A little late with this one but it has been a busy holiday season here. Starts with Gabe’s birthday and ended with New Years. Having Cherie and Eric back in California has made it such a delightful season this year. One thing we did just before Cherie starting work and Christmas, was take a quick trip to the San Fernando Valley to see Aunt Chris and Uncle John, as well as visit with Uncle Beany and Edna. Gabe still can’t drive that much without a lot of fussing, so it was just Dave, Cherie, Eric and me.
We took off around 6 am so we could get to Panorama City fairly early. There was traffic much of the way down Highway 5! In early December during the week!! Sheesh…Dave and Eric traded off driving and we got there about 2 pm and Bean and Edna pulled in at the same time from Buena Park. Great timing. We visited for a while, watched their 2 remaining chickens and had a decent visit. Lots of talking!
We took Chris and John in Big Blue (love the 7 seats!) to their favorite restaurant, El Presidente, for some good Mexican food. Not super authentic but my beef taco was amazing. Then we took Chris and John home and the four of us headed to Ventura for the night. That drive was pretty nice and you could smell the ocean as we got close.
We stayed at the Ventura Holiday Inn Express and we were right on the marina. Looks like it might have been a different hotel before but was very nice and affordable too. Woke up to the sounds of waves, gulls and sea lions- what more can you ask for? Then we headed north, past the Channel Islands, on Highway 101 to Pismo Beach for lunch. At Splash Cafe, of course!
We had a pretty uneventful but trafficky trip home and they went to their new place in Wilton to continue unpacking. All in all a good, if fast, trip to see the So Cal family. Made it safely and had a good visit while traveling. One of the best things my father often said to me- remember the trip is a part of the journey, not just something to get out of the way!