From the Southland

I have arrived in Ventura. It was a long day and, I have to admit that it was one of the hardest drives I've made in a very long time. I suppose waking up at 4 a.m. was partly to blame, but I was sleepy before I ever got out of the extended Sacramento area and must have stopped 6-8 times on the way down (nearly 400 miles) just to wake up.

Polly must have figured something was afoot and she decided she wanted to go with me, I think.

There was a bit of excitement when I went to load the car because I forgot about Spencer and as soon as he saw an open door he was gone. The other dogs know not to do that. But Spencer, being a whippet, was fast as lightning and racing up and down the block and, more scary, back and forth across the street.

Fortunately as soon as I made it a game for him, he ran toward me and Walt grabbed him and stuck him in the house, so I was finally on my way.

McDonald's was my friend and I stopped at several just to wake myself up. There was, for example, iced mocha at Flag City and lunch at the McDonald's near the Harris Ranch.

I had the Garmin GPS British voiced "Daniel" to guide me and my Harry Bosch audiobook to be read to me, for for once, even Harry Bosch couldn't keep me from getting sleepy.

I pulled off just before the Grapevine, the big hill that goes up to 4,000+ feet and takes you out of the valley, to get gas. There were hundreds of birds flying around and resting on the lawn, seeming unafraid of the cars driving very close to them.

It was also very windy here, and concentrating on that and the big semi trucks on the road definitely woke me up.

I arrived here just about 6 p.m., in time to put my suitcase inside, pee, and get back into Lynn's sister's car so we could go and visit Monica, Lynn's niece. Lynn had been here a day, but had not yet seen Monica's two kids yet.

This is Morgan, who is 3 months younger than Bri and just adorable.

After our pizza, we came home to the family dog, Shorty.

Lynn says he's 97 years old in human years. And he has almost no legs at all, but he's very sweet.

Lynn's brother-in-law is a man after my own heart.

He has his own corner with his recliner, his dog, all the TV remotes, and a computer stand on an adjustable pole, where he can work on the computer using the house wifi while he watches The Food Network. I would have been jealous, except that I have most of that stuff myself--just not quite so organized.

Everyone was in bed by 9 p.m., leaving me time to get this entry written and I might actually catch up on some sleep that I missed out on last night.