Road Trip 2021 Part Four: The last leg of the journey

Aloha all,

Blog #4 of the road trip, 2021.

All going well; so wonderful to hug family and friends all along the way.

The new car is en route home to Hawaii now and I am finishing the road trip by flying the last two legs: San Diego to Islip NY and then NYC to Honolulu.  

Photos below from miles 5,872 to 6046, last drive before shipping car home to HI.

My architect brother turns 70- super fun party

More cupcakes- yum

Sunsets on the west coast adventure 

Car was detailed next to a McLaren.  All clean and ready for ship ride home.

Aloha Long Island…Flight miles from San Diego to Islip Long Island=2481

Americans are back on the planes: full planes, full overhead baggage, lots of masks.

Smithtown Long Island- staying with family

CHAMPAGNE required 

Aloha Quogue - more family

Quail in the grasses

Stony Brook Harbor

Nissequogue beach for a dinner picnic

Horseshoe crabs - mating season!

Nissequogue beach - storm somewhere 

Swimming- the water was very warm

Sunset on a good time in Long Island

Then on to NewYork City to see Peace Corps pals

West side skyline

Civil War Arch in Prospect Park Brooklyn 

Fun pansies in Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Must hug a tree

Gramercy Park and view to Chrysler Building

We have a friend with a key to Gramercy Park- the ONLY private park in NYC

Coney Island and walking to Little Odessa

Ukrainian beer

My PC pals from group 38 in Ukraine 

Farewell  to the mainland and their beaches

Flight miles JFK to Home=4983 miles

HOME

The trip has been EXCELLENT.  Time to go home and get back to my normal routine.

Come visit…. I am home for a while

Aloha

C

Road Trip 2021: Part Three

Aloha all,

Blog #3  of the road trip, 2021 - leaving Ogden Utah and driving back to San Diego CA.

Photos from miles 4300 to 5,872.

All going well; so wonderful to hug family and friends all along the way.  I truly am amazed at the magnificent scenery in the western states.

I do miss home, but the trip is excellent. 

Above: the great Salt Lake

Below: 47 miles of the Bonneville Salt flats - very white, very bright, both sides of the road

Crossed Nevada- flat, boring, not worth photo  stops

Then drove around Lake Tahoe- wow

Then into Sacramento to visit my Geology Brother

Sacramento is nice- photos of capitol building, old town and rose garden

After 24 hours, with geology brother, I drove to Monterey to be with youngest brother 

to celebrate his 60th birthday 

First party- mustache night and cupcakes 

Above- the birthday brother 

Below- how to eat a cupcake with your granddaughter 

THEN - all 22 of us moved on to the second birthday party site

A friend’s home on the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach Golf Course

Above: the very cool house

Below: watching golfers tee off - directly towards us- yes we did see a ball go through

The dining room window!

Family - partying 

Shrimp , oysters, - pupus

After dinner- talking story

Below: lap pool in case we wanted to burn calories 

Then, sigh, back to the real world and driving to visit childhood friend in San Luis Obispo

Took scenic HWY 1- the coast road 

After  fun night talking story with my childhood pal, on to LA to visit friends

from my life in Sicily. Friends live near Malibu Canyon so took a walk/ break from driving.

Did not last long as I almost stepped on this snake…

There was a little water in the Malibu creek

And then stopped to see another childhood pal in LA- we walked the Malibu Lagoon and checked out the really cool birds.

And now, May 28, I am in Poway Ca with my architect brother and I am not driving for at least three days.

The car gets shipped home on June 1, then I  see my daughter for a few days, then we celebrate architect brother’s 70th birthday and then I fly to Long Island to see my two sisters.  That will be the last bit of my adventure before flying home.

Enjoy the photos.  It was hard to choose as I have taken LOTS.

I do miss home, but there is nothing better than being with my siblings, my daughter and my mainland friends.

Aloha all.

C