Drifus' Travels

The HOUSE IS SOLD!! Well it is finally done I am homeless and it feels good. Now it’s time to look into another RV and a new truck. I know Bethy is not ready, but I think she will enjoy it. Maybe staying in the small apartment for a few months will help her with the adjustment to the RV. The things she likes most are with her and the rest is in storage. Well for now this is how RV life will be. Heck if we can get rid of the things that we really don’t need maybe we could get a climate controlled storage unit for the things we want to keep. I have really enjoyed my 18′ RV the few months I have had it. The little things that bother me would be resolved by getting a larger unit. Anyway back to the trip. Pat was kind enough to do my laundry. I showed Pat my video connection to Bethy. They chatted for a few minutes and then Beth told me that the house is sold and the checks were coming to me. It looks as if I made twice what I thought I was going to get, I am glad since I am not getting paid during my vacation time I need the money. Well Pat and I ran some errands, we went to the UPS store so I could mail a laptop that I agreed to fix for a fellow RV’er. Then we went to a Hallmark store because she had to get a birthday card and gift for a friend. We then went to a pet store to get her dog Pogo some dog food and vitamins. We then went across the street to the Black Cow restaurant and had lunch. She had fish tacos with salmon and I had Hunter’s Ravioli. We also both had a chocolate / banana shake. After that we began to head to Burbank for more sightseeing but then ran into traffic that turned out to be a car fire. It took us almost an hour to get on the highway and then off at the next exit. At that point we thought that we would just go home since Larry would be home in a couple of hours and Pat had to let Pogo out. We finally got back home and since I was feeling tired I stayed home while Pat went down the street to a friends house to visit Pogo’s playmate. Well Larry came home and then Pat arrived home and we sat and talked for a few minutes. Next we headed out to dinner to Casa Bianca, this is a pizza place that has been in LA for 50 years this year. According to Larry if a restaurant is around that long they are doing something right because things come and go often here. We arrived at the place and the wait was 35 minutes. We sat outside since that is the only place to wait. Many people came by and picked up to go items and others showed up to wait just like us. Eventually we were seated, the place is like you local small town “dive like” place, medium lighting, some wall decorations, nothing glitzy or gaudy. Just a nice a comfortable place. We ordered a large anti-pasta salad and a x-large sausage (home made) and mushroom pizza and garlic bread and beers. Pat and Larry told me that they learned this the first time. You have to order the anti-pasta salad because the pizza is hearth stone cooked and it takes a while to get your order. The salad, bread and beer came out quite quickly we all began eating what was in front of us and then viola the pizza arrived. It tasted very good, it was similar to Imo’s in St. Louis. The thin crust is twice as thick as Imo’s and the toppings are very similar very fresh and full of flavor. The cheese is the most different but if I were in CA I would definitely go back to Casa Bianca (Casa De Pizza). Well we got back home, Larry and I watched South Park for a few minutes. I then headed to bed, I must have been more tired that I thought. I fell asleep with all the lights in my room on. At about 2:47am I woke up and went to the restroom and realized that the lights were on. I turned them off and tried to go to sleep again.

Well I finally got up about 8:30ish and took a shower and got dressed. Again I was met by Pogo and him being upset by my presence. I still found it humorous that he had an issue with me. Later the in the day Pat describe it as he was competing in a battle of wills. He barks at me and then she reprimands him. Well we headed out for lunch to K town (Korean Town) and had Dim Sum. I had never had Dim Sum and really enjoyed it. Well Larry returned to work and Pat and I checked out some shops and then rode the DASH “B route” (local rapid transit system) around LA and Pat noted things of interest as we rode. We arrived back and where we started. Pat went back home to care for Pogo and get some things done. I headed back to the campground and got some additional things since it looks as if I am going to just stay here during my visit. Well I got back to Pat and Larry’s and shortly after I arrived Larry got home from work. He had a before dinner drink and then headed out to Soon Bull Jeep, it’s a Korean BBQ place that is highly rated. I looked over the menu and didn’t see a darn thing that I would have an issue over. Heck it’s BBQ (meat) of course I don’t have a problem with this place. I told Larry that I would be happy to let him do the ordering as it all looked good to me. Well a bunch of Korean condiments arrived on the table and minutes later 3 plates of mean 1 marinated and the others were not. We handed the meat to Pat and let her do the cooking. We had just about finished and an argument broke out at the table behind us. Since none of us understand Korean we can only guess the guy she was with either broke up with her or she caught him cheating. She became violent and through food around with hit a neighboring table of people who left and she also broke a plate or two. While she was going off on him moved towards her and began to hold her head down. Larry said “leave her alone” in a moderate tone and I thought about getting up myself. Well then the local security guard for the parking lot came in and a momma san went over to break them up and she continued to rant and rave in Korean. Eventually it all cleared up and I looked to Larry and thanked him for dinner and a show. We arrived back home and decided to watch Spiderman 2 so Larry could demonstrate the surround sound in the media room. It sounded very nice. Bob also dropped over to watch the movie. After that it was about 12:30 our time and Bob went home and Pat and Larry turned in. I went into Pat’s office and set up my wireless router and got online from my bedroom. I called Bethy and said that I was all setup. She got up (its 2am there) and we video chatted for about an hour and a half and then went to bed. It felt really good to see her. It’s been 10 days since I saw her and it was great seeing her. I am looking forward to the rest of my trip but I am also homesick to see her in person. The weather here in LA has been quite nice, it’s never hot or cold to me.

Well the drive was uneventful; they have some planned construction in highway 152 from the 101 to the 5 in the San Jose area that is supposed to be finished in 2008, that will be nice. The van did a nice job pulling through Bakersfield and the Grapevine. I was able to maintain 50+ the whole time. I called Pat when I was about an hour from LA. We talked for a few minutes and I told her that I would be there is about 2 hours since I had to setup camp and then drive 24 miles to their place in LA traffic. I arrived about 7pm, happy to see Pat and met their dog Pogo for the first time. Pogo wasn’t too impressed with me as he would growl and bark at me. I took no offense and kind of found it humorous that I am the only one he does this to. In a twisted way I am flattered. Well then Pat showed me the house since I had only seen pictures of it. It’s a very nice house and I really love the wood floors throughout. I also met Pat’s friend Bob as he was there when I arrived, the three of us stood around talking and having a few drinks. Bob was waiting for his ex-partner, Peter, to show up to say good-bye. Peter is moving back to Canada. Well eventually Peter showed up and Bob left. Pat and I headed up the street to an Indian restaurant and had a late dinner. Larry called and said that he was home, so we left the restaurant with left-overs in hand. We got home and talked to Larry for a while and then all turned in for the night.

Well I was awoken by Bethy, she needed her resume and I had the only current copy. Since there wasn’t an Internet connection at the house yet, (Thanks Time Warner!) I would not be able to send it to her. I read off the new parts of her resume so she had a current one. I had just fallen back to sleep and Steve called and he needed some loan information for the sale of my house. I told him that I would call Beth and we would get him the necessary information. Well I was going to call her later as I knew that she would be interviewing for a job. Well she called me and we discussed the application she filled out and the fact that the job would be perfect for her. I think she will get it. Well after that I lay in bed a few more minutes and decided that I needed to get the shocks installed. Since I didn’t know how long it would take I get started, I finished in about 30 minutes. Not bad considering that I had to remove the spare tire in order to reach two nuts. Well I think I may wax the back of the camper since it’s getting dirty and I have about 2500 more miles to go Well I got the camper waxed and then headed off to see mom and get lunch. Well I got lunch at Zafran, it was an Indian buffet, and I have had better and will when I get to San Marcos. I visited mom for about an hour and a half. She seemed good and knew who I was. I was doing fine until I walked out after saying goodbye. It’s still emotional visiting her, know that she will never get better nor will she ever go home. When my kids are old enough to travel on their own I may move to CA. I think I would do that and I could live here in Morgan Hill where I am staying. I really like it here; it’s a really nice town and has about 33,000 people. I then stopped by B&N and checked whether the book I am looking for is out yet. I found out it’s Oct. 6th, well I’ll be back home by then so I’ll just wait. I then headed to dads and we watched Bad Boys (movie) and then he took a nap. When he woke we watched part of a baseball game and then Prison Break (TV series). I left at 10pm and headed back to camp. I am off to Los Angeles to visit Pat and Larry.

Well it’s a chilly morning here in Morgan Hill, CA (about 20 miles south of San Jose, CA). I got up to work on the shocks on my van and found that I did not have the proper size wrench to remove them. I need an 18mm. So I need to go to an auto parts store and get the additional tools. I called Dad and then he called back and said that he was going to be home soon and that we could get together around 10-10:30am. I said that would be fine. Well I arrived at dad’s at about 10:45 and we left for the RV dealer back in Morgan Hill. We got to the dealer and met Neil who showed dad and I different models. I learned a few new things about 5th wheels, like I need to make sure that I get a long bed truck if I want to do goose-neck towing as opposed to standard 5th wheel towing. Dad really seem to the like the class A’s. He thinks that maybe in 10 years he may buy one and him and Kim Lee would travel the country. After visiting the RV dealer we headed back to his place and waited for Tom and Kim Lee and Tu to show up. They arrived by 5:30 and we were out the door to have dinner. We went to Phu Lan, it’s a Hunan restaurant. We ended up ordering our own thing and then sharing it around the table. Everything was quite tasty. After dinner we went back to dads and said goodbye to Tom, Kim Lee and Tu. Dad and I sat around for a while and talked RV’s and what we were going to do tomorrow. We finally decided to just stay in and I would bring some movies over to watch on his big screen tv. We would also make popcorn and order pizza or something.