WeTravel

July 5 Ok so sometimes you just have to do things because you can. We set the alarm and rolled out of bed at 4:30 am to watch the Formula 1 race from England. After a crazy start and weather issues, Jill’s guy, defending champion, and current points leader, Lewes Hamilton, pulled into 1st place after a long struggle to move up, but crossed the finish line first. After some family time, we began cooking for Sunday-Funday brunch! As guests arrived, we choked down on tasty breakfast treats and sparkling mimosas. This was followed by more conversation, jokes, and crazy games. As 4:00 rolled around, it was time to get out the red white and blue again . . . World Cup soccer! We cheered the USA Woman’s team to victory and their first World Championship ... read more

July 3 Today we said good-bye to our AirBnB with the fancy bed/bath room and headed to Emma’s in Los Angeles for Breakfast. Although the GPS said we were about an hour outside LA, we discovered the LA tradition of sitting in traffic. Two hours later, we found Emma and a parking spot! Emma and Andrew live on the 6th floor of a six story building in a nice two bedroom apartment that they share with Dean, the masked wonder dog. They are in North Hollywood, a friendly neighborhood where they can walk to get most of what they need: groceries, pharmacy, pubs, and most other necessities of Southern California life. After feasting on yummy treats from a local bakery, we headed out to fight more of LA’s infamous traffic. We drove to Griffith Park along ... read more

July 1 Up Bright and early for day two of the adventure. Ok…truth be told bright, but not too early! The sun was blazing and the temps were high. Our 7:00 am departure time quickly became 9:00 am but we are on vacation, so no worries! Our first stop on this amazing adventure . . . Sam’s club. Yes we are the adventurous ones! We were a bit early for their “regular” shoppers as only Business or “Plus” members were allowed in early. However, the vacation gods provided us with a lovely greeter, Miss Shirley. This older, grandmotherly lady let us slide in to buy the case of water we needed. Shirley was a sweet, pleasant lady, the kind of person that gets the day off to a good start; she even let us use her ... read more

Today's torrential rain put a quick end to the outdoor activities I had planned; you know the usual Saturday stuff, pulling weeds, putting down mulch, and other such mundane chores. It's not all bad however. Today's weather gave me the opportunity to start packing. Packing for almost three weeks takes a delicate balance between things that you want to take, things that you need to take, and things that you's liketo take but know that you probably never use anyway. So, there it is - spread all over my bed - the wants, the needs, and the likes. That's why I like to start early, there's a lot of wrestling (with myself) over the three combatants. Unfortunately, the likes win more battles than they should and I end up with a suitcase of stuff that won't ... read more

Day 14 - July 10, 2013 Another day of driving and seeing the world. We left our happy hotel a bit later than we had hoped, but we had a relaxing breakfast so it was worth it. We headed out from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and crossed the International Bridge into Ontario, Canada. We were able to see the locks and rapids from above as we crossed the bridge. The driving went well and the scenery was beautiful. Just before our turn south in Sudbury, ON, we saw a sign and had to stop. How can you come to Canada without eating Tim Horton Donuts? We stopped for two, but were told by a very persuasive sales lady that it is cheaper to buy a half dozen, so with a box of six tucked ... read more