We left Carlsbad at 7:45 AM and arrived at Santa Ana at 9:15 AM.
After a little snack we went to the Bowers Museum.
We took the audio tour of “Warriors, Tombs, and Temples”, an exhibit of the Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties of China.
The museum has on display Terra Cotta Warriors, Intricate miniature armies and sacred relics.
The exhibit is on until March 4, 2012.
There was one live Terra Cotta Warrior.It was kind of scary when he moved.
Our next stop was at the California Indian displays.
From there we went to the New Guinea gallery where they have many religious and for daily use objects on display.
Late afternoon we drove to Los Alamitos, our old neighborhood. We visited Elisabeth, a friend and she was our landlady.
11-2-11
Today we set up camp at the Elks Lodge in Tujunga. When we came to the parking lot at the lodge I figured that all the wood I have, plus the stroke of the hydraulic jacks on the motorhome would not be enough to level the rig.
The whole town is located on a hill and there are only a few level spots, but not at this parking lot.
The Good Sam camping guide mentioned a forest camp ground nine miles out of town.
We went by car to check it out. Unfortunately we could not find the place.
On the way home we checked out a mobile home park. They had no room for RV’s.
So we went back to the motorhome and I took another look, and parked the motorhome at the bottom of the parking lot, and was able to level it.
There is one unique house in the neighborhood. The roof of the house is wavy and has several colors. This must be an expensive roof. The balcony is built like a bridge.
In the evening I scanned the TV for stations in the area. I found thirty stations, when I clicked on them I found only one English speaking station. The rest were Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Spanish.
NBC came through loud and clear.
I started to read a new book. “ Champlain’s Dream” is very interesting reading. It tells the story of the French explorers life starting French settlements in North America.
11-3-11
It was a perfect day for visiting The Huntington Library, Art Collection, and Botanical Garden.
Some of the vegetation in the gardens was in bloom.
Part of the art gallery is the Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough, and Pinkie by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
The Huntington’s collected a lot of European art.
I like to go there about every ten years.
The Chinese Garden is new and very beautiful.
On the way home we stopped at El Molino Viejo, the old mill. It was built to grind the wheat for the mission. The water wheel is gone, but there are displays of how it looked like.
Back at the motorhome I cooked dinner while Doreen took a shower. When she was done and I was ready to serve the food the motorhome was shaking. It felt like an earth quake, but the motorhome fell off the hydraulic Jacks. I had the brake on. I think the back was too high off the ground.
The jacks were on an angle, fortunately I was able to raise them.
To avoid this to happen again I used also the wooden step blocks.
This was a lucky day for us. First, I did not get burnt when the motorhome went down. I had three pots on the stove. They went up and then settled again on the burners. The lids stayed on too.
Only the bowl with fruit fell of the table.
We also were lucky when we got to the guard house at the Huntington. Two gentlemen asked us whether we had tickets. We said no. They explained to us that this was free Thursday, but you need a ticket, and the tickets are available on line. One has to order them one month in advance.
Tickets for free Thursday can not be bought at the museum.
When asked where we came from we told them from Carlsbad. I do not know whether they thought from Carlsbad, New Mexico, but the one attendant said:”Oh, you come a long way” and handed us two tickets.
Later, when I stood at the entrance station, I noticed some people were turned away because they had no tickets.
11-4-11
It rained all night. In the morning, when I woke up, it stopped.
When we arrived at Descanso Gardens it was cloudy and it had cooled off. It was not the best time of the year for visiting the gardens, April and October are best.
The roses are almost bloom less. Some of the one thousand camellias are still in bloom. It was pleasant though to walk through the area.
Doreen wanted to eat an In and Out Burger. I checked the companies store addresses and set the GPS to an address in Pasadena.
When we got there, the man in front ordered about 45 meals. A busload of Japanese man were waiting to be fed.
The restaurant must be a very old one. There is only outside seating and there are two lines for in car service.
After eating our meals we drove to the Norton Simon Museum. The museum has a big collection of Old Masters, Impressionists, Modern Art, and masterpieces from India and Southeast Asia.
This is a large museum and certainly worth a visit.
11-5-11
Last night it was cold. When I got up it was 42 degrees F. in the motorhome. During the night Doreen was cold and I put another heavy blanket on the bed. This did the trick.
We left the Tujunga Elks Lodge at 9:00 AM and 30 minutes later we arrived at the Simi Valley Elks Lodge.
Here we have electricity, sewer hook-up and water. We have blue skies again.
At the lodge property are very large boulders.
In the afternoon we went to Moorpark, to Doreen’s niece Diane and her family. Diane’s daughter Wendy was there also, with her two month old baby. Doreen thinks the baby is cute. And Diane is crazy about her little grandson. Actually the baby is not that small. It weighed over ten pounds at birth.
Wendy went shopping three days after having the baby.
11-6-11
Another rainstorm came through last night.
By 10:00 AM it was a bit brighter and we left for the William S. Hart Park and Museum in Newhall.
William Hart was a silent movie star who starred in over 60 silent films, from 1914 to 1925.
The ranch consists of 265 acres and a herd of American Bison and other animals. The bison were a gift from Walt Disney.
The main attraction is the large Spanish style house. Hart gave the whole property to the Los Angeles County Park System.
On the walls are paintings of Charles C. Russell, Frederic Remington and other famous western artists.
There are also a lot of Native American artifacts.
His rifle collection is still there, but his handgun collection was stolen. Somebody broke into the house and took them; they did not touch the expensive paintings and other art works.
The view from the house is spectacular.
We were lucky and did not have to walk up the hill to the house. When the ranger saw Doreen with her walking stick, she told us to drive up the narrow winding road.
The two of us got a private tour of the property, since the tour guide did not want us to wait the 15 minutes for the official start of the tour.
This of course ruined the schedule and he had to apologize to the people who were waiting for the next tour.
On the way home we stopped at yardage store. I was waiting in the car while Doreen was buying wool.
She was gone for a long time. When she came back she had no wool, only an angry face.
She had found what she wanted and when she came to the cash register, there were twenty people ahead of her. She left the stuff at the counter and walked out.
It was a wonderful day though. We work around the rain. When we got back to the motorhome it started to rain again.
11-7-11
Now we have blue skies again. We went to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.
We had been there before, but wanted to see Air Force One.
It is a very good display of the Boeing 707.
When we were here the last time they had just finished the building, less one wall.
The airplane was disassembled at the San Bernardino International Airport, and arrived at the library in six sections.
At the library it took nine Boeing mechanics ten weeks to assemble the fuselage, tail and stabilizers, engines, main landing gear and wings. The final task of painting and polishing took five months.
In the evening we had a little bit of excitement. In the toilet we have a brush for cleaning the bowl. The outside of the bowl holder was totally covered with ants.
Doreen noticed it first and was excited, not in a good way. A few ants also show up at the kitchen sink. Those we eliminate one by one. Those in the toilet required a mayor action. I got rid of them in a hurry.
I think, because of the rain in the last few days, the ants come in the motorhome.
11-8-11
We had a cloudless night again and it was very cold in the motorhome this morning. When I woke up it was 43 degrees F.
I ran the electric and catalytic heaters at the same time for a while. When Doreen wakes up it is warm and cozy. The woman in the motorhome next to us walked her two dogs at 7:00 AM. She was all bundled up. Doreen wants a dog. I do not want one as long as we go RVing. I know who would have to walk the dog in the morning.
I always wanted to drive through Topanga Canyon. Today we did it. We drove through the Santa Monica Mountains and stopped at an overlook.
When we reached the ocean we stopped a few minutes.
We drove along the Coast Highway to Malibu and then went back North through the Malibu Canyon.
At the Malibu Creek State Park we ate our lunch.
11-9-11
It was very windy last night. Doreen woke me up to bring the TV antenna down.
The temperature is normal again for the time of the year. In the morning it was 56 degrees F. in the motorhome.
Near the ocean it is warmer.
The drive through Los Angeles was no fun. We came home about 11:30 AM.
