Hollywood baby!

     My previous blog about where we were staying being dirty still holds strong, but the people we met were unforgettable. Upon our return, we stayed at B and G Hay Lot and did some volunteering from there. Johnny Ray, Linda, and Hockey became like family for that quick week and treated us very well. I learned about hay, prices, weight, what's good hay, bad hay, and what the local talk was about farmers in town. I woke up earlier than usual, sometimes even 6:45, to go inside and drink excessive amounts of coffee and shoot the breeze with the regulars. Mamma, Whitey, and Peenee were our doggy lot mates along with about 15 cows and 8 horses. Sadly, a couple days before we left, Peenee was found in the road and didn't make it. The next few mornings were a bit quieter without her yipping at me. Derek became very interested in the horses that were our neighbors and through his interest I became curious. Horses are kind of neat once you get to know them and their personalities. I'm still very skeptical of them though; they always look so shifty. On Saturday, Johnny Ray took us to the Santa Anita Horse Racing Track with a couple of his friends. Each of us had some personal money, so decided to try our hand at betting on some horses. There were so many ways to bet and all so confusing. I just went with the simple bet of who I thought would win. The first horse I bet on I ended up winning $80. Sadly, the $80 I won would be bet away through the rest of the day. I ended up breaking even and had an awesome time.  Before we left on Sunday, we helped out with a few chores around the lot and had a delicious grill out to end our stay. Can't thank Johnny and the crew enough for putting up with us and our eye sore of a home for 2 months.
    The bus hit the open road for the first time in two months Sunday morning. By open road I mean about 10 minutes down the road to Crosspoint CRC. We parked the bus front and center and opened her up for tours and such. Through Crosspoint, we got to meet some incredibly hospitable people who without hesitation took us into their home. That Sunday, Bill and Elaine invited us over for lunch after church. A lot of other folks joined and for the first time in my travels everyone wore name tag stickers so we knew who was who. This made me incredibly happy because I struggle with remembering names and always have. Sunday afternoon the three of us joined about 300 other people in a walk to raise awareness of Human Trafficking. I had no idea that human trafficking happens here in the US. After the walk, the three of us headed to another house for dinner with Dave and his family. We met Dave at church too and at the end of that dinner I was ready for bed. Sunday was a big day.
    Tuesday morning we woke up early and headed back to B and G for one last goodbye and shower. We had to be in Los Angeles by noon for the Price is Right. We pulled in around 11:00am expecting to be able to find some sort of parking. We were wrong. 45 minutes of driving around and absolutely nothing, not even a tiny spot for a motorcycle. I dropped Derek off to wait in line and proceeded to drive around with Ben. Eventually we found something and hurried to the line to wait for the next 5 hours. The wait really stunk but I got to make some new friends in line. The girl that was next to me for the 5 hours ended up getting called up and won her way on to the stage. Wednesday, we hit up Jay Leno and got to see the Harry Potter guy. We parked our bus on the street and the house we parked in front of looked us up and invited us over for dinner. John and Brynn have opened up their home to us for laundry and showers. My bedding is in the wash as I type this and I'm greatly excited for bed tonight. 
     As I reread this blog I'm struck by how much of it is around the people we have met. We have always said the people are what makes this journey what it is, and it's so true. Everywhere we go, we meet great people who take us in and treat us like we've known them for years. I always hate saying goodbye but know there's always good people around the next corner. We are set up to work with a place called Olivewood Garden in San Diego next week. It's an education garden center where we will help with gardening and school group field trips.