It is Monday and the guys are in meetings all day. I told Barbara I would meet her at the gym at 9am for Zumba. I have never Zumba'd before, but I used to be a cheerleader so how hard can this be? I get dressed in my workout gear and on the way to the Fitness Center I see this guy walking around with a hawk. They use hawks to keep the pigeons at bay and I can tell you from my lunch experience yesterday that it does not work, but what a great photo!

I get to the gym and am a little concerned about the Zumba thing as I have never done it. Is it like square-dancing? Do they call out moves that I do not know how to do? I decide to hop on the treadmill instead for 30 minutes, go back to the room to shower and blog a bit (it takes time to do this!) and then meet up with my people for an afternoon of sight-seeing. The lovely Rahel has her vehicle and is going to take Barbara and I to do some sight-seeing around Newport Beach. She lives in Los Angeles and is much more familiar with the area. We talk to the concierge and decide on Newport Beach proper -- not the town, but the actual beach. We drive through Corona del Mar and Balboa, where I used to work many years ago. The Balboa Bay Club still stands, but looks a lot different these days! We keep driving until we get to Newport Beach.

Newport Beach is a lot like I remember it -- a little honky-tonky, a little crazy. Some lady in the center of the square is belting out the National Anthem. Because she can. It is December 10th and there are a ton of surfers. Dolphins are playing in the waves, but when I go to take a picture, they all disappear. The bars and t-shirt shops are busy, and people are fishing off the pier. We walk around a bit and then we decide on our next destination, Fashion Island. We are going shopping. It is Christmas, after all.

I really don't have anything to shop for, so I walk around with Rahel. She was born in Ethiopia but has been in the United States for 21 years, working as an engineer for the Navy. We chat about her life there and here. Apparently she is a perfume expert and gives me an education on scents while walking around Bloomingdales! Jo Malone Wood, Sage and Salt, and Flowerbomb are some of her top picks. We meet back up with Barbara and head back to the hotel for dinner.

Being Monday night, there is Monday night football and the Seahawks are playing, so Bob wants to watch the game. Party of five at the hotel restaurant in front of a very large television set. Tomorrow is our last day in California, Bob is off (he will be on the phone a lot) so we are going to rent a car and drive up and down the coast. San Diego and back. Be sure to check in.