I don’t know the last time I had a mimosa, but it couldn’t have tasted better than on a patio on a beautiful summer Sunday morning.  And could the kids have been better behaved?  Phil and Kristine’s children are such good kids and they are so fin to be around. Bud’s was a great place to spend the morning. A perfect California morning? Should we just stay here?

Our other tasks for this last full day in Linden included washing (and later waxing) the car, giving all of our CDs, sunglasses, and other miscellaneous pieces of garbage to Phil, and making zucchini bread.

Kent spent a lot of time washing, vacuuming, cleaning and waxing the car in the hot California sun. I was pretty much inside for that portion, so all I can tell you is that it looks great now. I think it is perfectly prepared for its three week cruise to Hawaii.

Cooking with their little girl couldn’t be any cuter. Although she does exactly as instructed, she manages to multitask the entire time. While she is measuring and counting cups of flour and half-teaspoons of baking soda, she is constantly dipping her finger in the “dry” bowl. As we worked, she went from dipping just her finger into the sugar to putting her entire hand in. We made two loaves of zucchini bread, from the zucchini plucked fresh from the garden.

Dinner was great thanks to Kristine. Every meal was great thanks to Kristine. She always uses the freshest ingredients from the local market or from her garden. I was so jealous of California tomatoes. They are red, inside and out and so unbelievably flavorful. Wait, SHOULD we just stay here?

Leaving was really bittersweet. We knew that shortly we’d be in the place we have been working so hard to get to, but it was also the last “home” we were leaving. We sort of felt like we were part of the family. Now, we were off, on our own again. Oakland here we come.