The last day in LA

One more photo of the view from our room.  Also, the pool was a peaceful little area amidst the hustle and bustle... and up on the hill you can see the Getty Museum. I truly know I have been blessed to experience all of this.  God has been good to me though I know I don't deserve it...and I mean that!

Bonnie and Brent took us into Santa Monica the last evening for dinner and a walk. The whole area was a bustling with street entertainers, interesting people and, SHOPS. Hunted down a JCREW store cuz there was a certain scraf I wanted... found the store AND found the scraf... love that! The young boy in the picture on the drums... was playing and singing and doing a great job. The tap dancers, could have watched them for hours, they were that good! A big thank you to the Jones's for their wonderful hospitality during this visit.

Mountaingate Veterans Appreciation Tournament

So I’ve been saying MVAT quit a bit…. It stands for “MountainGate Veterans Appreciation Tournament” and, wow, it was something. For me… as well as almost ALL there, emotions were on our sleeves… lots of tears… good tears… and lots of acknowledging the men and women who have served and are serving our country. There were 7 Medal of Honor winners there… there are only 84 left living in our country…. And they were all humble and pretty much just like any one of us… but, boy, the sacrifices they have done. Additionally, there were folks there, for instance, the gentleman that golfed with Jerry and Brent, who had injuries from the battles. He told me his arm was filled with metal and mobility has been changed tremendously. Jerry said he has a very unique way to hold a club, but it works very, very well for him. The Wounded Warriors were the beneficiaries of this great event. You guys… you had to be there to feel the pride and emotion in the room. Several of the medal winners spoke and the, Lt Gen John Mulholland, Jr, USArmy, Special Operations Command, really shared what is going on today and the sacrifices that are being made on our behalf. I didn’t realize that some service folks go back to the war area… wearing their prosthesis, etc… How sheltered a life I led!…. He told a story of one man being in battle, fighting hand to hand with the enemy… his leg’s prosthesis came off… and he continued to beat the enemy with the false limb…. And came out ahead… that just gives you a taste of what these few people are doing for us.
The music, a trio of three ladies and then later a tenor that, well, unbelievable!…. Ahhhhh… lots of tears there too…. Made me think of my DAD… USAF… when the theme song for the AirForce started… I was reminded of life with dad, mom and the air bases… Dad being gone for days on end… and reminded that families are still doing that today.

 

General Mulholland Jr

Sony Studios Tour...then on to MVAT

What a day…. What a set of emotions! I’m mostly referring to the dinner with the MVAT Foundation at Mountaingate Golf Club. But, let me start earlier in the day…

Jerry and Brent left early for their tournament while Bonnie came and picked me up for a private tour (well, with 20 of our closets friends...lol) at Sony Studios. Boy… such history at the movie studios…. So many films, television shows, etc. We walked for about 90 minutes throughout the buildings. Interesting, but, a little lacking; I think our tour guide probably had a lot to do with that. I think those guides don’t realize they can make or break an experience. Did see, for example, where the ‘school house’ was that taught the young stars back in the 40s and 50s… Now it’s an office building…. Also, saw where the stars use to stay… a smallish building with apartments…. Back in the day, they didn’t have the ‘trailers’ that stars stay in now. It too is now offices. My point being, we saw lots of buildings….PLUS… when we did get to some interesting stuff, NO PHOTOS ALLOWED…. Grrrrr…Hard for Ms Jean to handle. Saw all the Oscars that the studio (before and after it was Sony) had won… and NO PHOTOS…. Didn’t realize Adam Sandler has a offices there for his production company… and Sony gets first choice on his stuff. Learned about the sounds in shows… scoring music…that sorta thing. Didn’t get to see any of it in action! Did get to see where Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy are filmed; only cuz they weren’t filming. Got a cute shot of Bonnie behind a contestant’s podium! Many of the areas on the whole lot are still used today to create scenes in movies/television shows, a lot of film a tiny bit… stop the scene… change the props… and start the scene up again…from where they left off… etc… etc… Filming does take patience! Bonnie and I came back to the hotel, changed and spiffed ourselves up, and off we went to meet Jerry and Brent, and Julie and Conrado (Jerry’s sis and dear B-I-L) at the Reception, Auction, Dinner, Program and Flyover at Mountaingate.

I’ll continue this in the next entry…

Los Angeles for the MVAT Golf Tourney to benefit Wounded Warriors!

Wow... We are so blessed! Friend, Brent, invited Jerry (and some of his siblings) to participate in a golf tournement that will benefit the Wounded Warriors. Julie, Jim and Jerry represent Foss Family Foundation with a donation. Jerry is the only one playing golf, along with Brent. Julie is here with Conrado, but they are staying with Conrado's cousin. (Jim opted to stay home in Tacoma.) Brent and Bonnie, his wife, were so fun yesterday, as we debriefed after our flight at their lovely home... Yummy wine, cheeses, crackers, spreads, ham at their house than on to a great Italian Restaurant, there in Brentwood. Brent made arrangements for us to stay at the "Luxe", on Sunset Blvd. The room is awesome! Had to cut our evening short, as Jerry and the Foundation Board had a conference call at 8pm... the one picture shows him on the phone.... Today, while Brent and Jer golf, Bonnie and I are going to Sony Studios. More to come later!

Wolf Covered Bridge, Spoon River

This covered bridge is over the Spoon River near Knoxville, IL.The original bridge was built in the 1840's and was covered in 1874. Unfortunately, it burnt down in a fire in 1994. Three young teenagers high on a form of LSD, burned paper in the bridge one evening, and voila, the whole bridge went up. Sad thing was, the fire department estimated that it was burning for most of the night, but due to its remote location, no one noticed it until about 8:00 a.m. the next morning. By then the bridge was no longer a bridge… so sad I think, but was just a pile of ashes. The state rebuilt the bridge as close as possible to the original and it was completed in 1999. Pretty cool idea to help preserve what was, the cost: $900,000! But, my personal opinion is it was worth it. A lazy river running underneath, farm fields all over… Kinda nice in the midst of our stock market falling over six hundred points today…. Yup, life is still happening around us!

Another day doing some Quacker business....

Ducks all around... even in our car... ALL the time... 

 

 

Crop Dusting, Weird Hwy Signs and a Baby Shower

So, the whole reason for this trip... To share with Patti and Sarah, the babyshower for the first ever Bibo grandbaby... who just happens to be female. FINALLY!
Our trip there took 2 1/2 hours and was all freeway... Saw my first crop duster actually dusting the crops. man oh man, do they fly low... and lots of short, quick loops!
Unique freeway signs... all kinds, as you can see...
Finally, a pic of Sarah, Matt, my sis, and Matt's grandma, Mel, who will now become a Great Grandma! A fun day... though our bottoms were pretty tired from the long car trip (5 hrs total)... Gee... I can't believe I'm complaining about that... Life could be way worse!

Going Quackers in Galesburg!

Got here to the big city of Galesburg, but only after a bit of a unplanned couple few hours at the Minneapolis airport. My plane to Galesburg was delayed due mechanical problems… on the plane, which was still in Aberdeen, SD. Oh my gosh… I was on the phone with Patti quite a bit and could get updates faster through her and her computer than from the gate. Our gate changed three times, and if you’ve been to the MSP airport, each change was a challenge… Not at all close to each other… BUT… all is done, I’m here and Patti even put me to work today with Duck Point of Sale Delivery. One of those Stop and Go errand trip, that lasted a couple hours. Patti really works her bottom off; the Foundation she is involved with, really benefits from all her hard work (and those of her volunteers too!).