California

During the remembrance day weekend, my mother decided that we should go to Los Angeles because it was also her birthday that day and she wanted to see some of her American friends. The trip started pretty well for me because I got to ride our car from Vancouver to Seattle where we were to take the airplane on the following day. These 300 kilometers probably were some of the best of my life. The reason for that is that up to now, I always had to sit and wait, bored. But this time, I got to take full control of the car on the Highway 405 South while my mother was worried to death, especially when I did any sudden move, which considerably increased my share of fun. Once in Seattle, we slept at some of my mother's friends' house and finally left the next morning towards our airplane to California. After a normal trip, we landed in L.A. where the heat struck us as soon as we left the plane, for we were still used to the Canadian weather. The first day we did a bit of tourism and went to the Universal Studios which, althought they are despicable because of their habit of pushing you to consumme more and more at every footstep, but I must admit it was an experience I enjoyed a lot, in particular the rides. I enjoyed the next day more as we were invited in Yvon Chouinard's ranch, yes I am indeed talking about the owner of Patagonia, whom my mother had become friends with when she worked there. Therefore, we were on our way to the Hollister ranch which I must admit, is awesome. The Hollister ranch is a huge property owned once by a family called the Hollisters but who could not afford to keep such a large piece of land and therefore divided it into 130 parcels of 1 acre each and sold them to rather rich people. But the beauty of it is that all the 130 acres are somehow private and no one except the owners and their friends can go in. It is so gigantic that there even is a private road inside which goes on for kilometers. Once we were there, we not only saw Yvon but also another former Patagonia employee and friend of my mother who offered me to go surfing with him. Since I rarely have the occasion to practice one of my favorite, if not m favorite sport, I jumped on the occasion and went surfing with this stranger. Well I did not regret it at all for the waves were huge that day and Yvon Chouinard had lent me some really good gear which his son's surfing equipement company made (outdoors must run in the blood of that family). Therefore, when I left the ranch, I was very satisfied of my trip to L.A. and decided I should come back to California as soon as possible. During the trip back, nothing particular occured except the fact that during the airplane ride, I had the misfortune to be stuck between two specimens of exceptionally large pachyderms, by which I mean of course two fat guys who made my ride quite uncomfortable, not to mention that one of them was constantly taking the liberty of letting go flatulences.