Last day with LA friends.

Today's schedule was a busy one. The La Crescenta bunch visited this really cool garden complete with kiddie train. We got there by 9:45 and walked through the Japanese garden, but the big excitement was riding the train. It was too cute: Bob and I rode with Bea, and Jess rode with Lucas. So topsy-turvy -- this time I was one of the riders and Jeremy, Chrissy, and Camilo were waving at us rather than Ocean City back in the day when Judy and I were the stationary ones while all the kids rode the rides! 

http://youtu.be/miVsiJobId4

Bob, ever the jokester, took some funny pictures.

I'd you look closely, you can see Lucas's Thomas the train in front of the kiddie train.

And what does the engineer do in between rides?

And when he wasn't taking pictures, Bob was chatting.

And again...

Meanwhile, Lucas was styling his train cap.

Too bad this next picture is so light -- it's Bea and Lucas.

And this is what happens when you try to get 4 kids to sit still and smile...

 After our ride, we had a little snack, and then the families left for various errands while we checked out the gift shop. We saw this cool trellis.

Since we have tons of this plant (and I don't know its name, non-gardener that I am), we might try for an arbor....

Next on our agenda was the annual tracking group brunch. We drove that awful drive that Chrissy and Jess navigated on a daily basis for years -- yikes!  We were late, but we were usually the first ones there in previous years...

Anyway, Lauren arrived after we did with baby Michael, who has the bluest eyes ever. We caught up on all the latest Hollywood gossip, had a delicious bunch of appetizers, and passed Michael around!

Here's a cute picture of Michael and Lauren -- he just kept sticking out his tongue!

And now Amanda's got him.

Now it's Bob's turn.

And then Will!

Will was actually leaving after brunch to celebrate his parents' 40th anniversary -- he'd delayed going there to visit with us. And that's why we love him!! Oh, did I mention that the celebration was in San Francisco?

The hostess at the restaurant took a great picture of all of us.

And then I finally got to hold Michael.

We made plans to merge the Northwestern and tracking group gatherings. Sam always kept his work and college friends separate, but it's past time that they spend some time with each other.

So -- back to La Crescenta for the rest of the day. Jess hadn't slept well the previous night, so she took a nap, Camilo rested, and Lucas laid in bed AWAKE while Bob and I took a swim in the pool. 

We had our final dinner with the McDowells at a place near their house. Bob and Archie had a nosh together.

Jeremy and Gus were pensive.

Bea was her usual photogenic self.

All too soon it was time to say goodby to the McDowells, but the good news is that we may see them at Thanksgiving.

Our last stop of the evening was for gelato in Montrose. It was a lovely evening with a beautiful Sammy moon. Lucas ate his first cone, and we were there.

There was also a mega-bubble machine outside the gelato place (Jess called it "aggressive") along with a live ice cream cup... We love California!!!!

After putting Lucas to bed, we enjoyed a glass of Laetitia Pinot noir and then said our goodbys to the Zaks since we had to leave so early the next morning. But maybe we'll see them at Thanksgiving, too!

The Northwestern crowd

Today we had another busy day.

First, Camilo fed Lucas, who enjoyed his yogurt immensely. 

 Then Chrissy took us to see the new house -- what an amazing place. We sat in the backyard while Chrissy talked to the people installing a catio.

The yard actually has a dirt path through it -- it's that big.

And another shot 

Note the pool..

After touring the house and hearing about all the proposed plans, we came back to Jess's house in time for the Northwestern gathering. We met baby Max Mueller. Max's parents (Karl and Deirdre), Sara and Evan, the McDowell brood, and my former student Nick and his girlfriend Lauren were also in attendance.

Here's a picture of us with baby Max!

And here's Max's daddy. 

Our lunch consisted of sliders, hotdogs, pasta and kale salads, and lime squares and cupcakes. 

The scene in the living room

And on the back porch

Here's another cute shot of baby Max.

The gathering ended at around 4pm, and we made plans to meet the McDowells for dinner.

After another busy dinner at a local pizza place, we went back to the Zaks' house and were in bed by 9pm.

Movies, former students, and friends with children

This morning we left Santa Barbara at 8:00am to see the movie The Spectacular Now in Sherman Oaks. We made it just in time what with the traffic and the parking garage and such. In the Arclight Cinemas, the seats are reserved -- so LA.  

The movie reminded me of the angst of so many of my students.  I felt like the message was that pretty much everyone has baggage and you just have to deal with it -- and, of course, living in the moment versus thinking about the future. I always tell my students to appreciate those special moments in life as they occur -- live in the moment, but do it responsibly.

Our next stop was The Tripel, the place owned by a Top Chef runner-up. It turned out to be a small bar with a great beer selection and great bar food. We met my former student Nick for lunch. He just moved out to LA to start his career in the film biz -- he was also one of Sam!s scholarship winners.  We caught up with his efforts to secure employment and talked about the quirks of the business.

And then it was back into the car for a traffic-laden drive to La Crescenta and Chrissy and Jess and families. It took almost an hour to make it there. We're staying with Jess, so we stopped there first and spent some time with Jess and Camilo, who had just worked all night (he's a doctor). Lucas woke up just before we left for dinner with Chrissy and family. 

The meal was in Pasadena at a Mexican place. Having a meal with 4 children under the age of four is quite an experience! Just getting everyone seated is a major task.

http://youtu.be/4V9yRS24zCU

Here's Jeremy and Gus.

And cute Lucas.

And the adorable twins.

Day #4 -- Culture and such.

I made it through the night without too many aches and pains, thank goodness. Today we were returning to UC Santa Barbara to see the Picasso-Peake exhibit, which didn't open until noon. So we took a trip to LensCrafters (to straighten my glasses frames from the fall) and then to Chaucer's bookstore.  Since my eyes are a bit uneven, it took a while to adjust the glasses properly. And after a few google map glitches, we found the bookstore, which was such a throwback to really good bookstores.

After making some purchases, we continued on to UC Santa Barbara. The exhibit was small but interesting; a California artist/farmer met Picasso due to having the same agent. They became friends, and Peake was definitely influenced by Picasso's style.

Peake

Picasso 

Here is another Picasso.

And some more Peakes.

The last few paintings by Peake were a totally different style than the first few.

Bob was intrigued by the many skateboarders along with paths for them.

I wonder if there are as many at East Coast universities. 

Usually the mist had lifted by noon, but such was not the case today. We had lunch at the beach even though it was kind of gray -- still great people watching.

There was the couple who fed their little dog at the table: the overweight guy behind us who talked non-stop through the entire meal; and various people on the beach who rarely brought beach chairs or went into the water...

Here is Bob displaying his Firestone double IPA and my blood orange margarita.  We shared the excellent calamari -- it was just as good as it was last year.

We both ordered sandwiches: mine was chicken, his was portobello mushroom.

As we were walking back from the restaurant, we saw some hang gliders off  in the distance.

When we got back to our hotel, NO ONE was in the pool area, so we took advantage of that fact.

Here's the view from the pool.

And here's  Bob showing off!

He made it from one end of the pool to the other without coming up for air. 

We decided to hang by the pool, and rather than going somewhere for a light dinner, Bob got us some cheese and crackers from the local deli, and we sat by the pool drinking wine and eating cheese and crackers. Perfection.

Day #3 -- Winery Wednesday

Today we actually slept until 7:00, and I felt great! While eating breakfast, I re-read the tourist magazine Bob had brought to the room and discovered that the Santa Barbara Museum of Art was free Thursday evenings. So we decided to do some wine tasting today and do our cultural stuff tomorrow.

We drove from our hotel to Arroyo Grande through the mountains as directed by Google maps. Although shorter, the route involved a two lane road and a number of long hills. On the way, Bob was trying to give me a heart attack:

http://youtu.be/oOf7sttrMsg

Our first stop was Laetitia Winery. The place was lovely.

Our tasting guide was an attractive young man who, we found out during the course of the  tasting, was from Chile. The place originally specialized in sparkling wine but, with a change in owners, also produced Pinot noir. We tasted two of each variety and bought two bottles. 

After the tasting we took a short walk down a marked trail. 

Then it was on to Avila Beach and another winery. This was the view as we drove out of Laetitia.

http://youtu.be/VssYiwi43LU

Fifteen minutes later found us doing a Santa Barbara style hunt for free parking, but after about 10 minutes, we gave up and paid - $5 for 5 minutes or 24 hours...oh, well.

It took us a little while to find the winery because (1) it wasn't really a winery but a wine shop and (2) it was tucked in among some cute shops.

It's the blue building! This place pulls from various vineyards to create its own label. We tasted 5 wines and bought two. 

Avila Beach was lovely, but we discovered that the fall is the best for weather and prices. The Avila Lighthouse Suites looked so charming that I actually looked up the price, but it was too expensive for us. This is the view from the pier.

View looking towards the beach from town

We then headed for lunch at a place recommended by the guy from Laetitia that was in Pismo Beach.

Ventana Grill literally overlooks the Pacific -- lovely to watch as we ate and drank. I liked the place as soon as I saw the drinks menu...

I chose the coconut margarita; Bob had a Figueroa double IPA. He ordered yummy fish and chips.

I ordered the ahi tuna flautas special.

We thoroughly enjoyed our meals and the view.

Afterwards, we took a walk around the lower deck of the place.

On the rocks were many pelicans that swooped past the restaurant looking for food.

By this time it was near to 4:00, and we decided to head back to Santa Barbara rather than drive through the mountains looking for more wine, since we don't bring it home with us -- we're THOSE people who never check bags (even to Europe!). We drink some during the week and leave the rest for our friends in LA.

We got back at 5:09 and surveyed our purchases.

After resting for a while, we drove back into town looking for a cheese plate or dessert. We walked up and down State Street and ended up at a restaurant across the way from the one we'd eaten at before. And Bob made the mistake of showing me more stuff on the collage app.

First came the Snidely Whiplash look...

 

And then the one that showed what Bob needs when he reads!

So karma got me on the way back to the car because I tripped on an uneven sidewalk slab and sort of halfway slid into the street.  I'm okay -- a few bruises and much mortification. There were at least 5 people who waited until I stood up (which  took at least five long minutes) and offered help. Wow. Bed by 10:00.