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Here we are again folks, time to catch up with all the Gypsy shenanigans, as I write this we are sitting in Parkerville in the Perth hills. Weather is beautiful and warm and all is good.
But what have we been up to you ask, well after Geraldton we headed back to 3 Puddles for grandy time and put Tigger to sleep in the garage, gave him a kiss and a cuddle........ yeah I know but we can't help it because we will be away from Tigger for the next 6 weeks, oh the pain....... ah now where was I.
Ok we caught the bus down to Perth were mad mates Paul and Pearl picked us up and we went for coffee (of course) then they dropped us at the airport and we climbed onto the red eye to Sydney then onto a long haul to California, have we ever mentioned that long haul flights suck, yeah well long haul flights suck, anyway 14 something hours later Alex was waiting our arrival and it was so so so good to see him, huge cuddles and tears in our eyes.
Immigration was a breeze this time because we knew the finger print scanner would not be able to read Di's prints, and we were right, the immigration guy was great though and we laughed a lot as he tried all sorts of things to get it to work and then bingo, got them sorted and we were on our way a half an hour later.
More hugs and a maybe a tear with Andrea when we got home and it was so good to see the great big smiles on Abel and Amapola's faces when they saw us. All of a sudden the shitty flight was forgotten.
Wasn't feeling the LA weather love though, cool and misty for the first few days and I forgot to grab my jacket out of the cupboard back in Three Springs. Alex came to the rescue though with one and it came in very handy.
Some things just don't translate well from USA english to Aus english hahaha
Just down the road is a place called the Wellness Centre where there are lots of gardens and nooks for contemplating your naval and other good stuff, It is really pretty and very peaceful and always worth a visit
But enough of the quiet, it is time for action so we are off to Abels soccer game
That is the look of a goal just scored, you rock little man.
Ok this next pick is because ....... well who knows, looks cool though
Andreas' dad Fred is an excellent tour guide and a pleasure to hang out with so when the offer of a trip to the museum came up we jumped at it.
An amazing and interesting day out followed by a huge lunch, thankyou Fred, you are a true gentleman.
More out and about, this time with Drey and the wee one down in Malibu where coffee was had (we actually had a pretty good run with coffee this time}.
These living walls are becoming very popular over there and look great.
And these are a different take on side steps
There is a hiking trail a couple of minutes from home so some car shuffles were organised and family gotten organised and off we go.
The views are amazing looking back over the hills and out across the pacific, on a clear day you can see Australia, oh all right you can see Catalina Island and south towards Mexico and LA city is in the background.
Abel the mountain goat up on top of the animal rock and we have skull rock on the left, wonder if the Phantom is home hehe
And the good year blimp, hang on that is another day, Drey took us and the wee ones to the Natural History Museum, which is always cool, but when we came out we saw the blimp and for several blocks around there were people every where partying on with barbecues and music and stalls and all sorts of weird shit, all because the local "LA" footy team was playing at the stadium next door and that is cause for all the fans to have a great big party, problem was they lost and we were glad we were not there at the end of it
Now look closely at this mug, can you see what is missing, come on now look closer, you nearly have a handle on it.
The coffee was really nice but when you pick up said cup you have to tip it towards your mouth not away from it because ........
was very glad they don't make coffee hot over there, well this time only, coffee is only ever luke warm so it goes cold really quickly which is a pain
One of the wee ones wanted us to read this book one night and I think, wow I know that book, I used to read this to Alex when he was a wee one
Mini free libraries are a big thing over there and the family decided they needed one also. A trip to the "lumber yard" was the call of the day and what an amazing site, planks of Brazilian Mahogany and Oregon and white/red Cedar 30ft long, massive planks of numerous other timbers of unknown origin, by the time Alex dragged me out of there I was drooling and mumbling. Ok so back on track with a plank of good old radiata pine and we have the makings of a wee box, a picture frame as a door and a couple of coats of paint and bingo, Michael Lane has a mini library.
Alex took us for a drive up into Topango Canyon, we went to a walmart which was disappointing, no weird people and it was just a Kmart on steroids, on our way back we stopped for lunch , good coffee too, and this hot wheels (BMW) it looked like a hot wheels toy car, anyway it was parked out front. This kid looked about 16 climbed into it and drove away, nah I'm not jealous hehehe probably couldn't climb into it now anyway and if I did I doubt I could climb out of it hahaha
You wont find this in Australia hahahaha
We were invited to an ice hockey match between the local LA team and some one else, It's actually really cool game to watch and sitting in a corporate box certainly helped as well, and unlike the footy team the LA team won
There is some scary shit going down here
Oh and here ..... well on the left, not on the right hehehe
Last time Di was kicking herself for not going on the carousel so she made sure not to miss out this time.
Thanks to these 2 beautiful people who took us down to the Santa Monica Pier
Love you guys xxx
Teaching Abel how to be a pool shark, he will be pretty good too when he grows a couple more inches haha.
And how cool is this old bus/motor home
Like all adventures there has to be a cemetery some where in the equation, well this one was pretty cool
Turkeys done, food is on the table and everyone go for it haha
Thanks giving is a big thing and the family all get together for a great big meal, with kids and adults there was 20 family members to feed and it was a wonderful night, made all the better by being accepted into the family by every one. It was a pretty special night for us and we thank you all.
It was a beautiful meal all up, and some very interesting deserts as well, yummy
Another out and about, this time to a Mexican restaurant, we went to last time also, this time we had an impromptu happy birthday for Alex as we would be back home before his birthday day, all the guys in the restaurant sang happy birthday as well, was good fun.
Unfortunately our time is up way to fast and as the sun sets over LA, well Will Rodgers beach, we have to think about heading home
We love you guys so much and miss you so much but the long haul is now calling and its back onto the big bird for the next 17 hours, have we told you that long haul flights suck, yeah well they do ......... big time, funny thing is on our flight to LA we got in early but had to sit in the plane for an hour because immigration and customs weren't open, then on the tarmac waiting to leave the plane in front of us broke down and had to be towed off, that held us up for an hour also, bloody planes.
Goodbye LA and 15 degrees, hello Perth hills and 45 degrees
Picked up from the airport by mad mate Paul and dropped off at our next house sit, no rest for the wicked so they say, now the good and the bad of getting home is Andrea shouted Alex a new camera for his birthday and a sweet camera it is too, now in doing so he gave me his old camera which is a 100 % better than my old camera and it takes amazing pics.
The bad is after all that time in a steel tube with a whole lot of people burping and farting and sneezing and who knows what, for the next few days we were both sick as dogs, couldn't eat anything and could only sip a bit water. I think we will call it the "long haul diet"
So feeling good now it is time to get things organised, and what better way to start than with a loaf of bread hot out of the oven, add some cheese and tomato and some basil oil and you have every thing you could wish for
We love the gardens at this house and our charge, Master Pippin, a gorgeous black spaniel is a pleasure and good fun to look after
we saw these variegated poinsettia and thought they were really cool
There we go folks, that is what the gypsies have been up to lately, here for a bit longer then back to 3 puddles to spend xmas with the Ausie side wee ones and then new year in Fremantle on our next sit.
So to sum up we had a fantastic time in LA with all the family and always miss them like crazy, wish we could ride over to visit them, oh well.
Missed Tigger like crazy and looking forward to a kiss and a cuddle there as well.
Every one take care over the holidays and enjoy xmas and we hope all your dreams come true...... or your numbers come up, that would be a nice xmas pressy.
Luvs you all
The Gypsies and the kids who never argue and who were very quiet this trip. xxx
11/12/20
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