Miguel and I were so blessed to travel to California during the past week and he was reunited with his dad after nine years.
And his grandma!
On the way we stayed in Pasadena, California. Tom and Jodi Klotzle lent us a room at their house and we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and fun chat with Kali Sauder that Thursday morning. From there we stopped at West Coast Customs (a car shop that runs a show we have enjoyed watching in the past) and saw some fancy cars. (Thursday was our 3rd anniversary!)
We arrived Thursday night in Salinas, CA and after going to see Miguel's family, settled in at the house where Miguel's brother lives.
Jose and Socorro (Brenda's grandparents) have treated us well, sharing their home and wash machine, and cooking us food. Socorro even taught me to make corn tortillas!
On Friday morning, Miguel helped Pedro wash his truck and we got to meet our little niece, Delilah.
In the afternoon, Jose and Socorro took us to the mall and after window shopping, bought us ice-cream.
Saturday morning, bright and early, Miguel's dad picked us up and took us out to see the fields around Salinas.
Because of the ocean breeze that blows up the Salinas valley, it is very cool there year round and an excellent place for growing vegetables. There is a large hispanic population and many work in the fields. We enjoyed hearing all about the process of harvesting the lettuce heads, broccoli, cauliflower, strawberries, other berries, cilantro, spinach, onions and more. Both these photos are of the iceberg lettuce.
From the fields, we stopped at Miguel's dad's house and jumped in his cousin's truck to take his aunt to the airport in San Jose. On the way we stopped for some tacos.
In the afternoon, his dad took us to Moss Landing to see the ocean. It was cold, but we enjoyed watching for the sea otters and watching them eat the roots of plants from the water.
There is a sea otter sunbathing in the grass.
In the evening we went shopping and the men grilled up steak, hotdogs, and chicken legs. Quite the feast!
Of course we needed some salsa.
On Sunday, Miguel's dad took us to where he works everyday in landscaping over near Seaside, CA. The company he works for is hired to care for the landscaping throughout the neighborhoods of the soldiers who live there. On the way, we saw this excellent view of the valley.
From Seaside we drove on to Monterey and Cannery Row, a long row of old sardine factories that have been converted into shops and an aquarium.
We stopped to look out over the ocean.
And then continued walking past the end of the buildings where we saw this view and a bunch of small deer near a research facility.
In the evening, we hung out on the porch of the Avina home taking in the sun.
Monday through Wednesday we spent mornings relaxing, going on walks (me), doing online schoolwork (Miguel), and spending time with his dad in the evenings. Above is a picture of the back patio at the Avina house where we picked pears and peaches and watched his uncle work on building a shaded grill area.
Thursday his dad took off work after 10 a.m. so we went grocery shopping and in the evening had another "carne asada." This time in José and Socorro's back yard and Pedro, Brenda, the baby, and Miguel's dad all came.
Pedro, Miguel Sr. and Miguel
Friday morning we left Salinas at 5:30 a.m. Around 9 a.m. we stopped at a beach between Santa Barbara and Oxnard and got to see some surfers (above) and some dolphins.
It was still pretty chilly and cloudy.
This dog also decided he wanted to hang out with us for a bit. His tag said "Smokey."
I wanted to see more of the ocean and fulfill my dream of cruising down the coast, so we took a detour on highway 1 through Malibu, CA. It may have ended up making our trip quite a bit longer though because as a result we drove right through the heart of Los Angeles on Interstate 10.
It was the middle of the day, but there was still a decent amount of traffic.
Once we got through Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and Indio, we left the traffic behind. We made it to Tucson at 9 p.m. and stayed overnight at Duane and Ann Wulf's.
Saturday was Victoria's birthday! So we got to help celebrate and enjoyed the pancakes that Duane fried up on the outside griddle. The Wulf's invited us to join them at the Santa Cruz County Fair in Sonoita, so we took the scenic route and spent the morning there.
We got to see Cassidy and Axel as well. At noon, we left Sonoita and headed for Nogales.
It felt so good to cross the border and make it to our home sweet home! We are thankful to be back safe and sound and see our puppy dog again.
Thanks for the love and support!
We'll see what the next couple weeks bring!
