CHRISTMAS 2015 IN VENICE

Thursday, December 17

I flew into LAX midafternoon and was met by Brett.  Alba was in Seattle attending a meeting, but returned home late that evening.  Brett and Alba live in Marina del Rey. Their apartment is on the fifth floor under the blue overhang.

When the temperature hovers between 65 and 70, taking a walk (or two) daily is pleasant.  Brett had taken two weeks' vacation, so while he often "relaxed" riding his bike, I strolled through the nearby streets and often, out to the end of the Venice Beach pier.

There's a skate park at Venice Beach visited by many talented skateboarders.  I made it my destination where I stood to watch several times.

The fellow in brown repeatedly soared over the railing and the spectators

Venice Beach has several canals and very attractive homes line each one.

At one canal home, flamingos celebrated the approaching holiday

Saturday, December 19

We walked along Abbott Kinney Street, known for its trendy (expensive) shops and paused at a coffee shop for an espresso.  

It is from Tumbleweed and Dandelion that I sometimes order candles.  It was interesting to see the "brick and mortar" location of a store I see only on the computer.

Sunday, December 20

In the car for one of many outings, we went shopping to purchase items for their kitchen ... a crockpot, some pans, utilitarian knives .. Christmas gifts from me.

Monday, December 21

Brett spent the morning shopping and when he returned, wrapped Alba's Christmas gifts while she was at work.

He had the bows and insisted on using them all

Wednesday and Thursday, December 23-24

  

Dinner at A J Spurs Saloon

Our first trip out of town was to Solvang. On the way, we stopped in Buellton to have dinner at A J Spurs Saloon, an old west-style eatery known for its meats cooked over an oak pit BBQ. Check the size of those hamburgers!

Hotel Corque in Solvang

Solvang is a pretty town described as the Danish Capital of America.  We had a leisurely morning walking around the town and then had breakfast at Paula's Pancake House. 

Stripes and plaids, so what?

Our day continued with a four-hour drive to Ojai, an occasional motorcycle destination for Brett, through high desert before turning to mountains, curving roads and scenic, wooded views.  While in Ojai, we paused for coffee and then shopped for items for Christmas dinner.

Friday, December 25

A present for ME!

Alba has a thing for Nutella.  And now she has a Nutella cookbook!

A cartop carrier for her surf board

Dinner prepared by Alba with Brett's help

Merry Christmas....

An after-dinner walk to the jetty

Saturday, December 26

The drive today was south to Irvine where Brett and his staff of landscape architects create parks for the nine communities of Great Park Neighborhoods. I wanted to see the jacaranda tree that is the focal point of Beacon Park.

Me (and Brett) in the treehouse!

Big kids can play on the equipment, too.  (Alba won.)

The pedestrian tunnel under the street

Sunday, December 27

Today we drove east and passed several "Windmill farms" on the way to Palm Desert.  After checking in at our motel, we went to Joshua Tree National Park. As the sun began to set, we took a walk up a trail and snapped a few pictures before darkness arrived.  

One of many "windmill farms"

I was captivated by the stones within the stone

Monday, December 28

From our motel in Palm Desert, we drove 30 minutes to Palm Springs. Although weather was predicted to change, we were able to take the rotating Aerial Tramway 2.5 miles to the crest in Mt. San Jacinto State Park.  It was cold and paths outside the station were icy, so we didn't venture out to follow one of the several paths.  But the views from on top were outstanding.  On our return to the valley floor, visitors were being turned away since it was now too windy to operate the tram.

Thursday, December 31

I returned home.  What a great trip it was!  I got to know Alba and spend time with her and Brett.  The time we spent together was important to me since Brett and I, and now Alba as well, live so far apart.  Thanks to Brett for orchestrating our trips and driving.  Alba offered to take a turn, but Brett wouldn't let go of the wheel!  I hope they enjoyed my visit as much as I liked being with them. Hopefully more adventures will be shared.

BRANDON AND SOPHIA - 2015

January

Sophia was 12 in November of last year.  This January, Brandon was 15.

Now he's 15!

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

A week before the first game and Brandon decided to go skateboarding

September

Sophia is in the 7th grade and Brandon's a sophomore

October

November

She's a teen!

December

A memorable December --  Brandon got a car for Christmas and Sophia's braces came off after 4 years!

BRANDON AND SOPHIA - 2014

This was the year of the big trip, a cruise to Alaska and 3-day add-on for the 6-hour bus ride into Alaska's interior.  Lots of photos taken then, which are posted on the Alaska 2014 Travel Tales link, but photos taken throughout the other months of the year were sparse.

January

The cover photo, taken on the cruise, for the 2015 calendar 

March

Sophia's now 11.  Brandon was 14 in January.

May

July

During the cruise, on the way to dinner

September

Sophia's in the 6th grade, Brandon's a freshman.

GEOCACHING ON EASTER SUNDAY

I first learned of geocaching from an internet friend, Theta Brentnall, who lives in California and travels frequently with her husband, Gerry, in Cleo, their RV. At many stops they geocache, go in search of "treasures" hidden by others.  Once discovered, the finder signs the log that is in the cache, and then returns the parcel to the same hiding place for the next person to find.  These coordinately of these caches are noted on the geocaching web site and can be plugged into GPS-equipped tools to aid in the search.

The weather here has improved to the point I can go out and walk again. Scurrying along the same old road, past the same houses can be done quickly, but it's also boring. I hit upon the idea that I could walk and search for something and the time would pass quickly and I'd have a goal. I don't have to do it every day, probably won't, but it would be fun to do with Brandon and Sophia, and Dawn and Bob if they're not at work.

Today is Easter Sunday and the weather was forecast to be sunny and 70. Perfect to try geocaching if the kids, Dawn and/or Bob were up to it. There are three caches in Jackson Bog, two of them along the shore of Shady Hollow Lake.  And that's where we went.

Brandon had loaded the coordinates of "Make a Wish" and "Pride Rock" on his iPhone and acted as our guide, selecting the proper offshoot to take when the trail forked. The first location was "Make a Wish" and the clue was in code with the solver beneath it. Decoded, it read,  "Look inside stump at ground level. Cache is a pill container painted black."  There were two stumps in the area. The hole under the first was empty. At the second stump the first hole checked was also empty; the second, cache found!  We laughed at our success, signed the tiny log inside the container, snapped pictures and then returned the container to its hiding place.  

That find happened so quickly into our search that we immediately headed on to find the second cache. This hint said "Off the beaten path melon size rock." A second hint when decoded said, "Look for a rock on a log," Simple enough.  But there were lots of trees and many were horizontal. We made our way through sticker bushes, over fallen trees and around thickets without finding the melon-size rock. Obviously it wasn't where we expected it to be. Then we looked on the other side of the trail, and found it right away. Two searches, two successes!

 The rock, found.

The cache contained several items, including a special travel bug.

Signed the log book on behalf of all of us and Bob left $1 bill.

We planned to hike back to the car over the Bog's boardwalk, but failed to find it and were too tired and hungry to keep looking.  

Our finds have been logged on the geocaching web page.  Some people have thousands. We have two. But there are many more in the area and we will be out searching again soon!  And time permitting when any of us are out of town, sites there can be searched as well.