Scrapping time

Today was always going to be a scrap day. I did my chores - house is clean now - and then I scrapped.

I have been working with Simple Stories Autumn Splendour for ATDML. The papers are glorious - they are thick and pretty and easy to use. And I had such fun scrapping as I watched the two new episodes of Vikings and am currently binge-watching the Marvellous Mrs Maisel. I love that show and Series 3 isn't disappointing me.

Anyway - this is what I made. The first page celebrates the Grateful Pumpkins in Wisconsin Dells where we stopped at a local Starbucks.

And we thought we had left fall colours behind as we headed south, but this was so festive int he Old Town Market in San Diego.

Today I am thankful for

Fiki being a little more normal - still a bit of a worry and still wont take the probiotics, but a bit better
scrap time
clean and tidy house

Day 22 Anaheim

5th November 2019

Start miles 6703

Start time 8.45

End miles 6776

End time 6.00

The One with the beaches

Breakfast was quieter today – and we were later and had really very little to do. Nigel called this day ‘mop up day’ – a day when we just had to do anything we hadn’t done. Which was clearly very little.

We made our way to the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove first. Well it used to be the Crystal Cathedral – it is now Christ’s Cathedral. It is still being altered and refurbished so was not open but the gardens were still beautiful with lovely sculptures. We enjoyed the visit in the sunshine. We had been inside before and we had also been there, many years ago, to see a truly amazing Passion Play on Maundy Thursday one year, with live animals and truly flying angels (we never did figure out how they did that)

We then called into Walmart for last minute bits to take home – namely honey mustard pringles for Nigel and then took a lovely trip down memory lane driving down Brookhurst to Huntington Beach. We stopped at the Diary Queen for an ice cream and it was actually a good call as it also gave us an hour parking to cross the road and see the beach for a bit.

From there we headed down PCH to Newport Beach and cross the bridge over to Balboa Island. We love Balboa (I went there on my very first day in America ever back in 1983 and fell in love). It is a beautiful little town and we enjoyed wandering, snapping and sitting having a frap.

We then headed to Balboa Pier and Newport Pier to scope out where we wanted to try and catch the sunset. We settled on Newport Pier.

We went and had an early dinner at The Outback (we hadn’t known there was one in Newport so that was a bonus) and then went back to the beach to see the sun set on our last night. We had watched the sun rise over the Atlantic in Maine three and a half weeks ago, and now we watched it set over the Pacific at the end of what had been our best holiday ever. It was an OK sunset. There were no clouds and I think clouds make for a more interesting sunset, but heck – it was still lovely.

The journey back to the hotel was not so lovely. It took for ever as we never went over 5 miles an hour! The land of the car eh!

Once back I packed the remaining cases and we had an early night.

Day 23 Anaheim to home

6^th and 7^th November 2019

Start miles 6776

Start time 9.00 in car

End miles 6821

End time 11.00 am airport

End time 11.35 am the following day – at home!

The one with the journey home

We enjoyed a last breakfast – a nice quiet affair today – and loaded the car. I was quite tearful and we were both sad to leave. Normally we are looking forward to going home in the last couple of days. We are generally tired and ready, but this trip was so exceptional, so diverse, that we were both sad it was over.

Our journey to the airport was uneventful (we always leave early in case we have a problem. And I am right because one year we did – we had a flat on the freeway!) and we checked in and went and made ourselves comfortable in the Virgin lounge. I had been excited to go back there as they served a drink – non alcoholic – that was incredible last time. It was a coconut water, lemon and ginger concoction which was awesome and which I tried to replicate at home. They no longer served this but they did have a kombucha lemon and ginger drink that was equally divine.

We boarded the flight on time and left on time and we soared over the mountains we had been to just two days ago and said farewell to America. I slept a little after dinner (Nigel slept quite a lot) and the flight did go reasonably well. It’s a long flight home and it is tiring and the 8 hour difference messes with your body terribly.

Goodbye LA

Goodbye mountains

sunrise near the UK

England's green and pleasant land - home!

However, we landed very early and we were out in record time, stood on the pavement less than an hour after touchdown waiting for our lift.

I think my happiest moment is when we are home, the house is safe, the cats are back and safe, the luggage has all made it and we have all those memories.

It had been the most amazing holiday ever and we fell into an exhausted jet lagged sleep to dream not of sugar plums but of Route 66, of oceans and cities, of beaches and deserts, prairies and mountains, of sunrise and sunsets.