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.