Soarin' over California

The first stop on our long weekend in California was the rotating tram ride up the mountain near Palm Springs.

It was an amazing ride on a beautiful clear day and we could see forever.

The wonderful thing about rising altitude is the dropping temperature. Once on top of the mountain, we were enjoying mid-sixty degree air.

Emilia was our partner in crime on this trip and she took this picture of we two.

We loved her company! (And I borrowed a few of her pictures :)

We enjoyed interesting travel companions on the tram, a group of monks in saffron colored robes.

They matched this butterfly which I photographed while taking a short walk behind the tram's mountain station.

Remember, this is just above hot, desert Palm Springs. There were beautiful meadows, enormous pines and Sequoias, and darting birds.

The low pressure that had blown through created beautiful, clear blue skies.

Believe it or not, it was this California boy's first time on the tram which began operating in 1963.

We were on our way to see these missing grandchildren and their parents. They welcomed us with a wonderful lasagna dinner and scrumptious cheesecake made by Janae's other Brazilian sister-in-law, Geisa. The next day they joined Emelia, Glen and I on a day trip to Disneyland and California Adventure (We loved Soarin' over California.) It was Andrew and Janae's sixth anniversary and Henry and Raymond's first trip to Disneyland. Janae thought that a picture in front of the the "R" was most appropriate on this day signifying their little family's beginnings. Congratulations on six years and two boys!

(Thank you for letting me borrow this picture Janae. I left my camera in the locker ALL day. Good thing! I don't know if I would have managed to catch both my camera and glasses on California Screamin' :0
For more of Janae's pictures, go here.

After our marathon day at Disneyland, Glen and I rested Saturday morning before adventuring our way through LA and to the land of Glen's youth, Hawthorne, California. Finding this sign let us know that we had found the street of dreams for little boy Glen. There had been many changes.

And his boyhood home had not been spared!

We drove up and around the corner and found his kindergarten classroom. Later in the day, I would meet many of the people who had shared that classroom with him.

We also checked out the digs of the Class of 69', location of good times for Glen.

Once again I heard of the blood, sweat, and tears left behind on this field. He was pretty impressed that they had installed a rubberized track.

Once an Olympian, always an Olympian.

For some reason, I had failed to realize just how close their chapel was to the high school. It is just one block directly south. Glen would go to early morning seminary at the church and then walk to school. Not far at all!

Glen remembers when this building was constructed and he told me about the quilt his mother helped make which included an appliqued representation of the building which was given away at its opening. This is where we attended meetings the first summer of our marriage.

And this is where we lived, an apartment complex on Doty Avenue, not far from his parents.

We then made our way to El Segundo Boulevard and Chevron Park (a lovely park next to the massive Chevron refinery and company owned) for Glen's 40 year high school reunion. Here he is getting reacquainted with the other Laurel otherwise known as Laurie Hendrix.

Ken Kawamura and Glen were in the same class many times K-12. Ken ran a dental lab for 30 years.

Lee Morrow worked for the same lab doing deliveries as did Glen during their late teens. It led to his career as a medical lab technician. Jeff Buchhalter is a pediatric neurosurgeon who left Mayo in Minnesota to join with Phoenix Children's Hospital.

Glen shakes hands with Mike Dugas who became a dentist.

More former friends. I enjoyed hearing their stories.

It looks like they are being interviewed for the nightly news. Instead, you will have to pay $29.95 plus postage if you want to hear what everyone had to say for posterity.

These two were co-captains of the football team their senior year. The famous Walt Cracknell was strong then and continues to lift. He weight lifted competitively until just a couple of years ago and now handles the weight training for his son's high school football team.

These good Mormon boys also played football together but more importantly they attended morning seminary and then went on to Spanish speaking missions and wife hunting at BYU . Paul Atwood is now a high school Spanish teacher in Boise, Idaho. He beat us in number of children and grandchildren, 7 & 9. I spent a good part of the evening visiting with his beautiful wife, Janis.

Mark Wittenberg and Mike Dugas both worked at International House of Pancakes as busboys. Glen, the cook, helped them get the job.

And last but least, the beautiful Jane Higuchi, the smart one who is Dean of Students at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. She and Glen were also classmates K-12.

Glen had a great time and enjoyed himself much more than he imagined he might. I realized what a wonderful, stable childhood he experienced as I heard school stories and neighborhood stories and teenage adventure stories and even football and baseball game stories. Many inquired about Elma and Jordan and were saddened to hear of their early deaths. One man commented on how amazed he was at the red Cardinal jackets Elma had made for the entire Little League team when they were 12. Several also asked about Glen's siblings, especially Grant. Glen was very glad that he had made the effort to attend his 40th. This is how we looked at the last reunion he attended, the 10th on the Queen Mary.