Southern California, Part 2

The weather was warm and windy. The sky was bright blue and you could see things, mountains, tall buildings, in the distance.

If you’ve ever been to LA you know this is not business as usual.

We went south and drove through brown hills on a two lane road and then came upon a giant tower that said Harrah’s. This is the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians casino. I linked to the Tribe’s website and not Harrah’s because I was little bit horrified. I’ve been in at least 20 Indian casinos and this is the first one that was devoid of even a hint of the people who own it.

But let the gambling begin! We met the rest of our friends here and went to town. I’m not much of a gambler but I donated a chunk of change for the cause and watched my friends play.

Those machines are amazing. The Sex in the City game had this whole bit where you pick a purse and then shop in Charlotte’s closet and then open a box of shoes and then you get diamonds for your bracelet. All these things are points adding up. Whoever invents this stuff is a genius.

We spent the rest of the weekend at Antje’s house. Pool! Even more sunshine. I slathered my pasty skin with 70 SPF and flopped out on the lounge cushion with a stack of People magazines. It was heaven. We had a number of terrific meals and watched Magic Mike with the extra extended dance scenes. I had some questions about the story but I guess that wasn’t the point. It was super fun catching up. My favorite people are the ones you can go years without seeing and then when you get together it’s like no time has passed.

On the trip back home it was still clear so I could see all the islands. And we drove past Disneyland and the old tire company that’s now an outlet mall.

Walker dropped me off at the airport and I was early enough I decided to sit out front and enjoy a last bit of sunshine.

I met the most charming 86 year old man from Oregon who was waiting for a ride. When I first said hello he told me that he was having a trouble hearing because his dog had chewed up his hearing aid. He told me he’d been married 54 years but his wife died of cancer. He’d never lived on his own and wanted to find someone new.

He phoned his father (yes, I stuck a finger in my ear to unclog it to make sure I heard correctly) to ask why he’d never tried to remarry and the father pointed out that he was 95 when his wife died so it didn’t seem important. My new friend put the word out and met someone and has been married to his 2nd wife for 8 years. His father died when he was 102.

When I finally was settled in my airport gate the airport music was like college juke box. Tons of ’80s songs that I haven’t heard in forever: Pretenders, The Cure, English Beat, Romantics, Steve Winwood, Banarama: is there a Pandora station called Burbank Airport? I was blissed out when I left.