Eating with friends

Although we’re scheduled for another month in Santa Paula, we’re already in the get-on-the-road mindset.  The holidays are over, the equipment has been maintained, chores are done and we’re ready to move on.  Problem is, as nice as the weather is in Southern California, it is still cold where we’re going.  So here we are in Santa Paula, sitting it out.

For Christmas, we received a $50 gift certificate to The Cheesecake Factory.  Not able to use the entire amount ourselves, we invited Doug and Karen to join us.  The meal was excellent and we all had a really good time.

Early one Sunday morning, we had breakfast with Frank and Sonia at the airport cafe in Santa Paula.  Both recently started new jobs in the Ventura County area and it was good to hear all about it.  They plan to marry in June and they were telling us about the wedding plans.  We look forward to attending.

Danny is taking golf lessons and we now have a Tuesday morning ritual at the local driving range.  Although he improves each practice session, it is dangerous to stand anywhere within a 170 degree arc of his shot.  No windshield in the parking lot is truly safe.

One day I had lunch with Rick, who has a contracting business in Santa Paula.  We met many years ago when I worked in Santa Paula and we somewhat kept in touch even since.  We had not seen each other in many years.  Over a two hour lunch at La Cabana, we caught up on the best we could.  It was good seeing him again and renewing the friendship.

With all the tooth-pulling behind me, there are no restrictions on exercise, which means we are back on a regular workout routine.  The workouts are a hassle, but we definitely feel better for the effort.

Aside from the above, the rest of our time is spent running errands, visiting family and just enjoying the warm California sunshine.  In contrast to last year, the weather is fantastic.