Come see us in sunny CA

Life is a highway, I wanna ride it all night long.
If you're goin my way, I wanna ride it all night long.
--Rascal Flatts

Crank up the tunes. It's conference season again.
--Janet

We're on the road again. Life is sweet. While not as inventive as the RootsMagic Guys, I do still have a couple of pictures for you for as hint about where we are going. I have sweet family history there--so it's like I'm going home. I've talked about this before. I don't have to go quite as far as Lisa Alzo (she's in Slovakia and slept in her great-grandfather's house last night. I'm so excited for her. I'm sure she'll be blogging about it when she gets back.)

7878 Naylor Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90045. That's where my mother grew up. And that's where I spent the best part of my summers as a child. We'd leave poor Dad working and take off for long stretches of the summer to my Maternal Grandparent's house. I learned to rollerskate on the bumpy sidewalk out in front. We watched Winnie the Pooh videos in the back bedroom, and there is not a sound I would love more to hear today than my grandfather singing "yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me" again.

Mom was the ultimate beach babe. She went to summer school so that she and her friends could walk to the beach afterward. My best claim to fame has always been that Mom went to high school with the Turtles and sang in accapella choir with them. Beach Boys music is our family soundtrack but when I told Mom I was going to write about her Gidget days she said "whatever." Yeah. She's still got some Gidget in her.
My grandparents moved from there in 1989, but I can still smell the jasmine outside the kitchen window, wonder what the can of hominy was in the pantry, taste the bottled water that was delivered once a week, and feel Grandpa's favorite coconut cookies that stayed soft in the humidity. I even remember the zip code though I often can't remember my phone number.

One of the four generations who've ridden the Santa Monica Pier Carousel.

Today though, we have new great memories of LA. It is the site of the Southern California Genealogy Society Conference every June which has become a mecca for the blogger community. I get to see all the wonderful friends that I talk to on facebook, twitter, genealogywise and the blogs. It is alot like a family reunion, catching up with people you don't get to see enough.

I am doing 3 classes. If you are around the So. Cal area I'd love to see you at the Burbank Marriott. I'm teaching How to Interest Your Family In Their Family History from 3-4pm on Friday. Digital Archiving from 8:30-9:30 Saturday morning, and Easy Online Genealogy Chart Creation with Family ChArtist from 2-3 on Sunday. And of course Kim and I will be at the booth too. Come say Hi.

Lisa Louise Cooke sent me this too:
Hi Janet,

Hope you're doing great. I just wanted to send you a quick note and see if you would be wiling to let your readers know about the free live Genealogy Gems Podcast <www.genealogygems.com> we'll be presenting at Jamboree on Sat. June 12 at 1:00 in the Pavilion. I've got some great guests lined up:

• Maureen Taylor, the Photo Detective
• Suzanne Russo Adams, Ancestry talking about her research on Who Do You Think You Are?
• Chris Haley

I put together a 2 minute video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlZM_Xjcrwk

We're going to be giving away lots of very cool prizes throughout the show too!

And Daniel Horowitz is back on his West Coast Genealogy Tour II. You can
learn the latest technology developments going on at My Heritage and receive a FREE copy of the software "Family Tree Builder" at his lectures.

It's going to be a blast. I'll keep you posted with pictures and such.