September 17-19, 2014

September 17, 2014

This was a day for catching up on all those things we've been wanting/needing to do.  Steve washed and waxed the Jeep, I vacuumed and did some cleaning and laundry, then bathed and groomed Precious.   We also had some time for Steve to nap and for me to sit on the beach alternately  reading and watching the surfers.   It was a good day.

Steve and Corky napping.  

Looking good Precious!

September18, 2014

Happy birthday today to my wonderful daughter, Vanessa.

We had a quiet start to the day, again getting chores done and tending to the dogs.  We left for LA about 1:30 and had a good trip back down the Pacific Coast Highway.  When we reached Santa Monica, we turned onto I-10 (the westernmost end) and were immediately immersed in traffic that was going 10-15 mph.  What a mess!  It took us over an hour to go about 10 miles!    This, I suppose is what it is like to get around in LA.  We finally got off of I-10 and onto an downtown street and into more heavy traffic, but it was at least moving faster than the freeway--maybe 20 mph.  We arrived at the Miracle Mile, or Museum Row as it is also called, and parked in a lot that charges $2.40  per 15 mins. with a max of $19.20!!  Gotta love it here!

At least we were right across the street from where we wanted to be...the La Brea Tar Pits.  What a fascinating place this is!  The first thing we learned is that the tar pits are actually asphalt pits.  Who knew?  The place is a gold mine of Ice Age fossils, and the Page Museum  displays  the most complete skeletal remains of wooly mammoths dire wolves, giant camels, mastodons, and many other extinct species, all of them recovered from the pits.  It seems that the animals would become stuck in the warm asphalt, predators would be attracted to their struggles and also become stuck, etc.  As the asphalt cooled and hardened, the animals would be wonderfully preserved.  For example, there are more than 404 dire wolf skulls displayed in the museum, but they actually have more than 1600 skulls that have been recovered.   This is a wonderful museum, with 2 movies and lots of exhibits.  Of special interest is the fishbowl laboratory where scientists are actually working on finds from the pits.

Extinct bison...larger head and hump than present day.  

Nagele's giant jaguar.  

On the grounds the various pits are fenced off, but very visible to the public.  Pit 91 is a working dig where you can watch the archaeologists actually digging and  cataloging their finds.  The Lake Pit has a display of a mastodon family with one member stuck in the asphalt.  There is still asphalt coming to the surface and methane bubbling up in the lake.  We also saw a film crew working on the grounds, but when I asked I was told that they were just working on "something for the city."  We didn't recognize the actor in the lab coat.

Pit 91

Mastadon family in Lake Pit.  

Film crew on the at the Tar Pits.  

 We spent some time wandering down Wilshire Blvd. before meeting our friends Fred (James) and Joel for dinner at Marie Calendar's.   It was such a lovely reunion.   Fred is a former drama student of mine who is working in the business now, and Joel is one of the funniest comics as well as one of the most spiritual artists I have ever know.   We had such a good time and such a good dinner!  It ended too soon, but at least we had missed the rush hour and the trip home was not as traumatic as as the trip into the city.

Fred and Joel

A happy reunion.  

September 19, 2014

We needed a day to recover from LA traffic, so we took it easy today.  We did find a nice shopping center in Camarillo, then discovered the wonderful Camarillo Premium Outlets, one of the biggest outlet malls I have ever seen.   We found  Nieman-Marcus, Sak's Fifth Ave., Gap, Banana Republic, Tommy Hilfiger, North Face, Columbia, Under-Armor, and Crocs outlets among many others.  What fun!   I bought several things, but Steve was strong!

Back at the RV we took the dogs for a walk on the beach and saw sea lions swimming among the surfers (who did not notice them).  We leave for Hemet tomorrow, but will miss this pretty beach and the huge waves breaking over the rocks.

Our big news is that out of all the shows in LA that I requested tickets for, we only had received tickets to THE PRICE IS RIGHT, which we decided to forego.   I was disappointed that I wasn't going to get to see a live show (bucket list) but getting on the wait list for other shows paid off at last.   We got tickets to our very favorite TV show, DANCING WITH THE STARS!  We will have to leave the muster in Hemet on Monday to see the show live, but it will be worth it.   Can't wait!

Look for us Monday night, September 22!