WRIDIN' THE WRAILS WEST

We are once again on the wroad...this time on Amtrak to Southern California. We had a voucher from Amtrak that expired on Dec. 8, so we decided to take a trip. You know, that is so unlike us...NOT! We left Tucson at 0-dark-30 (1:30 a.m.) on the Sunset Limited heading west. Now, Amtrak surprised us...it is usually late by an hour or more (which, for Amtrak is on time) however, this time it was only 17 minutes late. Good thing we didn't count on it being late by an hour or more! We had a sleeper roomette (big enough for 2 seats, which convert to one bed and a bunk, which, by the way, it is a little tough for me to sandwich myself into! And the "roomette" is very small...)and we did manage a little sleep on our way to Los Angeles. The rails between Tucson and LA are in pretty bad shape, so we more or less, "bounced" our way west! We arrived at Union Station in LA only an hour late. Now, this is amazing for Amtrak; they don't own the rails and have to pull on to a siding to let most of the freights pass! Union Station is an place to see. It has been renovated and it is in beautiful condition...just like it was when trains were the only way to travel! We picked up our rental car and headed north to Acton to see Billie and Dan.

After arriving at Billie and Dan's we were so tired from the trip, we were in bed by 7:30 p.m. I think that is the first time in years we have been in bed that early...and we slept a full 12 hours! WOW...I can't remember the last time we did that. Guess our bodies were telling us something!

Saturday we all went into Lancaster and had lunch, then came back home and Billie and Dan fixed a wonderful turkey dinner. Boy, that was really good. YUM! Dan brined the turkey before he baked it and it was super good. Billie made the rest of the wonderful dinner....green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots....all the yummy stuff. And carrot cake for dessert. We were stuffed!

Sunday Al and I headed to Glendora to visit my brother Johnny for a couple of days. We took Hwy 2 "over the top", which means we drove the Angeles Crest Highway over the San Gabriel mountains instead of "going around" which means down Hwy 14, around the mountains and then back on the other side of the mountains (still with me?) on 210 Freeway to Glendora. It was a pretty drive and a beautiful day. When I was a kid growing up in this area, going over Angeles Crest was the ONLY way to go to Lancaster without packing an overnight bag!!! I learned to drive in the mountains on this wroad as well! After a stop at "The Hat" for a great pastrami sandwich,(if you like pastrami sandwiches, this is must stop if you are in the LA area) we arrived at Johnnys in time to watch a little football before we went out to dinner. My 2 nephews, Steven and Michael and my niece Taryn joined us for dinner. It is so fun to know these kids as adults now....I just want to know when they grew up and how they did this without my permission! All three are good, responsible adults and we are very proud of them.

Monday was my day to visit aunts and cousins. Well, I tried to at least. I got to have a wonderful visit with my cousin Patty and my Aunt Nell. It was so nice to be able to sit down and just visit and rehash old times. I can remember my parents doing this and I used to think "I will never do that!" ... well, all I can say is never say never...I really enjoy this! Does this mean I am getting old? Probably, but I had a wonderful time anyway. I wanted to see my Aunt Mae, however, she had a doctor appointment that day, so I couldn't.

It was strange not going to see my Aunt Martha and my Aunt Millie....that was always a big reason for coming to LA..to see them. Since they both have died in the last 5 months, it was a strange feeling for me -- I realized how much I miss them.

We had dinner with my brother and family. Julie fixed her wonderful eye of round (Cuban style) and her fablous cuban black beans and rice...needless to say, we stuffed oursevles once again! We waddled back to the hotel last night, both groaning and saying "we won't eat for another day or two we are sooooo full"...WRONG.

Side note here, there are horrible brush fires burning in the area. One near Ventura that is threatening 3000 homes and one near Fontana that we can smell the smoke. And it is very, very windy...good ole Santa Ana winds. I remember all of this from when I was a child....it scared me then and it scares me now.

Tuesday was really a fun day for me. My brother and I decided we wanted to go haunt a cemetary. Now, not just any cemetary, but Rose Hills in Whittier. We wanted to go visit our grandparents, aunts, uncles and my brother's brother-in-law. So that is waht we did...but it really turned into a "treasure hunt" for us. First of all, Rose Hills is HUGE -- matter of fact, it is the single largest memorial park in the world, over 1,500 acres. This was like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack. I had a very vague idea of where our grandparents were buried, but that was it. After a visit to the administation office, where a very nice lady looked up all of the sites and gave us directions as to where to find our loved ones, and also told us if we had any trouble locating the grave sites we could call Security for assistance, we set off, armed with the directions and both my brother and I saying, this shouldn't be hard! HA! As we found out at the very first stop...it was a bit harder than we anticipated. We finally found the first grave, after a very long search. The next one was as difficult as the first. We were in the right "garden" but could NOT locate our Uncle. After a call to his daughter, we finally found him. Now, both my brother and I thought this adventure would only take us a couple of hours....we had just used 2 hours looking for 2 graves...at this rate we were going to be there the rest of the day and night (not something we wanted to do!) Plus it was about 80 degrees outside and we were walking up and down hills and rows and rows of graves. The next two were easier to find, so with this building our confidence a bit, we decided to take a break and go find something to eat. Al, in the mean time, is just waiting for us to find the grave and then on to the next one, he would get out and walk and try to help us, but he was as lost as we were. He was so patient with us. After lunch we went in search of the remaining loved ones. We found one of our uncles right off! HEY, we are getting pretty good at this. Now for the last 3 graves, our grandparents and our aunt that died before I was born. We found them with minimal effort....and it was only 1:30 p.m. We both were glad we did this, it had been on our "to do" list for many years.

We left my brothers and headed to Long Beach for the evening to have dinner some good Boeing friends. It was so good to visit with Eva & Bill and Donna. And Donna brought her grand daughter Natalie along...I was shocked! The last time we her saw was 7 years ago...it sure doesn't take children to grow up! Natalie is 13 and is turning into a very pretty young lady. We had a great visit, it is always so much fun to see these people. I wish we all could see each other more frequently, but I am also very thankful for the time we do get to spend with them. Eva, Bill and Donna just never change, they are still the wonderful people we have known over the years.

Bill and Eva Davey








Donna Bearden and grand daughter Natalie






Stay tuned for more of our adventures when we "wride the wrails" home on Friday.