Kate – Page 23 – And Now We Are Five

Day Four was spent on the road, again.

This time, however, our journey only took a measly five hours! We arrived in LA in time for Eddy to watch most of the US/Belgium match on the hotel TV (he had to watch the first fifteen minutes on his phone).

The countryside was so dry! I had overheard a group of people at dinner the night before talking about the effects of the drought on Tuolumne County (and Norther California in general) and we could really see it as we made our way south.

Once we arrived at the hotel, Eddy watched his game and I took the kids swimming. When the game was over (we lost! boo! at least there’s still France!) and the kids’ wigglies were out, we headed off to Grandpa’s house. Owen immediately started trying to coax any of the many stray outdoors cats to make friends–not that that was going to happen with two dogs around!

Monday we stayed put, in the California State Historical Park of Columbia. I spent a lot of time here as a kid because my mom’s friend Jill had a house here. We came for a visit most summers beginning when I was about 9, and when I moved out of my mother’s house I stayed with Jill for a month or so.

We visited the preserved town of Columbia; it was really hot, but the stores and buildings were nice and cool. Eddy and Owen liked the blacksmith a lot, Jonah liked the saloon where we drank sarsaparilla (bottled locally) and Kate liked the candy store.

Then we decided to drive up the hill to where Jill’s former house is. I knew that she didn’t live there anymore, but I thought it would be nice to show the kids. I have to say that I don’t remember the road being quite so steep or narrow! In my car it would have been much easier, but the van is good for road trips, not mountain climbing, and there were a few times where the bottom scrapped the road!

When I saw the bed across the stream, I knew that Helen and Ray still lived there. Almost all my time at Jill’s house was not actually spent at Jill’s, rather it was spent following Helen around. Helen lives right down the hill and is one of those warm amazing friends that every kid (and grown up!) should have in their lives. Seeing her was amazing and I’m glad the kids got to meet her.