My (Latest) Trip to California: Non-Knitting Stuff

Is everyone ready for a vacation "slideshow"? You can see all my photos and a real slideshow on my Flickr page, but here is the run down.

The original plan was to pick up the rental car and spend some time at Unwind until Jules got finished with class. However, Jules got out early, so I picked him up at the train station first. At the station, we were talking on our cell phones, trying to find each other, when the call was dropped. The next thing I knew he was hugging me.

Jules was wonderful and patient while we went to Unwind. (That trip will get a blog entry all it's own.)


This trip was to celebrate Jules' birthday. As a gift, Jules' mom put us up at the Sportmen's Lodge, which was really cool. They have a big pool, a waterfall, a gazebo, a water mill and swans.

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That night we ate at IN-N-OUT Burger. It was my first time, and it was delicious. It was so good, we went through the drive through for a late night snack on the way home. (We also got dessert from a New York style bakery.)

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After dinner we visited Jules' friend Sean (and I forgot to take pictures.) Then we went to Griffith Observatory. We saw some exhibits inside, including a giant pendulum. Outside the view was great. I had some trouble seeing through the telescope (and balancing), but I had a pretty good view of the skyline without it.

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The next morning we went to Chinatown. It was a blast.

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For breakfast/lunch, we had Dim Sum at Lucky Deli. (Take a closer look at some of the food here.) Later on, we went to another place for dessert.

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We did a little shopping while we were down there. I really wanted to buy one of these hats, but it wouldn't fit in my suitcase. (It did shade me from the sun pretty well.)

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Here's the Hollywood Hills as Jules drives down the highway. I almost saw the Hollywood sign several times, but the clouds covered it at night and buildings blocked it during the day.

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We rested up at the hotel for a while after Chinatown. Later that night, we went to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. I had chicken and waffles (of course.) Jules had fried chicken gibblets and gravy with collard greens. (I tried the gibblets. They were ok, but I didn't care for the collard greens.)

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The next day we visited the La Brea Tar Pits and the Page Museum in the same area.

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Did you know they're Sabor Toothed Cats, not Sabor Toothed Tigers? (And they look kind of cross-eyed.)

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Here's the shot of the happy couple. This is the garden in the middle of the museum. (There were turtles there too. I like turtles.)

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After lunch we visited Venice Beach. We waded in the ocean, picked up some pretty shells and saw the drum circle. We passed a street vendor selling handmade candles, and Jules bought one for me. It was very sweet.

We had to walk a lot because it was hard to find parking and we had to park far away. On the way back, we ended up walking the wrong direction for a while.

When we finally got back to the hotel, it was kind of late. After some confusion about restaurants, we went back to Chinatown and ate at Won Kok for Jules' birthday dinner. (Of course, I forgot to take pictures.) Jules had ginger squid and I had scallops. We shared. I gave Jules his gifts, a wallet and a mushroom. (I also gave him a yo-yo, but he had to wait and open on it on his actual birthday, which was the day after I came home.)

We got back to the hotel, went to bed, and got up at 5 a.m. so I could get to the airport on time. I was exhausted, but it was worth it.