Day 10 - Last Day in LA

We met Kaitlyn and Jon a little after noon and headed to downtown to visit Old Town LA, which is a hispanic area. It was packed and we walked up and down the Mexican Market. We ate at a nice Mexican Restaurant and drank Sangria.

We then walked over to Union Station to see the architecture. It was also decorated by Mary Jane Coulter - just like La Fonda and La Posada. The building looked original with lots of tile and mosaics. There were overstuffed big chairs in the waiting areas. However, we didn't see where the old hotel would have been.

Getting tired from all the touring and the weather has been constant drizzle since we arrived in LA. Kaitlyn and Jon assure us that it's just our luck this week and that there is indeed sunshine in this city at times. I'd like to see come back when there is. Guess this might be the start of the rainy season here on the west coast.

Fly out early tomorrow and are leaving for the airport at 5:30. Enjoyed our road trip; but, it will be nice to be home again.

Day 9 - Saturday in LA

We met Kaitlyn and Jon for Breakfast at a nice coffee shop. Afterwards, Kaitlyn walked us around UCLA. The campus is very nicely landscaped and the buildings have a sort-of Moorish look to them.














Here's a picture of the inside of the UCLA Library.


















Here's a picture of an Inverted Fountain on campus. Instead of water going up in the air, the water goes down like a waterfall. Super-cool!

We then went to the Farmer's Market and a mall beside it called the Grove. It was packed! We had a very late lunch/early dinner at the market.

Later, we went to the Getty Museaum. It was dark already, so no photos. But, it was very pretty and expansive - it's supposed to be a great place to view the city at night. It was very foggy and misty tonight, so not a good day for photos. We had a coffee and light fare, then toured the garden, which looked very interesting, and we saw lots of plants we weren't familiar with. Ken took photos of the snails coming out after dark :-). Lots of couples here at night - good date place, I guess. I'd love to come back here during the day to get a better view of the gardens.

Day 8 - LA

Since it's Friday, Kaitlyn couldn't meet us until after classes. So, we walked from our hotel to Century City Mall. We had a nice breakfast of espressos and french pastries.

After breakfast, we drove only about 6 miles to the La Brae Tar Pits, in the middle of LA!! It looked like a park - nicely landscaped - and had a big museum of bones of ancient animals recovered from the pits. We didn't have the time to tour the museum, but were fascinated by the tar pits. There are over 10 of them, I think. The largest one was about the size of a pond - others about the size of a swimming pool. They smelled and looked like tar. The were constantly bubbling as gases rose up from the bottom. Sometimes the gases actually burst up from below bellowing green gases.

We met Kaitlyn after lunch and went down to Santa Monica beach. We walked down the fishing pier where there were lots of shops and an amusement park. Afterwards, we walked around the Santa Monica Promenade - several blocks of pedestrian streets with lots of shopping, restaurants and music. Jon met us after his classes at Cal Tech and we ate crepes followed by gelato. It was especially pretty after dark and the streets were lit up.

People seem very nice here - friendly and very hard working. I haven't seen very many unusual people - and I haven't even seen one person with a tatoo or body piercing.

Day 7 - Barstow, CA to Los Angeles, CA

We left early this morning from Barstow and visited the Calico Early Man site. This was very interesting. Guided by Lewis Leakey until his death, this site near an ancient lake is believed to have been used by ancient modern man, hunter/scavengers, from 18,000 years ago and earlier. Until this site, science did not believe humans lived here prior to Clovis Man - around 12,000 BC - modern men who were wiped out (or their culture) during the last ice age. Not a lot to take photos of. The name comes from the nearby Calico Mountains, due to their wide range of rock colors.



The trip to LA took about 2 hours. Traffic was heavy, but kept moving going into the city. It looked a lot worse going out of the city. We were amazed by the heavy yellow smog cloud hanging over the whole valley. Look at the line of yellow in this photo..


Met up with Kaitlyn at UCLA. That area is full of small shops and lots of places to eat. Very pretty. Hate riding in the car. Too much traffic and too fast. I get lost easily and can't navigate at that pace.

Day 6 - Wenslow, AX to Barstow, CA

We stayed at the historic La Posada, a Mary Jane Coulter decorated Harvey House hotel. It's been restored and the atmosphere is super!











Here'a a photo of our room...



We left late because we took so many photos and walked around this small town a bit.









We found the "standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona" statue and Ken took my picture beside it.









On the way to Barstow, we stopped at Wupatki Hopi Pueblo ancient site. West Arizona and into California are very barren. Looks like TV westerns. Air is very dry. Drinking a lot of water and using lotions. It was 98 in Barstow yesterday. :-( Gi

Day 5 - Santa Fe, NM to Wenslow, AZ

We had a nice breakfast at a French Bakery & Creperie. Here's a photo of the place.













We left Santa Fe without taking much time to look around. We visited the Bandalier Pueblo site (near Los Alamos) and planned to return to visit the city. But, we enjoyed Bandalier so much we stayed too long. Here's a photo of Ken climbing a ladder to look into one of the cliff dwellings.

We ate lunch there and headed off to Winslow. It's a beautiful day.

Day 4 - Amarillo, Tx to Santa Fe, NM

We visited the Pecos Pueblo site today, which we really enjoyed. I found my first artifacts lying right beside the trail. Here's a picture of them! They are pieces of pottery made by the Pueblo Indians. Unfortunately, neither Ken nor my conscience would let me keep them, so I put them back






We arrived in Santa Fe fairly late. Most of the shops were closing and we were getting hungry. We shopped a bit and Ken bought a few belts. Here's one of the rooms in the lobby of the La Fonda.











We got a before-dinner drink at the rooftop bar at La Fonda and got a great view of Santa Fe. Here's a photo of Ken relaxing. Dinner at the restaurant was very nice, but we ate too much. Wish we had booked an extra day here. Will have to come back. I just love how all the buildings - public or private - are adobe!!!













Here a picture of our room at La Fonda...

Day 3 - Van Buren, AK - Ooooak-La_Homa, Amarillo, Texas

On the way from Van Buren, Ken decided to take a detour to Honey Springs (Civil War) Battlefield Park. Since it's Sunday, it didn't open until 1pm. The ranger there was very nice. Ken took pictures, but resisted going down all trails. Still took an hour and half, not counting the time for it to open.

I asked Ken to pull off at Cherokee OK, to stop at the Cherokee Trading Post. There were signs all over and I knew it was a tourist trap. I was disappointed that nothing in the store was made by local Indians. Asian Indians, Mexicans, and Chinese. Even the woven baskets were made in Pakistan. So avoid this place if you ever go thru Cherokee. Would have liked to have seen more. This is the home of the 4 Civilized Indian Nations, which include Shawnee and Cherokee. I don't remember the rest. Lots of casinos, which appear to be very successful for the tribes.


Arrived in Amarillo, Texas about 10:30pm...again. Would like to get to the hotel a bit earlier.

Day 2 - Nashville - Memphis - Van Buren, AK

Unable to meet up with the Hoods for dinner - just didn't make Nashville in time. Left Nashville very early; lunched at Memphis (Rendevous Ribs);











listened to some music;














and walked around town a bit. Then traveled through most of Arkansas today. Weather nice, but a tad warm in the low 90's.

Day 1 - Richmond to Nashville

Packed a lot into Kaitlyn's little car. It has more room than you would think! We had a nice breakfast at Panera and headed out.

Here's a picture of Gerold Ford, all packed up and ready to go...