The original plan was to pull out at 4:00 a.m., on April 3rd but excitement won out and we left after Michael came home from work on the 2nd. We had to suffer through traffic gridlock in Los Angeles, which took forever to get through. Having a tad bit of a “lead foot”, driving at 10 miles per hour was definitely frustrating which resulted in increased teeth grinding. After an hour and a half, we finally reached cruising speed and made it to a little place called Buttonwillow before calling it a night. The next morning we drove through farmlands of the San Joaquin Valley. The blue skies against the peaceful green fields had an incredibly calming effect after driving through L.A. traffic! We arrived in Willows, California early afternoon.
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Sunset in Buttonwillow
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| San Joaquin Valley |
We could have traveled further,
but this was an opportunity for me to meet Anne Baxter Campbell, a fellow
author at Helping Hands Press. We
became friends on Facebook through our publisher; however, we had never met in
person. Anne graciously arranged a book signing
at a local eatery while we simultaneously appeared on the G-Zone blogtalk radio show (Click to listen). Prior to the "event", we met for coffee at Starbucks (yes, Starbucks is everywhere!). It amazed me as to how much we had in common and it felt like we'd known each other for years. We had a terrific time chatting it up on the radio and topped it off with a tasty dinner. What a blessing it was to spend time with Anne. She's an inspiration for a "rookie" author like me.
THE SIGN ON THE RESTAURANT DOOR:
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| Friends!!! |
