Mini Vacation in L.A.

This past Wednesday Wendell took Brandon out to CalTech in Pasadena, CA to get settled in to his dorm.  I flew out that evening and Wendell and I went sight seeing Thursday and Friday while Brandon attended his orientation classes.

 

Griffith Observatory – you have to go here if you’re ever in the Hollywood/L.A. area.

 

Wendell sitting next to Einstein at the observatory.

Cool display of the planets at the observatory.

Random 50’s cafe off of Santa Monica Blvd where Wendell and I ate one night.

 

Los Angeles Temple.  Wendell and I did a session there on Thursday.

 

Afterwards we drove to Santa Monica and up the Pacific Coast Highway.  We got there just as the sun set.

Cool bridge off of Colorado Blvd in Pasadena, CA.

Stupid traffic in L.A.  This was taken as we were trying desperately to get to the airport Saturday.  Took us two hours to get from Pasadena to LAX (approx 20 miles).  Thankfully we had allowed ourselves a lot of time to get there or we would have been in trouble.  Our flight was at 4:45, so we had reserved the car until 2pm so we could be at the airport the requisite 2 hours early.  We left around 12:45 to give ourselves what we thought was plenty of time.   When Wendell picked me up from the airport Wednesday night it only took 35 minutes and that was with what I would consider normal rush hour traffic in Houston (except that it was 9pm!!).  Anyway, we got there about an hour before the flight.  Just enough time to sit down, de-stress and then board the plane.  The flight wasn’t full so we got the row to ourselves!

Labor Day Weekend – a little late

My dad called me the week before Labor Day and invited me to come down to Galveston.  My Aunt Sharlet, who I haven’t seen since I was 6, was in town and had rented a beach house on Jamaica Beach and wanted to see me.  So, Wendell and I packed a few things and headed out after church.

We had a good time.  I wasn’t sure what to expect since it had been 30 years since I saw her and my dad and I don’t  really talk on a regular basis, but it all turned out well.

 

My Aunt Sharlet and her husband Wesley.

 

Random pictures taken from the beach house deck.  The one on the right is of a little sand crab.  You can’t see him here since he’s so well camouflaged, but if you click on the pic you’ll see him just below and a little to the left of his hole.  The pic on the left is the sunrise Monday morning.

Sunday night after the beach cleared out myself, Wendell and my dad went down to the beach to go swimming.  Dad and I were talking about our time in the Navy and found out both of us, when out to sea, had seen waves that glowed.  We were trying to explain it to Wendell when all of a sudden he was like, “hey, what is that!  I see something glowing in the water.”  I thought for sure he was just seeing things, but after a few seconds you could see it everywhere when you moved your hands through the water.  It was pretty cool that one moment we’re talking about it and the next we’re surrounded by it!  Sorry, no picture.  I tried to find one in Google images, but no luck.  I imagine it would take a special camera and a lot of luck to get a pic of it.