Three Days in LA

Actually we were in Pasadena and Arcadia. Visiting family and friends. What a grand time we had. Our visit started when we arrived at Arch's cousin's home in Arcadia at 11 am on Sat March 15. I told the story of Arch and his "lost" cousins lat year when we visited the  Florida Chisholms for Christmas and then returned to meet Tom and Carol Chisholm from California when they visited Florida last March. It was great to see Tom and Carole again in their home environment. We parked in their driveway for the night and sadly have no pictures of the Adventure Bus there. Arch thought I took a photo and he thought I did. *Sigh*.

Shortly after we arrived Maureen and Butch arrived. Butch is Tom and Jim's brother and we were thrilled to meet them.

Butch and Arch

I think Butch looks a lot like Arch's Dad. What do you think Grace?

And we headed to Santa Anita Raceway ( just around the corner from Tom and Carole's) for lunch and an afternoon at the races.

Front to back: Tom, Carole, Anne, Arch (with Carole's shamrock in his face) Butch and Maureen.

We celebrated St Patrick's Day a little early as you can see. Unfortunately, the luck of the Irish was not with us and there were no winners in this crew. But we had fun.

Then we headed back to Carole and Tom's for traditional corned beef and cabbage:

And Maureen's birthday:

All in all a great day.

The next morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast, prepared by Tom, and then moved the Adventure Bus to the next town - Pasadena - to visit our college classmate and good friend Joanne and he husband Brett Lamberty for two days. Tom led the way so we would not get lost and very soon we were parked on the street in front of Joanne and Brett's home:

Joanne went to the City of Pasadena and got a permit so we could park there for two days. What a good friend. It was so convenient. We could sleep in our own bed and, most importantly, not leave Princess on her own, and still enjoy a wonderful visit with Joanne and Brett.

We spent the afternoon touring Pasadena and enjoying time in Huntington Gardens, where Joanne and Brett are members

This photo was taken in the Japanese Garden, one of about 6 on the estate.

Then Joanne made a wonderful "Chicago-style" deep dish pizza for supper ( Brett is from Chicago and Joanne lived there for a while). then it was off to bed.

The next morning Tom picked us up and we returned to Tom and Carole's to have brunch with them and Jim and Judy, the Florida Chisholms, who were visiting assorted family and friends in California, Arizona and Nevada for the week. It was great to see them again.

From left, Jim, Tom and Arch

Front Row, from left: Judy and Carole. Back row from left: Arch, Anne, Jim and Tom. Thanks for the photo, Tom

Then it was back to Joanne and Brett's just in time for a late afternoon nap before Joanne and Brett treated us to dinner out at a fun and funky Italian restaurant in Pasadena -I cannot believe we forgot to take a photo but we did :(

The next morning we enjoyed some of Joanne's homemade muffins and fruit for breakfast before saying good by for now (we will see them again at our 50th - 50, can you believe it classmates???!- reunion gathering of our class in Montreal in October). We left with a goody bag of muffins which were gone the next day.

Brett and Joanne in front of their lovely home in Pasadena

And we are off. Time to point the Adventure Bus north and head back to Canada. we will cross the border in BC around April 20. (Thanks for the photo, Joanne)

Thank you so much Tom and Carole and Joanne and Brett for making our visit to LA so memorable. And thanks to Butch and Maureen for driving an hour or more from their home to join us. And Jim and Judy - it was so great to see you again - looking forward to connecting in Florida next winter.

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