Where In The World Have We Been?

It's been almost two weeks since my last blog post.
Howard and I have been among the missing.

Where?  Here are some clues.

We went here:

 And visited here:

 Took a look at this:

 Visited in a land where things . . . 

 . . . are not always what they seem to be!

 Braved fiery explosions:

 And the jaws of a shark!

Witnessed some guy named Norman stuff a body in the trunk of his car:

 Howard made a new friend.

 Howard also got snapped buying Cinnabon sticks.  Evidence.

 He redeemed himself by rescuing his daughter from a fake shark.

Now that's a Dad.

 So I'm thinking you are probably guessing where we have been.

California!

Including Los Angeles.

 Santa Barbara.

And the odd little town of Solvang, which seems to be mostly owned by

Scandinavians, and the Chumash Indian tribe.  

 "Mom, it's a tourist trap," said our daughter Alida.

"Perfect," said I.  "I am a tourist."

Note the bag, full of cheesy souvenirs.

So what about those first pictures in this post?

We spent a Saturday afternoon at the Santa Anita Racetrack.

The first horse Howard placed a $2 bet on crossed the finish line riderless.

The jockey fell off.

True story.

You are allowed to laugh, as the jockey was not hurt.

 Santa Anita is a beautiful Art Deco-designed track, built in the 1930s.

The new HBO series "Luck" is being filmed there.

Our daughter Alida and son-in-law Josh, studying the racing form.

They came out ahead with their $2 bets.  Smart-aleck grad students.

Santa Anita, in Arcadia, is not far from Pasadena, where we had spent the morning.

At the Greene & Greene designed Gamble House.

Yes, I stole this shot from the Gamble House website ...  click here.

Pasadena is Mecca if you love Arts & Crafts style homes, from sprawling houses

designed by famous architects, to modest bungalows.  Wonderful town.

If you visit the Gamble House, ask the docent to let you walk

into the butler's pantry off the kitchen.  It is perfection.

Now what does it say about me, that I loved the butler's pantry with its walls of cupboards,

so beautiful in their simplicity and usefulness, 

more than I loved the living room, or the moody stained glass panels around the front door?

I may not want to answer that one. . . .

***********************************

We visited California primarily to visit these two people:

Alida and Josh.  You may remember them from the 47-thousand pictures

of their June 2011 wedding that I posted.  All. Summer. Long.

They live in Los Angeles, and are excellent tour guides.

Here they are at the La Brea Tar Pits museum complex.

Did you recognize the 3rd picture from the top?  The fragrant Tar Pit!

We timed the trip to coincide with Howard's birthday, and Alida's.

Our daughter may be officially a grownup, now 26 and married, but she still does things like this:

That's a Giant Sloth, friends.  The one not wearing green pants and a yellow shirt.

Did you know that camels once roamed Los Angeles?

The things you learn at the Tar Pits . . . amazing.

Universal Studios was way more fun than I thought it would be.

Sometimes, it's just good to be a tourist, and do the tourist-y things.

Santa Barbara, where we met up with friends, was gorgeous and all you have to do

is park me by salt water, and I am a happy camper.

Solvang, where we stayed for a couple of nights, was a hoot.

But with all the things we did, I think the most pictures

we took were of the things we ate!

Really.

I'm going to save some of those for another post,

because this one has gotten to be like your boring neighbor's vacation slides presentation.

But food?  Who could be bored by food?

Next time, our California food, plus stories of how we broke into a closed restaurant,

the sailing trip that may or may not have been with a homicidal maniac,

and -- the apple fritter that got away.  Sigh.

It's good to be home again at That Old House, and New Jersey greeted us
with a dusting of snow when we got home, but our trip was a blast.

Back to reality! . . . Cass