Redondo Beach CA

We have left Northern California and not an moment too soon either.  WE WERE FREEZING!!!!!  This picture was our windshield the morning we left Pilot Hill.  Mike was scraping it with a credit card because 'we will never need a window scraper ever again'.  Yeah, right!  The dog bowl even iced over the last 4 or 5 nights we were there.  This was totally unacceptable!  Off to warmer weather....

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



 
 
 
 

 

 

We only drove to Coalinga and stopped at Harris Ranch the first day of travel.  It is one of our "must stop destinations".  We enjoyed a dinner of prime rib and stayed in the Triple Crown wing where we have stayed before.  It was still chilly and I thought I'd be in fleece until May!

 

So we are in Los Angeles - Redondo Beach CA to be exact.  I booked us into a Best Western Plus on Pacific Coast Highway due to price but like that we can get out and walk to restaurants and shops from the hotel.   Last night Mike said "let's turn right and see what we can find for dinner."  What we found was a wonderful little Mexican restaurant called Ortega 120.  We both had excellent food but, best of all, they had a Don Julio anejo tequila we had never tasted.  So we each 'sampled' the Don Julio 70th and were quite happy with it.  It had a vanilla nose and a deep smoky flavor we have come to enjoy from the burned oak interior of the barrels in which it is aged.

 

Our first morning we walked right even further and found the Original Pancake House.  Mike had the fluffiest omelet I have ever seen!  It was at least an inch high.  I had a blueberry waffle and it was as good as those I normally only get in Mexico.  Yes we do enjoy our food and know you want to hear all about it (Ha!).  We had a nice walk on the pier (picture of the pier & waterfront) in the afternoon and enjoyed the heat and sunshine.  It was over 70 so we were in shirt sleeves and shorts.  The water was beautiful and we watched paddle boarders and sail boats along with the fishermen.  Dinner was at Captain Kidd's, as usual.

 

 

 

Our last day in Los Angeles was spent with the office staff (me) and the manufacturing staff (Mike) at Sportsman's Steel in Long Beach.  Mike had ordered a custom made safe for the truck as we left Texas in October and we were to pick it up in Long Beach on our way to Galveston first week of December.  After multiple phone calls with Fernando, the customer service rep, Mike knew we had to drive down to their shop.  There was just too much confusion about design.  We think our order was also lost in the shuffle so these great guys worked with Mike and Sabine (the Tundra's name) all Thursday afternoon to build the safe.  First it was over an inch too high so they cut the back off, re-welded it, re-primed and then painted.  Once the paint dried, it was dry fit into its space, guys made a few minor adjustments, added carpet lining, added the fire seal, and finally the S & G combination lock.  These guys stayed overtime to ensure we had our product exactly the way Mike wanted it!  It's our 4th from them and we highly recommend them for small and large safes.  They also manufacture steel safe rooms and storm shelters any size you wish.

Moving East...look out Phoenix, here we come!