TUESDAY EVENING AND WEDNESDAY

Via the Access Van, I got to Ojai and Ellen's at 5:00 pm Tuesday. We hung out for a bit, then met Greg at Sea Fresh. We had dinner--I tried Idaho trout, which was good--and, of course, chatted away. Back at El's, we warred over gin rummy (I lost abysmally!), and greatly enjoyed it. Greg said goodnight and I went to bed a bit after 9:00. I always sleep well at Ellen's--the guest room is comfortable, the bed is a king, and I have my own bathroom. In addition, I always feel safe and protected there.

Up at 6:30, had coffee and toast, then El arose and we drove the the parks and recreation center. There was Stella, a man named Manny, and a husband and wife team, Shelley and Mark. As it turned out , Shelley was with the parks and rec center and Mark simply volunteered to go along. With Stella and me, that was the whole group (we went in a van, not a bus).

And oh, boy, did we have a ball! Shelley and Mark are terrifically light-hearted, full of fun and intelligent besides. Manny was quiet at first, but opened up later, and Stella, whom I've known for several years, enjoyed it, too, although she has, as they say, a number of "issues."

Solvang is a kind of Danish town, a well-known tourist attraction in these parts, with lots of windmills, Danish museums and stores, and restaurants.  There are also missions, established by the Spaniards: 

Below: part of the mission there:

Below, my companions from left: Mark, Shelley, Stella, Manny:

And here I am with three of them:

Below is the rustic cemetery at the mission: 

We ate outside at a good restaurant and I was amazed that petite Stella ordered two brunches:

She didn't eat it all, and I had some of her pancakes after my Danish sausage and Havarti cheese.

After, we went to the bookstore and Hans Christian Andersen museum:

Unfortunately, the museum was closed, but overall, we did plenty of sight-seeing.

Noreen called me while I was in Solvang and I said I'd call her later. We left about three and got back to Ojai, as scheduled, at 4:30. El picked me up and, as she needed paper products and so did I, we went to Wal-Mart before she dropped me at home about 6:00.

 

I called Noreen, who had wanted to tell me about an incident at her T.O.P.S. meeting yesterday. I'm still a little puzzled, as she said a woman there had told her she was "counseled" on weight loss by an AI entity--seems odd.  Sharon also called to say she had heard about Lora's son and would bring a sympathy card to the meeting tomorrow. 

It's now 6:30 am and at 7:00, I'll walk over to Quest in Von's to get a blood test.