Wherever the Road Leads: Hanging with the Delotes

We left Joshua Tree National Park and drove to Fontana, CA to meet up with Steve's old roomie Mike and his wife Karen and son Mattheus. We were planning to make a leisurely exit until we heard about the forecasted wind. We have had the fear of God put in us about the wind and therefore decided to make a hasty exit in an effort to make it safely to Fontana before the winds picked up. Smart choice, if I do say so myself! We arrived by lunchtime and managed to park perfectly in their driveway (major success!), all before the winds turned wicked. Santa Anna winds are not to be reckoned with, and I for one was exceedingly glad we were not on the road when they hit full force.

Matty working on his homework

The Delotes have a large, beautiful home and graciously insisted we sleep inside while the winds were raging. It worked out beautifully. We were all delighted to have shelter from the winds, hot showers after three days of dry camping, yummy food, and fun with friends! We all enjoyed being in a house again, and sharing time with friends. Life doesn't get any better than that! They treated us to dinner at a fabulous Thai restaurant (major thanks for indulging my craving!), lunch at an oh-so-yummy Indian restaurant, and another delicious dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant! I was in Asian culinary heaven! :) Bummed we missed the Filipino restaurant, but we'll save that for next time. ;)

Mike & Karen were able to explain "bobas" to us, which we first experienced in a Vietnamese restaurant in Simi Valley. We ordered an avocado shake, and the waitress asked if we wanted bobas. We had no idea what they were, and the waitress in her broken English, could only communicate they were round like balls, and cost 75 cents extra. They were indeed round like balls, darkly colored, about the size of a large blueberry, and had an almost bouncy, chewy texture. Shanan cried when she ate her first one, but the girls' competitive nature set in, and they ate them, but we still had no idea what they were, and since they weren't listed on the menu, we didn't know how they were spelled and had trouble looking them up. Mike & Karen to the rescue...bobas are tapioca! Here's an explanation online. We had another chance to try bobas in our taro shakes (yum!) at the Vietnamese restaurant with the Delotes. Still don't love the bobas themselves, but they are actually a lot of fun!

We also enjoyed watching movies in their totally awesome movie room, which I discovered doubled well as a napping room for Jake, and I got totally caught up on laundry finally. Meanwhile, our girls learned that boy toys aren't so bad after all; they played with cars and transformers. Mike & Karen also treated them to new Barbies, their first new toys since moving out of our old house! And Jake made fast friends with their cat Chatter, such a fun & friendly kitty that reminded us of our old cat Simon that we lost three years ago. We all hope a cat like Chatter is somewhere in our future.

Great times with old friends and Thai food!!!

Shanan loved the Thai tea

Steve helped finish moldings in their house and also attempted to help Mike install a brand spanking new double oven in their kitchen! It didn't quite go as planned; the removal of the old oven was uneventful, but apparently Steve had forgotten precisely how to measure for the new double oven. Yeah, the first double oven Steve picked up & installed wasn't exactly the right size. Oops...making memories, right? ;)

We so enjoyed our time here that we revised our plans to leave to visit San Diego before heading back east. We'll save San Diego for another visit; for now, we're soaking up time with friends before beginning our trek back to Texas for the holidays.