We returned from our California trip around 2 a.m. this past Wednesday morning and I’m just about caught up. Oh, who am I kidding? There’s no such thing as “caught up” but I am unpacked.
David, my mom and I flew out Thursday morning at a ridiculously early hour but at least that gave us some extra time that afternoon with my aunt. One of my brothers arrived in time for dinner so we all went to Marie Callender’s for food and pie. My other brother and sister-in-law drove in a little later but they went straight to their hotel so we didn’t see them until the next day.
Friday was the memorial service for my uncle. It was a beautiful and touching service but I had a hard time holding it together. On top of it all, I managed to throw my back out. I wish I had a good story but the truth is it happened while crossing my legs in the pew. The pews were fairly close together and I twisted as I crossed and, well, I then spent the rest of the service with my lower back in spasms.
After the service we went back to my aunt’s house and my wonderful brother gave me a Flexeril (muscle relaxant). It’s quite handy to have brother who is a doctor AND has his own issues with back and neck pain.
Anyway, it was nice to visit with family even though I wish it had been under better circumstances. Both of my brothers had to start driving back to Oklahoma Saturday morning but we had a few more days. David and I left Saturday morning for the beach. My aunt has a beautiful beach house in Dana Point:
Isn’t this a charming house?:
We ate lunch at Ruby’s Diner, a fun 50’s-style place in Laguna:
I snapped a few pictures as we drove back to the beach house:
Late that evening we had a lovely dinner at the Harbor Grill down by the Dana Point harbor. It was a beautiful night and we enjoyed our steaks and wine by candlelight.
Before I hurt my back David had come up with a delightful plan to take the train along the coast to Santa Barbara (where I was born and lived the first few years of my life) and stay at a really nice resort which happened to be having a special rate rather than their usual $400 a night (yikes!). I just wasn’t up to a long train ride so we ditched that plan. However, I can’t really complain about staying where it looks like this:
On Sunday we drove to San Clemente which is where David’s family had vacationed most summers when he was growing up and where his mom had lived for awhile. We eventually found a parking place and went out onto the pier.
There’s a nice little restaurant on the pier which has really good food. We were seated outdoors on a sunny deck with nice, cool, ocean breezes:
The fish and chips were delicious, and the margarita was quite nice, too:
After lunch we walked out along the pier and took in the beautiful view:
And watched the surfers for a very long time:
It was such a glorious day and we just soaked up the sun and salt-scented ocean breezes.
There is just something about the sea…
It was such a perfect day that we stayed out several hours. Without sunscreen. Yes, I managed to add a pretty good sunburn to my back injury. Because I’m an idiot. Oh, well. I have to say that in the scheme of things it was worth it. But if you happen to see me in the next day or two, please ignore the little flecks of skin in my hair where my part is peeling.
That evening we went to my cousin’s house where we enjoyed a delicious chicken taco dinner in celebration of their son’s 21st birthday. My mom and aunt came up for the occasion and we all had a very nice time. Here is a picture of their backyard (drool!):
My cousin and aunt had a very early flight Monday morning to Hawaii so we called it a night by about 9 p.m. We took my mom back to the beach house with us.
On Monday we just relaxed at the house, enjoying the cool morning sipping tea on the patio and then burgers from In-N-Out for lunch. Later that afternoon we met up with some friends for frozen yogurt and then they invited us back to their house. Their daughter is one of our pirate friends in New Orleans and we met them back in April when they were there to visit her and we all hit it off. My mom was initially a little reticent since she didn’t know them but in no time at all they had put her at ease. They are originally from Louisiana and now my mom understands what we mean when we talk about how wonderfully hospitable Louisiana folks are. We ended up staying for a couple of hours and had such a nice time. We had been planning to eat at a Chinese restaurant back in Dana Point but fortunately David checked before we left and found that they are closed Mondays. Our friends recommended another place nearby and we had an absolutely marvelous dinner. And to top it off, this was what was in my fortune cookie:
It made me smile because my mom had played “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” at my uncle’s memorial service. Rainbows will forever remind me of my Uncle Ed from now on.
We had a Tuesday afternoon flight home but had time to pick up In-N-Out burgers (yes, again…we don’t have them in Oklahoma) and eat our lunch at Doheny beach:
Mom’s knee was bothering her so she stayed in the picnic area but David and I just had to put our feet in the water and get a little sand between our toes:
One last look:
By that point I was ready to go home but I must admit, I do miss these:
Our flight was delayed so by the time we got to Oklahoma City, drove the 80+ miles home and dropped off my mom, we didn’t get home until nearly 2 a.m. But despite the exhaustion, back injury and sunburn, I’m truly glad we went. For so many reasons.
I’ve been uploading pictures and working on this post off and on for several hours and it’s now 11:15 p.m. Lisa and I are doing our monthly grocery shopping in the city tomorrow so I’d better wrap this up and get to bed. There probably won’t be a post tomorrow but check back on Wednesday for a grocery haul post.
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