4th in CA

We planned to stay in Phoenix for the 4th this year, but decided to go to CA for the funeral of my colleague's father. I met him last year and had a chance to talk and get to know him. A Marine Corps pilot, engineer on the Apollo Program, and owner of his own business, he was quite a guy. The funeral was on Sunday the 5th, so we left for CA the night of the 3rd. I had a great round of golf with Dennis, my dad, and Uncle Jack, along with a swim, before we took off. Mark and Jess were still awake, thankfully, when we arrived about 9pm. We had stopped at our usual place, Brownie's, in Yuma.

Mark and I did a nice run first thing Sat. morning, then MM, Will, and I went for a bike ride around the neighborhood. (We had brought MM's bike with us.) Will is quite the rider. He cut through a front yard at one point, then got way ahead of us (and in trouble with Uncle Doug).

I had wanted to hit the beach that afternoon, but it wasn't to be. It was too crowded downtown, so we diverted to the man-made lakes in Santee. We squeezed into a patch of grass and set up Mark's grill. Jess's mom and and sister stopped by on their bikes to join us in the BBQ. After a couple hours we packed up and headed to Jess's mom's, where there was a pool. Another fun 2 hours of hanging out, and Booch got in a decent nap.

Sunday was the funeral up in Orange County. We had a nice Mass at Mark & Jess's church, along with breakfast at home. S and I left about 2 hrs early, which was good, because an accident made for a long traffic delay. The service was nice and short. There was good food after. It was a good occasion to think about our own mortality and plans for funerals and after-death details, which S and I discussed on the way back to Mark's.

Monday morning Mark and I again had a good run, then it was on the road for the long haul to Phoenix. In Yuma this time we tried a new place, Copper Miner Kitchen, which was affordable and delicious. We entered just as many of the old timer regulars were finishing up and let Booch stretch his legs a bit.

The old folks loved him as he walked around to each table waving. They started calling him "the Mayor of Yuma." Bobbins and the kids especially enjoyed the chocolate pie. There was an accident on the 8 at Gila Bend, so we had to go all the way to the 10. We pulled into home about 4pm.

Will and Otto have this car as a toy, and Booch and JoJo loved it.