South of LA

Monday May 9

Said farewell to the extremely hospitable Kennets and took the road south to Laguna Niguel where Gordon Cammell, David’s cousin, lives.  Laguna Niguel is on the coast, around 40 miles south of LA so we had to traverse LA. Mostly we drove along the concrete freeway with 3-4 lanes of heavy traffic but then turned off onto the Pacific Highway, which runs along the coast and has lots of traffic lights.  The coast is beautiful with rolling white sands and lots of surf and much evidence of wealth around.  Gordon lives up a hill overlooking the ocean and looks after his wife Fay who was diagnosed several years ago with Alzheimer’s.   

 We met the family; Carolyn – who lives about 200 miles away up in the mountains.  She has retired from a busy administrative job at a University medical centre and looks after her horses in a mountain village where they get snow about once a year.  Dale (Gordon’s son) is married to Leslie who is a carer for Gordon and Fay, and Russell is married to Linda.  Russell travels for miles on his bike and has thoroughly explored the surrounding area.  Mark is the youngest son and lives in San Diego where we will go on Tuesday.

Had a lovely dinner with the family who all contributed bits and it was a late celebration of Mother’s day (which was the day before in the USA) and early celebration of Gordon’s 88^th birthday.  The ‘kids’ had found a fruit cake for Gordon as his birthday cake.  They said it is really hard to find fruitcake in America (or California at least), as Americans don’t eat it much.

Tuesday May 10

Took the 5 Interstate to San Diego which ran along the coast so it was quite scenic.  Huge Military base on the way and San Diego (N America’s 8^th largest city) is home to the US Navy and they are the major employer in the town.  Stopped at a shopping mall for lunch and got lost in a giant Walmart.  I never did find the milk I was looking for.

The hotel was wedged between 2 motorways and the inevitable train-line but we weren’t disturbed by traffic.  In the evening Mark Cammell (Gordon’s youngest son) and his friend Marcia took us out to a lovely sea-food restaurant by the sea.  The locals were feeling chilly and unfortunately I was seated under the heater so it was a warm experience.  They think it’s really cold because they have to wear a light sweater.  It was an enjoyable evening and we finished up at a gelato parlour in the town.

Mark’s two boys Keith and Stephen (around 20 yrs old) joined us and it was interesting to chat. Keith came on his electric bike that he’d put together himself.  He has a bad limp as a result of a motorbike accident when he broke his femur so the bike helps him to get around.  In the accident he rode his bike into the back of a car that stopped suddenly and he stove in the boot to the passenger seat so must have been going pretty fast.  He likes to perform stunts on his bike so may be heading for another broken femur.  Stephen is an undergraduate at Calstate University I think.