Freeloading Across America

Hi All,
Ben here from California, opening Christmas presents....

I have some filling in to do for those of you who have been following our trip.When we got to California, I took a vacation from writing due to a lot of partying and playing with my old friends, and here it is Christmas already!

Well the last time I left you we were heading into California by car, having already stayed with Dick and Cathy in Atlanta, and Wendy and Jim in Denver.  Well, we weren't done mooching from our friends and relatives yet.  We had more free stops to come.

We left the exciting snowy mountain passes of Colorado and Utah, and entered the long straight highway through the desserts in Nevada and California. 
I told Jeff that I could drive if he was getting tired.  No thumbs required to steer on this road.

Our first stop was Randi and Bella's house where we stayed for a "Roger's week".  Translated , that means that we originally told Randi we would only be there for a few days, then extended it for a few more, and finally ended up staying for ten days.  Fortunately, Randi was a very gracious hostess, and she and Bella  really like me, so she didn't kick our sorry butts out of there. 

You know, Randi introduced Jeff and Izzy a long time ago at the Dana Point Yacht Club when Izzy and Randi were selling beer tickets at a club sailboat race. Perfect place to find Jeff - sailboats, races, and beer...

Another place to find Jeff is with his sons, Matt and Aaron.  They had a good time with us while we were in CA, and they're going to come and see us on the boat for their spring break in March.

                                      

Jeff and Izzy went to a basketball game with them at the Staples Center.  Dogs aren't allowed because we'd chase the ball and interupt the game.

The month has been busy for us. I heard Izzy tell someone that we had a bizillion appointments with the doctor, the lawyer and the Indian chief, but they still found time to go to a bunch of parties, too.  One day we went to Irvine, and Izzy took me on a walk around the lake, just like she had been promising me for the past few months. 

It was just like old times.  I sniffed all the old spots, and chased those ducks you see there.  Ahhhhh, it was good to be back in the hood.  The only problem was that she didn't take me back to our house.  We walked right up to it, and then got back in the car and drove away.  Really strange.  Then she took me to the Vet for SHOTS!  What a sneaky thing to do.

Later they went to a party with all our Mandarin Street neighbors at Mike and Debbie's house.  I stayed home with Bella. 

While we were in CA, Jeff met with some of his old friends at DENSO - the company where he had worked for 27 years before retiring.  He had to check in with security, wear a "visitor" name badge, and wait to be escorted in.  Kind of a strange feeling for him.

Jeff said they were having a company meeting at noon that day, so the President introduced Jeff and he got a standing "O".  Of course it was outside and there were no seats....

There were lots more dinners - one was with Kathy and Tony Catroppa - I could tell  they had Italian food from their breath, but I didn't see a picture, so I dug this one out from our BBQ last year.

Another night there was dinner at Chris and David's house, and another at Sharon and Mike's, not to mention the boat parade at the Dana Point Yacht Club. I guess they had too much wine to take pictures at all of those places, because there are none in Izzy's camera. 

When Sandy came home from England for Christmas, we packed up our stuff at Randi's and moved into Dimitry's house so we could freeload...errr...spend time with them, and help Dimitry fix up his new house.

 

                                      

Freeloading there meant that Jeff had to use his elbow grease and exercise his junior carpenter skills, as he helped "D" fix up this new acquisition. He also got himself a nice shiner out of it. Not sure if Dimitry just didn't like the job he did or what. 

My old pals Lucy and Maggie were at Dimitry's house too

and they were ready to play on the hillside behind D's house.

It was quite a climb for me, up those three or four levels of stairs, but those young whippersnappers  romped around as if it were flat.  Nice view from up here if you can get your breath and wait for the dizziness to pass.

One night they went to Sue and Dave's house for more holiday celebrations and good food. 

Dave sat down at the piano and it looks like everyone sang Christmas music

...or was it show tunes?  Or Lynyrd Skynyrd?...and what's up with David's nose?

Here's Sandy hitting a high note.

I think there was wine there.

Here's Jeff with Marlene and Janet.  I guess they didn't want to sing, or maybe they didn't have enough wine yet.

Sue and Diane were partying 

And so was Helen

One other night, Jeff and Izzy rented an electric Duffy Boat to look at the beautifully decorated houses in Newport Harbor (you'd think they'd take a vacation from the boat thing, wouldn't you?), and they took Matt, Aaron, Danielle, Sandy , Dimitry and Dimitry's parents, Ilya and Irina.

They nibbled on sandwiches and snacks, while sipping on Russian wine and Mexican beer. 

 

We had several great dinners at Irina and Ilya's house, including the Russian feast for new years celebration with all sorts of Russian dishes.  Irina is a wonderful cook, and she really likes to feed people.  Boy, she really hit the jackpot with Jeff and Izzy.    These two are first-class freeloaders.  She also made them a big pot of wonderful home made Borsht and even delivered it over to Dimitry's. 

 Here's a picture of Irina

and Ilya with Lucy

This is Dimitry's sister, Kathy

and here are her husband Ryan, and their cute twins - Bella and Ally

We had fun watching them open their presents.

Then there was dinner at The Cannary Restaurant with Jeff's Aunt Helen and family. They told me they sat at "The Duke's" table. I guess they meant Marmaduke?

...and more mooching on Christmas Eve at Trisha and Jon's house.  Mimi came to celebrate with us, too.

I think Jeff sat on the woopie cushion.

On Christmas morning, Aaron, Matt and Danielle came over to Dimitry's to have breakfast with us

For some reason they were all wearing crazy crowns!  I remember getting one of those one time with a Whopper in Paduca. 

We opened the presents under the tree.  Sandy must have given Dimitry a mousetrap.

 

....and Sandy got a new bike

Here are Matt and Danielle trying out the Marshmallow Shooter we got in Grand Rivers, Kentucky, at the town fair.  They ought to look at the directions.  I don't think it works like that.

 I think one got stuck in Matt's ear.

Lucy and Aaron were excited to see each other -  old buddies from Mandarin Street.

On Christmas afternoon, just as she was thinking she was rid of us, we stopped in at Randi's house looking for a little champagne and snacks while we visited with more friends. 

Randi and her dad posed for a Christmas shot for me.

and Chris and her mom did too.

Here's Randi with Jeff sporting his new Crimson Tide "Bama" hat that he'll wear while we're in the south to help keep him out of trouble 

Jeff and Izzy have gotten the freeloading down to a science! With all the eating and drinking they've been doing I hope they'll have to take me on more walks to keep from turning into boat blimps. 

We left Randi's and continued on our quest for free food to Marlene and Janet's house for Christmas dinner.  Vicki was visiting from Connecticut too.  Mom and daughters are all great cooks, and they put on a wonderful Christmas dinner with all the trimmings for a whole bunch of friends.    

Here are Sue and Peggy waiting for dinner after Janet and Marlene shooed them out of the kitchen.

Izzy went to see Audrey and her sister Marlene one night for dinner.  Here they are after dinner by the tropical Christmas tree with full bellies.

On New Year's Eve Dimitry and Sandy had an "open house".  I found out that it wasn't exactly OPEN, and I had to make a fuss to get Izzy to let me out to wiz while they were all laughing and drinking and taking pictures.
In this picture I think Jon and Trisha must be trying to help Peggy out of a hole in the floor. 

I don't think they knew I was standing at the door waiting to go out. 

 Larry is politely trying to stay awake while Jeff tells him about our entire trip over the last year since we saw him in the Chesapeake.  

T

The next day we all got put to work in the back yard and put up a new fence so whoever falls down the big hill won't land in the house and mess up the carpet with their muddy feet.

Dimitry picked up some good carpentry tips from Jeff.

Irina was sanding, Jeff and Dimitry were measuring and cutting, and Sandy was painting and supervising.

Ilya was entertaining the workers with his guitar to keep up their morale

  It's been a great trip from my standpoint because everywhere we stay, I have some playmates.  Maybe this vacation should be called  "Benny and the Pets".  Here's a summary some of my friends from this trip. 

We have to leave here in a few days and drive back to the boat and continue our trip.  Jeff has been promising me more dinghy rides in warm water that tastes like salt. 

I sure have had a great time mooching our way across the country!

I'll write again from the Izzy R.

Love, Ben