.JPG)
October 2
The seagulls woke us up at the Best Western in Pismo Beach. We enjoyed the spectacular view of the cliffs and ocean from the café which offered a free continental breakfast. The first laugh of the day was the toaster which was connected by a long extension cord. The line loss made toasting an English muffin an exercise in patience and futility. Anyway, a warm English muffin was better than none or waiting endlessly.
.JPG)
After breakfast we took a few pictures of the morning sun reflecting on the cliffs and the surf then headed for our first visit of many to see Robbie Carlson. We didn’t have her phone number so we programmed the GPS to take us to her duplex in Santa Barbara. We were met at her front door by her sister, Shelly. Then Robbie appeared cheerful as ever with morning curls in her red hair. We reminisced about years ago with Barney and the boys, our great scouting adventures (jumping off cliffs at Lake Shasta and Lake Six), and our times with Barney. It was difficult to imagine Barney ravaged by Alzheimer’s and Dementia, losing his memory, his jolly disposition, even his ability to speak. Robbie seemed relieved that the five year ordeal was over. She looked forward to meeting Barney in Heaven someday just to hear his famous laugh once again. We continued sharing memories and laughs at a simple lunch spot on the beach north of the wharf. The fish tacos and beer were outstanding. After lunch we hugged, exchanged e-mail addresses, promised to be friends on Facebook, and then went our own ways.
Number two visit was to see Harry and Susan in Carpenteria. We wanted to assure them that Sienna was okay after breaking her arm and having surgery. Susan was finishing ironing, getting ready to attend a funeral with Harry, when we arrived. We shared iced tea along with concerns for Sienna’s condition. Harry came home a while later from setting up a booth at the local Avocado festival. We only had a few minutes to talk with him because he and Susan needed to leave for the funeral. So we were on to our next visit, a short stop at Ellen & Arnie’s.
Ellen drove up after picking up Austin and Ashley from day care. Arnie followed shortly behind after a grueling three hour commute from Los Angeles. Now they faced a frantic evening getting ready for Ashley’s first birthday party on Saturday. Debbie had taken the day off and had gotten a jump on the preparations shampooing sofas and straightening up everything inside and out. Arnold had been called back for a second shift at work, so Debbie was trying to do it all. We slipped Ellen a little donation for the birthday fund, hugged the grandkids, and headed on to our next visit up the road in Newbury Park where Charles Vaughn, my seminary buddy, lives with his wife, Karen.
Once again, we hadn’t called ahead since Charles’ phone was only taking messages. Karen had to rouse Charles from a nap. He was on some new medication that made him drowsy but was happy that we dropped by. Karen and he shared a plethora of medical, financial, and family issues that faced them. Karen walked us back to the car asking for prayers for their situation. We hope that family and friends will continue to help them with support and prayers.
Our final visit of the day took us further south on the 101 through the valley and onto every commuter’s nightmare, the 405. After a couple of hours of stop and go we parked in front of Rachel’s apartment in Playa Vista. By now it was about 8 o’clock and we were ready for a stiff drink and some dinner. After some chilled red wine at the apartment we drove to a nearby restaurant (no freeway driving) had a “dirty” martini with extra olives and some great grilled fish with salad and asparagus. After dinner and a little TV we pumped up the blow-up mattress and crashed. This day of visiting had taken its toll, and the martini helped relieve aches and pains and sent us welcome sleep.