My West Coast Summer Tour-Part II

Modesto!  Yes, Modesto.  My good friend Heather drove with me (and she is a good friend....anyone who would drive with someone through the Central Valley of California is a VERY good friend!  What a terrible drive!), which I greatly appreciated!  Nothing too exciting on that drive other than a car fire up by Magic Mountain.  It was actually pretty entertaining.....first, we see a PT Cruiser along the side of the road and the entire front end was completely engulfed in flames.....the fire truck had not yet arrived so, it was a pretty roaring fire!  Then, we notice in the median several yards away from the car, 4 teenage girls in their tank tops and short shorts, just staring at the car in flames.  One of the girls was on a cell phone and Heather and I proceeded to imagine what that phone call sounded like....."Hi......Dad?  Remember when you said that I could take your car to Magic Mountain today if I drove really carefully and didn't get in an accident?  Well, I didn't get in an accident......but........"  Oh my gosh....I can't even imagine!

So, I'm sure you're all wondering why we decided to stop in Modesto (or maybe you're not, but I'm going to tell you anyway.....).  Until I was 9 years old, my family managed an apartment building, "The Villa", in Seattle.  There was another apartment building across the street, "The Villa Capri",  owned by the same people that owned our building.  The managers of that building were an older couple named Al & Louise.  They were kind of like a second set of grandparents to my sister and I.  Al passed away almost 20 years ago, however Louise is still sharp as a tack at age 94 and she lives in Modesto in a retirement building.  I haven't seen Louise since I was probably 15 or 16 years old, however she is very good about keeping in touch with my mom and sending her handwritten letters with those free stickers you get in the mail all over the envelope (too cute!).  So, I decided that Heather and I would spend the night in Modesto and visit Louise!  

Here are some of the highlights of my visit with Louise:

*Walking into her building and taking the elevator up to her apartment with two other elderly ladies who told me that she hates the elevator because it's too "damn" slow and she needed to get to her apartment because she had to "pee" (yes, her words......)  Too funny!

*Louise asking us if we watched Judge Judy.....she thinks JJ is a really smart lady!

*Louise asking us if we watched the Ellen Show.  Then she proceeds to say "Well, she has her a beautiful lady doesn't she? (meaning Portia DiRossi)"  (Heather and I about DIED!  It was HILARIOUS!)

*Louise begging us to stay just 15 more minutes......(this really made me realize how much she loved having us there to visit with her.)

Since our visit, Louise has written mom several times telling her how much she loved having Heather and I in her home!  She is such a wonderful lady.  It was really sad to think that that visit with Louise would more than likely be my last.  I'm just glad I had the opportunity to see her.....it was a really fun time!

The next morning, we were off to our next destination........