The Day After Thanksgiving

We headed to Laguna for breakfast.   I like to eat at the Cliffs Restaurant because you sit outside, right above the ocean.  So while you enjoy a good breakfast and drink your morning coffee you also get to smell the saltwater and watch the seals and dolphins.  It was beautiful...if not a little cold.

Then we walked through Laguna a little bit and got to see my favorite volkswagen.

Bryan, Brett and Brendon headed for home.  Matt, Kairee and I went down to Newport Beach for a bike ride along the ocean...

...and some pizza!

Vegan Feast

It used to be that Thanksgiving was a day of watching football and playing games....and I cooked a feast.  By the end of the day I wasn't as in love with my family as when I first got up.  The last several years Brett and I have cooked together and it has been wonderful.  This year Brett and his boyfriend, Brendan, did all the cooking....everything from scratch....everything without animal products.  When I woke up on Thanksgiving morning, Brett and Brendan had gone for a run.  When they returned they made French Toast for everyone before they began on the feast. They literally worked all day.  Bread from scratch; they made their own pasta;

spaghetti with meatless meatballs;

beet ravioli;

pumpkin pie; kale salad; mashed potatoes/with asparagus and mushroom gravy.  It was endless.

Matt made the one non-vegan dish on the table for us traditionalists....green bean casserole....

and he also showed us his strength by tearing the phone book in half.

The rest of us rested...and played games

.....until it was time to clean up...then we all got involved.

Thanksgiving Eve

I took the day before Thanksgiving off so that I could spend the day with Matt and Brett and their significant others.  Having my family home makes me so happy and content.  It always includes wrestling, Nintendo 64 games, looking at old family photos and lots of vegan food.

After considerable negotiation, we drove into Los Angeles to Griffith Park.  We parked across from Trails Cafe and hiked up to the Griffith Observatory, a 2 mile round trip hike.  This old woman has to hike with her poles.  Brett's boyfriend, Brendan, would run ahead and run back.

It wasn't a clear day.  It would be an amazing view on a less smoggy day.  But the view of the observatory and the Hollywood sign was good.

The observatory doesn't open until noon.  After reading the Yelp reviews of the Cafe at the End of the Universe, we decided to hike back down and eat at the Trails Cafe.  It was delicious.  I highly recommend the blueberry almond scone!  We left by 12:30 p.m. trying to beat the worst of the traffic.  Even so it took twice as long to get home as it took to get there.

A Day with Bryan

I went to the church this morning to meet with Cal DeWitt and several members of our congregation.  Cal DeWitt is in town to meet with La Verne Heights Presbyterian Church.  DeWitt spoke at the Brave New Planet Conference last year in Claremont.  He came to tour our facility and see if he had any suggestions to make on next steps we could take in sustainability.  I always enjoy seeing the solar panels on our roof.

Since I spent the entire weekend at District Conference and at church, Bryan was waiting for me to get home so we could spend some time together.  We jumped in the car and drove north on highway 39.  Matt gave Bryan a couple books for his birthday on hikes to take in Southern California.  We were hoping to visit Lewis Falls just south of Crystal Lake.  We had never driven north on highway 39.  What a nice drive.  First we passed the Morris Dam.

Then we passed the San Gabriel Dam.

We found the correct mile marker and headed up the hill in search of the falls.  There were dozens of downed limbs and we got confused on where the trail was located so we eventually headed back to the car.  It was still a nice hike.  We will try it again another time.

We headed to the California Cactus Center in Pasadena.  A wonderful person gifted me this weekend with a pot that was just begging to have a brain cactus planted in it.  They said they only had one brain cactus and so I nabbed it.  Here is the newest addition to my home!

By then it was the middle of the afternoon and Bryan and I were starving.  We had lunch/dinner at El Cholo Restaurant.  I highly recommend the filet tacos.  We went to see Skyfall at Arclight.  I love seeing movies there.  I love a day with Bryan.

Natural History Museum

I didn't write on my blog for the whole month of October.  I was completely overwhelmed with the Progressive Brethren Gathering.  It was a big event on its own and then a few of us decided to write a musical.  So many people put in so much time.  The welcome we provided was obvious and genuine.

 I have been trying to catch up on all the things I set aside until after the Gathering.  But today Bryan said he wanted to go to the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park.  So we both dropped the many things we need to do and took off on an adventure.  Bryan remembered going to this museum years ago and had read that they had done some renovation.  What an incredible place.  There is just nothing like seeing a huge dinosaur skeleton or two....

or five.

The dioramas are exceptional.

As we were leaving we remembered that the shuttle Endeavor is now at Exposition Park.  We walked over to the California Science Center.  What a beautiful building.

For $2 a piece we joined others in admiring the Endeavor.  The size is amazing.  The wear and tear on the body of the ship gave me a sense of what happens as a shuttle leaves and re-enters the atmosphere. I was proud of what our country can do as I stood under the shuttle.

We only scratched the service of the amazing sites at Exposition Park.  I was glad to finally visit there.  I will go back.