California, Here We Come ~ or The Spring Break of a Life Time

Growing up you hear about wonderful Spring Break vacations that people take. You see pictures of college students on the beaches and fun parties everywhere. Well, this year I decided to combine my Spring Break with a week paid vacation time from the pharmacy and Tessha and I headed to California for a week with Kevin and Ellen.

We left Idaho Falls after I got off at the pharmacy around 10:30 PM on Thursday, April 22nd and drove down to Mark and Peggy's house. We stayed the rest of the night with them and then dropped off Sitani's and Marley's bikes at their place the next morning. After that, we were on our way to California. I get excited even as I'm remembering it now. It was nice weather and a beautiful day.
We went down I15 and Tessha asked if I had ever visited Fort Cove before. I told her that's where my Granma Harmon was born but no, I'd never been there before. She said she had stopped there one time and thought I would enjoy seeing it, too. So, we stopped at Fort Cove and took a short tour.

It was the home place of the Hinckley Family when they were asked by the church to go south from SL and begin a colony in southern Utah. Veva Daw Harmon was not actually born at the fort but rather in the area around there.
Later, we stopped in St. George for a Mediterranean lunch at a little Greek cafe. (I think Tessha has some better pictures but this is the one I got.) It was interesting food ~ not at all like a hamburger. Tessha say's I'll need to get used to it just in case we go to Greece.
Somewhere near the Nevada/California border we stopped for dinner at a little gas station/sandwich place. It was just turning dusk and the sky was beautiful. The air was warm and we enjoyed our dinner at a little table outside. We saw the strangest cloud in the sky. It was pink because of the sunset but it was also shaped very much like a flying saucer! We watched it for a while and eventually it started to dissipate. Until then you could have sworn it was a pink flying saucer.
We got to Kevin and Ellen's around 11:00 Thursday night and they were still waiting up for us so we had a nice short visit before going to bed. It felt so good to be there and to see them both again. This was just the beginning to a wonderful Spring Break.
The next morning we went out to breakfast at a pancake place. I had an omelet and it tasted wonderful. I don't think it was just because I was back in California and enjoying the sunshine and the company. While we were eating, Kevin told us about a place they wanted to take us for dinner. It is their very favorite place ever and they serve Vietnamese food. Kevin was having a hard time explaining it and ended up calling it "FOOD ON RICE". That was so funny that he and I nearly lost it laughing. Afterwards, we would just say "food on rice" and we would both crack up laughing again.

Then we went home and Ellen opened up her closet. We had so much fun going through it and her saying, "Take this" and "Take that". "I never wear this" and "I never wear that". When we were done Tessha had a whole new wardrobe and we both had LOTS of new shoes to take home. In fact, after that Ellen said she needed some new shoes so we went out shopping. Of course we all came home with new shoes. :-).
We were almost home when we got a phone call from Linda. She was waiting for us at the house. She had been staying with Jenny in LA and was on her way home to Carlsbad so she stopped by to see us all. We had such a fun visit that she ended up staying longer and coming to have "food on rice" with us. This all made Kevin one happy man.

Linda went on home with promises of getting together again on Saturday and the rest of us settled into Kevin and Ellen's home theatre room for a night of good movies. ah............. or was it bowling??? :-)
Saturday morning we sat around the house and visited and visited with stories of every kind. Finally, we decided to hit their favorite bagel shop before beginning another day of shopping. Our excuse was (and I'm sticking by it) that we needed groceries for our BBQ with Doug and Linda later that afternoon. However, we found ourselves buying purses, jewelry and other non edible items. :) So fun!!!
And yes, we did even buy some groceries. Doug and Linda came up and we sat outsideon the patio. I must say that Kevin and Ellen have the closest thing to a resort back yard as I've ever enjoyed.
























Later that afternoon some of us went for a walk while Tessha fixed us
a fabulous dinner of grilled vegetables and chicken.















We waited somewhat patiently, well sort of.

Dinner was amazing and we all enjoyed every bite of it.
Sunday morning we got ready for church and then headed on down to Carlsbad. It was Easter Sunday and Linda was speaking in Sacrament Meeting that day. We had decided to attend church with them and then have dinner and visit with them down there.
On our way to their place after church we noticed a Porsche dealership and "just stopped by to see what they had".
Here's a little phone conversation between Kevin and Will:
Kevin: "Your mom needs your bank account info asap :- )"

Will: "I thought your email account got hacked into and I was getting spammed, until I saw the picture. LOL
Tell my mom that my bank account info won't get her very far. We could probably spring for the 12:1 model with that account. If she wants the real deal she'll need to rub shoulders with my loan officer.
Happy Easter,
Will"

Kevin: "This also will work, Actually she wants both. Hope you have enough :- )"


Will: "If she wants both, she should have given me a twin brother. lol She'll have to settle for one."
Kevin: "She said then one Porsche will do just fine."

But since technically it was Sunday, we decided we'd better not buy it that day. Oh well....
Instead we went to Doug and Linda's place for a nice dinner and a very relaxing afternoon. Linda and I took a walk to the beach. It was heavenly and the visit was wonderful, as always.















and a bit of ice plant

Monday Ellen had to go back to work so Tessha and I went with Kevin to a little cafe nearby for breakfast. It was a beautiful day so we sat outside on the patio and ate and visited.


After which we went to Costco. This was fun because we don't have a Costco nearby in Idaho Falls so we don't have membership and thus, we never go to Costco anymore. It was fun to do a little shopping there before we headed down to the Marina. Driving the streets close to the beach brought back fun memories of growing up in Manhattan Beach and the ocean being part of our daily lives. I loved it!









Kevin took us the the Mall when we got back to Mission Viejo and we did a little shopping for thank you gifts and souvenirs. We had Jamba Juices and went home to start packing the car. Kevin helped us load up our car since we were bringing home much, much more than we took down. It took a little work to take the Ellipical apart and put into the car and then we packed dishes, shoes, a printer, a telephone and many more "souvenirs" around it. Oh my goodness!
Tuesday morning Kevin left early for work and called later to see how our trip home was going. We went back to the mall for a few minutes and then got on the road again. We had made reservations to stay that night at the World Mark in Las Vegas and it was nice to finally get there after a long day's drive. We checked out our condo and then took a little R&R in the hot tub before heading out for dinner.


We ate at the Palazzo and watched the Water Show. The music it was set to was Andre Bocelli's "Time to Say Goodbye". It was astounding!! and a fantastic finale for our trip.
Wednesday morning was the last leg of our trip and I was sad but happy to be going home. Sad to leave California, Kevin, Ellen, Doug and Linda, but happy to get back to Dan. Of course, no trip south would be complete until we stopped off in Orem to see the kids! So, we went to MD's and got some happy meals then met them at the park.



And that is the story of the Spring Break of a Life Time!