SUMMER
Besides the mountains and the impossible house prices, the other thing that makes California so different from Florida is the weather. Tomorrow is the first day of July and we haven’t turned on the air conditioner. In fact, this morning had the same kind of chill I remember from family camping trips to North Carolina.
FAMILY VACATION
Speaking of family trips, June was especially full of fun because my sister Karen, her husband Tim, and boys Nicholas, Tyler and Cameron were out here for three weeks. They spent a week with us in LA, then drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco, went over to Yosemite National Park, came back to Glendale for a few more days and flew home. It was the trip of a lifetime and we were glad to be a part of it.
SPORTS
The family treated us to our first game at Dodger Stadium. It was a terrific night with two double plays, stolen bases and a game-winning home run in the 9th inning by Hee-Sop Choi. The park was terrific, the crowd was good-spirited, and the weather was perfect.
Daryl even got to sample the #1-rated Dodger Dog.
Miniature golf is kind of vacation tradition with my sister’s family, so we ended up playing in Sherman Oaks and Anaheim. We had a blast at both of them and I believe the Anaheim one was rated #1 by the Travel Channel even though the traffic roaring by on the Freeway was intense at a few of the holes. The first place has three courses and the second one has five.
http://www.laparks.org/shermanoaks_castlepk/index.htm
http://anaheim.golfland.com/
THEME PARKS
We actually spent the day at Disneyland Resort. Thanks to our good friend Linda Kirwin [and FastPass] the family got to experience The Matterhorn Bobsleds, Soarin’ Over California, The Magic of Disney Animation, it’s a small small world, Mulholland Madness, Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin, Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. All before 5:00pm.
FILM
I have to thank Nicholas, Tyler and Cameron for sharing Napoleon Dynamite with us. We thoroughly enjoyed this weird little film that won three MTV Movie Awards. We quoted it the whole time they were here. We also went to the historic El Capitan Theater in Hollywood to see the Hayao Miyazaki film Howl’s Moving Castle. The theater and the film were both awesome. This past Sunday, we had a family movie night and watched the new version of Freaky Friday. (We recommend all three titles.)
The next day, we were able to tour the Walt Disney Studios. We visited the Disney Archives, strolled the Disney Legends Plaza, ate lunch at the Commissary, and took a family picture at the corner of Mickey Avenue and Dopey Drive.
CULUTRAL ATTRACTIONS
That afternoon we headed to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art [LACMA] to experience Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs. Los Angeles is the first stop--check the website for other tour dates: http://www.kingtut.org/. The items were amazing and the exhibit was laid out well, but the crowd detracted from that quiet sense of awe I was anticipating.
We saw a much quieter exhibit when we visited the Los Angeles Public Library. There was a California history collection, a photography exhibit and all these wonderful murals throughout the building. Take a look at how cool this building is:
http://www.lapl.org/central/art_architecture.html
HISTORICAL LANDMARKS
We did the movies stars homes, the Hollywood sign, and the Chinese Theater, of course, but we also took the family to a small street in Studio City where the Brady Bunch house still stands.
We had dinner at Bob’s Big Boy of Burbank but spent more time in the parking lot. Built in 1949, this restaurant hosts a classic car show every Friday night. There were some amazing cars on display with engines so clean you could eat off of them. You might have seen this particular Bob’s in the films Heat and The Spy Who Shagged Me. Find out more at http://www.bobs.net/renovation/renov.html
We stopped at Cabazon to visit the roadside dinosaurs made famous in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. Sadly, these kitschy roadside relics are now owned by a religious group whose website preaches about home schooling and the fallacies inherent in Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. They even sold dinosaur T-shirts with the phrase “By design not chance.” We adults scratched our heads at the politicizing of these landmarks but the kids didn’t seem to notice.
THE OUTDOORS
After visiting the dinosaurs, we went on to Joshua Tree where my Uncle Carl gave us a swell tour of the high desert, Pioneer Town, and the local Harley Davidson shop. And as great as all that was, I suspect that what the kids will remember most is the two hours we spent pushing each other in a rolling office chair across my Uncle Carl’s patio. It started casually enough, but the next thing you know, there was this competition to go faster across the patio, to spin the chair while it raced across the concrete, and to remain in the speeding vehicle as it left the playing surface and hit the dirt. Did we get hurt? Just a little. Was it fun? Ridiculously so.
EARTHQUAKES
On Sunday, June 12, at 8:40AM, we had our first earthquake. Nicholas thought someone was shaking the couch and Daryl thought someone was trying to get him out of bed. The rest of us knew it was an earthquake. We were here in the apartment, which shook like your car does when you drive over a bumpy road. The windows rattled, the plates clinked in the cupboards and then it was over. Four days later the same thing happened while we were at work….on the 9th and 17th floors. It was the same sensation with a greater feeling of actual danger.
STAR SIGHTINGS
In addition to seeing Alan Thicke at the Tut exhibit, Karen saw Marilu Henner at an Angels game and Daryl ate lunch at California Pizza Kitchen next to Mad TV [and Comedy Warehouse] performer Paul Vogt.
VISITORS
June started out with an impromptu visit from my oldest sister Gail and her son Mathew. The were driving from Oakland to Central Florida, as Mathew has a new job in Longwood. They were only here for the one night, but it was great to see them.
The same goes for seeing Chris Clark last night at Disneyland. We caught up over dinner at Downtown Disney and then headed into the park to see the new fireworks show, to which we all gave a big thumbs up.
OTHER STUFF
Believe it or not, there’s lots more to share, but it’s almost midnight, so I need to close. The July Recap is just around the corner. In the meantime, why not drop us a line about what you‘re doing this summer. Have a great weekend!
James
