Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Road Trip Continued~Episode 4

The days after the party returned to normal.  Monday morning Bob's grand kids went off to school and Jerry went off to the auto auction (he's an auto wholesaler by profession).  Several days that week Bob went with him, to help Jerry drive cars.   The cars he buys at the different auctions have to be delivered somewhere, either to the repair shop for a tune up, to the body shop to have dents pounded out or once Jerry re-sells them, to the dealer who has purchased them.  And it seems like every night, he drives a different car home. 

One day Bob stayed back and we drove to the Sierra Madre Station of L.A.'s  light rail line.  Our destination was Olvera Street.  The light rail in the Los Angeles area is unbelievable.  You can get almost everywhere for very little money. Our ride from Pasadena to the Union Depot in downtown Los Angeles was 35 cents each way (senior price).  There are several light rail lines.  One goes out to Long Beach and one even goes to and from Los Angeles Int'l Airport.  Bob has ridden the train from LAX to Pasadena in the past. 

I first went to Olvera Street with my parents, my uncle & aunt and my grandfather in 1955 when we drove to southern California on vacation.  I remember the pretty silver and turquoise ring my uncle bought me (which I later lost) that evening as we walked thru this historic area of Los Angeles.   It seems every time I'm in southern California, I'm drawn to this area.   On this trip we found a lot of renovating going on.  Some of the little shops were closed for remodeling.  But I found the items I was specifically looking for and we also found the restaurants were open, so we could get a soda and an authentic taco.  The day was warm, but not too warm and there was a breeze so it was a perfect day to browse.  On the weekends you'll find strolling Mariachi Bands and other entertainment.  But this being a weekday they were not around.  And we wanted to make a sort of a quick trip because we didn't want to get caught in the "end of the work day rush" on the train. 

Saturday, a week after the party is when we were invited to their friends 10,000 square foot home for dinner.  The house sat up on a hill in Glendale and was really spectacular.  I understand they have a fabulous view but that evening it was raining and foggy.  But the atmosphere in this gorgeous home was warm and loving.   They greeted us warmly and I felt immediately at home.  The beautiful, elegant Versawchi (sp?)  dining room table sat beneath a crystal chandelier bigger than I've ever seen.  It was stunning !   Our hostess placed all the food on a huge island in the kitchen and we served ourselves and retreated to the dining room.  It was a spread similar to what the restaurant had for us at Jerry's birthday party.   This lady does all her own cooking and cleaning and she told me she washes all the dishes by hand.   And after seeing the dishes, I understood...they are very beautiful and fragile.  The drinking glasses all rimmed in gold.   After dinner and dessert we were entertained by their youngest son and nephew.  The nephew (a high school science teacher) played the huge white grand piano and the youngest son ( a high schoolsenior) put on some sun glasses and sang some Ray Charles and Elvis songs for us.   It was so fun.  Then the man of the house also sang for us.   All in all it was a very enjoyable evening.   

On Sunday I passed up an invitation to go to dinner at some of their other friends' house, so I could get ready for the cruise  I had some ironing to do and wanted to get packed.  So I sent Bob off with Hope & Jerry and I was there with the kids doing my thing.  Bob left Washington with his suitcase for the cruise all packed, so he really had nothing to do to get ready. 

That's all for this time....next episode we start crusing. 

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Linda, you and Bob really getaround between relatives and friends you cover a lot of territory and have a lot of fun. Sounds very tiring to me. I look forward to the curise as I always do.
How is your knee doing?
Bill

Anonymous said...

U Guys do a whole lot of traveling that sounds like so much fun. My Boyfriend needs to go to a car auction to get him a car he keeps talking about buying it off of someone who is selling and around his neighborhood i dont trust them they might try and get over on him. Im deleting all my alerts soon so be sure to stop past and copy and paste your link in my journal so i can re add it i have so many alerts that i dont get.

Anonymous said...

Wow...desert by candle light!  Pretty nice!!!

Anonymous said...

I got to get up to Los Angeles and check out that street you mentioned; sounds like fun :)

betty

Anonymous said...

OH, it does sound a lovely trip and what a wonderful evening you had at your friends!  Sounds like a lot of fun!  Going anywhere on a train over here is quite expensive.  It costs about £15 to go into London and back by train, about a 45 minute ride, the equivalent of about $30 American.  Not a trip one could make every day!
Marie
http://ayearatoakcottage.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Linda this just sounds like a wonderful trip ~ and the evening spent with friends in Glendale must have been great everything sounded spectacular ~ looking forward to hearing about the cruise ~ Ally x

Anonymous said...

The dinner party in Glendale sounds spectacular, hard to imagine she does all of her own work with luxuries around her like that, good for her.  The rail way sounds like the best way to travel ~ you can cruise along and see everything without worry.  Your trip sounds just perfect!
xx
Lisa

Anonymous said...

I am enjoying every minute of your journey, I have to say that road beside the train looks very scary, I would rather walk than go on that motorway.Thank you for taking us on your travels.
love and hugs
Katie

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful experiance eating at the mansion ,such a shme you couldnt take pictures lol wink .I am enjoying this trip with you and I have the postcard from Pasadena ..love Jan xx

Anonymous said...

10000sq feet... I can't even imagine....
What an adventure you are having and now it's time for the cruise....
Linda :)

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had a wonderful time!!!  I've read the four episodes... going to the fifth now.

Joann

Anonymous said...

The house where you had dinner sounds beautiful. I love Mariachi bands, we saw them at some place in New Mexico a few years back. It sounds like your trip was fun all the way! Jeannette xx  http://journals.aol.co.uk/jlocorriere05/Welcometomytravels/