Finne's Follies: In California... possibly for the last time

We're back in sunny California. We arrived just in time for a winter storm warning. Such is the state of the weather these days. No matter where you go, the weather will probably not be what you've always expected. Still, it's warmer than...well, Minnesota, for instance. To be fair, we are in the mountains (sort of--more like really tall hills). The coastal side that we'll be enjoying later in the season is generally ten degrees or more warmer than where we are now.

Enough about the weather.

We've been here, now, almost two weeks. Yesterday was our second visit with my son, Steve, and lovely daughter-in-law, Alicia. Last week Steve cooked us a nice late lunch and we spent the rest of the time catching up. It's been almost two years since we were last here. Then they sent me home with their wine collection--the accumulation of several years of gifts. Neither of them drink wine, so the bottles have just been collecting dust in their wine rack. Thankfully, they were storing them properly (on the side), so they should be in good shape when I open them.

I've also been spending a lot of time with Donna, a dear friend whom I met at church when I lived in the Antelope Valley some forty or so years ago. We attended a Veteran's Memorial Day ceremony in Palmdale on Veteran's Day together. The Antelope Valley has a replica of the Viet Nam War Memorial Wall, which they had on display at the time. Mark found the name of an acquaintance from his youth. I am fortunate not to have lost any friend or loved one in that dreadful war.

Replica of the Viet Nam War Memorial
(Palmdale, CA)

Earlier in the week, Mark and I visited Universal Studios, courtesy of Steve, who works there in technical maintenance. He gave us a couple complementary tickets. This is why we have children, as all parents know-- so they can do stuff for us when we get old, right?

Anyway, we had a blast. We rode the tram, which is essentially a back lot tour with a few added bits of entertainment. One of those was the King Kong 3-D attraction (Steve is very instrumental in keeping this attraction working properly), another was an adaptation of Fast and Furious. And there's the flash flood, which never gets old.

We rode a few of the rides, watched the "Animal Actors" show, and ate an early dinner at the "Three Broomsticks" in Hogsmead. (The chocolate trifle was amazing!) Mostly we just walked around and took in the sights. It was a long and tiring, but very enjoyable, day.

Here's a clip of "Bumblebee" interacting with the crowd...

You may be wondering why I said in the title that this could be our last visit to California. The state just recently passed a new emissions law that targets trucks and RVs. The law will require all motorhomes like ours to be emission certified, whether they are registered in state or out of state. My understanding is that in the beginning, this certification will be annual, and then semi-annual, and then quarterly. Enforcement will begin in January of 2023. How that will happen and what repercussions come of it remain to be seen. We'll have a better idea by the time we're ready to come back again. But that is at least another year down the road.

That's all I have at the moment. Happy Trails! Safe Travels! And have a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

Pictures below...