Visiting Mom

The first stop on this trip was Ben Lomond to see my great Auntie Moggie and pick up my mom and her adopted foreign exchange son from Brazil, Roberto.

Ben Lomond is a beautiful little town in the Santa Cruz mountains situated in the middle of spectacular redwood forests.  I love visiting there.  The driving is very fun, and the air smells heavenly, like redwood and holly and all sorts of other green goodness.  My Auntie Moggie moved there in 1944 when she was 28 and built herself a one room adobe house that she lived in for years.  She now has a beautiful little one room cottage that a big group of people helped build for her (not sure when and who. . . I was too young).  I love visiting her because she's so smart and funny and independent.  She's almost 90 and still lives on her own, gardens and walks almost every day.  We even walked to the top of the hill together when I was there!