Ay, ay, ay ay...
... canta y no llores.
Ah, ah, sing and don't cry. Good advice.
So I moved from Sacramento to Los Angeles. Got packed up on June 25 and left my apartment for good. Drove to Alameda to stay with Carmalyn and Ethan (and a very unhappy Monster). June 26th we planned to take the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) down to Hearst Castle. In Big Sur we were told the highway was closed due to wildfires, and were forced to take a detour probably 100 miles back up the coast and down the far-less scenic 120, then we cut back to the ocean. The cats seemed to do well in the car, and aside from Ginger's one expedition, they mostly stayed in their carriers.
Even down in San Simeon, you could see and smell the smoke on the beach. Like a huge cosmic barbecue was going on at the neighbor's place. By that time it was too late to go to Hearst Castle, so we made plans to go the next day. We had time to enjoy the sunset on the beach, where the pebbles were an amazing array of bright green, yellow, red, and black.
The tour of Hearst Castle was really interesting. It was a nice break from driving. The mansion looked like it was sitting on a cloud, because in all directions all you could see was smoke/fog. The pools were pretty nice.
June 27th we drove past Pismo Beach, through Malibu, and into LA and Santa Monica. Traffic blew a little bit. It was the weekend, but escrow hadn't yet closed on the house. So aside from some paperwork and the final walk-through, we had the weekend free. We slept and went to the beach a lot. I flew a kite my parents brought back from China that was made up of 10 little kites on a string (can you see them in the picture?).
Monday and Tuesday I worked in my new office in Torrance. Gawd was I tired. For everyone else it was just business as usual, so I had trouble getting the others in the office outside my group to stop and introduce themselves. I'm still working on it.
Wednesday I was on ice for escrow to close, so I took one of my relocation days, and Mom and I went to the La Brea Tar Pits. It was fascinating seeing the random asphalt puddles (like the one in the parking lot) bubbling up from the ground, especially so close to Downtown, but it was a little disappointing to hear that all the pits except one had already been mined of all their artifacts. They found bones of mammoths and mastodons, American camels, saber-tooth cats, wolves, and these enormous creepy sloths that were over 6 feet tall! We had a good time on the grounds and in the museum. Then the call came: I was ready to get my keys!
Thursday was move-in day at my new home in San Pedro, although I wished it could have been later because the place needed a thorough cleaning that it couldn't get before the furniture came. The movers broke a few things and lost my table legs and a piece of artwork I made myself and was really excited about hanging over the fireplace. They wanted to know how much it was worth but how do you put a price on a something like that? Here is a picture of me with the keys to my house!
Friday we moved out of the stinky hotel and brought the cats to their new home. They seemed to take to it pretty quickly.
We spent the day unpacking boxes and shopping for groceries. That night, we were too tired to brave the traffic and crowds for fireworks displays, but were rewarded with the show from the porch and bedroom, which encompassed the shows from about 10 towns along the horizon and closer. I couldn't really capture it on film, but I tried!
Now I'm settling into normal life in the LA Basin. So far I'm liking it, but it's mostly work-home-work-home. I'll keep you posted.
