Country road take me home....

Well--we did it. My family and I flew to California for Thanksgiving, and we made it back safe. We wanted to go and see our daughter and my son who are there. It has been over a year and a half since I have seen Doug, and it has been since this August that I haven't seen my daughter. Hate it, hate that I don't get to see my kids often. Hate that I have to fly out and take a vacation to see them. But.... feel very blessed that I am able to do this. We flew into California on Tuesday and stayed at a hotel in Burbank. Burbank was a great place to stay. Very interesting there. The weather was very nice-perfect for us. Not to hot and not to cool. Total flip flop weather for me. We were able to walk around and take in the sites. We ate at a few local places. One of the restaurants we ate breakfast in was all decked out in the 50's- so cool. There was a small juke box at every table. You could play 3 songs for 25 cents. My kids thought that was the neatest thing---of course we played song after song. One of the things we decided to do was actually on my Husbands birthday---it was the day after Thanksgiving. We went on a tour at Warner Bros Studio in Hollywood. That was so way cool! We saw props from shows like Superman, Batman, Big Bang Theory, Friends,Harry Potter, Gilmore Girls. Pretty little liars, Clint Eastwood and John Wayne movies and more. We love this kind of stuff! It was neat to go into the studios were they film current live shows. It is amazing to see how little the areas are that they film in--not really how it looks on TV. The men in our group went crazy over all of the Batman mobiles and motorcycles---yep, they were all there and all running! My daughter was thrilled with the Gilmore Girls homes and scenes--and yes----Friends. Me---loved the Friends scenes and props--but I really loved the stuff for Harry Potter.

Marissa and I sitting on the couch from "Friends" TV show

We were just goofing off here and staging a laugh scene

Marissa behind the counter at the "Central Perks" scene for Friends TV show.

Thanksgiving day was spent at a friends home in Calabasas. Cheryl--great host, beautiful home, wonderful dinner. Her mother and brother joined us. It was a very nice day. How many people will open up their doors on a holiday and invite a group of people in-some that they are meeting for the first time and host a holiday meal??? Not many that is for sure--but this lovely lady did. Thank You Cheryl!! If you haven't guessed yet---that is who I made the blue and grey fabric coil basket for. She liked it and it matched her living room.

Getting ready to film me on a broom from Harry Potter movie

It is pretty neat to walk around an area that is not your home and see how they prepare for the Holiday season. So weird though to see Christmas lights, trees and wreaths out and about right next to palm trees. Had to take this picture of this Christmas tree. It was huge and you could walk right through it to get to the other shops. At night, this tree was all lite up and pretty.

had to show this- a Christmas tree in California that you can walk through. That is Joe Man standing there.

The days went by quickly. Before we knew it, we were flying back home. We flew out of Canada, so coming back was the same. It felt so long of a flight and then the 2 hour drive home felt endless. Back to the cold, back to our fur babies. Our home was waiting safe and sound for us---all thanks to my friend Colleen. She took care of our home and fur babies. She is a true gem. Thank you Colleen!! It was really good to see the kids and spend time with them. In a blink of an eye our trip was over and time to say goodbye again. I really hate saying goodbye. Hello is so much better. It is always nice to be back home though, no place like home. I missed my fur babies and of course...... being the quilter that I am...... I missed all of my machines and fabric. I do have a story that I will share with everyone later about fabric and California. For now,,I am sitting here in my home enjoying a nice cup of coffee and thinking about our next visit with our kids.