Where is me? Here is me: La La Land

After last night's blog entry, around 10:00 pm, I took a walk over to the coast where we had seen the beautiful sunset. Since it had been a clear day, I had expectations of some good star gazing. Even though there is a half-moon, it had not yet risen, and there was no light pollution, so I saw ALL THE STARS. Plus, the Milky Way, plus several shooting stars. I was not disappointed!

This morning, we grabbed a cup of coffee at the hotel, packed up and hit the road. We had an early appointment for a tour at Hearst Castle. I really knew nothing much about this place, other than that it was a "must-see". And as it turns out, it really was a "must-see".


I won't bore you with all the history, but being there made me feel as if I was literally in Renaissance Spain or Italy. Well into the tour, I mentioned to Carol that I wasn't even taking pictures because they would completely fail to capture the scale, grandeur, and sheer beauty of the place. 


One cool thing about the drive up to the castle itself is that we drove through the Hearst cattle ranch. But cattle are not the only denizens of the ranch. In the day, William Hearst brought many exotic animals to his ranch, and to this day two species have naturalized and have lived there ever since. We saw Barbary sheep and zebras. Here are a few Barbary sheep giving us the hairy eyeball on our bus ride up to the castle:

After touring Hearst Castle, we set out for Los Angeles. Just after getting on the highway, we passed a pasture with several dozen zebras. Sadly we were not fast enough with the camera. 

We took CA 46 east to I-5 south. On I-5, we passed miles and miles of orchards. We had trouble identifying a particular type of tree, and then realized that it was almonds. So that was a first. Never saw an almond tree before. 


We saw a sign for a store called Blackwell's Corner that advertised local almonds and pistachios. We decided to stop because...well, you know...almonds and pistachios. It was a kitschy place with lots of James Dean memorabilia.  It called itself "James Dean's last stop". It turns out that this place was the last pit stop James Dean made before getting into a fatal car wreck the same road.
Oh, and when we pulled in, we parked right next to these beauties:


We finally made it to Los Angeles and found our way to Will and Emily's home. Emily is Carol's cousin, and she and her husband Will had graciously invited us to stay with them on our journey.  We were so excited to get to their place and see them, and their kiddos Holden and Myra. Will took us to Griffith park, and there Carol took an iconic photo of the Hollywood sign:


 We climbed the steps to the top of the observatory and got a good picture of Carol, me, and my man Holden:

Afterwards, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner provided by our hosts (Awesome rib-eyes, Will!):


Holden chose to enjoy his cookie while chatting with li'l sis Myra:


BTW, the title of this entry is "Where is me? Here is me" I stole this from Holden. That is what he says when he hides (Where is me?) and when he reveals himself (Here is me). It's the cutest thing, and I'm totally going to work that into my daily vocabulary. Yes, Carol, I said into my daily vocabulary.

Here's Holden playing "Where is me?":



All in  all, it was a fantastic day. We're greatly enjoying a brief visit before embarking on our return trip.

Tomorrow's plan is to NOT DRIVE ANYWHERE!

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 22, 2019 at 9:38 AM

    I am just catching up on about 5 of your last days. You guys are having the adventure of a lifetime. All the beautiful scenery, wildlife, etc......so fun. You seem to have found many great spot for lunch and dinner, with a history every time. Each day is a new surprise! So grateful you have documented this so we can all "travel" with you. :)

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