My time in Riverside

As I have been busy I am combining my last 4 days into 1 entry.

As we waved goodbye to Frank and Lilliana and Cindy last Thursday, we waved hello to our next host families. It is amazing how quickly you get to know the people that you are interacting with and how hard it is to then say goodbye.

So for us we would rather say adios as we know that we are going to see everyone again soon, whether its in Australia or back here is the US.

As a hint there are always plenty of beds in Perth!!!!

We met with 4 clubs at Cal Baptist College which was a lot of fun and was (we hope) well received again.

Following lunch we were off to our host families and for me I went with Tom Powell to see how Tango caravans were manufactured. They make 10 a day and the average length is 28ft. It was really interesting and fascinating to see how they develop.
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That evening we saw the beautiful mission inn, had drinks with Dom Betro who is seeking reelection at the local Council and then gatecrashed a dinner for the Arts Alliance AGM Dinner at the beautiful Art Museum. The dinner was on the roof which was an old badminton court.


One of their great fundraisers is to have artists decorate large oranges and then sell them off. This one sits in Tom's office.

On Friday I went to the Family Service Association where Dom Betro is CEO. It was a non profit organisation that serves in excess of 3000 meals to seniors every day and also runs child care centres. Its a great organisation and really fascinating. They have more than 500 volunteers and 450 staff.


Friday night was a hoot and a great idea. Blacktie Bowling, all dressed up and wearing bowling shoes to go ten pin bowling. It was a fundraiser for Olive Crest Homes. I have also decided that Tom makes the best Martini's ever.......

Saturday was a trip to LA and Hollywood as described by others. Going down on the train was really interesting and I learnt a whole group of new card games thanks to Suzanne and Tyler.

Saturday night was spent with Jill and her host parents as Tom and Camille attended a dinner.

Sunday, after a lazy breakfast and my attempt to walk Bennie and Cartucho, which was entertaining to say the least we headed off to Laguna Beach. It feels like it sits in a time warp of the 1950's and is very quaint, although the number of Porsches tells a different story



We had fish tacos for lunch at Wahoo's and then wandered along the beach and around the streets. Camille's daughter Emily, husband Yirka and friends dropped into say hi and then we had dinner at the Beach house. The steak was awesome.
I had to put this picture in for the contrast.....

The cottage was so cute and we fell into bed at an early hour (for us anyway!!!! or so it seems).

Monday was as reported by Suzanne although in the afternoon Camille and I went shopping at Victoria Gardens, an outdoor mall which was really lovely.. I also finally got to Williams and Sonoma and the Pottery Barn. Thank goodness we don't live here as I would be so poor. But I did buy some cushions to go on my new couches (you should be able to guess the colour!)

Tonight we are staying home and having salmon and vegetables, yippee.... Emily and her husband Yirka are also coming over.