It’s been a few years since we’ve spent Thanksgiving with the family in Southern California. Generally, we stay at the beach house on Seal Beach when we come. It’s the perfect venue for the family events. Equipped with 14 tiny bedrooms, each with twin sized bed, a sink, bedside table, and flashlight. Oh yeah, AND a crucifix. Did I mention that the house belongs to the nuns?
In anticipation of a grand adventure, I took the day off from work. Since YaYa’s school only had a half day scheduled, I considered taking him out for the day. Unfortunately, his teachers decided to schedule tests. On the day before Thanksgiving! I would be less inclined to complain but this same school has scheduled “Bishop’s Day Off” on Monday. If they’d asked me, I’d have suggested that the Bishop take Wednesday off instead. *sigh*
ANYWAY, we hit the road at the same time the rest and began heading down south…
The drive required me into tap my endurance skills. Eight hours later, my whole body ached, and I was wondering why I hadn’t thrown down the money for a flight. Thank God for YaYa, who helped read the signs and translate the messages from Zoey 101, my car’s GPS navigator. The overall message was that I was an idiot for choosing Highway 5 instead of 101 for the trip. Fearing that I’d end up on the wrong freeway, I made YaYa stay awake and insure that I was in the correct lane at each of the highway changes. In Northern California, changing freeways is more of a conscious thing; you actually have to exit one freeway to get on another. In the south, however, you just have to be in the correct lane and magically you end up on the other freeway (like it or not.)
Fortunately, we made it. Now, the fun can begin.