BACK TO CALIFOWLNIA

Eunice and I wanted to complete our Irvine trip as well as seeing another area of California, Long Beach. The only part of Long Beach that we had seen in September was the docks when we went to Catalina Island.

After experiencing Columbus Day noting that this guy came here to discover a place where people were already living, we made up our minds to discover everywhere we went because we did not see any groups of rubber chickens. So, now we return to change the name to Califowlnia. If we ever get back to Catalina Island, we will rename it Cacklina Island.

We first wanted to make sure that we were in shape to go so we went to our chiropractor to get adjusted.

Air Tran and Jet Blue are our favorite airlines because they have such comfortable seats, great snacks and nice pilots. Since Jet Blue was going non-stop to Long Beach we chose that one. The pilots brought us into the cockpit for photos as well as giving us a quick lesson on how to fly...especially since we can't.

While waiting at the gate, we met Capt. Ron Horetski of the Los Angeles Fire Department with his dog, Pearl. We noticed that he was a rescue dog. As it turns out, they were just on television that morning because the ASPCA Search and Rescue dog, Pearl, was honored the day before (November 11th) as the ASPCA's 2010 Dog of the Year at The Annual Humane Awards Luncheon in York City. Pearl, herself was rescued from an animal shelter and Ron adopted her. That makes Pearl a rescue dog that's been rescued. We wanted to pose with Pearl, but I think she would have thought we were toys, so we got Merle to just take a photo of Ron and Pearl.

We checked into the Avia Hotel in downtown Long Beach near the ocean. Our robe and slippers (we share) were laid out for us on the bed. That was great, but we still wanted to inspect for bed bugs as it's been a big problem these days. None found.

I had suggested that we go to an Italian restaurant since our itinerary also had us taking a gondola ride. We went to La Traviata where we met the owner, Mario Nasab. We dined on lobster ravioli, a cleansing of sorbet and a vanilla creme brulee, while Sheryl Smith was singing opera.

WE HAVE NOW RENAMED THIS PART OF CALIFOWLNIA AS LONG BEAK.