Southern California has been a big part of our family culture for many years. As a child Marla often stayed in Laguna Beach with her family. We did the same when our girls were young. We came often, especially after we built a warehouse for our business in Irvine over the hill from Laguna Beach. We all love the beach at sunset!

At a Denver Ballet Guild fundraiser Marla “won” the bid to stay a week in a beautiful home in Huntington Beach. The owners were extremely nice and let us stay for 10 nights! We were ready for some beach time! Paxton, Logan, Lisa, and Ray joined us for 6 days after an annual Disneyland visit. They are enjoying the beautiful sunset at Huntington Beach.

The completely renovated home was large, lovely, and only 2 blocks to the beach!

Marla relaxes in the backyard.

We walked every morning. The beach attracts surfers from far and wide!

The Huntington Beach pier is perfect for watching the surfing action.

A good friend from High School invited all of us for lunch at her “compound” in Newport Beach.

Patty Hansen and I have been great friends forever!

Lisa takes one of her special selfies with the whole group!

Having a wonderful lunch at the Cannery Seafood of the Pacific in Newport Beach.

Las Brisas in Laguna Beach has been a family favorite for years. We even had a sales meeting dinner here many years ago.

What a view!

Love the little coves around Laguna Beach!

Lisa and Ray were married 22 years ago in the gazebo at Heisler Park in Laguna Beach.

The lovers kiss!

The beauty and majesty of “Sea Breeze”, a sculpture by Sukhdev Dail.

The Main Beach in Laguna Beach.

We had a great reunion with Randy Allard, who previously lived in our neighborhood, at an outdoor barbeque near Balboa Island.

A wonderful lunch with Marla’s high school friend, Doris Goldsmith Melnick, at the fabulous Katella Bakery in Los Alamitos! We visited Katella again on the way to the airport to pick up cookies!

Relaxing time at the beach with Mar and Paxton.

So great to spend time with Paxton, who headed to his senior year at Boston College after the trip!

We were so happy to have dinner and catch up with Linda Royer Rose, Marla’s Delta Gamma sister, at Duke’s in Huntington Beach.

A very nice catch-up lunch with Dan Duffee and his friend at the Driftwood Kitchen in Laguna Beach.

We visited the Sawdust Festival every August for years on Laguna Beach trips. It was really fun to return after lunch.

We definitely do not need more stuff….but I found about 10 things I wanted at the festival. Marla said a resounding…“NO!”

After the Sawdust Festival we decided to stop at The Winery Restaurant and Wine Bar in Newport Beach for an early dinner. I ordered Opah, a fish I almost never see on a menu, and Marla had a wonderful vegetable creation she loved! Such a fabulous place!

On our last day we had a wonderful visit with Logan at the University of Southern California. She is a sophomore at USC and loves it!

The campus is simply beautiful and full of restaurants. They even have a Trader Joe’s on campus!

Logan gave us a great tour of campus and of course I had to stop and look at their beautiful Allyson Felix track. I was recruited by the track coach at USC early as junior. The coach passed away my senior year and my name got lost in the shuffle.

We were sad to leave for the airport. We miss her so much!

Thank you, Marla, for making it possible to connect with family and friends in a long overdue trip to Southern California trip. We cherished every moment!

Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.