What a difference the light of day makes! The campground we stayed at last night, which seemed like the creepy setting for a murder mystery, was a tranquil wonderland this morning, complete with views of the mountains, gardens and wild peacocks. Lots of them!
I had seen in their brochure “Campground Rules and Info” that it said, “Peacocks: Do not chase them.” I wasn’t sure what that meant until I went up the 30 cement steps to the bathrooms this morning to take my shower.
Imagine my surprise when I saw two female peacocks walking along. I made a point of NOT chasing them and when I got back and told Eric, he said he had seen them, too. Then, we saw a male and I went to take pictures.
By the time we left at noon, there were about 20 males and females all around our RV. They were sitting on picnic tables, on fences, and walking around. The males were extending their beautiful feathered tails and shaking them at the females, trying to find a mate. It was so interesting to watch! I’m a real bird lover, so I was thrilled.
We decided not to go back to Santa Barbara, even though Eric was feeling much better. His headache was pretty much gone, but he still had a stiff neck. He wanted to take it easy, so we decided to head south to Los Angeles. We wanted to see my cousins and we knew Friday night wasn’t good for them, so we figured if we headed down today, we would be able to see them tonight. My cousin, Ilene, lives with her family in Los Angeles. Her sister, Karen, lives with her family in Malibu. I found out that we wouldn’t be able to get together with Karen, but Ilene said they would be able to see us tonight.
It was only about an hour’s drive from Santa Paula to L.A. and we got to the campground, BIRMINGHAM RV PARK on Balboa Boulevard, at about 1:30pm. I registered and then we left to grab a bite and run some errands. We ate at BRAMI’S KOSHER PIZZA on Sherman Way. It was a vegetarian/Kosher restaurant with a great menu of Italian, Mexican and American dishes. We each had a bowl of vegetable soup and I had a veggie quesadilla and Eric had a tostado salad, which was a lot of great veggies and beans in a tostado bowl. I love when you can eat the dishes! The food was really good.
I also wanted to get a manicure/pedicure and had seen a place about a mile or two down on Balboa, so we went by there and they were able to take me without an appointment. I was lucky, because after I started my pedicure, about 4 women came in and they were too busy to take them, so I had good timing!
We got back to the campground at around 4:15pm. Eric and I freshened up and changed our clothes and headed out at about 4:45pm. We told Ilene we’d be at their house by 5:30pm, and we only had to go about 20 miles, so we figured 45 minutes was more than enough time, even with traffic (which Ilene had warned us about).
As it turned out, the traffic was really bad (and Betty didn’t take us on the best route), so it took us over an hour. We finally got to their house, which is on a beautiful block in a lovely, residential neighborhood that is just a hop, skip and a jump from all the Los Angeles “hot spots” like Melrose Avenue, Sunset Boulevard, and Hollywood Boulevard. They’re far enough away from it all to lead a “suburban life” but really are in the heart of L.A.
We were so happy to see Ilene, Kyle, Tyler (14), Evan (11) and Elise (4). We got a tour of their great house, which is almost 100 years old. You know how I love old things, and this house has so much character. They’ve recently renovated, adding a master suite (with a fabulous bathroom and a to-die-for walk-in closet) and an additional half bath in another bedroom.
Evan, the soccer player, in his room:
Elise, the adorable cutie-pie, in her room:
Tyler, the surfer, in his room:
The place is decorated beautifully, with a combination of vintage and new pieces, some in the mission style, which is perfect for the architecture of the house. They are still working on the landscaping, which will finish off the front and back of the house.
The family, standing in front of the Mercedes that Ilene won in a radio contest!
After the tour, we piled into their minivan and headed to dinner at MAGGIANO’S Little Italy in THE GROVE, which is a gorgeous new outdoor mall not too far from their house. This is also the location of the original Farmer’s Market, but they built all around it and added tons of stores, a movie theater and outdoor kiosks selling all sorts of items.
The restaurant is beautiful and they have a great menu. We decided to eat “family style” and got to choose two appetizers (calamari and stuffed mushrooms), two salads (Caesar and chopped with bleu cheese), two pastas (Fettuccini Alfredo and Eggplant Parmigiana (don’t ask, I didn’t understand how eggplant was a pasta choice either)), and two entrees (Chicken Piccata: Chicken breasts sautéed with capers, lemon, white wine and parsley, and Salmon Lemon & Herbs: Filet of salmon sautéed with fresh herbs and spinach; served with a light lemon sauce). There was so much food and each dish was better than the one before it. I enjoyed every bite. We had Tiramisu and Maggiano’s Signature Spumoni (made especially for them – a blend of pistachio, chocolate and cherry ice cream). Wow! It was SO delicious.
We left and decided to walk around the outdoor mall a little. Evan hurt his leg playing soccer, so he stayed behind with Kyle while the rest of us walked around for a few minutes. They have a lot of great stores in this mall. I’m not a mall person at ALL (I much prefer flea markets, antique shops and garage sales), but even I was impressed with how beautiful this place was.
Some whimsical art in a gallery at THE GROVE:
Elise goes for a ride, while big brother Tyler stands by:
Me and Eric with our new haircuts (Eric did his himself!):
Tyler, Elise and Ilene in front of the fountain:
After a short tour of the mall, we walked back to the restaurant and got back in the minivan to head back to their house. When we got inside, Ilene had gifts for us! Ilene has worked for the Beverly Hills Police Department for the past 13 years and presented us with two white sweatshirts with the Beverly Hills Police emblem in black. They are so cool!
She also gave us a gift bag with all sorts of goodies. From reading our blog every day, she knows how much we love chocolate, so there were gourmet chocolates. She read how we’re always using flashlights at night, so she gave us key chains with a small flashlight at the end. We got a Beverly Hills Police Department litter bag for the RV, a special key chain that separates, so you can have one part with your car keys and the other part with your house keys (very cool), and “Junior Police Officer, Beverly Hills Police” stickers shaped like badges, which Ilene said they really give to kids when they get a tour of the police department!
Best of all, she gave us fresh brownies she had baked the night before, which of course we tasted as soon as we got back to the campground. They were delicious – moist and chewy!
It was so much fun to get all those cool souvenirs of our night with our wonderful cousins. Tyler and Evan have grown into fine young men and it was a pleasure to spend an evening with them. Elise is a little doll and reminds me SO much of Ilene when she was the same age. They have the same face and both have such endearing personalities.
After we got all our gifties, we gave them the tour of the RV (which we always refer to as the 3-minute tour). They enjoyed seeing where we’ve been living for the last 12 weeks. Kids always love the RV. It just makes so much sense to them to drive around with your whole house with you, and it’s very cozy. Evan even said he wants to live in an RV!
This night is one we will always remember. We’re so happy to be on the West Coast now and know that we will now be closer to the cousins we didn’t get to see for so long, because we were so many miles away. We are going to see Karen and her family tomorrow, so we’re looking forward to that!
Ilene and Kyle told us a better way to go home – the scenic route, passing through Hollywood to get to 101 North, so we didn’t even need to use Betty!