Battling the Inland Heat

We got a slow start today. It is still so flipping hot. This is not the Camelot weather we are supposed to have here in Southern California.

We made it worse by heading inland. Instead of the cool moving breeze off the ocean we headed northeast to San Gabriel, CA, near Pasadena to visit the San Gabriel Mission. I am on a quest to see all 21 missions and this is my 8th one.

San Gabriel Mission is the 4th Mission founded in 1771 by Father Junipero Serra. He hoped to turn over mission management to the local Shoshone indians (Gabrielenos) but due to secularization in 1833 it didn't happen. In the 1900s the Claretian missionaries restored the mission and church and continued to reach out into the community with compassion.

This mission, like all of them, is a small city. It contains its own wine press, candle-making, tannery and other provisions. The grounds themselves are a little undermaintained but the simple beauty of the mission shines through.

After soaking up all of the history of the mission we continued to brave the heat and travelled to the LA Arborteum in Arcadia. This 127 acre botanical garden was founded by EJ Baldwin. Who bought the desert land with visions of an oasis. He proceeded to hand plant much of the property and received many of the varieties of plants as gifts from around the world. One distinct feature of the property are the peacocks and peahens that roam freely throughout the park. I was hoping to see one display its feathers but they weren't having it. Perhaps they were too hot as well.

I knew we were in trouble when upon arrival we learned that they were not running a tram today, it seems the roads are under construction.

So we proceeded to start walking in 100+ degree weather around the grounds. Did I mention it's 127 acres of stuff to see. Yea. In triple digit weather with humidity. I think we're high on siteseeing and don't know when to stop. So our first tour was through was African garden. All I remember is desert hot.

20 minutes in and ours collective wagons were a draggin'. My mom soaked her shirt in the water fountain and it was dry in about 15 minutes. Yep. Hot.

So we persevered and went into the tropical garden. It was thick with foliage and a smidgen cooler. Unforunately it came to an end all to fast. We pressed on toward the Queen Anne Cottage, which was also home to Fantasy Island. It's a beautiful victorian home with a lush rose garden and pond nearby. Very beautiful. Still hot.

My mom gave up at this point, flagged down a maintenance man on a golf cart and headed back towards the entrance. Maybe we should have taken heed from the fact that the aboretum was virtually empty upon our arrival.

Dad and I tredged on to see the waterfall. Only we make it there to learn that due to high temperature there is no water. At this point we're parched and wondering if we're going to make it back to the entrance. I have visions of a search and rescue team having to come find us. We'll be on the news as the idiots that trapsed around the gardens in 120 degree weather. It didn't help that none of the water fountains worked. They turned them off. What the heck. We nearly died out there for heaven sakes.

We only ended up seeing about half of it before we gave up. But the grounds are stunning, even though a lot of the plants are dormant or dead in the weather. I can't wait to go back when more is in bloom and it isn't so flipping hot.

We haven't had enough heat we head towards Ontario to have dinner with my cousin Sammy. We're going to meet him at the Ontario Mills Mall. We opt for BJs Pizzeria and the air conditioning. Praise God for air conditioning and water.

The Bard in the Gardens

On Saturday I got see Erika and spend time at one of my favorite places on the planet, The Huntington Gardens. We went to their annual Shakespeare Festival. It was the Bard, on his birthday weekend, in beautiful surroundings.

Actors from Shakespeare at Play were performing scenes in various locations around the gardens. They were amazing. For some reason it's much easier to understand Elizabethan English when its performed outside.

My favorite player was one named Derek. He was talented and hot, what a combo. We just wandered around from performance to performance with no agenda just enjoying the scenery.

Other Elizabethan activities included a May Pole, minstrels, and lectures. It felt like we stepped back in time. I highly recommend it next year.

But the real fun was just hanging out with Erika. We sat for a long time in the Japanese garden and just talked. That was the treat of the day.

Rose Parade

I have lived in Southern California for 14 years and decided it was about time see the Rose Parade.

I wasn't however prepared to sleep on the street overnight. I am beyond the age where that is fun, and I'm not a camper. So Ty, Steve and I decided to get tickets to in November. The best seats were taken so we got seats for 1880 E. Colorado, which is about 2/3 of the way through the parade route.

We got there really early and were shocked to see all of the RVs, campers and trash. People had air mattresses, fire pits, tables and tables full of food and were very bundled up.

I was happy to have my ticket to the grandstands. We got to our seats at 6:30 a.m. The parade started at 8 a.m. and would not be by our area of the route until 9 a.m. It was freezing. We were shoe horned into our seats, bonded with the total strangers that were forced to invade our personal space bubble and had a fantastic time.

It is amazing, nothing like watching it on tv at all. The energy of the crowd. Seeing those beautiful floats up close is unreal. They are so much more colorful and beautiful in person.
One thing I did miss were the commentators, there were so many people on the floats and we had no clue who they were. I'm sure they were important but their presence went unnoticed.

To fill in the gap our very hilarious neighbor Dave read from the program and gave us the history on each float. Then we added our own color commentary making it very fun. However, we had no trouble recognizing George Lucas. The crowd went crazy when he went by.

Unfortunately, our seats were located right after the band performing area so we got them on the down beat. It was funny most of the people around us had been band geeks, including me, we were looking for solid marching skills since there weren't playing. Some bands were amazing but many others were out of step. As a member of the peanut gallery we were giving them scores. But we were at about mile 3 of 5.5 I'm sure they were very tired.

I had such a good time with Ty and Steve. We laughed a lot. Clapped a lot. Yelled a lot. If you decide to go I recommend that you buy your tickets early and get a seat close to the beginning or near the television cameras so you can see more of the performances.

Surf, Turf, Art and Ice Cream

Today, Jen and I decided to load up the CR-V and head North. Not too far, just to Pasadena and LA.

We didn’t really have a plan. All we knew was that we wanted to go to the Huntington Gardens to see the rose, Shakespeare, and Japanese gardens, priceless works of art in the Boone Gallery, and my favorite, the sculptures.

Every time I visit the Huntington with someone new I make them pose like one of the scultpures. I think it’s great fun. Unfortunately I think we chose one of the hottest days this summer to walk around. It was like 115 degrees, seriously.

Once we roasted ourselves sufficiently Jen wanted to see Old Town Pasadena, since she’d never been. Neither of us can read a map so we fumbled with the Thomas Guide to try and figure out how to get from San Marino to Old Town. We finally found it and by accident also discovered the fabulous Colorado Street Bridge. We were stunned as we rounded the corner to see it and literally stopped traffic to get a picture, it is beautiful. Then we just wandered around the back streets in the quaint Pasadena neighborhoods with all the Craftsman houses. It was fun.

By this time we were starving, and rather than eating in trendy Old Town we headed west to LA to my favorite restaurant, Versailles on Venice Blvd for Cuban food. It is quick service, reasonable prices and amazing food. Ok, so I always order the same thing. I’m sure there are many tasty treasures on the menu but I love the garlic chicken served with black beans and white rice. I only get to eat it every few months so I savor every bite. Besides I end up smelling like garlic for about two days.

Then we headed down to Venice Beach to the boardwalk. Unfortunately we couldn’t find a parking spot, cause apparently everyone else in Southern California was thinking the same thing we were - it’s cooler by the ocean. So we just ended up driving through Venice and Marina del Rey.

Somehow we ended up on Washington Blvd that winds through Culver City, home of Sony Picture studios and a darling downtown that makes you feel like you stepped back into 1955. It is very clean and hard to believe it’s minutes from LA. So after a stop at Cold Stone Creamery we began the long trek back to South OC.

What a fantastic day.

Bible and the People at the Huntington

Today Joanna, Erika and went to the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena to see the new installation The Bible and the People in the Boone Gallery.

This new exhibit traces the evolution of the Bible from the 11th Century through today. The written Word of God started hand-written art only available to a select few. While the pages were beautifully adorned the books, chapters and verses were inaccurate and out of order. The most reliable translation was what was passed down from priest to his congregation through an oral message of memorized passages.

We watch its transformation from an isolated word to one possessed by millions. The invention of the printing press exploded the ability to actually have your own copy. It was now something everyone could own in their home, not just visit on Sunday. Now there are many translations, kinds and it exists in most every language on the planet.

It's a fascinating study of how this one book has transformed and metamorphized to meet the needs of those who read it.

After visiting the exhibit we had tea and wandered through the rest of the gardens visiting the new children's garden , checking out the new conservatory and our favorite, the rose garden.

I highly recommend tea at the Huntington, for about $15 you're treated to three different kinds of tea (China Caemon is delicious), and a tasty buffet of cheese, crackers, little sandwiches and all kinds of desserts.

You'll need the walk around the grounds to work off your tea and the rose garden is the perfect place. One of the great things about all of the unexpected rain we've had lately is the flowers are back in bloom. We noticed some unusual names for roses - like mischief, bridesmaid, and sexy girl. Sounds more like screen names than flowers but hey who am I to judge??

So we decided to name some of the roses as follows:

• Erika named a beautiful orange rose - comquat joy. Just because she likes the sound of it.
• Joanna called a stunning pink rose - Oops, because when you make a mistake you blush that exact shade of pink.
• I named the ever popular red rose - Atonement (most of the time a girl gets a red rose is because some guy messed up).