Los Angeles Area - November 2015

11-7-15

We left Eureka at 9:00 AM.  Our destination was Mary Beth’s house in Fairfield.

Doris and Mary Beth were supposed to fly tomorrow from Sacramento to San Diego. I had planned to bring them to the airport and then continue slowly driving south. The two women wanted to have a good time, for a week, in down town San Diego. After the week I would have brought Mary Beth to the airport in San Diego and Doris and I would have spent the next two weeks in Los Angeles and San Diego.

But we have to change our plans.

When we were in Willits, getting gasoline for the motorhome, Doris got a call from Mary Beth’s daughter. Her mother had a stroke and is in the hospital.

We continued our trip and stopped at the Buddhist Monastery in Ukiah for a vegetarian lunch.

We love the food at this small restaurant and try to eat there when we are coming through.

Our next stop was Mary Beth’s house. We parked the car in the driveway. Then we met Mary Beth’s son in law at a storage facility. We had a four foot by six foot picture and a four foot by four foot picture in the motorhome.

Mary Beth sold one of her houses in Eureka and wanted us to bring both pictures. I was worried that the glass would break. I had pillows on the floor and behind the picture, and held it to the kitchen furniture with a large bungee cord. The smaller picture was on the bed.

After the delivery we went back to the house and parked the motorhome. We stayed there for the night. This was not a good start for a vacation.

11-8-15.

In the morning we went to the hospital and visited Mary Beth. She looks good and has most of her speech back.

Tomorrow morning they will send her to a regular room. Right now she is in the extensive care unit.

From the hospital we went back to the house, hooked up the car and left for Bakersfield.

We arrived there just in time to have dinner with Nelda, a friend from the WIN’s. Jo Ann, another WIN, was visiting her too.

Nelda lives in an assisted living facility. The four of us had a wonderful meal and a good conversation.

We had the motorhome parked on the street, in front of the retirement home. Jo Ann told us she was staying there for the night, so we decided to stay too.

Yesterday, when we left the gasoline station in Willits, the burglar alarm went off in the car. There was no place to stop and we had to drive for a while until I could check it out.

When we tow the car I have to leave the doors unlocked to avoid the alarm to go on. There must be a better way; I have to try different things.

11-9-15.

We arrived at the Santa Clarita Elks Lodge just before noon. After lunch we drove to Simi Valley and visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.

I had forgotten my camera. So Doris took some pictures and I took pictures with her camera.

The camera I have in the car had dead batteries and the library store did not sell any.

The library is located on a high hill and one has a good view into the valley below.

Posters on lamp posts greet visitors.

At the entrance is a statue of Reagan and Nancy.

Every Presidential Library has a copy of the Oval Office.

We boarded Air Force One. Several docents are stationed inside the airplane and explain things and answer questions. When the president was traveling the officer who carried the football was with him. The football is the briefcase with the codes in case of a nuclear war.

On the wall is the history of all the airplanes used by the presidents. The latest is the Boeing 747. I remember when I worked on the DC-10 and McDonnell Douglas was trying to win the contract for the Air Force One.

At the library is also a Presidential helicopter. We had our picture taken before we went through it.

A section of the Berlin Wall is also at the library.

One section of the library is dedicated to Regan and Gorbochey and their meetings.

A steel beam from the twin towers in New York s a reminder of this tragedy.

I was riding again with President Regan at his ranch.

It was dark when we left the building and we could see the lights in the valley.

President Reagan is resting at the library grounds.

11-10-15.

We went to the Getty Center today.

The Museum is located on top of a high hill. A tram picked us up at the parking facility and took us to the top.

There are not only paintings on display, furniture is there too.

The Getty has paintings from all the major painters.

In every room of the different galleries is a guard on duty. I talked to one and he explained to me how the Getty got this work of art. A man bought this painting at a garage sale for $ 200.00. He brought it home on top of his van. His wife told him that he bought an expensive picture. They took the painting to an auction house in New York. When those people saw the painting they got excited. It was a missing painting, nobody know where it was. The Getty paid several million dollars for it.

The name of the paintings is fitting to what occurred.

The view from the museum is fantastic.

Some of the statues are life like.

The old masters created paintings which could be photographs.

We went for a while in the garden. In the spring they are more beautiful.

After some fresh air we went to the gallery where they display modern paintings. This is Van Gogh’s Irises.

Paintings from Paul Cezanne  and other painters are also in the gallery.

We spent six hours at the Getty Center, which is not enough. It takes several days to see everything.

11-11-15.

I am wearing T shirts again. The weather in Southern California is so agreeable. Last night it was cold. It was 40 degrees F. in the motorhome.
We are at now staying at the Glendale Elks Lodge.

Today we went to the Huntington Library and Botanical Garden in San Marino.

We started at one of the buildings where the history of science was exhibited. There was a Gutenberg Bible and The Canterbury Tales.

The progress of medicine was also on displays. A large light bulb collection was in the building.

Copernicus got in trouble with the church because he claimed that the sun is the center of the universe. The church made people believe that it was the earth.

We went to the 55,000 square foot mansion of the Huntington’s. Only several rooms are still in existence, the rest is a museum.

The two main paintings of the Huntington Library are Blue Boy and Pinkie.

A large stained glass window closes a former hallway.

Kitchen and bathrooms were removed and became display areas. Large tapestries are on the wall of the mansion.

The grounds are very beautiful.

There is a very large rose garden.

The Japanese Garden is one of the most beautiful I have visited.

Four hundred employees and volunteers keep this wonderful place running.

We stopped for a while at the Lily Pond.

The desert Garden has plants from deserts all over the world.

On some of the plants are signs not to eat the berries because they are poisonous. The berries on this plant look like grapes.

The bamboo forest is very large.

We spent four hours at this place and could have stayed longer but they close at 4:30 PM.

11-12-15.

Our first stop today was El Pueblo de Los Angeles. 

We visited Olvera Street, the first street in Los Angeles. It is a narrow street with Mexican little stores in the center of the street.

We toured the Avila Adobe, one of the oldest houses on the street. The house is spacious, but families had many children and I believe there was not much room.

From Olvera Street we walked to Chinatown.

There are many Chinese stores on Broadway Street.

Our next walking stop was Union Station. It is a giant building and I can imagine how busy it was when all those trains were still running. Amtrak and bus lines are using the train station now.

Then we drove to the Farmers Market and had lunch there. Doris and I bought food from different vendors and enjoyed the meal while watching the goings on at the market. I had Greek food and Doris a shrimp salad. We also bought some fruit.

From there we walked to The Grove, a shopping area with expensive stores.

There was a private party for the movie: Love the Coopers. It was an enclosed area in the middle of the street.

One of the fancy dressed men told me that some of the stars were present.

We spent money on parking today. But it was fun.

11-13-15.

This was a perfect beach day. We went to the Santa Monica Pier in the morning.

The beach was pretty empty. The water is cold now.

The pier is the end of Route 66, the Mother Road.

On the pier is Pacific Park, an entertainment section with carousel and ferries wheel.

There are musicians on the pier. They sell their CD’s and take tips.

Some people entertain themselves by feeding the pigeons.

From the pier we drove to Venice Beach where we got ripped off again with high parking fees. We paid $ 16.00 for all day parking. Two hours would have been $ 10.00. When we came to the beach we could have had a parking space for $ 6.00. On the boardwalk are stores for over a mile.

The beach is beautiful and busy in the summer.

This guy has been around many years. When I lived in Los Alamitos we came here very often and saw him. He has something like inline skates, but with two large wheels on each skate.

We enjoyed a light lunch at a small restaurant and listened to a three piece band while eating. There is all kind of music along the board walk.

This apartment building had one wall painted with a picture.

There were several Green Doctor offices on the board walk. They evaluate people for medical marijuana use. I have a feeling that everybody who enters that office gets a license for a fee.

This is a building in a side street from the boardwalk.

It took us 2 ½ hours to drive the 23 miles from Venice Beach to Glendale. Going home in Rush Hour on a Friday did not help. Going through down town Los Angeles on I-110 was at two miles per hour. I thought we never get home.

We had dinner at the lodge. We sat with some nice locals.

After the meal we danced.

Even with the traffic problems we had fun today.

11-14-15.

This was an easy day. We drove to the Observatory at Griffith Park.

At the Samuel Oschin Planetarium we enjoyed the show: “Centered in the Universe”. We sat on comfortable recliner chairs and saw the show on the ceiling.

I learned a lot about the universe, the creation of stars and the heavens.

Near the Observatory is the statue of James Dean.

The Hollywood sign is visible.

Down Town Los Angeles was visible through the haze.

Hiking trails lead up to the top.

We saw the Tesla Coil in operation.

We sat at the terrace and at our lunch.
When we came back to the lodge we noticed there was a biker wedding. Motorcycles were lined up in front of the entrance.

After a short rest we walked on Brand Street in Glendale. Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations are up.

On Caruso Street is Americana, an expensive shopping area. It was developed by the same company which created the Grove in Los Angeles. It is a very beautiful development with fountains and a tram.

It was a joy to walk there.