Traffic in California is the pits! I couldn’t believe how much traffic was on I-5 on a Saturday morning. I don’t know how people get to work in a reasonable amount of time around here if Saturday is any indication! There is no getting anywhere quickly around here.

We took Grandmother over to David’s house, and were immediately ushered into the house. They were quite the hosts! David’s wife and boys had a fruit tray and fresh squeezed lemonade (using lemons from their backyard, no less) furnished before we had a chance to even sit. They were so friendly and warm, and it seemed like it had been no time since Sue and David last saw Grandmother, though it’s been twenty years. (And we realized it has been almost twenty-five years since I last saw him. He actually had in his mind that I was Darby, so when I came in, he was trying to figure out who I was. haha!) They were so happy to see Grandmother and were looking forward to taking her for some site seeing this afternoon (though they asked if she might need a nap first!).

Tim and I took our leave and headed to San Diego to see Lee. We spent some time at Lee’s apartment, where Bynake immediately began entertaining us. 🙂 After a bit, we toured their new apartment and Lee, Tim, and Carrie got to work moving some things up to the new place. Bynake and I played games and “cooked” in her kitchen. (I’m not sure who had more fun!) After the moving, we walked to a restaurant and had a terrific lunch and celebrated Lee’s birthday before walking further into San Diego toward Balboa Park and the museums. What a cool place! Tim and I wished we had more than just a few hours there to really get to experience and see all the places we passed. It seemed like a blink and our visit was at its end. We were sad to go, but so glad that we had gotten the opportunity to see them all!
While we were with Lee, Grandmother spent the afternoon with David’s family going out to lunch, to the beach, and through La Jolla. She enjoyed plenty of time talking, telling stories, and generally reminiscing. She said it was clear what an impact “Dr. Darby” had on David’s life. She said that neither she nor Grandfather had any idea at the time what impact they might have on David. For David, it seems that Grandfather was the father figure he never had as a child. He was telling Grandmother today how he remembered Grandfather always introduced him as his “Chinese son.”Tim and I returned in time for dinner with David’s family–Sue had put together an amazing spread that included pork chops, steak, fish, beef stir fry, and so many sides. We had great dinner time conversation, and David especially laughed about his hunting experiences with Grandfather and his fishing experience with Uncle Mike when the canoe tipped. Alec, David’s youngest son amazed us with the facts he knows, including the most densely populated cities and countries and a history of plane crashes. We decided he is a future Jeopardy contestant! David’s older son, Nathan, talked about his summer internship and his thoughts on college after his senior year coming up.

When everyone was finished, Sue came in with a surprise birthday cake to celebrate Grandmother’s birthday a little early. Alec played “Happy Birthday” on the piano and we all sang. 

Nathan played us a composition he put together that was really impressive, and Alec played another piece on the piano, a pretty complicated classical piece. David set up pretty professional looking photography equipment and took photos of us all, then Tim took some photos, I took some photos, and I’m sure everyone was ready to be finished with pictures by the time it was all said and done. 🙂

We had such a wonderful time, and it was so hard for us to leave. We lingered as long as we could, but the hour got late and the airport was an hour and a half from David’s house. A late night for our last night in California! Fortunately, traffic was fairly light with just a bit of a construction delay, and we are now tucked away at a hotel about a mile from the airport.

Tune in for the exciting conclusion to “Three for the Road–Go West” tomorrow night!

L