A Long & Winding Road: TRAFFIC BEFORE THE CALM

California…hmmmm so far so good. I thought I would love it. But neither Mike nor I are getting any warm and fuzzies over it. When we were in Palm Springs I didn’t like the desert and both Mike and I weren't crazy about Palm Springs or any other towns in the area. They were either for the extremely wealthy or just too touristy (which means too much TRAFFIC and lots of very expensive junk!). However, we very much enjoyed our month in a fabulous house in Morongo Valley on the edge of the desert while there.

Next up, we went to San Diego for four days but we both had the flu so that time was a bust. Then up to LA where we stayed in a beautiful place, in a lovely, quiet neighborhood for 2 weeks. The first week I flew to Atlanta to spend some time with my daughter, Casey and granddaughter, Leah. It was so much fun! Leah, at almost 2 yrs, finally knows me as Nana! and, as busy as Casey always is, we managed to squeeze in a couple of fun things together.

So, back to LA where Mike was still sick but on the mend. We did a couple of joy rides (as I call our scenic pass throughs) and also did get to visit with our twin nephews, Shawn (and his 3 boys) & Dan Nier who live in Venice Beach.

Did I mention the TRAFFIC? It is everywhere, all day long, every day! That drove us crazy!

Mike knew I felt cheated out of San Diego because we were sick so we went back to San Diego for a week. However, the TRAFFIC there was awful there too. We drive from LA to San Diego, which was about 120 miles or 1.5 hours. It took us 4.5 hours! How do these people live like this? UGH!

The apartment we were in on our second go round to San Diego was preparing us for European travel which we hope to do this spring or summer. We had no microwave (very important when one is traveling), no dishwasher (no big deal, we got used to it, but REALLY need to buy some rubber gloves!) no elevator (made four trips to the car to load and unload, now add in stairs, UGH!) and also had an itsy- bitsy kitchen. In its listing it was labeled as 'old-fashioned but upgraded’ (NOT) and it was the most expensive place we’ve stayed to date. However, we adapt easily as we both like “out of the box” places. (I just can’t get Mike to commit to that silver stream trailer! This one even has a pink flamingo on the front lawn. Gregory????)

Now we are settled into "The Glass House" in Ramona, CA for a week. So beautiful, so quiet, nice neighbors (very few) and great owners. This is the URL. Copy and paste the link then click on the main picture to scroll through the rest of pictures.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3130604

What you don’t see is what we see through these fabulous windows so here are some pics.