The long goodbyes

The first full day of this trip was absolutely insane. That's a story that needs to be told, and I promise I will, but later, after I've had a chance to gather my thoughts.

The rest of the trip was all about driving,

visiting Mom...

and dealing with the damage the Eaton fire did to her house.

The first crew came out and removed all the "soft goods", i.e. the couches, mattresses, carpets, curtains, clothes, towels, etc.

It's so weird seeing it so empty.

The next step will be to clean the entire house and its contents. We got two estimates for that, but work won't be done until early next year.

I said goodbye to my mom and my sister yesterday. 

Today, I said goodbye to the house.

Of course, a lot of that time was spent in the basement, where the last remnants of the original carpet herd still reside. 

They're aren't a lot of them, but they were kind of spread out.

The cleaners asked us to make a list of what to keep and what to throw away. I put "horses" on the keep list.

I do plan to be here to oversee that process, but you never really know. I decided to proactively put all the horses together, for community and safety reasons. Bye, friends. See you in 2026!

After I was done with the house, I walked up the street to say goodbye to the canyon.

It's still closed, but I was able to peek over the fences a little.

Goodbye, beautiful canyon. I hope to see more of you in 2026, as well.

The last goodbyes were to my hosts and best neighbors ever, Nick and Joyce and their amazing border collie, Lulu.

As far as recent California trips go, this was a good one. 

I'll be home in a few hours. I can not wait.