American Blue picked me up and then Terry to take us to O'Hare for our trip to California.
Sonni Helmer meets us at the Airport and prepared a wonderful lunch for us, in her beautiful new home.
She took us to Budget Rent a Car and we picked up the Chevy that would be our transportation for the next few days.
We made our way to Woodland Hills to the Holiday Inn Express. A just okay hotel. Our GPS took us via the beach, and into the Topanga Cannon roads. Less painful than the Freeways and much more scenic.
We walked across the street to the Mexican Restaurant, but it was dark and noisy and we decided not to eat there. We went to the Wendy's next door and had a gourmet dinner. I was not going to have a Frosty, because it was chocolate and that's when Terry introduced me to a vanilla Frosty-who knew.
We watched TV (after having to have someone come up and show us how to use the two remotes) and then slept.
Saturday - June 16, 2018
Woke up early and went down for breakfast. We had a nice breakfast (including their famous cinnamon rolls).
Picked up Betty and squeezed her walker, and me, into the backseat.
Went to the Westfield Mall and sat in the Food Court and visited. Then saw Lauren on her way into work!
Drove over to Red Robin for lunch and had a nice time visiting.
Took Betty back to The Commons and went on to The Garland Hotel, via the 101 Freeway.
We registered at the hotel and ran into the parents of the bride - cousins Barbara Jean and Howard! Called Judy and saw her too on our way to our room.
Our welcome bucket from the family
We changed clothes and went to the cocktail party. Everyone was very casual and we were the most dressed up of the group. The cocktail party was out on the lawn and it was COLD. We sat around the fire pit, drank and caught up. They passed little sliders and grilled cheese minis. Forgot to take photos.
We got a recommendation, from the hotel, for a restaurant and we along with Judy, Jeff, Barbara Jean, and Howard Ubered it to the restaurant. Good food and lots of catching up. Late night!
Sunday, June 17, 2018
We met Judy for breakfast and sat at the bar since it was Father's Day and they had a lot of reservations for the tables. We had fun catching up. We had the buffet, which was very good. Judy had french toast and ordered food to go for Jeff, who slept in. We picked up the tab, as Jeff had been paying for the Uber rides.
We rested in our room and then dressed for the wedding. We Ubered over to the wedding and back, with Judy and Jeff. We wanted to drink and did not want to drink and drive.
The wedding was lovely - at the Wattles Mansion. The dinner was from a local deli that Andy (the groom) loves. The buffet line was long, but family and wedding party went first. We told the caterer how he could move the line faster (remove the lids on the two chaffing dishes and he took our advice.
The mansion
Ready for the guests
Howard walks Dori down the aisle
A friend officiates and does a great job
Married
Cousin Emily, Maid of Honor, on the right in the dark dress
Tables for dinner
The bride and groom speak
Judy, Marilyn, Terry and Jeff
Barbara Jean, Marilyn, Terry and Jeff
The bride's grandparents were there in spirit.
The engagement
Our cousins
Howard and Barbara Jean - Bride's parents
Monday, June 18, 2018
We woke fairly early - got dressed and made our way to Budget to drop off the car. Our GPS, again, took us on surface streets and it was a trip down memory lane.
At Budget, we dropped the car off and got onto their shuttle. It was a slow ride to the airport. It dropped us off at the baggage claim area and we had to make our way upstairs to the check-in.
Got our bags checked. Found that our flight was going to be late in leaving.
Since we had not had anything, but orange juice and a couple of small cookies for breakfast, we went to a sit-down restaurant and had wraps for lunch. We then sat in the airport for hours. We did not take off until after 3:30 p.m. It was a fairly smooth ride to just before Chicago.
Got a American Blue home and it was LATE.
We spent the whole day travelling.
