Our train finally arrived at the Los Angeles Union Station at 10:45 AM, 2 1/2 hours late.
We rushed to Budget to pick up our rental car, then headed for the beach to have lunch with my brother and sister-in-law at the Jonathan Club. We arrived right on time, thanks to whatever CalTrans has done to speed up traffic at the beach. We had a great time with Bob and Elise.
We then split for San Gabriel and the home of Becky's brother Peter and his wife, Terry. We had time to change clothes and leave for a party at the home of Carlos Solis in Pasadena. The party, for past and current officers and directors of the LA Junior Chamber of Commerce, was hosted by Carlos and his wife, Denise, and by Bill and Linan Ukropina, all friends of ours. It was fun seeing a lot of people we have known for a long time and haven't seen in years.
After the party, we dragged Barbara Coad away from the gang and had Margaritas with her at El Portal in Pasadena. We then returned to the Sheltons' home in San Gabriel and crashed.
On Sunday, the main event was a reception at Honoria (now) Petrie's home in San Marino to celebrate Honoria and Richard's (family-only) wedding which took place a week previously in Rancho Bernardo. It was a very nice affair, with lots of people, and the honorees appeared to be blissful.
After the reception, we returned to the Sheltons' for a Trustees' meeting relating to Becky's father's matters and dinner from Costco.
Early Monday morning we met with Joel Almquist to sign a bunch of estate documents and get his Medallion guarantee, then proceeded to Frank Waterman at Wells Fargo for similar things---that Joel could not do due to corporate rules. We then went Bill Shelton's house to make a few minor repairs and meet with the "stager" who had just started to prepare the house for sale.
After a quick lunch, we then went to the Sotheby's office in Pasadena to meet with Mark Ogden, who will be the primary marketer for the house, then to San Marino to meet with Dan Floyd, who is doing some tax work for the family.
Our last stop was at Union Station at 4:00 PM, where we got our seat assignments for the return train trip, and had the chance to relax over a few adult beverages before boarding the train.
It left promptly at 6:15 PM, and I immediately conned the dining car boss into bypassing normal protocol and giving me a reservation for the first seating at 6:45. Becky had already told me she would eat in the dining car only if we ate very early. Soon after I returned to my seat, I learned that Taylor Greene, the fellow sitting across the aisle (with his 10-year old son, Gavin) who lives in Laguna Beach, was just a few years behind Becky at San Marino High School, and they thus spent the next two hours playing Whom-Do-You-Know.
It seems they both knew all the same people. Taylor and Gavin were going to the same place we were---to visit the Grand Canyon for two days---so we of course filled them with all the expert advice we could about experiencing the canyon. The train finally arrived at Williams at 5:00 AM, just 1 1/2 hours late. We drove the 2 miles to our house, and crashed for a few hours.
Our first appointment on Tuesday was at 10:30 AM at the dermatologist's office, so I could meet Dr. Cynthia Knutson, who would now take over supervision of my body for dermatological things.
That went well, so we headed for the Cinder Hills Kennels (a few miles east of Flagstaff) to pick up the dogs, then back to Flagstaff to have cleaning appointments at the dental office of Dr. Benjamin Stark, a regular of ours. That also went well, and we finally headed back to Williams, arriving at 5:00 PM. We were exhausted. But the whirlwind was over and we had no plans for Wednesday.
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