22 Degrees of Separation

We're in the Christmas spirit. With our van's air conditioner working valiantly against the sunny 26 degree California weather, zipping past cacti, sand dunes and thirsty hills and fields, we flipped on the radio and heard "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. We laughed and then remembered that we are en route to Kirkland Lake, Ontario - where the temperature has already plunged below freezing a time or two and where snow is expected early this week. But our feelings were not those of dread, but excitement. It may be 22 degrees colder in KL, but our hearts feel warm to think about finally arriving in our new home...

Yesterday, the girls enjoyed a morning at Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. Lots of curbside sea-food, sea lions, shops, and street performers. One street act was particularly impressive - a guy singing and playing guitar, harmonica, a cymbal and a stand-up-base all at once. It's hard to explain - see picture :) I found another "act" quite amusing as well. There was a man hiding behind palm tree branches with a sign that read "world famous bush man".

Livi had great fun watching the many loud and stinky sea lions as they swam and bathed in the warm sun on the docks. She desperately wanted to share her Cheerios with them, but I don't think they were too interested.

Last night we went to Uncle Vito's Pizzawith Matt and Lyds. We enjoyed pizza (of course) and met 83 year old identical twins decked out in matching leopard print. When Lydia approached them for a picture, they told us that they were "THE San Francisco twins." It's true, they're on Wikepedia ... check them out :) We thanked Uncle Vito's for an authentic San Fran experience and went for another stroll through China town (except this time with the boys and open stores).

The conference is over now - Dan learned stuff, medical stuff, and that's enough about that. After a final morning of lectures, we said goodbye to Matt & Lydia and steered our van down the I-5 towards Bakersfield CA. We enjoyed a good homey lunch at Mimi's cafe and then covered a surprising amount of ground in 4.5 hours as the flow of traffic was easily 130-140 km/h (being respectful, law-abiding Canadians, we maintained a much more reasonable speed of 123 - 124). It was a very interesting ride, despite staying on the interstate. We can't believe how dry and how hilly it is. It looks like someone was boiling something thick and sticky, and just as the bubbles were about to break the surface, they froze them, and covered them with hay, and built a road across it (Catherine says they also put sage brush on top). The surprising thing for us was the complex network of aqueducts pumping water from the Sierra Nevada mountains into the parched Southern California fields. That's a lot of work to make orange orchards, vineyards and cotton plants out of desert. At times, it smelled like you stuck your face in a box of Christmas oranges - passing orchards dotted with colourful fruit. Needless to say, we are now sipping egg nog and dreaming of a white Christmas.

Note the aqueduct snaking it's way across. We'll try to get better pictures of one tomorrow - Livi was sleeping and we didn't want to stop to snap a shot and risk waking her.

We arrived in Bakersfield and we have thanked God for providing us with all that we needed and more. Here are a few examples. (1) A suite room: Heh heh. When Dan went to the front desk to check in, the clerk asked if he wanted to be a priority member (it's free). Dan asked if that means we get a neat room. She said she'd be happy to upgrade us to a suite if one was available. So we have a little apartment to enjoy till morning. (2) Clean underwear: We've never seen laundry facilities in a hotel before - but this one has one. We were desperately in need and unsure how we would fit a lengthy stop at a laundromat into a busy travel day. Now we don't have to. (3) Dinner: We had a nice meal at the hotel restaurant and Livi got to eat free (Broccoli and mac & cheese). She has been getting very hyper around 8 or 8:30pm if we don't get her to bed before this. After supper, she tore across the restaurant to our waitress and yelled, "Tank-oo supper!! Made big mess! (which she had) Bye bye".

Tomorrow we are going into Arizona - we're not sure yet whether to push it all the way to the Grand Canyon, or just get close and finish the trek on Tuesday. Regardless, we plan to spend most of Tuesday soaking it all in.