people.  They welcomed us to their home with open arms and allowed us to boondock in their driveway.

Saturday

Saturday morning as we entered the Higgs’ family home the aroma of coffee immediately accosted my nostrils.  We were greeted with warm hugs, from the entire family.  It was quite evident that Mr. Terry and Mrs. Joyce Higgs are a very caring, loving, and giving Christian family.  There waiting to be consumed was a lovely continental breakfast complete with 🥐🥯pastries, a nice variety of fruit 🍓🍍🍏and a meat and 🧀 cheese platter and of course, COFFEE, ☕ which was the first item in my hands! Awww, coffee!😋

After breakfast and getting to know each other a little better, we all adjourned to the living room to view Terry’s virtual High School graduation. It was very nicely done! The school  had assembled instructors, administration and  valedictorians who shared words of wisdom and encouragement.  One statement I found quite profound and true was, “In high school you get a lesson and then are given a test, but in life you get a test and (hopefully) learn a lesson.” The presentation also included video clips and pix of the graduates. Again, very nicely done.👍👏 Congratulations graduates of 2020!

My brother, Henry

After the virtual graduation Craig and I met up with my brother Henry and his family, who reside about an hour from the Higgs family.   We hadn’t seen each other for a couple of years so we had plenty to talk about. We met at the nearby outlets, which offered his family a chance to get out for the day. It was great catching up with him, my sister-in-law, Nancy and nieces, Chase and Mckena. Missing from his clan was my nephew, Tristan. 🧑 Of course one topic discussed was how everyone was handling the Covid-19 situation. We reminisced about some childhood memories, caught each other up on our other siblings, and talked about how he and Nancy are toying with the idea of getting an RV. As the conversation began to wind down, I invited him to our host family’s home to see our RV, since they had not yet seen it. They accepted. They toured our RV, met our host family and hit the road. It was a GREAT visit. (Oh boy!! I can’t wait for them to get an RV so we could plan some camping trips together!)😁

Surprise!

Later that afternoon was the big surprise! 🤫🤐 Mr. Terry and Mrs. Joyce had arranged for a limo to take the graduates out to dinner and riding around.

While the graduates were out celebrating, we went out for  pizza🍕 and ice 🍦cream. We wrapped up our evening with a game of Phase 10, my FAVORITE card game.🤩

Sunday

The adults got up early this morning and went for a hike. As us women folk, (Joyce, Muneca and I) chatted and walked, the men folk, (Craig and Terry) took the lead. Honestly, I think they forgot we were with them because before we knew it, they were out of sight. 🤣 Clearly some male bonding was occurring. 🤭

Here are some of the sights as we walked.

We initially planned to head home, back to Los Angeles, after our hike to allow us time to enjoy a  leisurely drive down the Pacific coast.  However, we enjoyed each other’s company so much that  we decided to continue our conversations over breakfast.  Black 🐻Bear diner was the ticket.👍🥚🥓☕ I must add that their coffee ☕ is delicious, as are their sweet cream pancakes! Yum!! What a great time we had with these precious people, and such a yummy, filling breakfast.

After breakfast we made it back to the Higgs’ family residence. Sadly the time had come for us to head home. We got our RV ready for the road and bid our farewells. Our  WONDERFUL  host family; precious people.

Heading home

Muneca had not driven on the Pacific coast beyond Santa Barbara, so we decided to head over to the coast. We hit the road about 2:30 p.m. with our GPS set on Monterey. 

On our way to the coast we spied a fruit stand that advertised cherries, strawberries, jams, jelly and such. Of course, we stopped. We purchased strawberries 🍓 and cherries. 🍒 They were naturally sweeter than what we get in our grocery stores in Southern CA.

Here are some pix along that beautiful Pacific Coast.

As we came around one particular hair pin  turn we saw a VW van with three people waving their arms holding up some jumper cables; surely  in need of assistance. Turns out their van needed a jump.

While Craig helped one of the guys with the jumper cables to start their van, Muneca chatted with the other young man and young lady.  Since our rig was so close to the street I stood by the side of the road and waved my arms at the drivers coming out of the turn to make sure they slowed and saw us. Surprisingly many waved back.👋👋

Once their battery was charged and their van was running, we bid them farewell, safe travels, and hit the road.  Muneca learned that they were visiting from Israel and had just purchase the van.

It was getting dark just as we were approaching the elephant seal rookery, in San Luis Obispo County, where seals are free to rest and breed on the protected beach. There were several up and down this stretch of beach lazily stretched out, enjoying the cool sand, snoozing,  somehow knowing that they would not be bothered.

Some of these seals were easily 8 feet long! They were pretty hefty looking too!

Sleep or Drive??

As we continued to drive listening to music it was getting dark and late. The moon was beautiful, so full and bright that it added extra lighting as we drove down those long stretches of road. By this time we had been on the road for several hours and we were tired and hungry.

We toyed with the idea of finding a shopping center to catch a few ZZZs before continuing our drive. We stumbled upon an In ‘n’ Out near a Wal-Mart and decided to get a bite to eat. Sleep or drive, sleep or drive?? That was the question. Those burgers gave us the energy we needed to keep going. It was about midnight and we had another 3 hours to go. Since Craig had done the majority of the driving, I hopped behind the wheel and off we went. Craig took a nap while I drove for about two hours before my eyes got heavy and I was yawning. At that point Craig took the wheel. We got home about 3:30 a.m. ALL very tired. I slept in the RV in front of the house (too sleepy to move), Craig slept in the house, in our bed and Muneca hopped in her car drove another 15 minutes to her house.

That was a LONG drive from the Sacramento to the Los Angeles area. Although driving along the coast is a beautiful drive it does add driving time when it is windy and dark, and in an RV. NOT complaining, just stating a fact. This trip took us 12 hours to get home. It was an adventure shared by Craig, Muneca and I that we will always remember. I have always said that “life is an adventure!”🤩

BLESSED

This trip was particularly memorable. To see our grandsons so happy filled my heart ❤ with joy.🥰 To see them fellowship and further bond with their brother friends was a special blessing. The icing on the cake for us (Craig and I) was reacquainting ourselves with Terry and Joyce. During our time together we bonded, not just as friends, but as family in Christ. We now have more family in Northern California. ❤

These past few years the Lord has placed some very awesome people in our path.🥰 Terry and Joyce, Mark and Roxanne, Donna and Larry, Mike and Linette, among others… OR, is it that I am more mature now and just truly appreciate fellowshipping with like minded hearts? I don’t know. But whatever it is, I thank GOD for placing these awesome hearts and souls in our lives! THANK YOU LORD JESUS!! 🥰