by Barbara Taylor & Homer S. Sewell III
After leaving the San Francisco Bay area two weeks we headed south to Oakhurst up in the mountains and then on to Lamont just outside of Bakersfield. We continue to be amazed at the high prices of everything out here...from gas to groceries. We spent that weekend at the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield. Their price was only $10 a night with full hook-ups. What a deal!
Saturday we drove 150 miles south to Huntington Beach to spend some time with Homer's cousin Terry and his wife, Mary, sons Kurt and Kevin and other family members. We took a walk on the pier at the beach and went out to eat at the Island Restaurant. We enjoyed some wonderful very large salads. After spending Monday and Tuesday without a school to visit we then drove back down to park in front of Terry's house for Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Mary cooked some great meals for us and a lot of visiting relatives and friends of theirs and Homer did a presentation for them after dinner. The meal and ABE were enjoyed by all attending. We missed an earthquake that hit very near right before we arrived. That was one California attraction I was happy to miss!
On Wednesday of that week Homer drove about 100 miles south to speak to a Catholic school in San Diego. I spent the day shopping and visiting with Mary. We had a great time seeing Huntington Beach. On Thursday on the way up to Hermosa Beach we stopped by Long Beach and I got to meet Homer's brother, Barry. We had lunch with he and his girlfriend, Rosalind. The house they live in Laguna Beach was right in the midst of all the mudslides they had a few months ago. A lot of houses were destroyed.
We parked the AbeMobile Friday afternoon up on beautiful Lake Castaic near Santa Monica and drove down thirty-one miles to the big Hilton Hotel across from the Burbank airport for the Association of Lincoln Presenters fifth annual convention. Homer was given the Lincoln of the Year award for 1998. There were approximately 25 ABEs at the convention out of the over 100 members of ALP. I felt good to be with the Number ONE ABE....Pickens County's own....Homer S. Sewell III. On Saturday afternoon we drove out to Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens and saw several presentations. What a beautiful memorial park it was!
On Sunday morning we left early for the nearly 450 miles drive to the Phoenix area in Arizona. As we came past Palm Springs and through the desert we realized that summer must be here. It has been in the 90's since we arrived in Arizona and is still quite hot even though the sun has gone down as I write this piece.
Hope all of you are doing well and Homer and I look forward to seeing you back in the beautiful mountains of north Georgia sometime in May or early June before we go back out to Mount Rushmore for the summer. Until next time.....Barbara signing off for now.