California Re-cap, part 2

I realized, while speaking to a friend of mine today, that I've been home for almost as long as I was gone. And I haven't been at all good at writing it all down. Tonight I'm going to give you as much of my trip as possible. If it feels overly packed in and busy... well... that's kind of how it felt last week, too.

Tuesday - Christopher and I had our first solo car-driving day. Luckily, we only had to go a little way, then hopped on a ferry to go 26 miles west (yes... that's across the water)  to Catalina Island. We spent the day enjoying what it's like to wander around a tourist destination when it's off-season. We walked up around the Casino building, took a very 1950s "Glass Bottom Boat" tour, and generally lazed about. After drinks and dinner overlooking the harbor, we turned in. Oh. We stayed at a place called the Glenmore Plaza Hotel. It's an old hotel about a half block off the beach, just a few steps from an ice cream store, a pizza place, and an art gallery. The staff were wonderful. The view was great. The floors were... well... they certainly weren't level. But the place was nice and easy to get to and from. 

Wednesday - Back from the Island, we headed south down Highway 1 to Mission San Juan Capistrano. I'd seen the mission referred to as the "Jewel of the Missions" but had never been there. The Mission exceeded any of my expectations. The buildings are interesting and the gardens are gorgeous. We traded the Mission for the Pier later in the evening when we went to dinner in Santa Monica at a restaurant on the 3rd Street Promenade, then walked out to the end of the famed Santa Monica Pier.

Thursday - This was our day on the move and on the freeways. We started our day meeting up with one of my brothers-in-law where he works at Sony Studios in Culver City. He gave us his insider's view of the lot, although he kept pointing out that there wasn't anything overly spectacular to see, just being there was amazing. From there, we headed up to the movie-picture-iconic Griffith Park Observatory, with its amazing view of the Hollywood Sign and the LA skyline. We drove home half on surface streets (passing parts of the Walk of Fame, as well as the LaBrea Tar Pits), and half on some of the most notorious stretches of freeway (the 405, southbound, at about 4pm). That evening, we collapsed with the whole family, take-out from Panda Express, and -- after eating Chinese food and some really good birthday cake -- we enjoyed a nice quiet evening.

Friday - Our last full day in Los Angeles was, in fact, quite full. We had breakfast with a friend of Christopher's, then headed into Disneyland so that I could celebrate my 42nd birthday with a free day at The Happiest Place on Earth. Appropriate for Christopher's first time in the park, as well as for a day celebrating both my past and my future, we wandered the park and rode on all of the "old standbys." We started at the top of the Matterhorn, adventured with Alice and Snow White, and even spent time in the Enchanted Tiki room. Much like the trip to Catalina, it was a day where I was flooded with memories, while also celebrating the present and future. 

Saturday - Packing finished, we returned our rental car and headed for the airport and home to Minneapolis.

Yep. It was a whirlwind week. Tons of fun. A little exhaustion. And the perfect way to transition from one year into the next.