Business Mixed with Pleasure

Chloe and I took Friday off to accompany Pete on an inspection in Monte Sereno, near San Jose. We decided that we would make a weekend out of it. Chloe endured all of the weekend driving without crying once in her carseat. Of course the Baby Einstein DVDs didn't hurt.

After our inspection, we stopped by to visit two of our favorite cousins in San Jose, Bruce and Lorene Riley. Bruce is now retired and his hair is longer than mine. I admit, I am jealous! Chloe is now cautious around strangers, but she sure warmed up to cousin Bruce in a hurry. Toys everywhere and good companionship. Lorene was having a rough day after spending the morning out and about. It was so good to get to spend time with her and visit. I wish we had brought the camera in to take some pictures!

The next day we stopped by to visit a long-time rabbit breeder friend, Betty Chu and her husband Albert. Betty has the loveliest angoras anywhere in the world. I loved catching up with news of the rabbit world. She even had some baby rabbits in her home and I got to hold one. Nothing is cuter than a baby English Angora bunny. Chloe loved Betty's back yard and wanted to climb all dangerous apparatus such as ladders and hand trucks. Betty graciously sent us off with a large bag of persimmons. Now I will have to try out that persimmon bundt cake recipe.

We then went on to Carmel to complete our weekend Christmas shopping. Unfortunately, a major storm system came in that night and we could barely sleep in the hotel. The wind was howling fiercely and something kept banging on our window all night. The rain poured, vertically and diagonally. Chloe wasn't even phased. After room service on Sunday morning, we opted to cut our trip short and head back home to Shafter. Halfway home, we stopped in Paso Robles to visit more of Chloe's cousins. It was a great weekend!