Us, December 26, 2017: Leo, Shadow, Roy, Ondine, John
Us, December 26, 2017: Leo, Shadow, Roy, Ondine, John
Well, much has happened! Roy finished his gig at the Horton Grand Theatre downtown, running spotlight for the encore run of Bring It On. Ondine and Leo saw School of Rock at the Civic Theatre downtown, and also went to see Bring It On. As for John, he pulled a very large cracker out of a box.
We went to Mammoth Lakes for an Ishida clan reunion! Roy had to stay home by himself to work on Bring It On, so Barbara shouldered the driving duties taking him to and from the theater. Picking Roy up downtown around midnight is quite the experience! We also left Shadow at home.
So come Wednesday, it was just Ondine, John, and Leo heading up to Grammy's house, which was pretty much as John left it after he got his Mom moved into Vista Cove, an assisted living place. Except for the notice saying the water was being turned off that very morning for non-payment! John called, but the office was closed. Meanwhile, since the water was still on, we frantically filled buckets and jugs and pots with water so we'd have water in the morning.
As it turned out, the water didn't get shut off, and Thursday morning John called, explained the situation, paid the outstanding balance, and changed his Mom's billing address to her apartment at Vista Cove. Then, we drove to Arcadia to pick up Grammy.
The drive was long but smooth. We stopped at Sweetwater Grill in Agua Dulce for lunch, which was excellent! We arrived in Snowcreek in the early evening. Like most of the clan, we'd rented a condo in the area through VRBO/Home Away. Ours was 100 Sanctuary, a three bedroom, 2-3/4 bath end unit. We'd booked it before Roy got his gig, and before Grammy broke her hip. From the entry, there was a step down to the bedroom level, where there were two master bedrooms with attached full baths, a third bedroom, laundry, and a 3/4 bath. Upstairs was the kitchen and living room with an beanbag alcove, and a balcony with a gas grill. From that level, stairs went up to a loft which was open on two sides; it had two twin beds and a pull-out double bed.
Because John's Mom can't step into a bathtub, she took the bedroom without an attached bath. That left us in one master bedroom, and Leo rattling alone in the other, the most luxurious accommodation he's yet experienced! The loft, with room to sleep 3-4, went unoccupied and unused.
The stairs proved to be no big obstacle to John's Mom, who trundled slowly up and down them several times a day to take walks around the building.
Friday morning we joined the Verzanis and Barnharts for a late-morning hike around Horseshoe Lake. The kids were delighted when we came across a tiny patch of snow just off the trail!
We returned to the condo, made lunch, and settled in to watch The Incredibles on the DVD player (we'd never seen it). A little later, Phyllis, Kathy, Joyce, and Nancy made Mexican food for everyone! Joyce used our grill for the some of the meat. We gathered in front of the Barnhart's condo (at 95 Sanctuary, directly across from us) for an early dinner. Brian also rolled in!
We figured there were 39 of us in attendance: Kuraoka 4, Barnhart 10, Ishida 4, Hatchimonji 12, Masunaga 1, and Bolen 8. Here are the day's photos.
Saturday morning John went metal detecting around the condo and popped a dime. After breakfast, Leo tried his hand at detecting, and got a quarter, 2 pennies, a brass cap nut, a fired bullet, and a small padlock. Coins plus relics on his very first hunt!
Aunty Grace had to leave - she was feeling sick, probably the altitude. John's Mom, though, felt fine, and kept walking laps around the buildings in between coming inside and bustling around. We played Rummikub, and in the afternoon drove over to the Twin Falls overlook, where we also walked around a bit near Lake Mamie. John's Mom did great on the uneven dirt slopes and walking paths. We also chatted to a local about inflatable kayaks, which may be something we'd want to look into at some point.
We helped prepare the bbq dinner for that evening. John grilled the brats, which was his first time using a propane grill. He loved how quick and easy it was to control! We also took a group photo, which was missing Aunty Grace, Uncle Mike, David, Cherie, and Fletcher. Here are some photos from the day.
Sunday we had to pack up and leave by 10 am. What with goodbyes and moving food to those who were staying another day or two, it was 10:45 by the time we hit the road. We stopped at Manzanar though, which was an incredible experience. Grammy talked to a ranger for some time, who looked up the family in the archives. She found the Ishida side easily, at Poston, then looked up the Kuraoka side at Heart Mountain. There she found John's Dad, who was a teenager at the time, and his Dad's older sister Emiko, who had apparently met and married Kay Tomie in camp. Emiko and Kay had a daughter in camp, Sachi, who was born late enough that her record is hand-written in! But, the ranger couldn't find Aunty Kaoru, who, since she wasn't with the Kuraoka family unit, may have already been married to John Nishimoto. There was also, oddly, no record of his dad's parents.
We had lunch at The Grill in Lone Pine, and dinner at Kabuki in Arcadia, just a few blocks from Vista Cove.
Monday morning John detected in his Mom's back yard, turning up a dime, five pennies, a Wedges & Ledges token ("SKILLFUL WINNER"), a cone that looks like the broken end of a candle snuffer, and, his find of the year so far, a tiny metal doll's teacup! Leo found a quarter, a nickel, five pennies, a chunk of iron, and a gold-colored earring. To see many of our metal detecting finds, check out John's metal detecting journal page. We did laundry and watered the back yard, leaving in the afternoon. We stopped at Surfside Pizza on the way home, and got home around 7:15. Whew!
Roy, meanwhile, had gotten bored by himself and actually cleaned up! He cleared the table and totally cleaned his room! He'd bought a card game, Unstable Unicorns, which he'd played at a party, so we played it. It was fun! What was even funnier was that Barbara, who had driven him to the GameStop on Rosecrans to pick up the game, bought him the NSFW expansion pack! Boy, is it NSFW! He'll be the hit of the dorm with his NSFW Unstable Unicorns game!
Tuesday it was back to work for Ondine. Roy went to play the videogame "Last of Us" with his buddy Malcolm, and went to the Del Mar Fair with Malcolm and Maddie, after which they took a late-night hike up the mountain! Leo got together with his friend John, and they walked over to the rec center and had pizza at Dominos.
John really liked the propane grill at the Mammoth condo, so he put a post on NextDoor to see if any nearby neighbors had one they were getting rid of. He got three offers, of which two were too big for us. But the one remaining offer was the perfect size, a portable Weber Q220. And, it turned out to be from a fellow ad guy, a well-known local designer! He and John actually knew of each other! And, he wanted our old old full-sized Weber kettle grill! He lives just a half mile away, so John pushed/pulled our Weber kettle over, had a long chat about advertising, then lugged the propane grill back to our house. He cleaned it up a bit, bought a hose to attach a big propane tank, and fired it up. Only after downloading the instruction manual did he learn that the wheeled stand actually folds down into a much easier-to-handle trolley, ha! Anyways, he scored a free gas bbq grill, plus cleared out our big charcoal Weber kettle, plus got some exercise!
John has been heating up the Weber Q and scraping down the grill, interior, and scrubbing out the gas jets in preparation to have a BBQ tonight! Meanwhile, though, someone is eating the oranges off our tree!
Neighborhood gas prices are about $3.69 per gallon.
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