Las Padres National Search!!!

Where can I begin about our day today. Saturday December 6, 2008.

We woke at 5 A.M. and dressed quickly so that we would be on the road before sun up, so that we could arrive 80 miles north / Northwest of L.A. We zipped down the I-5 coffee in hand and wide eyed and ready for this day. (BACK STORY) Angelo came across a story about a hidden gem of hot springs up in the Las Padres National Forrest. We decided to see for ourselves. It was said to be about a 3 hour hike and the water was said to be just a bit under boiling, I love it!!!

We arrived in Frazier Park CA, headed down this two lane highway and behold we see a sign that says Mutau Flats Road. Off we go, well little did we thnk that we would need our big red 4x4 instead of our little (low to the ground) gas efficient VW. So needless to say my country skills kicked in and we were off roading with the best of them, our grey VW is now BROWN!!!

We finally arrived at the Johnston Ridge trial head, out we go and we hear the cold and powerful silence. The sounds of the city were history. Awesome is all I could muster to think. The three of us, Angelo, Tria and myself were off. We checked our water, cameras, and food supply as well I had a hidden pack of medical supplies, cause lets face it, I very well could have fallen off the mountain given the right amount of fear from the smallest creature on earth and I would have just jumped!!! Off we go, I am here to tell you we saw some of the most incredible views that you could ever imagine seeing just outside of the city of smog.... We were so lucky, the air was crisp, clean and fresh as a rose! We walked and walked and laughed and laughed, then as we started our descent as we knew we had to head down the canyon wall by about 2200 feet. OK, by this time we were starving, we were captivated by this place and then we were just pooped out and a bit worried about how long this climb out would take, so off we went on our way up to the rim and out. OMG OMG! I am not sure if it was the altitude or the lunch we had just eaten but I think I weighed twice as much on the way up as I did on the way down. Needless to say we never found the hot springs and after arriving back at our car we met two good ole boys out deer hunting (right, great feeling knowing we could have been in their cross hairs) They had a map and we then found out that when we had a fork in the road we went the wrong way.... , I SMELL SEQUEL!!!!!!! So enjoy a video and some pictures of today.

By the way I forgot to mention that we came across some very interesting plants, those that one might say were illegal. OK so we really do not know but we are not stupid either, you will see the pictures in here so just know that we had a 30 minute long conversation on our theory, All I can say is hilarious!!!

V & A

MILK! A Must See!!

We went to see Milk last night and I need to say that this was the most powerful story I had ever, ever learned about. I was not aware of the history behind this story but I was so mortified that the to learn of how this had happened 30 years ago and to learn that 30 years later, still no civil rights?? What, I am reflectring back on the movie as I write this and I am immidiatley shocked again. So strange to think of how someones life style can affect a nation of people... I do not know how you will percieve it but This was truley a life changing movie for me!

Be Well!

Van

Escrow Smescrow!!!

Now is the time where we unveil our pictures of the new house. Although still have 21 days to close, I have never been so ready for something. These are some of the photos that we will use for the before/after shots. We are just getting used to the idea that we will live in another area and all the new surroundings, night noises etc... Hope you enjoy.....

Happy Thanksgiving

Today was great! I missed my family although I will see them soon. Angelo made the turkey & dressing. I made green bean caserole and cherry/peach cobblers and the rest trickled in. It was so delicious. It was a nice break from packing. We are going to take the kids to see Twilight tonight and we are most definatley staying away from black friday shoppiong arenas......Hope everyone had a great holiday...

Golf anyone????

Zoie if you are there, I hope your holiday was awesome!!

Well Hello

Hi All-

Sorry I have been MIA for a bit but if you do not know by now, Angelo and I are in Escrow. It has been a long hard year looking and looking at places. It has been hard just looking past the way some of the condos were left after people were forclosed on and let me tell you, you can actually see their anger. All in all we have a great agent and a ton of input. It is a bit sickening when we look at what outr parents paid for their house compared to what we are paying. I know I know it is 20 years later and we live in L.A. but hello the house prices are like we are buying a small island or something. So i have some pictures of before and I will post them soon, I just want to wait until we close escrow. Anyway Angelo and I are doing well, just talking about children in the very near future which I wish Zoie could be a part of and I know she would love to be a big sister but we'll see. All in All things are great and other than our 410k's looking like skeletons life is great. Good wishes to you all and Happy Holidays!

V

Walk on the Safari Side.

Hi all-

I had the greatest opportunity to go on safari (imitation)so I wanted to share with everyone. First though let me catch you up. Tessa is my oldest friend next to Kim and we have not seen each other in 10 years. We are from the same area of Texas and met by chance at a country dance one day back in college. Her and Mac were given an incredible gift which I swear is the coolest thing ever. Mac parents gave them something I hope they (Mac's parents) know how much they appriciate. Those two dolls are going on a Mexican Riviera cruise. I saw the boat and it is GINORMOUS!!! and so I saw the two of them off and it was like two kids at christmas, they were so precious at getting packed and organized and it was so refreshing to just chill with them. Although Tessa snores like a bear!!! Here are a few pictures from our day! I hope all is great across the board with you all!

Van

Labor Day 2008 !!!!

Angelo and I went to Millerton Lake with the Erese Family this past weekend. We had such a wonderful time. A few things happened, we had a great game of golf with Fred and Tyler. What bites is that 7 year old is kicking my but on the course! He has a future in golf! Second we (Angelo & I) hung out for a couple of hours at Winchell's cove on the lake. The day was so hot 107 to be exact and just swam and soaked up some rays while enjoying absolute silence! On Sunday we all went to the lake and Mag would boat groups of us to the other side and we found our own private beach. We had most of the niece *& nephews with us and some family friends. We rode the jet ski and wake boards. I do not know how to put into words how sore Fred and I are after being on the jet ski or was it the wake board that cause us to feel so sore. Needless to say it was so awsome, we batted some balls and threw the football around and swam for 8 hours! It brought back so many memories of my childhood growing up on the lake.