California Adventures!
- Rhonda Tell Me Your Story
- Jun 4, 2023
- 5 min read
Friends, Football and Fabulous Fun!
I flew from Mazatlan to Los Angeles. My friend Debbie braved the LA traffic to pick me up and bring me to her home in Thousand Oaks. I had a great time catching up with Debbie and her partner Karen in the evening. Debbie and I hiked around the hills by their house the next morning. It's so beautiful here!
It was a fabulous hike!
These are caterpillar plants.
Little hearts 💕
We drove to Oxnard beach around 2 pm but the fog was still hovering over the ocean.....and I was cold in my tank top and shorts. much cooler than Mazatlan! ☀️
Some art at the beach.
We all hiked up the hill my last day. It was a short two day visit but we made the most of our time together.
Debbie, Karen and Daisy ❤️
How did I end up at disneyland? Karen and Debbie drove me to meet my friends Sarah, Julie and Ashley at McDonalds on their way to Fullerton from Sacramento. Sarah and Ashley play for the Storm, a women's tackle football team from Reno. Sarah has been playing football for over 19 years. she invited me to watch her play when she was on the Santa Rosa Scorchers and we worked together at Sonoma State University at the Dining Services. Since then she has played for the Sacramento Sirens and now the Reno Storm.
I thought it would be great to watch the game and catch a ride back to Northern California at the end of the weekend.
The team had rooms at a hotel near Downtown Disney. So after we checked in, we headed out to dinner.
The next morning, Julie planned a hike in the Chino Hills near by. It was a short drive and we avoided freeways and traffic.
We really enjoyed the beautiful open space and it was super easy hiking.
Those caterpillar plant again.
I thought this was interesting.
A lot of the trail was shaded with trees.
This was the first time I've seen this butterfly.
Some of my happiest things I saw from this day!
Do you see the heart? ❤️
There were patches of color along the way.
Julie snapped this action shot!
photo credit: Julie Salzman
Doesn't this make your heart happy?
Julie kept us from getting lost.
It's smiling at you. 🌸
Photo credit: Julie Salzman
Do see this lizard teasing me???
Photo credit: Julie Salzman
This is my hundred dollar bill! You have to look, expect and be open to life's simple pleasures.
Sing the lizard song in your head here.......
Ha ha ha.... From my Camino April 2022
And then I let him go! 🦎
Look for the bird on top of the light. It's a blue bird and I went to the park to see one..... it was on the way out to the car! 😁
Then Julie did the wrong thing with me.....she took me inside a store. I can never be trusted or accountable for my actions in a store or mall. I warned her too.
Back at the hotel, we had pool time while the players got their mental game ready for kick off!
It was a fabulous warm pool too. They even provided pool floaties. We were spoiled.
Showered , dressed and ready to cheer!🏈📣
The game was played Fullerton High School against the Cali War.
Photo credit: Nevada Storm facebook page
The quarterback from the other team got injured half way through the game.
It was a fun game to watch but unfortunately the Storm didn't start making points until the second half. It wasn't enough to win this game.
The next morning on the way out of town we made a stop at Porto's. This place was like the Disneyland of bakeries. They had stanchions and two lines, one outside the building to get in and then the line inside to be helped at the counter. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen but the line moved fast. I got a box with four savory treats. Food for the road.
I didn't take any pictures on the 7 hour trip from Southern California to Sacramento. We had an extra 45 minutes delay when we waited for an accident to be cleared. Sarah did all the driving and did an excellent job.
The above picture is in at Sarah and Julie's house in Sacramento. I found a cool bug by the pool.
I did my stretching by the pool while sipping tea. So wonderfully peaceful.
We walked by the river to spy some birds. Can you see the Silhouette of the hummingbird?
Peacocks
This is me scheduled into their lives!😘 Poor Sarah worked but Julie was off this week.
They had a lot of interesting bugs at their house...outside.
This mourning dove was sitting on two eggs. Her partner took turns sitting on them. Sometimes we were outside when the changing of the caretaker took place. It was a great experience observing.
We walked down the canal and found flowers and a community vegetable garden.
The some artful birdhouses.
I found a cherry tree and visited it daily on my walks or jogging.
This happy lady is Fun!
Julie is expanding her private practice this summer. https://www.juliesalzmanlpcc.com
I loved exploring their neighborhood.
This tree had fruit that looked like blackberries.... I couldn't figure it out so I didn't eat one.
My breakfast at Casa Julie!
We did some chores too. I talked Julie into picking up her new screen door because they forgot to deliver it. Julie measured it and we were pretty confident that it would fit.
Success!!
We needed to do our healing hike in nature after all that work.
Wild berry blossoms.
Isn't this hike lovely?
Fabulous surprises of color.
Wild roses.
Julie by the lake.
Baby walnuts
Mom and dad doves.
Photo credit : Julie Salzman
The day the two babies hatched.
photo credit: Julie Salzman
Julie and I walked to Target and back. On the walk home we walked by this tiny lake. Hi Ducks!
We had a nice adventure on Folsom lake one afternoon.
We rented stand up paddle boards and explored the lake for a few hours.
Julie is going to be my personal photographer from now on!
Do you recognize this??? It's a CrossFit gym. I've never tried CrossFit. Sarah invited me to try it. She said the price was good..... free your first time. Of course I had to try it! I felt like I did well.... I finished.
Then we washed the car on the way home. I liked it!
I'm a Scorpio. We found my horoscope at the Redwood Cafe in Cotati. I thought it was perfect for me at this time. On my last full day with Julie, she drove me to Sonoma County to visit some friends and family. We met my neighbor Dan for coffee at Redwood Cafe.
Second we stopped at Artful Arrangements in Petaluma to visit Diane Davis. She's almost family to Julie and I've helped Diane at many events for her business. We had a wonderful visit. We drove uptown to Old Chicago Pizza for lunch. I ran into one of my High School friends Audrey who now is part owner at old Chicago! Awesome! We spent a few more hours visiting my mom and then headed to Santa Rosa to Howarth park, one of my favorite places.
We hiked around the whole lake... it's small but pretty.
I had a dinner date with my son Cameron at Osake sushi in Montgomery village. We had a nice meal and a great conversation. Cameron paid for my dinner and surprised me with a gift. It's a Woodstock pillow from his work, Snoopy's Ice Arena and museum.
Friday morning we drive to Auburn. It was only 40 minutes from Sac. Sarah was off and had a tattoo appointment. Julie and I tagged along.
We walked all over.
We almost ate here.... but it was a little too expensive for us.
We eventually got food at the Old Town Grill.
We got back to watch some color being put on Sarah.
Julie drove me to the Amtrak station. I was taking the train from Sacramento to Berkeley. This was the end of my week with Sarah and Julie.
On the journey, I found the It's It outlet store! Yum!!
The train ride was spectacular!
I loved this station but it's not my stop yet.
Trains, trains and more trains.
It's Berkeley! I have to hop off the train and look for my cousin Amanda...... what am I going to do next??
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