A trip out to California for friends and food! - 2022/10/04

Well after parking the RV in Colorado, hanging out there, flying to Michigan, then back to Colorado, we're traveling again? This time we're headed out to California! Why? Food and friends! And we're going to do a lot of both!

Taking the train at Denver International Airport to our gate. 

Backpack is secured. 

Made it to Los Angeles! 

Where cupcakes come in vending machines!

$7 cupcakes. And where banana is one of the only flavors left... Not for us. But maybe Megan would have liked one. 

After spending the night at a hotel, we were up early to start to the day. I'm not sure if we went into this trip thinking it was going to be all about food, but it sure did turn out that way. First stop, our very favorite farmer's market! It's in Torrance and we've come here for years! 

And this is one of our favorite seasons, with some of the best fruits. 

We start at Ken's Top Notch Produce. There's lots of samples of things, so T is just confirming what she already knows. Ken's is the best. We're not buying anything quite yet, because we know there will be lots and lots of things we're getting here and I don't want to carry that around the whole time. 

I'm not even sure what these are. 

Theresa was so happy we got here for Jujubee season! She loves those dry apple-like fruits. 

Okay, back over to Ken's where we'll load up on Asian Pears. Ken wasn't here today, but the kids have fond memories of helping him pull fruit from boxes and setting up the tables. 

Alli working on her "winking" at the camera. 

The best nectarines anywhere. 

Another place that Theresa loves is our old supermarket, Jon's, that was within walking distance. Their pickling cucumbers are so good, she'd eat pounds and pounds of them. 

And... they have a really awesome bakery here. Some of the best baguettes we know of. 

Ian - Can we have fondue? 

Actually, why not. Our hotel room is an extended stay place and it has a kitchen!

But first, another reason why we came here to California. Hanging out with friends! 

No, not here at the playground. 

Inside this gym! 

Lunchtime volleyball was one of my favorite mid-workday distractions! And the crew here is still going strong! 

Dinner, of course, fondue, bread, and Asian pears. 

Can't beat that! 

One of Alli's favorite things about this hotel was the free breakfast. The girl loves food. Knowing she can get as much as she wants of whatever she wants makes her happy. 

Our drive around town took us down to a Chuck E Cheese we've never visited before. Let's go! 

This Spinner Frenzy is really hard. Trying to spin it at exactly 500 rpm gets you 100 tickets. Being off by just 5 rpm means you'll get 2 tickets. 

Trying to practice their Crossy Road. 

We see this claw game everywhere. It's a big draw. 

You can never have enough small plastic balls I guess. 

Classic. 

Found Luigi's Mansion again! One of these times we'll beat it. We never leave enough time for it at the very end. 

Thanks Chuck!

Since we're already nearby, I think we have to stop by the best bakery ever. 85C has the most delicious breads. I've even tried to recreate them a few times, to varying success. Their chocolate buns, cheese bread, and chocolate chip bowls. 

Seeing as how it's Wednesday night, there's only one place to be in the South Bay and that's in Hermosa Beach! 

The beach volleyball group is still going strong, thanks to Alysa, with multiple courts playing and dozens of people. The kids finding friends while mommy and daddy play. 

And hanging out with all the old friends afterwards, eating happy hour boneless chicken wings (nuggets). 

What? More volleyball? That's right! Thursdays at lunchtime is another meetup time.

Awesome!

Quite the turnout! Love playing with these friends! There's plenty more to come, but that will be in part 2!