A Debbie Adventure That Flopped - Not Once But 7 Times!!!

It was a beautiful spring day and I just couldn't bear to be working inside helping my client and friend Denise sort through piles of paper so I came up with a brilliant idea...road trip!

After having lunch and talking about the wonderful spring flowers I got to sharing how beautiful my bouganvilla was with it's vibrant red leaves, especially when the sun hits it in the early morning. And then, the idea struck...it was time for a Debbie & Denise Adventure to a place unknown to Denise...the largest bouganvilla display in California, located in Glendora.

It was a place I had visited 5 years earlier with some co-workers and it was time for a return visit since this is the time of year when bouganvillas are in full bloom.

I also found a way to declutter on our road trip. We loaded up boxes of papers to sort thru and as I drove to Glendora, an hour's drive, Denise sorted through her papers. It was win-win...an adventure and decluttering all at the same time. Brilliant, if I do say so myself!

As we drove along the way Denise decided to play 20 questions to find out where we were going. I told her she would never guess because hardly anyone knows about this treasure created in the early 1900s but I let her try anyway. It was great fun. She asked great questions, but alas could not guess our destination.

Along the way we stopped at an open house in Pasadena. It was a great Spanish style home built in the 1920s and we had fun looking in all the nooks and crannies.

We finally made it to Glendora and the bouganvilla street (the display is about 20 different bouganvilla bushes that have grown to probably 100 feet tall) planted along a couple of streets. I was so excited to arrive because I was expecting to see an explosion of color lining the street based on how my bouganvilla was doing. To our utter amazement there were hardly any blooms. Most of the bushes looked like their died. You can only image my disappointment. We had a great chuckle at how much I was anticipating the display of color only to find dead vines! This was Flop #1.

Since we were in Glendora I decided to retrace my steps of my previous trip with my co-workers back in 2005. (You can read the story below.)

There is a castle in Glendora but I could not remember where it was located so we skipped that part of the tour. As we approached the downtown area I was telling Denise about this house painted marine blue with an anchor and tiki bar in the front yard. We found the house and discovered that the anchor was gone and the tiki bar area was replaced by palm trees. Flop #2.

After we had a chuckle about that I took her to the Villlage Eatery to have a slice of Red Velvet Cake. To our amazement the restaurant was closed. I peaked in the window and was just feet away from amazing Red Velvet Cake, but alas this was Flop #3.

I then decided to call my friend Patty to drop by for a visit, and as you probably gussed, she was not home. Flop #4!

Plan B, C & D...Amazing donuts at the Donut Man. The Donut Man has these amazing stuffed donuts...totally unhealthy but oh so good. We meander our way to Route 66 and the Donut Man, and, of course, they are closed. Flop #5

Batting 1000, we decided to turn and head for home. After a leasurely drive down Route 66 I make one more valient effort for our Debbie & Denise Adventure...one of my favorite restaurants in the Pasadena area...Julianne's. As we pull up to the restaurant....can you guess??? Of course, they're closed. Can you believe on a Saturday night at 6:00pm they're closed. You should have seen the look of disappointment on my face. Flop #6.

There is a funny side note to Julianne's. I did see some staff in the bakery side of the restaurant so I went up to the door and asked if I could at least buy a couple of carmels (they have the best!) After pleading she said OK. I quickly ran and got my money and she gave me the carmels. It wasn't until I got back to the car that I noticed that she gave me the marshmallow with a thin carmel coating. It was good but not what I wanted. Flop #7!!!

After savoring the sweet treat we decided to call it a day and drove home.

It was still a Debbie Adventure but with a different twist. That's what's so great about Debbie Adventures...you never know how they'll turn out.