Southern California

Incredibly Understanding Wife (IUW) and I are on vacation this week in Newport Beach, California, a very nice place to visit (but who could afford to live here?). 

I grew up in Los Angeles, about an hour north of here, and my folks brought me and my brothers here for holidays when we were kids.  There are historical and architectural restrictions in place on Balboa Island and parts of Newport Peninsula that have kept the main streets, the boat house, the ferry, and the fun zone looking pretty much like they did forty-five years ago.  For me, it's like stepping into a time machine and being transported back to when I was ten (that would be the early Sixties, history buffs). 

We do a lot of relaxing here - reading, looking at the ocean, enjoying the cool weather (especially welcome after a summer in Phoenix with thirty-two days at 110 degrees or hotter; yes, that's a record).  My Mom and Brother still live in LA, and Mom drove down to visit earlier this week.  The pictures in the album on this page were taken from the balcony at the place we stay, Marriott Newport Coast Villas.

It's a great break from normal life.