August Part 1 ~ Lima Beans

August. I was not home. The end.

Ha ha! That's kind of how it felt! Usually August is so busy with blackberries and tomatoes, roses and weeds, reading on the shady back porch in the afternoons, monsoon rains and thunderstorms. I missed all of that this year. When I got home from four weeks in California (sounds like a dream, doesn't it?) It was sunny and hot in Utah County, mid to high 90's just like I had left at Diana and Nick's house. I was sad that I missed all of the big booming, echoing-off-the-mountains thunder that comes at summer's end. But then just yesterday I got my wish! I was so happy! I threw open windows and breathed in that damp, earthy smell of summer rain!


If I had to miss August at home though, there is no place I would rather have been! A few weeks before Diana fell and broke her hip I was feeling all sorry for Gramma Me. I ached to hold Lucas in my arms in the worst way. Alas, lack of funding and time prevented me from getting my wish. I was sad. One Sunday evening and an uneven piece of concrete on a path changed all of that. The very next day I was packing madly, trying to be on time for an early evening flight. My love to those who generously donated those funds.  The interesting thing was that Dee had a flight out to Orange county that morning to attend Junior Nationals. He was on a recruiting trip. Diana was at a hospital in Thousand Oaks because they had been visiting Nick's grandparents for the weekend, therefore I flew into the John Wayne Airport that evening and was picked up by my husband. Funny how that worked out! He took me on the quick five minute drive to Irvine where he was staying and I got to sleep in a Lima bean silo. Yes. A Lima bean silo.

NOT!!!

Here is the La Quinta Inn and Suites in Irvine, California. I never realized how big farming had once been in this area. This building is historic and La Quinta preserved and renovated it. I was fascinated!

  It is located in the same space as historic Old Irvine. This is the original Irvine Post Office which shares the same parking area with the hotel. It's a charming bungalow style. One of my personal favorites and sooo early 20th century California.

I literally turned around and took this shot of the hotel. It's a bit washed out because the sun was so bright. They even left the chutes on the outside that would load up the train cars with the beans.

Now, the interior is not for the haters of anything industrial but being a former farm girl myself, I loved it! You are literally inside of a silo.

 It's all concrete so the pipes and electrical were on the walls.

Here is a shot of where the concrete was cut to make a entryway. Did you know your sidewalks looked like that on the inside? You know...you could polish that up

 and make a pretty counter top out of it!

I stood in that entryway and took this shot of the room.

Here is the map of the facility.As you can see, there were 22 silos. They have made each one into a four story column of rooms. All of them are connected by a nice interior hallway.

I am annoyed that I did not take a picture of the bath area. Here is one I found on Google.  Those walls were finished off with drywall and it was tiled in a checkerboard white and gray with  sunny yellow accents. So fun!

I love historic buildings and the stories behind them!

I found a few more pictures online that show the property a bit better.

Look! There it is so close to the freeway but HEY!

 You're sleeping in a concrete Lima bean silo so you don't hear a thing!
Look at the farmland still in use. I'll bet this area was once ALL farmland.

The pool I had no time to use.

The breakfast room.

 It was literally five minutes from Orange County airport and very close to the pool where Dee would be working for the next week. By the way...is there an airport that has more names?
It goes by the following:
Orange County Airport
Orange County - John Wayne Airport
John Wayne Airport
Santa Ana - Orange County Airport    SNA on your luggage tag. Confused yet? That's OK, it's a pretty airport and so easy to use and all of the pilots know where to land!

The next day Nick would meet me at my silo with Lucas and the three of us would head south to the San Diego area where he needed to get back to work. Meanwhile Diana was stuck in an oncology unit in Thousand Oaks where the nurses were not used to dealing with an orthopedic paitents' needs. (Ortho was full.) It took several days and my daughter finally getting really mean for them to get a PT team to help her learn to use crutches and navigate stairs so she could come home. Never mind that her pelvis was broken in two places and she still needed surgery! That's another story for another day.

P.S. Did you know there is Lima bean art?

   

Some of it is rather disturbing!