Youth Conference has just ended and after talking to some of those who had invited some of the young people to stay in their homes I had this thought. We really haven't had a lot of company in the 25 plus years we have lived here, but the ones we have, have been memorable. For instance we had two Foreign Exchange Students from Japan stay with us just after Jay had retired from River Road Redi Mix. The girls were in awe that "Dad" was a "house Mom". I went to work, he got them off to school each morning, fixed their lunches and then had dinner ready when they got back. Not usual for Japanese. We found them rather quiet, and pretty much stayed in their rooms. It was obvious after a day of being 'on' with English, they were tired both physically and mentally. Being able to retire to some place where they didn't have to 'be on' was a nice relief. We did enjoy them, and tried in every way possible to show them the area and some of the interesting cultural things of the Central Coast.
They had ample time to study and were eager to share their life style with us. They planned and cooked a Japanese meal for us. It was vastly different than what we ate, and made me wonder if we had been able to really satisfy their taste buds while they were with us. The time was well spent, and seemed to go much faster than we had thought it would.
We had the opportunity to host Pauls' friends, David and Jean Wolfstenholm from England twice. They were delightful to have in the house and enjoyed their stays with us. Not really too fond of our life style. Both Jay and I were retired, and much of the entertaining was left to us as Paul was still not able to deal with things outside of the house too well. He did take them to Las Vegas. You know that is about the most famous place for people from other countries to visit. I think the ride there and back was probably the most interesting. The desert is 'so big' and the places they passed through so vastly different than anything they have in their country. England is an island, and space is not wasted with junk yards in front, side or back yards. Going through the outskirts of Barstow was a real eye opener. Las Vegas was a disappointment with all the glitter and smoke filled Casinos. Just to comercialized. As Jay was use to saying: "someone has to pay for all those lights". Quite a scene when you arrive at night, but in the daytime, it is just a slum-gul-ion of cars, people and noise. Not nearly as glamourous as one would hope it to be. I will admit that the years have not made it more interesting. Fifty years ago when it was only about one tenth of what it is today, it was a bit more fun. Now the competition has robbed it of much of the mystic it once had. Back 'when' you could drive from one Casino to another, find a really cheap meal 24 hours a day and enjoy the oasis in the desert. If you wanted closeness, you went up on Fremont Street - the center of town then. It was really the hub of things back then. You could find penny slots, that you could play for a penny. Now most Slots are multi coins, which means it takes more money to play and the payoff may be larger, but it takes so much more to get it. I remember when you take $2.00 in nickles and play the 5 cent slots and get enough 'cherries' to keep you going for a long time. Can't do that now. But then fifty years has found me far more cautious of how I throw even any nickle around.
Following my discovery of my Grand Fathers second family in Canada, we have entertained family from Canada twice. It was fun taking them around the Central Coast. Once when Jay was well enough to get out and about. The second time when he was not well enough to do that, so I had to take them by myself. We went up the Coast and enjoyed 17 Mile Drive and some time in Carmel. What a lovely place that is. In fact just recently I had a chance to take two friends who were visiting from Arizona on that same trip. It was a real kick as the Sisters wanted to dip their feet in the Pacific Ocean. They had a 'splashing' good time. They miss judged the waves and got not only their feet, but a goodly portion of their pants wet as well. It was a great time - both trips.
One other visitor we entertained was our neighbors Mother who was here from Indiana. She had been here for sometime before I was asked to take her shopping with me. My neighbors both work, and didn't really have time to take her around much. I talked her into going to Solvang with me. We had a great trip down and then spent the day walking around the town. It is such a colorful place to go. In fact come to think of it, we took the Canadian Family Members their on their first visit. Needless to say both times a good time was had by everyone. While Lilly, my neighbors mother was here we took a couple of fun drives. I think the one I had the most fun with was going to Parkfield. You know in all the time I have lived in this area, I had never gone over there. It is a nice drive, and the scenery was worth the trip. Unfortunately we picked a time when Parkfield was closed for the season, I would like to go when everything is open. Well, the everything is not all that much. A resturant and a couple of 'earthquake' hang outs. If you want to stay the night and hopefull experience one of the frequent 'shakes'. They say they have a major quake there evey 20 years. One was due when we moved here in 1985, but as of this date, there hasn't been another one. Not that they do not expect it, but it hasn't come yet. When we bought this property, we were told we could not build until we had earthquake insurance. They expected a major quake at any moment, and would not allow construction to begin until the entire building site was insured for damage. I have carried earthquake insurance on the property every since just in case the house should be so severely damaged it would coast a ton to rebuild it. The one earthquake that shook Paso Robles and the surrounding area enough to cause such damage happened while I was in Salt Lake City on my Second Mission. Fortunately the shake, though very damaging in other parts of town, did not do more than cause some concrete outside to crack, and one seam in the drywall to show signs of a hair line crack in the hallway to the living room. All the dishes, glassware etc. withstood the shake very well. In other parts of town and even in Atascadero things were great deal different. I think the time and energy that Jay put into securing the furniture to the walls was a major reason we were so fortunate. He was pretty good at taking care of such things. Just another reason why he has been missed.
Well that about tells the tale of our visitors. Others who have dropped in for much shorter stays were: Homer and Louise Williams. One of my teen-age bosses from Huntington Park High School. There have been a short stop over by a couple of my Brothers children on their way to or from someplace. Oh, and a couple we worked with in the Los Angeles Temple dropped by on their way home to Hanford. I had asked if they had a use for Jays' white suit. They told me there was always a need for such things in their new assignment at the Fresno Temple. So his suit is now 'on duty' in Fresno. I think he would have been pleased to know it went on doing a worthwhile service.
Visitors are always welcome here. We don't have a lot of great accomodations, but the welcome mat is always out, and we can find space for who ever might want to stop and 'set a spell'. Young or old, foreign of domestic - doesn't matter. If they can stand us, we can stand them.
Written this 11th day of July 2010
by: Eileen Rosenberg
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