The biggest project on Michael and Sarah’s list was paneling the ceiling (yes, I said ceiling) of the dining area, kitchen, living room, and hallways to the two bedrooms. After first hearing about this, MFI and I expressed trepidation to each other. We had never applied paneling to a ceiling before, hence no experience, and…
Working on the kid’s house in Hollywood day after day increased our end-of-day need to relax with a glass of wine. Fortunately, downtown Hollywood hosted a number of places that satisfied this need. Places such as Carmello’s, Thanks to Harrison, and The Vintage on Harrison. We were in the latter establishment late one afternoon enjoying…
Even before we headed to Florida, Michael and Sarah shared the list of projects they hoped we’d be able to complete during our 3-month visit. The first was paneling and painting the kid’s bedroom. The panels were identical to those, which they had previously installed in their dining area. It’s a popular Home Depot product…
One of the primary reasons we returned to visit the Gomez Family this summer was to attend three important events for Happy. First, we celebrated his birthday; second, we witnessed his graduation from VPK; and third, we attended his first Hip Hop Recital. This guy was on a high ever since we arrived. Upon request,…
We committed to the Gomez Family, grandson Happy in particular, that we’d be there to celebrate his 5th birthday. That required we depart Coronado Island on 28 April and travel 2,665 miles in 13 days. We were challenged by longer driving distances between stops (306 to 437 miles) , and only being able to stop…
The drive from Seal Beach to San Diego was only an hour and a half, but because our check-in wasn’t until 2 pm, we lunched at Nectarine Grove Cafe & Bakehouse in Encinitas just to kill time. They served only “fresh and organic, 100% gluten-free, local, and sustainable meals.” Ohh-kay, we must be in California….
The drive from Needles to Seal Beach (pop. 23,896) was 264 miles across the Mojave Desert. We stopped in Barstow, CA (pop. 23,915) and got our second cup of coffee, filled our personal thermoses for the remaining drive, ate lunch at Panera Bread, and had Arthur cleaned at Blue Beacon Truck Wash. We’re new fans…
We will be attending the wedding of our nephew Max (the son of MFI’s brother Jim) in Rosarita, Baja California, Mexico at the end of April. As such, we needed to work our way west to ensure we’re there in plenty of time and able to reserve a campsite on the U.S. side. With that…
We had not visited with Chad and family for two years, and it was time. Heading north in early March was risky, but given our schedule for the next four months, it made sense to go now. It required two stops to get there: Tonkawa, OK (pop. 2,980) and Merriam, KS (pop. 11,098), a Kansass…
We had air lifts installed on Sid during our first stay in Wylie, TX in December 2019. In addition to towing, we were carrying a significant load of tools and felt we needed pneumatic lifts to ease the burden on Sid’s suspension. Before leaving Wylie, we went to DFW Camper Corral, discussed lift options, and…
