Day 14

This day was to be a long day of driving but a little more fun than we'd been used to. I'd saved some Apple Nut Bread from the Julian Pie Company for a quick in-the-car breakfast so once we'd packed up we were on the road again. Our first stop today was Lake Arrowhead and Uncle Coe and Helga Bloomberg. We hadn't seen them since the Bloomberg reunion in Illinois a few years ago so the kids were excited.

The drive up was absolutely gorgeous. The last time I'd been up to Lake Arrowhead was more than 30 years ago and my head must have been in a book. Around every twist and turn was a newer, higher view of the mountains and city that I had to peek at.


I dragged the kids out of the car at the vista point at the top for the best view. They even let me stay and enjoy it for a few minutes!

We finally reached the condo and we welcomed with open arms and tight squeezes. The kids were quiet as we talked about our trip, caught up with all that had happened the last couple years, and what we are planning next. We were talking about the rest of our day as Helga asked us to stay for lunch. We were going to get on back down the mountain and to our next stop but she insisted. We were treated to a wonderful spread of all kinds of salads and bread with the lovely view of the lake. The kids finally spoke when she asked if they would like ice cream after lunch.

After much guilt about not staying a night or a week from Helga we got back on the road headed toward Hollywood. We did stop at an REI on the way but the sleep mats they had were way out of my price range so I ordered what I wanted from Amazon in the parking lot.  The list of things Dave will be bringing when he meets us is growing!







The kids had spotted the Hollywood sign when we were checking out the Walk of Stars but they wanted to see it a little more up close. I'd noted the Griffith Observatory was the best place so we (and thousands of other people!) headed that way. We didn't have time to check out the observatory but it was absolutely beautiful. We parked briefly while Laney and Brayden snapped pictures of the sign.








The traffic was a little easier heading toward our next campground for the most part. We were meeting back up with Grammie in the Los Padres National Forest. She'd been there for a few days so she already knew the lay of the land. My brother Chris and his two kids were also in town for a West Coast drive up the California coast so we met them back down in Santa Barbara for dinner. The recommended restaurant had quite a wait so we settled on another one with a lovely view. We enjoyed some seafood we don't usually get while camping and made plans for our drive up the coast the next day.


















The sunset was beautiful over Santa Barbara as we said our good nights and headed back to our campground. Brayden left us to stay with Grammie so we had a crazy girls night! We figured out how to play the travel dice version of Cataan and then fell asleep. I could get used to these cool nights!