To my favorite Monkey and the best brother in the world…

Our last adventure together (for a while) began before dawn. Well, if you want to count details it really started the evening before. But in the wee hours last Saturday morning, on half the needed sleep and twice the necessary caffeine, I hurriedly packed my things and took off to help my little brother move 400 miles away.

And hour … and a few tears … later Jason, Sada, her mom Kandy and I were on the road. I am thinking of my mother, who we left crying at the sight of our caravan pulling away. It feels awful to know your mother is crying her eyes out but there is nothing you can do about it. Fortunately, trying to catch up with the U-Haul that would be my main source of scenery for the next six hours took my mind away from my poor mother and back to the long road ahead. Almost fittingly, I noticed that one of us must have bumped into the passenger side mirror at the gas station earlier… it is completely pushed out and there is nothing I can do about it with the car in motion. I can't see a thing out of it. I sigh and promise myself to be careful until we stop in Bakersfield and where I can fix it.

Three and-a-half hours, five phone calls and three CDs pass, and we're in the thriving metropolis of Bakersfield. All four and a half (don't forget Chuck Norris) travelers look a little worse for the wear as we gas up and refill ourselves on caffeine. Chuck poses for us, and we are back on the road. And your suspicions are correct; I forgot to fix the mirror. By the time we arrive, I will have driven nearly 400 miles with no passenger mirror. This is what four hours of sleep will get you!

Other than a minor heart attack as the U-Haul breaks down momentarily on the 5 just outside LA, we arrive in Long Beach in one piece and so do the three cars. Shelby arrives from Moreno Valley to help. Yay Shelby! Now a true friend will drive an hour and a half to help you move J Unloading is quite a trick… the normal entrance to the apartment in down three short flights of stairs and involves a sharp right turn. So we opt to follow the maintenance man, "Homer's", advice and pretty much load them through the shrubbery (yes I said shrubbery) and over a small cement barrier. We are earning our stamina points today. It all gets done though, along with the discovery of the lack of a fridge or hot water. Cold showers all around for the next couple days.

The next day and a half are full of laughter, food, beer and beaches. I take a nice spill at Bolsa Chica but didn't care much. We are in awe of the coastline… being native valley people ourselves. Chuck has a great time… maybe we took a few too many pictures of him but I don't care. With five people, then four, in a one-bedroom apartment, it was kind of like camp… so silly things don't count damnit! True to Feilzer form, the highlights of the trip are the things that go wacky, not the things that go right. Like getting lost and driving through an underpass… directly under a plane taking off from the dinky airport. Again, it's a different world for the valley people!

Monday afternoon comes too quickly and I get a lump in my throat on the way to the airport. In an hour I'd be in the plane taxiing across the freeway. I barely hold back my tears as I say good bye. Fortunately, the tiny airport makes me laugh as I trek outside twice to get to my gate. Jet Blue is a sponsor for the Simpson's movie, so I get Simpson's episodes to banish the rest of the tears for a while. This is good, I hate crying in public. Before I know it, I am home.

So it's been a week little brother, I miss you a ton already. Good luck, I can't wait to see your name up in lights. Do the Feilzer's proud!


~Wildflower/Stephie