West Coast: LA

It was so great to be back in the USA. I left Auckland around 11:30 am on THursday and flew 3 hours to Fiji. I sat there for 6 hours then flew for 10 hours to LA. I arrived in LA at 1:30pm on Thursday. It was strange but so great to be in the US. I don't think Australia and NZ were that hard to navigate around in because of the language but there is just something about being home. And that is what it felt like as I landed and turned on my cell phone for the first time in 6 weeks.

My stay here in LA was through Saturday and I got a chance to visit some relatives. With the exception of the great Uncle Jim (Gpaw, to some), they are all some form of a cousin. And they gave me a warm welcome and showed me around a bit. Margie picked me up at the airpot and along with her husband, Mike were gracious hosts.

We met for dinner on Thursday night and were joined by Jim and Diane as well as Brett and Chris. Jim and Diane happened to be helping Chris with the house for that week so luckily, I got to see more of the west coast family than at first expected. It was so great to see everyone again and catch up.

Margie was a great tour guide on Friday as we took a coastal tour up to Malibu in the car and then down Sunset, Rodeo and around the city a bit. I did get to see some LA traffic which was nice and really made me feel even more at home.

Friday night we went out again for dinner and this time, Mexican, much to Uncle Jim's disapproval. However, I think he has converted to become a fan of Mexican even though he didn't grow up with it in Massachusetts. At 93, I do believe salsa wasn't invented until sometime after the 50's. But I think its a great invention and thankfully the east coast has caught on as well.

I am sure that if I am out in the west coast area again, I will be stopping by this area of El Segundo and hopefully we can get some of you back to visit us in the Boston/Oakham area soon too!