> > > > > It looks like I may be going to California soon.
> > > > > My sister is ill. She had a collapsed lung, went to the hospital and got it reinflated. She was home about a day when the darned thing blew out again. This time they operated and patched it up.
> > > > > She nearly died, but they say she will recover. I talked to her on the phone a couple of times and she was making jokes about her doctors, so I guess she really is okay. She's home now and even got on the computer for a while, but she said she felt better on the couch. Her kids, neighbors, friends etc. are spoiling her rotten with all kinds of good service. I have a trip planned to my uncle's house in West Virginia, so I might make that trip before I head for the golden west. If gas prices go up any more I may have to ride the Eagle.
> > > > > Howard
> > > >
> > > > Well, where in California will you be? Some of us RinkPeople live here, too!!
> > > >
> > > > Ell"Howard is my hero!"myruh
> > >
> > > She lives at Camarillo, which is near Oxnard, which is right down from Ventura, which is between Santa Barbara and Santa Monica, northwest of L.A. Now if I can just find L.A.
> > > Howard
> >
> > Well, it would take me almost seven hours to get to Camarillo, so I guess my idea of Howard and Ellmyruh having a miniature RinkUnion is out of the question.
> >
> > Ell"Why doesn't everything revolve around me?"myruh
>
> It's funny how people east of the Mississippi think of California as one place. I tell non-travelers that you can drive all day without leaving California and they don't really believe it. I tell them it's a *big* state. They seem to think you can go to LA and see everything they have heard about in California by just taking short trips. Once when I got back from LA, I was asked if I saw redwood trees. Another time I had to explain that the Golden Gate bridge isn't in Hollywood!
> Howard

I wonder how many people, when they hear that I'm from California, think I must be some surfer chick who thinks that snow only comes in a snow cone. They probably think that I drive a convertable, have a gorgeous tan, and live 2.5 miles from the beach.

Unfortunately for those people, they are wrong. They simply cannot grasp the idea that I know what it's like to be in 0-degree weather and have several feet of snow on the ground. I was six before I made it as far south as San Francisco, and I only got all the way to Disneyland because we went there as part of our senior trip in high school.

I don't drive a convertable and I don't live near the beach. Oh, and I don't tan. I only burn and then quickly go back to being bright white.

Ell"By the way, Howard, you should just tell everyone that the the Golden Gate Bridge has been moved to Disneyland."myruh