25th Anniversary Trip - 2 Days In

So we woke up that Sunday morning to the sound of seals outside in the marina. I looked for them several times, but I could not find them.

The room was getting warm, and I was ready to hit the road. Poor Jim had to drag all of our suitcases and junk down the stairs after dragging all of it up just a mere 18 hours earlier. But we were on the road again to our next destination. In a loud COOL car.

 

First, though, we wanted to find a place to eat breakfast.

We ended up in San Clemente, and as “luck” would have it, a farmer’s market was going on in the downtown area, and it was hard to find parking. According to Yelp, there was also a great restaurant over there for breakfast called Café Mimosa. We got there when there was only a couple of empty tables out of less than 20. We had THE BEST crème brulee French toast. Oh my! It had blackberries all over it. The coffee was great, and really everything was great.

 

When we were leaving, the wait line was insane!

We went across the street and walked through the farmer’s market. What a neat little town! The houses were so cute, the people seemed very happy and nice, and the food…

 

This was the day we were driving into Los Angeles. We were staying at Courtyard Marriott/LA Burbank Airport. On the way there, we decided to drive up to see the Hollywood sign from the observatory. However, the parking lots were full, and people were walking/hiking up the mountain just to get there. Unfortunately, I had to use the rest room so bad that I couldn’t think of walking anywhere. Only to a bathroom. And we were stuck in standstill traffic.

After getting out of the mess, we drove into Hollywood and found a Starbucks so we could use the restroom. No public facilities.

We walked a couple of doors down to Jersey Mikes’ Subs and found they had a bathroom, but you had to buy something to get the code in order to use the restroom. So we bought a meal and split it. The food was really good! And I was so glad to find a bathroom that we could use.

Then we checked into the hotel, which was nothing short of fantastic. The room was beautiful, the bed was comfortable, and it was great.

We made a trip to Target and bought a fan. And then we headed over to see a few of Jim’s former students from his teaching days in North Kansas City. They are about 30 now, which is unbelievable!

The parking was crazy around the apartments, and we had to park a block away. But when we got there, it was easy to forget the small stuff. Nathan and Stephanie have a young daughter and baby son. And another student, Lindsay, was there, too. We got to talk about what’s been going on for the last 10+ years in everyone’s life.

We are so proud of all three of them. They are living for Jesus in LA! Nathan is working at his church, and Stephanie gets to hang out with her babies – Lindsay is an editor on a TV show (I’m not saying which one). 

 

And there we were, like no time had passed since the last time we were together. It’s kind of funny that the last time we all saw each other, they were just kids, and now they are responsible adults who are living their lives.

It was so good to see them all, get the updates of life, and make the decision that we are staying in touch better in the next 10 years than we did in the last 10 years.

They suggested, if we wanted desert, we go to an ice cream place called Salt and Straw, but that place was too busy. So we ventured over to the Republic of Pie. What a cool atmosphere! It was like a little bar with pie, coffee, live music and dim lights. Had a great time.

We knew the next day would be awesome, too, and that we didn’t have to pack up and leave the hotel because we were staying there for 2 nights. That alone made it easy to fall into bed and pass out.