you could barely see downtown LA in person, but the smog hides it completely in this picture

this morning we had breakfast with twiddle thumbs's sister, her friend and godchild at a restaurant called michael j's. the only thing we could eat was oatmeal and some potatoes. then we went back to the house to load our stuff into the car. we said good-bye to pongo and the bird. then we proceeded to drive back to santa cruz. it was very smoggy in LA. compare the following pic to a pic i took during my trip in november, taken on the same freeway in almost the same spot.

we stopped in buellton for some split pea soup at andersen's, (it was a family favorite during road trips when i was little), and in salinas for gas/bathroom break. otherwise, we drove straight through and made good time.

total my car was driven during this holiday weekend: 980 miles