A Side Trip to Ojai

We couldn't be in Santa Monica without a trip up to see Judy's sister Christine and her husband Michael, Justin and Marica and their children, and Piper and James -- we drove up Monday morning, and it was only 102 degrees in Ojai!  We spent a few hours at the pool, a stop at Christine and Michael's to clean up and have a glass of wine (in the air-conditioning), and then it had cooled off enough to reconnoiter at Justin and Marica's home for dinner on their big patio that could hold "the whole family!"

Marica and Justin made a wonderful dinner, Sonia brought salad, and Christine brought a chocolate cheesecake with berries - yum!  Great food, great wine, and great company!  We stayed overnight and had breakfast at Lake Cassitas before driving back to LA.  Then it was one last lunch on the beachfront, in Venice this time, before saying goodbye to Jessica at the airport and getting back on theplane.

To add insult to injury, we got home late Wednesday night, and Friday afternoon as I sat in my office, it started snowing furiously!  We had snow all of Friday night, and it was up to 6 inches up on the hillside.  For us closer to downtown, it was all gone by today.  I had to teach a graduate social work course all day Saturday and Sunday, but it was beautiful and sunny today (still a bit cool!)
We're still waiting for summer here in Anchorage, but we have about 18 hours of daylight -- it's light til about 11:30 pm now.