What a fabulous adventure!

The sunset near our hotel on Christmas Eve

After driving CA's coastal hwy 1, Ben, Garth and I have arrived in our new city of Seattle. We spent Christmas day driving the coast through Big Sur, CA. (Highly recommended!)

Ben and Mary near the Pfieffer House

The views and the winter Pacific Ocean were unbelievable. From sandy hikes that lead to private wild-waved beaches, days with fantastic Trader Joe's snacks and lunches, and hours spent on the continent-hugging highway 1, this was starting to be a calming trip. For the first two days of our trip, my sis Jill drove up the coast with us. She flew back to San Diego after we dropped her off at the airport in San Fran. We shared lots of laughs and smiles and when she left, she took with her the sunny weather and relaxation.

Jill and Ben on the rocks near a beach

From San Fran north, Ben and I were now on our own. Through dark, windy roads with white knuckles and Garth getting sick, to Finnish hot tubs in the redwoods. From windy, coastal storms and to finally arriving at the well- populated and safe highway 5. Wow... what a great adventure!

Until January 24th, we're staying in the quite luxurious Residence Inn in downtown Seattle. Very deserved! I'm pretty sure the drive to Seattle would not have turned out the way it had if it weren't for our good luck charm Garth. He was a great traveler!

Garth relaxing on our king bed in the Residence Inn

On our way into Seattle we were greeted by rainbows. Many lead the way into Seattle, another pointed directly at our Vue. Strange I know it sounds... but really, WE were the end of the rainbow. Luck... fate... the sun through the clouds... whatever you call it, Seattle is a great place to be! And right now, it's the place for us!

Mary in front of the Seattle Space Needle

Ben in front of the Seattle Monorail

We have an apartment in the city of Bothell and plan to move in mid to late January. Until then, we're living up the (almost) all-expenses paid vacation provided by Ben's new employer, Boeing. Yipppeeeee!!!!

Mary in front of Pike Place Market

Garth, again

Watching the birds from the dinner table. What if cats walked on their hind legs? It's not difficult to imagine with a photo like this.



Watching t.v. together. Ahhhh!



He's got white hairs in the most interesting places. He often likes to show them off.



Garth was really hanging off the sofa and sleeping at the same time. Weirdo!

Our dirty, but great apartment!

Crazy Garth

The REAL meaning of Labor Day! As if cats live a tough life anyway.




Here's Garth again! I now know for sure that he's got dog in him. Not only does he bark (crackling meows) at birds but he also sprawls out in the sun.

LA Dodgers Game (July 7, 2007)

Here in California the weather is always great for an outdoors sporting event. So we decided to see the Dodgers play.

Remember, please post comments... it's always fun to hear from people!

Garth (Brooks) Taylor

At the young age of 9 months.

We actually didn't mean for that to happen. We noticed the cd box in the background later.

Luna de miel (The Moon of Honey)

Surfboard rentals on Wikiki Beach.

Ben with a coconut. The freshest out there!

Mary with passion fruit. As if we needed any!

Wailua Waterfall

NaPali Coast Trip

They made us do it. They had the music from the

Titanic playing and everything.

Poipu Sunset and Surf Breaks

In California

Nosotros aquí. (Us here.)

We're here now in the city of angels. The longer we've lived here, the more we begin to see all of what makes Los Angeles unique. If angels are people, then yes, it's the city of many people. As the days turned to weeks and now almost a year, here's what we've learned (and mostly in order):

Los Angeles is big, with many cars zooming and people speaking in every tongue. The ever-changing thickness of smog although disgusting (very) I guess creates a great sunset. If you're going to put up with it all, living by the beach is a must. Every night for dinner you could visit a different country with new cuisine. It's good to know at least one person, a sibling living not far in San Diego, otherwise you might get lonely. With on ramps and off ramps on top of more ramps, you'd think by the looks of it there's enough room for us all. Nope there's still ridiculous traffic. People waste the precious life given to them buy sitting behind a leather wrapped wheel moving their foot from gas to break. And then to wake up the next day and get to do it all over again! Our move from Torrance to El Segundo closer to Ben's work was a must and the proximity to the ocean makes the feel of LA seem just a bit further away.

El Segundo (Spanish for "the second" because it's Standard Oil's second refinery in CA) is boxed in with the LAX airport and a water treatment facility to the north, the Pacific ocean to the west, a Chevron oil refinery to the south, and the aerospace industry to the east leaving not much room for growth. When the wind blows from the south and the airplanes are grounded it's actually quite nice! Congested still, but the town remains quant, and almost a mid-Western feel with big trees lining the streets, and a Farmer's Market on Thursday's on Main. Yes, the main street though town is called Main. The cities population changes from 11,000 during the day to 3,000 at night (most people that work here live elsewhere), there are more stop signs than police cars and double-pained windows work wonders to silence the planes at night.

So for right now, life's a beach. No really I wasn't implying that it was bad. It really isn't! Whenever we have spare time, that's where we're at!