English Relatives.

Several years ago my mom “found” a few cousins in England through her genealogy research. She and Jeanne e-mailed for over a year before Jeanne and her husband Robert decided Mom was taking too long to come to England for a visit and in 2006 booked a flight out here to meet the family. 

We all took a few days off and had a great time doing all the touristy stuff we so rarely do unless someone is here from out of town. Robert and Jeanne were horrified by the traffic. LOLOL. The plus side was that there was a lot of bonding going on. LOL Jeanne is a fellow knitter, so we took her to a yarn store for a quick hit. As someone used to buying yarn directly from the mills, to say she was stunned at the prices would be an understatement. 

We. Went. Everywhere. 

First up, a family dinner…

(l-r) Mom, Me, Cousin A, Cousin C, and Aunt J

The next day we drove up the coast to Santa Barbara. Robert had his first margarita, but as it was during lunch at a fish restaurant at the pier, maybe not the best place. LOL. We introduced him to the real thing at dinner that night.

Santa Barbara Mission

Courtyard at the Mission

The next day we headed south to Long Beach and…

Do I really need to tell you where this is??? LOL

Can you imagine keeping all this shining while at sea for days???

Wheelhouse

Enjoying the lovely weather on deck…

Jeanne and Robert

On the way back we decided we had time to stroll the balconies and gardens at The Getty…

Looking Towards Downtown

Jeanne & Robert heading up the hill to the Getty

The last day most of the family went to the Huntington Gardens…

Statue Garden

Can you imagine how lightly this balloon had to land on these cacti to keep from popping? LOL 

A “life” in peril

Pagoda and Oriental Gardens

The family…

(rear) Uncle J, Jeanne, Robert; (front) Aunt J, and Mom

And the women of the family. We’re the ones actually related. The boys were married into the insanity family. As you can see, Jeanne got all the tall genes in the family.

(l-r) Janet, Jeanne, Nancy & Lynda

Finally, my favorite picture of the entire trip. We were driving along down the freeway to the Queen Mary, when I look up from my knitting and see this massive platform truck with the strangest of loads…

 

Truckloads

Traffic in L.A. …Who knows WHAT you’ll see?

We had a great time with lots of laughing and eating (and sitting in traffic!) and I wish we could do it all again. Hopefully I’ll get over there soon and I’m sure I’ll have just as much fun then, too. 

The American cousins send lots of love.

Lynda the Guppy
aka The Fish With Sticks