This past June, Tim started having every other Friday off with his work schedule, so we decided to start making an effort to do more interesting things on those off Fridays instead of staying home and watching TV or playing video games. A few weeks ago, we did a family trip to the Huntington Library since my siblings also happened to have the day off and my parents are perpetually on vacation (hehe). Despite having lived in Southern California my entire life, I’d never been to the Library! The Library was originally on a plot of land owned by Henry Huntington and his wife, Arabella Huntington, that they lived on in San Marino, CA. He was a railroad magnate, and both he and his wife were big collectors of art, which is now the basis for all the art collections featured at the Library.
We went early on Friday (it opens at 10 AM on Fridays), and parking was a breeze. Admission was $25/person or $21 with a student ID. On weekends, it is a few dollars more. There were a lot of summer school groups at the time and I was concerned when we were paying for admission, until I realized how HUGE the grounds of the Library were. It is actually comprised of multiple museums, the library itself, tons of gardens, and restaurants, so there is no issue with crowding or too many people.
A veritable desert oasis!
We started by walking south on the main pathway and then curving left on a loop that began in the Desert Garden. It was AMAZING!! If you love succulents and cacti of various shapes and sizes, this is the place for you. There is an app for the Huntington that you can input numbers along the path of get some info (although cell reception is a little poor), or else there are lots of little mini signs that tell you what you’re looking at and where it came from.
More cacti!Succulent flower – this one was called “April Dawn.”Little furry ball cacti
It was really fun pretending to be “tourists” in California. There are so many things to do that we haven’t done before (or like my parents, hadn’t been to the Huntington Library in 40 years), and it was nice to spend the day with my family. The last time we did a family vacation was over 10 years ago on the East Coast, and this was a good time!
Family photo!
We wandered through the Desert Garden and then made our way back to the main path to check out the Lily Ponds. There weren’t that many flowers, but the lotuses that were there were really pretty!
Turned towards the sun!Turtle power!
We left the Lily Ponds, and then kept walking through the Jungle Garden and Subtropical Garden until we reached the Japanese Garden. I think the Japanese Garden and the Chinese Gardens were my most favorite part of the entire trip! The bamboo was really tall, and there were these winding elevated wooden pathways through the forest until it reached a bonsai garden, and then past that, a little bridge by a waterfall, and then finally, a replica house of a traditional Japanese house.
Chinese Elm bonsaiTim inspecting the Zen Garden with all its bonsai!My pop and Ben. If you go down those steps and across the bridge, it leads to the Japanese house that you can see in the doorway.Mom and Pop next to the guardian lion dogs!Traditional Japanese houseBridge in the Japanese Garden
After we strolled through the Japanese Garden, we continued on the high path overlooking this little ravine area that had tons more plants and grassy areas with a bridge crossing the stream.
The Chinese Garden was less foresty and more about interesting structures over a pond. There was a restaurant within the garden that had dumplings and noodles and had our mouths watering. The seating area was in the glass and wood pagoda-style house that was quite aesthetically pleasing too!
The seating area for the restaurant styled in a traditional Chinese wayThis doorway reminds me of Mulan.. hehe. Pond behind the structures. It was a really pleasant day!
After we walked through the Chinese Garden, we came upon the Conservatory. This is where the Corpse Flower lives! Inside the Conservatory, it was super warm and humid–maybe around 88 degrees Fahrenheit and about 97% humidity. The Conservatory also has separate rooms so you can feel what it is like to be in a rainforest, a cloud forest, and a carnivorous plant bog.
They have multiple Corpse Flower buds that were growing (the biggest one was growing almost 6 inches DAILY!), but nothing had bloomed yet. When it blooms, it can be as tall as 8 feet high and emits this smell of rotting meat. Too bad we didn’t get to sniff it! Hehe.
Scentennial, the Corpse Flower, with my dad in the background. Hehe.
At this point, everyone was getting really hungry, and we had plans to see the Gamble House as well, but it was getting too late in the day, so we decided to just finish the other museums and see the Gamble House on another day.
We walked over to the American Art Gallery directly across the lawn from the Conservatory, and it ended up being a sizeable museum for what seem quite small on the outside. Something to note is that water bottles of any kind are not allowed in any of the museums (so if it doesn’t fit in your bag, keep that in mind because they make you leave it at the entrance if they see you holding it).
Walking into the American Art Museum
I actually didn’t take that many pictures in this museum, but it did have an interesting room of American Arts and Crafts-style wooden furniture and home decor made by the Greene brothers, two very popular architects that made their mark in Pasadena from the early 1900s to the 1950s.
Next stop was the mansion, which is the Huntington Art Gallery, where most of the European art is held. This is the actual mansion that the Huntingtons lived in, so it has a library that was Henry Huntington’s original office, as well as dining rooms, living rooms, and salons. The big attraction here is the restoration of the artwork, Blue Boy, by Thomas Gainsbourough. It is currently being restored due to damage from age, and guests of the Library are able to watch an artist do the restoration live. It was a fun thing to tour a mansion from the Gilded Age, especially if you are into that era, and it was very reminiscent of mansions in Europe, and the influence is unmistakable.
The final stop of our trip was the actual Huntington Library. When you walk in, the first thing you can see is the Exhibition Hall. It has a little bit of everything on display for you just to get a taste of what the library has to offer, ranging from all periods of time and eras with all types of media. The big things to offer are a Gutenberg Bible, an original Chaucer story from the Canterbury Tales, and an original copy of Shakespeare texts.
One exhibit I found particularly fascinating was a history of maps of the world, showing maps from the early 1600s when men were just beginning to navigate the globe. It was especially interesting because as decades passed, you could see the maps developing from a mysterious blob of the Americas to more and more details that eventually became something recognizable to today’s maps.
Janejira Thai Bistro
After we finished in the Library, we ended up going to get some dinner in downtown Pasadena at Janejira Thai Bistro. Our original plan was to go to Nine & Nine Thai Kitchen next door, but actually they didn’t have much space to seat a group of 6 since it was lunchtime on a Friday, so we went a little down the block. The food there was pretty good as far as Thai food goes! The lunch specials were really hearty for a decent price (I didn’t even take pictures because everyone dug in before I could!), and the Thai tea was delicious. After lunch, we split up and that was the end of our first “Tourist LA” day.
In the 1960s, Tim’s grandpa built a cabin himself in the mountains above Bishop, CA, in the small town of Aspendell. Named after the many little groves of aspen trees all over the area, Tim’s grandpa spent a lot of time at his cabin fishing, hiking, and enjoying the scenery of the Eastern Sierras. Unfortunately, I never had the privilege to meet his Papa John, but he was loved dearly by many and respected by even more. One of his final wishes was to have his and his faithful dog, Boss’s, ashes scattered at the base of Cardinal Peak by his sons and grandsons in a very clearly marked spot.
We drove up to Aspendell on a late Wednesday night after Tim’s work and my school with minimal stops. Last year, we made a weekend trip to Lone Pine and Whitney Portal for a siblings attempt at Mount Whitney, so I had seen a lot of the scenery before and I wasn’t too bummed about missing the sights of the drive.
The drive was a peaceful one–very few people were on the road, and all the stars and the Milky Way were visible as we cruised up the 395 and then headed up the mountain to Aspendell.
The next morning, all of Papa John’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren gathered together to remember him for a moment before the scattering of the ashes.
All the cousins!
Pap John loved the Eastern Sierras and Aspendell so much that he took a picture of Cardinal’s Peak and circled exactly where he wanted his final resting place to be.
No easy task to reach the peak!
This is a view of Cardinal Peak from the General Store.
While the sons and grandsons went up the mountain, the rest of us waited down at the field below to observe their progress. Among all of us, we had a single pair of binoculars, so we spent a lot of time trying to pick out the small figures climbing up the steep grade squinting and saying, “I think that’s someone?” or “There they are! … but I can’t tell who that is!”
Look at that little rascal!!
When they finally reached the top (maybe an hour and a half later), they walkie-talkied down saying, “We are releasing the ashes,” and then it was done. It was a pretty emotional moment, especially for those closest to Papa John.
After the summit to the base of Cardinal Peak was completed, the six hikers returned to camp, recovered, and then we had our memorial lunch at the Cardinal Valley Lodge where everyone who wanted to got to share something about Papa John.
Tim and his brothers. Can you tell they are related?? Hehe.
All the boys
Tim’s dad with his siblings – the three children of Papa John
After our lunch festivities, we all hung around a little longer, and then everyone split up to their respective lodgings. Tim and I decided to go fishing with his dad, and on the way, we stopped at Papa John’s original cabin that he had built in the 1960s. It was a nostalgic moment for Tim, who hadn’t seen the cabin since his grandfather sold it, but still remembered all the fun times that he had when he had stayed at it. Apparently, not too much had changed.
The original cabin!
Tim’s grandpa loved bird watching! This is a birdhouse that he had built and mounted almost 20 years ago.. And it was still there!
After taking a quick peek at the cabin, we headed to the reservoir to try our luck at fishing. The day before, Tim’s dad had caught a few trout, so we were hoping for the same.
A lesson on how to attach a worm to a hook
Action shot!
We fished for about an hour and a half, where I learned to cast a fishing line and Tim decided he wanted to buy a fishing pole and go fishing more often. Hehe. It was quite nice to spend time with Tim’s dad and just enjoy the silence and the nature and the relaxation that comes with fishing in a lake.
A boy and his father
The rest of our day was pretty uneventful–we had dinner at the cabin with just Tim’s immediate family, made s’mores, and then turned in for an early night.
The next morning, Andy had the idea of having all three brothers run from the 395 highway back up the mountain to Aspendell–a mere 17 miles. Tim’s dad dropped them off at 6:30 AM and followed them as they ran, making sure they were hydrated (and still alive. Hehe.). Tim conked out after 12 miles, and Jeff after maybe 14 miles. Andy was the last brother standing as he ran back to the Cardinal Village Resort and arrived sometime later.
Once everyone got back, we made some hasty goodbyes and headed home to pick up the doggies and stop for a quick diner breakfast in Bishop at Jack’s. Whenever Tim has done a long run, he almost ALWAYS wants a huge plate of American breakfast–usually some kind of omelette with a huge stack of pancakes. Today was no exception. Jack’s pretty much fit the bill of American breakfast diner fare to a T.
It’s funny how similar Bishop feels to the town of Lone Pine. Last year when we went to Lone Pine, we ate at an American restaurant that felt almost IDENTICAL to Jack’s. I think a lot of these small mountain towns on the eastern side of the Sierras feel very similar in look and feel. Hmm.
Jack’s Restaurant and Bakery
Because I like to collect stickers to put on my suitcase and Tim likes to put metal signs up in the garage, we stopped at the 395 Souvenir Store to pick some up, and then began the 4.5 hour drive home.
Ben’s birthday just passed, and this year, the siblings decided to go to San Luis Obispo for the weekend! Last year for his birthday, we did a Siblings in Seattle over the long weekend, and this year we ended up having a little more of a relaxed time driving up to the coast to Central California. Since this was technically Ben’s birthday weekend excursion, we picked SLO because it was his old college town and he wanted to revisit some of his old hangout spots.
Stop #1: Goleta, CA
We spent Friday night at Casey’s in-laws’ home in Goleta, CA. Tim was really enjoying the drive and pointing out various local spots since he lived in Isla Vista for two years during college. The home we stayed at is in the hills above Goleta and has an avocado orchard on the property. We arrived after dark, so it was hard to see the surrounding area, but the next morning, it was a really nice day!
Hass avocados from the orchard. So delicious!!Ben and Casey striking a pose!
After a delicious breakfast, we headed to church in Santa Barbara. We stayed for the service, then said goodbye to Casey’s in-laws, and then it was on to the next stop.. Solvang!
Walking through the courtyard to the main chapel area.
Stop #2: Solvang
Welcome to Solvang, the Danish capital of America!
We north on the 154 highway past Lake Cachuma and past the Chumash Casino (one of Ben’s old card hangouts back in the day), and then arrived at Solvang. Parking was pretty difficult to find–there was a lot of street parking and some free public lots, but it looked like lots of people thought it was a good Saturday afternoon to visit Solvang.
The whole time before go to Solvang, I actually thought it was Dutch (haha..) before we got there, and I was quite surprised to find that it was ACTUALLY Danish. I was looking forward to having some Dutch fare to remind me of Amsterdam.
I had been to Solvang once before when I was young, but the only thing I remembered were the tandem bicycles and the 4-person Surrey bikes as well as the windmills. With that being said, Solvang was pretty much what I remembered it to be. Hehe. There were lots of windmills around, Danish facades on the houses, and a lot of tchotchke shops and other random souvenirs.
Hans Christian Andersen bust in the center of town! (if Tim isn’t blinking, then Jane is!)
One really cool shop worth a visit is the Renaissance Antiques shop. It’s full of really interesting antiques and musical boxes that they will play upon request! The coolest thing I saw was this Virtuoso Violin, which is essentially a player piano but for violins (though after just doing a quick Google search, it turns out it was invented in 1998.. -_-).
Right near the village green on the cornerFull of really cool stuff!
After the antique shop, we visited the Hans Christian Andersen museum, which ended up being an upper floor of a puzzle/bookshop. This is definitely a skippable stop–I literally walked up, poked around a bit, and walked downstairs. I think this is really for kids maybe 10 and under.
Ben and Jane waiting for Casey and Tristan to finish up the museum
We were all getting quite hungry, especially since it was maybe around 2 PM, so we started heading towards the Mortensen’s Bakery, which is one of the “must-sees” of Solvang. Across from the bakery, we first went into the Solvang Spice Merchant shop, which was a cool little shop with an array and large selection of different spices and rubs.
Ben pointing out some spice!
I ended up buying a Santa Maria Red Rub–it will be a tasty rub to try on a steak or tri-tip when summer rolls around. I love collecting things when I travel, but as I’ve gotten a little older and traveled more, I stopped buying most souvenirs except: smashed pennies (I LOVE collecting these! Especially from other countries!), herbs and spices, and snacks. Sometimes I will purchase artwork if it seems like it would fit in our Bear House, but mostly it ends up being snacks.
At this point, we were REALLY hungry and in search of food that wasn’t going to cost us an arm and a leg. Since Casey and Tim are both vegetarian, we can’t always just eat wherever since we like to give them more choices than just a veggie burger.
Right near the bakery in a small mini plaza was a cluster of restaurants, so we headed over there. The place we chose was called Fresco Valley Cafe which, despite its blah exterior, was surprisingly delicious and excellent value. I was torn between the tuna melt and the seared ahi burger, and I ended up going for the ahi burger. It ended up being quite tasty, and the fries were exceptional. Tim and my sister split a veggie sandwich and grilled cheese entree, and according to both of them, it was delicious!
Seared ahi burger and fries. Yum!Tim’s half veggie sandwich and half grilled cheese. The grilled cheese had some toasted Parmesan on the outside that made it crunchy and savory.
After that, we headed back to Mortensen’s Bakery for some overprice Danish desserts and pastries–though to be honest, they were pretty good, and how many times are you actually in Solvang? After this trip, probably not that often. Hehe.
Mortensen’s BakeryCasey, Tristan, and Ben displaying their pastries
After the pastries, we headed back to our car to drive 2 miles to the next stop…
Stop #3: Ostrich Land, U.S.A.
This was a quick hop back on the 246 Highway, and then a quick left into a gravel and dirt parking lot. This was a really pretty tree-lined stretch of the highway, and then you pull into this parking lot with high 8-foot fences so you can’t see the birds at all without paying the fare.
The ticket to get into Ostrich Land was $5, and $1 for a little dog dish with a handle full of pellets to feed the birds. To be honest, it didn’t look like much from the outside, and I was beginning to doubt my suggestion to stop here. There was a line of about 20 people out the door waiting to pay, so we got in line (in the gift shop) and checked out some ostrich memorabilia while we waited.
At this point, it was maybe around 4:30 PM, so something to note is that a lot of online reviewers mentioned getting there earlier to feed the ostriches when they were still hungry, and that later in the day, they get pretty full. Knowing this, we opted out of buying any ostrich food, since a few people had returned their food bowls since the birds weren’t feeling very hungry anymore.
Talk about a rough exterior!
After we paid, we walked through the door past a few ostrich and emu infographics to see this!
Those are some big birds!
Apparently, ostriches full grown are about 9-feet tall and have eyeballs the size of tennis balls. Although the tennis ball thing sounds a little bit too large, they were pretty gigantic birds.
Looking at the emus, I could see how they might be related to dinosaurs somehow. They had this weird, wild look to them (more than the ostriches, anyhow) and looked a little frightening.
The emus were terrifyingIt was huge when it stood up!
Something funny happened while we were at the ostrich farm: while everyone was standing around checking them out (there were tons of families with small children, adults of varied age, and teenagers), one of the big ostriches started making this really weird guttural sound with this throat. It had been lying there, and then all of a sudden it stood up while making this noise, so of course everyone rushes over to that pen to see what it was about to do. It stood up, and then all of sudden, something large (and obscene) unfurled from behind the ostrich, and splorted right on the ground. Everyone was like, “what is that… huh??… EWW!!!!” It was both disgusting but simultaneously hilarious, as everyone gave a collect, eeeeEEEEWWW!!!
Needless to say, this incident created a great deal of ostrich jokes for the rest of the trip. Hehe.
After this quick stop (probably no more than 45 minutes or so), we headed back onto the 246 Highway to the 101 Freeway to our next destination.
Stop #4: Pismo Beach
Our next stop was Pismo Beach! We drove to the downtown area, got lucky with beach parking, and headed for the Pismo Beach Pier. It was getting close to sunset, so it was a really nice time to be at the beach. It was more crowded than usual (or so I was told), but it was also Memorial Day weekend.
Tim posing for me
The pier walk was really pleasant, and there were lots of families strolling around, as well as fishermen casting some lines to catch some fish.
My favorite modelGroup photo (minus me)Ben took this picture for us!Look out!!!Pier shot!
After walking around the downtown area, we headed back to our cars and drove the last leg of our drive for the day to San Luis Obispo.
Stop #5: San Luis Obispo
We got to SLO and then checked into our suite at the Embassy Suites. After we relaxed, enjoyed their happy hour in the main area, we went to downtown SLO to meet up with one of Ben’s best friends from college and groomsman, John. Ben gave us a mini driving tour of SLO as we drove to dinner by showing us the taco place he used to eat at (though it used to be called something else), the first apartment he lived in his first year, the apartment he lived in for the rest of his years at school, and the Taco Bell that makes a ton of money since it’s the only place open after midnight anywhere.
While we waited for John, we checked out some of the little shops and walked over to the Mission San Luis Obispo. A few years ago, Casey and Tristan made it their goal to visit every single mission in California (which they did). Tim and I don’t have the same desire. Hehe.
Something I always think about whenever I go to Europe (or other countries too) is how old the buildings are in the cities. These buildings are hundreds if not 1,000 years old, and yet the locals walk around them like they don’t even notice it! The oldest buildings in California are probably the missions, and those are probably only around 300ish years old.
I guess if you were used to seeing old buildings and structures every day as part of your commute, you’d probably stop noticing them. Hmm.
Tristan throwing up a shaka in front of the mission!
Afterwards, we met up with John at Firestone Grill. This is one of Ben’s favorite (if not THE favorite) place to eat in SLO. He didn’t even have to tell me that; if ever tri-tip sandwiches comes up in conversation, inevitably Ben will mention the tri-tip sandwiches from Firestone and how nothing can beat them.
A lot of people evidently share this opinion, since when we got there, the line was probably 40 people long and out the door into the courtyard. The line goes really fast, and there is a lot of seating, so it wasn’t too bad of a wait. We luckily snagged a table inside since it was getting chilly and waited for our food.
The price at Firestone is really excellent value–when they give you a basket of fries, it is a BASKET. The sandwiches were HUGE and probably like 6 layers of tri-tip on a super crispy (and yet soft) buttery french roll. Tim gave the veggie sandwich two thumbs up and devoured a ton of onion rings. Pictures don’t do the food justice, so if you are headed that way, just take my word for it and check it out. You won’t be disappointed! After dinner, we were all pooped, so we headed back to the hotel to sleep.
Stop #6: Hearst Castle
Our next stop on our trip was… the Hearst Castle!! I really enjoy this place, and no trip to the Central Coast would have been complete without stopping here. Prices are decent too–if you buy a ticket on site (no time reservation), it is $25; if you buy on on Recreation.gov, it is $25 + $8 for a online fee.
When we were younger, I want to say I was around 8 years old or so, our parents took us on a 4th of July trip up to Hearst Castle and Monterey Bay. I remember this trip as being such a cool roadtrip, as we drove up in our family sedan (my parents never bought a minivan), and checked out the area. My father is a general contractor that designed and built our family home himself, so I think he really loved the aspect of the Hearst Castle that Hearst had this dream to build a huge house on a hill that overlooked everything in his own little kingdom, and especially the fact that Hearst just went for it and fulfilled his dream.
I think visiting the Hearst Castle when we were younger might have sparked my brother’s interest in architecture as well, and it was just a really great memory. When Tim and I have kids, we’re definitely taking a roadtrip up here!
The drive from SLO to San Simeon was a rainy and gray drive through several sleepy beach towns, and really relaxing. So relaxing that Tim told me to stop playing gentle piano music because it was making him sleepy. Hehe.
Driving through Cayucos. Pretty quiet on Sunday morning.Welcome to the Hearst Castle!
Once we got to the Hearst Castle parking lot, we parked and went into the main lobby area to check in and get our wristbands for the tour. It was pretty packed (our reservation was at 12:30 PM), so if you plan to visit on a holiday weekend, perhaps the online reservation is a good move. There are also a BUNCH of penny smashing machines there too. Maybe too many. Hehe.
After you check in, there is a little tram waiting area outside where you go to different gates depending on which tour you’re doing. We did the Grand Rooms tour (which was good since last time Tim and I went–coincidentally 6 years earlier to the weekend, we did the Upper Rooms tour).
View on the winding tram ride of the ocean and rolling golden hills
As soon as we got off the tram, the tour began of the outer parts of the property, and then moved indoors. If you haven’t been in the last 6 years, they changed the way the tours work. First, groups will go with the walking tour guide around the outside and then indoors for about an hour, and then when the tour is concluded, you are free to roam the gardens at your own pace to check things out. At the end, you exit the grounds through the famous indoor pools and get on the tram immediately to take you back to the base area.
Casa del Sol – one of the guest “cottages” that would house celebrities of the times while they stayed on Hearst’s estate.Neptune Pool – the columns and artwork were all real art pieces and portions of structures in ancient Europe – Hearst had them brought here to give his estate a feeling of authenticity.The excessively elaborate front door. All the pieces were taken from many different places, and thrown together in this mish mash of world history. A little over the top.This was the Refectory (dining room). It was the ONLY dining room on the whole property–Hearst wanted everyone to eat together. Apparently, this inspired the long dining tables that they depicted in the Harry Potter movies.The Billiard Room. Lots of Spanish influence in this room and on the ceiling. The term, “pool,” comes from the idea that when gambling at billiards, all the money is placed together in a pool to be won.Group shot with Neptune Pool in the backgroundTim got scolded by staff immediately after this picture. Hehe.View of the Mediterranean garden and another guest cottageCertainly a very distinct profile.The Roman Pool – this was part of the “gym” area with a weightlifting area and beneath the tennis courts. Last stop before getting on the shuttle!
After we concluded our tour and inspection of the grounds, we headed back to the parking lot on the shuttle. Everyone was feeling a bit hungry, so we decided on one last stop in Cambria before heading home.
Stop #7: Cambria, CA
The final stop on our trip was Linn’s Easy as Pie Cafe, which my sister saw on a blog as a “must-see” stop. We stopped here to try the olallieberry pie (a mix of raspberry and blackberry flavors). I also got a cup of the olallieberry lemonade (which was delicious until I spilled the uncovered cup all over my car).
The cafe itself is an order-at-the-counter type of place, and they give you a number and bring it to you. The inside had all kinds of farmy decor with an outdoor feel–the tables were covered with vinyl table cloths and had patio chairs for sitting.
Very nondescript exterior.Olallieberry pie — we ended up purchasing an entire pie and cut it into 6 pieces.It was pretty delicious!
As far as pies go, I would say that this was a fine pie. It wasn’t so amazingly delicious that I would go out of my way to tell everyone about it, but it is definitely would be worth a mention if they told me they were coming up this way. The crust was super buttery and flaky, and the inside was not overly sweet as some berry pies are wont to be.
My sister-in-law, Jane, loves to bake pies, and she is rather good at a tasty apple pie, so maybe my pie standards are too high (see our Pie ‘n Burger review at the bottom of the JPL post).
BUT, with all this being said, the olallieberry lemonade was absolutely fantastic. It wasn’t too sweet, there was absolutely no fruity bits (it was probably really well-strained), and it was this really pleasant pinkish color. (I will say I tried to recreate this when I got home with blackberries, but either I didn’t put enough sugar or I put too much lemon juice and it wasn’t nearly as tasty).
Mmmm. Olallieberry lemonade!
After the quick pie stop, we hit the road again for the long haul back to Southern California. We stopped at the Costco in Santa Maria for gas and Starbs, then to our parents’ house for a homecooked Vietnamese meal.
The next day, we hit the pickle ball courts (they were PACKED with retirees), hit around a few balls, and then went to Casey and Tristan’s house for a laidback Memorial Day BBQ. Tristan makes a fine cheeseburger, if I do say so myself!
We also did a a salt tasting test using different types of sea salts, salts from around the world, as well as Morton’s table salt, to see if the regular person could differentiate expensive salts from other salts. The consensus was… no. The only thing that everyone agreed on was that the table salt was the identifiable and extremely salty in comparison. Next up, RC Cola vs. Shasta!! Hehe.
Tim and I headed home to pick up Winnie and Charlie from the dog sitter, and we just relaxed for the rest of the evening before our work week ahead.
In many Asian cultures, it is very common to commemorate the anniversary of someone’s passing rather than their birthday. For our family, we do this by visiting my grandparents’ gravesite every so often.
My maternal grandparents are both buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, and for as long as I can remember (and been alive), we have visited their gravesites there. We used to go much more frequently and with many of the aunts, uncles, and cousins on my mom’s side, but nowadays, it’s more like a few times a year–around December when my grandfather passed away, maybe in May for Mother’s Day or then in September around my grandmother’s anniversary, and sometimes in October when my uncle passed away.
I’m not sure when exactly we stopped going as much, but I think maybe it started happening after a lot of the younger cousins went to college and the older cousins began having kids. It kind of became more and more difficult to organize and coordinate everyone, and now, I can’t remember the last time we had a big cemetery gathering with everyone.
It’s sounds sort of morbid, but we’d have picnics by the gravestones, laugh at jokes, maybe do the occasional human pyramid, but really, just spend time together. It was never a sad event; it was a celebration of our family members that had passed and our own way to remember them.
For Mother’s Day this year, my mom wanted to visit the cemetery, so the siblings all went with my parents after church.
Siblings pic! (Minus Tristan, since he’s taking the picture)
Tim’s parents came down to visit us for Mother’s Day since his grandparents live in nearby Palm Desert, and the plan was for a big gathering out there on Sunday, and Val, my MIL, had mentioned in conversation that Tim’s great-grandfather was actually buried at Forest Lawn, but she couldn’t remember which one.
So after everyone dispersed (Tim and I were going to see Les Miserábles at the Pantages that night and everyone else went home), we had some time and decided to find out where Tim’s great-grandparents were buried. We went to the front desk, and they kindly looked up Grandpa Hopping for us, told us he was at the Glendale location, and gave us his plot number.
It was about an 18-minute drive over to Forest Lawn Glendale. I had been here once before maybe 16 years prior, so it was practically a brand-new experience!
Front buildings
The front buildings were super cute and looked like a little medieval castle village in a bizarre way. It was also a beautiful spring day, so the sky looked especially blue with puffy white clouds.
At the front, we asked the receptionist to help us find the plot location, and she referred us to the Forest Lawn app, which was actually surprisingly accurate down to the GPS directions.
They also had a tour guide pamphlet with some of the artwork throughout the “memorial park.” We grabbed one of those and were off!
The drive was actually a really pleasant trip through meandering streets that wove through rolling hills of gravesites (that didn’t quite look like gravesites), surprisingly enough. It just seemed like a nice drive through a park.
The Great Mausoleum, where much of the artwork is located inside.
I really wanted to tour the Great Mausoleum; however, it was around 5:45 PM, and apparently all the buildings close around 4:30 PM. Inside, it has tons of Michelangelo full-sized replicas, a stained glass window replica of The Last Supper, and another series of windows called The Poet’s Windows. We’ll have to revisit on another day when we can get there before 4:30 PM!
After driving past the Great Mausoleum, you drive under this archway that was kind of fun, which leads to more winding roads throughout the cemetery. You get sweeping views of Glendale as well as a good view of all the house that abut the park, which if you aren’t afraid of living next to a bunch of dead bodies, actually seems to be quite pleasant.
The next stop on the “tour” was the Temple of Santa Sabina, which was a little building that didn’t actually warrant me getting out of the car (it was getting chilly, hehe).
Temple of Santa Sabina
After that, we continued our drive to the northeastern corner of of the park to where Tim’s grandparents are laid to rest. We used the Forest Lawn app directions, and it led us right to the correct area!
After looking around for about 5 minutes, we found the site:
Grandpa and Grandma Hopping
It seems like it’s been quite some time since anyone came to visit, but the gravesites were very nicely tended to. Something I wonder is how long they keep graves before they reuse them (if they do?).
Wikipedia said that Forest Lawn Glendale houses over 250,000+ graves, which I would believe based on all the sprawling grounds we drove through. Some of the graves we saw around were from the 1940s and older! Pretty old. I wonder how many of the people buried here have no living descendants or maybe their family members don’t even know they’re buried here, or if even where they’re buried. Or how long it’s been since some of these graves have been visited? Or if the people buried here would’ve even cared when they were alive that anyone visited them at all when they were dead? Hard to say.
Anyways, we continued our driving tour of the park. A lot of the buildings had very relaxing names like Court of Freedom or Garden of Memory. Again, I’d really like to come back when I can go in some of the buildings and see some of the artwork.
Statue of Justice
Tim inspecting some graves in the Court of Justice
Life-sized replica of Michelangelo’s David. Apparently, Forest Lawn Glendale has the largest collection of Michelangelo replicas in the world!
So relaxing..
A HUGE magnolia tree!! Look at those roots!
This really captures what it felt like driving around. It hardly felt like a cemetery.
After we finished our driving tour, we ended up driving straight over to the Pantages, which was only about 5 miles or so from where we were. For dinner, we went to Shake Shack, which is about a 5-minute walk from the Pantages. Tim had never been to Shake Shack, and, boy, was he excited!!
More than In-n-Out?!! If you know Tim at all, those are strong words. After dinner, we headed to the Pantages for a GREAT production of Les Mis, and then home. It was a looong day!
Every year, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL, has an open house to the public to tour some parts of the campus and check out the latest things that they have been working on for NASA. JPL is part of the Caltech campus where they do a lot of outer space research and create lots of the technology that NASA uses for their expeditions.
We went to one of the public open houses a couple years ago, and it was really cool! The event is completely free, all you have to do is get tickets. But THIS year, we were able to go during the JPL Family Day to check out the new projects that they have been working on. JPL is very open about the technology that they are working on and don’t have too many classified projects, mostly because they want people to be excited about space and space technology and be engaged with what they are doing!
Walking in from the PARKING LOT!! (Hehe)Welcome to Jet Propulsion Laboratory!
Mission Control
Mission Control is the room where all the outer space magic happens! It is where all the satellites are sending information, it’s running 24 hours a day, and is where all the space flights are controlled from.
“The Deep Space Network – or DSN – is NASA’s international array of giant radio antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions, plus a few that orbit Earth. The DSN also provides radar and radio astronomy observations that improve our understanding of the solar system and the larger universe.”
There are three facilities equal distances apart–one in Goldstone, CA, one in Madrid, Spain, and one in Canberra, Australia. These facilities collect information transmitted by satellites that we have sent to space and then send all that information to one place.. Mission Control!!
In the top left, the gray (they look blue) satellites and the green satellite reflect the transmission of information to and from Mission Control. They switch colors as they constantly send and collect information.
In the center of Mission Control, there is a plaque on the ground under plexiglass that says, “The Center of the Universe.” Ha! That’s because all of the information from SPACE is sent all the way to this very room. Science!!
I accidentally cut off the bottom part that says, “Universe”.. hehe.Sibling shot after checking out Mission Control! (a bit blurry)
The Pulse
The Pulse is a really cool sculpture that they describe as the “heartbeat of deep space exploration.” This structure represents the “live communications of 30+ interplanetary spacecraft and the Deep Space Network.” Basically, the lights make really cool patterns, but when they are moving upward they are uplinking to space, and when they are moving downward, they are downlinking to Earth.
Mars Rover
Last time we came, we were able to see a life-size replica of the Mars Rover driving over a bunch of children laying on the ground (hehe). This time, the replica was located near Mission Control for everyone to check out.
It looks a little bit like Wall-E..
Another thing we got to see is the Mars Yard! Basically, it is a small yard that the engineers created to test all the different rovers and wheels with different types of terrain and rocks to drive over to mimic what it would be like to drive on Mars. It was really interesting listening to the engineers describe how they try to anticipate different things they could run into, but it’s amazing to think of all the backup plans they have for actually running into these situations.
But nothing is certain when it comes to space, which I think gave me an even greater appreciation for what they do, since it’s pretty shocking to me that they can fly something MILLIONS of miles away AND successfully land it on a foreign planet AND then drive around AND STILL transmit information back to Earth. Amazing!
Mars Yard!
Mars 2020 Spacecraft
In another one of the buildings, they had a huge room where they are building the spacecraft for the next expedition to Mars! It was a really brief visit (they make you keep walking the whole time and you don’t have a great chance of taking pictures since everyone wants to see this).
What’s REALLY interesting to me (from experience working in many sterile settings in the hospital) is that all of the spacecraft that head into the great unknown to land on another planet are STERILE. Whoa! That’s because they don’t want to send any weird bacteria or organic Earth material to another planet when they don’t really know what the craft is going to encounter. Talk about foresight!
It’s the center spacecraft that is going on the 2020 expedition.
Pie ‘n Burger
After our morning trekking around the JPL campus, we had worked up an appetite and ended up going to lunch at Pie ‘n Burger, a place recommended to us by some of our friends. Parking wasn’t too bad–it was all street parking within a 2-minute walk.
This place had a very classic diner feel (but not quite classic diner prices… hehe). There was no wait for us around 1 PM on Sunday afternoon, but as we were there, the line started to get a little bit long.
Not that much seating inside!Pretty classic menu
Everyone was so hungry that I barely got any pictures in before they all dug in. Not even pictures of the pieces of pie!! The veggie burger was apparently DELICIOUS (per Casey and Tim), as was the grilled cheese. Tristan and I got the patty melt, which was pretty tasty as far as patty melts go. Ben and Jane got the chili cheese fries (the Hat seems to give you a much bigger portion) and a chicken pot pie that had a crust so flaky you could feel the butter settling into your arteries.
Patty melt on sourdough bread. The cheese was so soft and melty inside..
Another thing to note is that this place is cash or check only. Who uses checks to pay for food anymore? There is an ATM located right at the front if you need cash though. And they have this cool vintage cash register that they have probably been using since they opened.
Pie ‘n Burger was pretty good, but I’m not sure if we need to go back right away. I enjoyed the food a lot, but I kind of thought the pie would be more mind-blowing, especially if it’s a place with “pie” in the name. Either way though, it was a perfect way to end our JPL day!
This past weekend, Tim and my brother-in-law, Tristan, ran the LA Marathon! This was Tim’s first time running the LA Marathon and his 10th (?) marathon in total. We started off the day going to church before we headed to the marathon expo at the LA Convention Center in the afternoon.
Strike a pose!
Overall, the LA Marathon Expo was actually not one of the best expos that we’ve been to–something I’ve noticed is that a lot of the smaller marathons actually have better “swag” than the big ones–maybe to draw bigger crowds! Either way, there wasn’t really much good swag, unless you count a bunch of mini-Clif bars.
After we finished picking up the bibs and checking out the expo, we hit the street! Our end goal was the Broad Museum, where Casey had gotten us tickets (they are free, you just need to sign up for a time) earlier. We exited on the Figueroa side of the convention center, and then headed north to check out the sights of DTLA while passing the Staples Center and LA Live.
Our first stop was an early dinner at the Original Pantry! Open since 1924, this place has NEVER closed! Ever! It is open 24-hours a day every single day. My dad used to come here in his younger bachelor days when he was sharking pool halls and living life! He would come here after a late-night pool session and get some toast and eggs. This is where he learned how to make a staple of our childhood–sourdough fried toast (“recipe”: butter sourdough toast and fry it on a cast iron until golden-y brown.. yum!).
This place is an LA staple, and there are tons of pictures and autographs from famous Hollywood stars, directors, and celebrities all over the walls. It was equally filled with locals and tourists enjoying their 24-hour breakfast for dinner.
Street view
You sit in diner-styled booths and can watch them cooking right in front of you on large griddles!
They sell these cups at the front of the restaurant.. Tim insisted we get one because he said, “coffee tastes better in cups like these.”
Ben is excited for this toast!!Tim approves of these pancakes!
After stuffing ourselves thoroughly (and getting Tim and Tristan loaded up on carbs for their run), we continued walking north on Figueroa to make our way to the Broad.
The Jonathan Club – a “social club” that has been here since 1895.
Front view of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Surprisingly not very crowded on an early Saturday evening.
We ended up looping around so we could see the front of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and then just going back south on Grand did we arrive at the Broad.
Exterior of the Broad
The Broad certainly has a very unique exterior, but the way the windows were designed is quite clever! Essentially, once you are inside, the windows allow for lots and lots of natural light, but the way that the window is shaped, it ends up bouncing around and becoming very bright indirect and natural light that doesn’t harm the artwork. I guess that’s why they pay them the big bucks!
A very interesting transparent dish..
Giant tulips!
Casey and the giant table
I’m going to be honest–contemporary art is not really my thing. I think that maybe because a lot of it is something that I feel like I could *do* myself–i.e. two colored canvases next to each other; one is green and the other blue. It was titled, “Green Blue.” But I guess for it to be art, someone had to think of it first, and it just turns out that was the guy who thought of it first and it got put into a museum? I think the art I most appreciate is art that I couldn’t ever dream of imitating, like some incredible marble sculpture or an impressionist painting with a few strokes but you know exactly what it is. But who’s to say what is art? I guess art is art.
I don’t know if I’d actually need to come back to the Broad again. I think once might have been enough..
Either way, we finished up at the Broad and then started the long way back to the convention center to pick up our cars, as Tim and Tristan had a long morning ahead of them at the race!
Final shot – the LA Central Library. It used to be the tallest building in Los Angeles, but in order to repair some water damage, it sold its airspace above it. Now it is surrounded by skyscrapers.
