When I arrived in California, Evie went out of her way to truly spoil me. She had been given strict instruction from Kenya that she should not abandon her day to day work to be with me. This was because my main purpose of coming to the States was to attend the trade show in Las Vegas but I had arrived earlier than my scheduled time due to the fact that flights with Swiss Air were fully booked.

 

Evie worked only the week prior to the trade show and even then, she would take a day off duty now and then so that we could be together. After the trade show she did not go back to work and a call had to come from Nairobi to give her orders to let me proceed to Oklahoma City which was my next destination but she had other plans. She had earlier on taken me to see her friends notable Craig and Marca, Helen and Kevin and her Chinese family, Paullina and Frank and their beautiful daughter and her grandmother. All these people were so nice to me and went out of their way to make me feel very comfortable. I need not mention that when coming from the African Continent, one has that fear of not being accepted in this awesome society of very civilized people. When I mentioned these fears much later to Evie, she told me that she does not associate herself with people who look down on others.

 

Evie took me shopping, ensured that I had more than enough to eat and when I complained that there was so much food, she told me that she does not want me to starve. She took me along with her everywhere, the sister city meeting, sightseeing, the yacht club of Santa Barbara where I got to learn quite a bit about the commercial diving world. It is at the yacht club where I drew some attention as everyone there had some connection with the diving world and majority of those present were over 70 years and they were wondering what I was doing there. Those who could not hold on to their curiosity had to ask me and when I mentioned that I am there with a wife of one of the pioneers in the diving world of Santa Barbara, they really got impressed.

 

We visited her sister Carole and her husband in Bakersfield on our way back from Las Vegas but that is another story on its own.

 

I thought Evie had given me all the works but that was before she took me to spend a weekend with her niece Beverly and her husband Jeff up way north to the Santa Cruz country in Boulder Creek. Boulder Creek is the home of the world famous red woods trees of California, the tallest and oldest trees in the world.

 

 

Upon arrival, Bev showered us with gifts some of them very personal which was more than I could handle emotionally. As if these was not enough, she hosted us to a lavish dinner of really sea food like the ones we see in the adverts of the Tamarind restaurant in Mombasa. After dinner, we were spoiled with a body message by Sarah, Bev and Jeff’s daughter. Thinking this was enough for one night, Jeff gave me 3 hard cover business books, one of which I had read its review in our local newspapers back home in Kenya and wanted to buy it but it was very expensive. And now I did not only have that particular one but two others by the same author and another one by a different author.

 

In this part of the world, many people are collectors of various things which they are very passionate about. Jeff collects first edition of very famous books on a wide variety of topics. He shared these collections with me and of very notable interest, one book written by Albert Einstein, a first edition of the year 1879' in a very perfect condition. I was very surprise to see such an old book but done so beautiful and so well. Jeff handles his books what we call TLC and to even allow me touch and feel them with my clumsy hands was more than I could handle. World religion is a pet topic for him and he is very knowledgeable about the fundamentals of various religions. I learned quite a lot from him on this very sensitive topic.

 

Unlike Santa Barbara and Las Vegas where it was very hot both day and night, Boulder Creek was cold especially in the evenings. These particular Saturday, it had rained and was quite cold and so I was given the royal treatment which we only read about, and is
enjoyed by who is who in our society and notable well known kings and queens, prince and princess. Getting a Jacuzzi bath, my first time ever and wow! did it feel good? The following Sunday, Jeff took me mountain hiking. Leaving Bev and Jeff was the most difficult part of that weekend.