California News

I cannot believe that we have been here in Oceanside for over a month. The weather is fantastic and sure beats the cold and snow of Toronto. We have done so much. Virginia is very settled in her condo in San Marcos and has said that she is comfortable. She is starting to get into the lifestyle over there and will pretty soon start using the bus for groceries, doctor visits and shopping. She is still unable to drive due to the torn rotator cuff in her right shoulder.

We have spent most days driving Virginia to various appointments and to her favourite stores. Michael stripped the wallpaper off the walls in the spare room at the Oceanside house and it has been painted a nice neutral shade. Next is the bathroom which at the moment is a rather hectic pink. That will also be Navajo White. The en-suite bathroom will be painted when we return in November. Virginia is still looking for tenants in the summer.

We have done some stuff for ourselves as well. Going to the beach,  Sea World in February and a couple of days ago we went to The Getty Center in Los Angeles.

Sea World was a real treat as Virginia had some free tickets so it just cost us the gas to get there and lunch which was a shared pizza. We spent the day going to all the shows and saw Shamu the killer whale, the dolphin show, belugas, seals, flamingos, sting rays and tons of other marine animals. It was a lovely day.

The Getty is a beautiful museum/art gallery situated high on a hill above Los Angeles. It is constructed in imported travertine from Italy. The views are amazing and we saw fantastic art from all the Masters. Quite overwhelming. I will post some pictures in the next few days if I can get to the computer room here at the Clubhouse. 

I am using my cell phone tethered to my computer at the house and it is not very fast. All a learning experience..... 

Walking on the sea wall

Michael, Virginia and I went down to see the "high" waves at Carlsbad Beach. The morning was gloomy and there was a heavy marine layer of fog. The coolest day we have had so far. Anyway, it was pleasant and we enjoyed watching the surfers catching the waves. As you can see from the photo, Virginia is doing well, considering she was knocking at the pearly gates just a month ago. Those who know her can see that she is no longer wearing the wig and now has her own hair. She is thrilled.

Off to California

We fly out of Dulles International today at 4 pm, landing in LAX at about 6:45 PST. We will be in Oceanside for about 3 months then it is back to Ontario to do our obligatory 6 months and 1 day residency to maintain our health insurance. California here we come!!!

Blogging from Maryland

We drove down to my sister's house in Maryland today, expecting snow and ice and bad driving conditions, but not getting anything bad! It was a great drive. The roads were dry and there was no snow and ice! Got to the house but we could not get in because we could not find the key. After breaking in through the basement doors, a neighbour was most helpful and came over and the key was found where it had fallen off the lintel. We are now inside, supper (chicken from Walmart and whole wheat rolls) is eaten and I am now doing a load of washing. We fly out of Dulles on Friday afternoon and get into LAX that evening. We will be in Oceanside, San Diego county for about 3 months then we reverse the trip at the end of March and go home for the summer.

Virginia is doing a lot better and hopefully we will see her get most of her incredible strength and love of life back. She is going to live each day to the fullest.

Toronto

We are now in Toronto. The house we are in is an old Victorian Semi. It has been beautifully restored. We are cat sitting 2 cats. Don't know what their names are. We are just less than a kilometer from our son's house. He is away, sailing in Honduras (Roatan). Our daughter lives in the top 2 floors of his house. Greg's house is an old Edwardian Semi. This is perfect because we can  see our daughter and our grandkids every day yet not be on top of them.

Tomorrow we take the Seneca back to the dealership as we have discovered a leak in the front cab over compartment. Michael took the  large CRT TV out of the space and we will put an LCD in there as soon as we find the time to settle down and do things. I wonder if they will have a check for us, as they have sold our Regal.

We managed to set off the house alarm today. I was able to reassure the alarm company that we were legit, even the police came round and took Michael's information. Very quick response.

There is not nearly as much snow here as there was in London. For that we are very thankful.

I spoke to my American Mom today and she is feeling much better. My sister is still there. Her family arrive this evening and they will be there for Christmas. We will arrive there on New Years Eve. Our trip South will begin on December 28th, depending on the weather. We fly out of Dulles on December 31st.

We have decided to go down by car as it will work out much cheaper and quicker. I am a little sad that we won't be using the RV, but we do have to be practical.