Blogging's been a bit sporadic in these parts, but I've got a good excuse: We just returned from a wonderful nine-day family trip to California, a land on the opposite shores of the continent on which we live.We left the East Coast last week and flew into L.A., where we took the kids to Disneyland before we trekked up the Central Valley to visit family and friends (it was fabulous to see you, Susie!). We also spent a day in Yosemite National Park, which has to be one of the most beautiful places on this planet of ours. I hadn't been back there for over a decade and the place took my breath away all over again. These pics (above and below) were taken while we waxed away the afternoon on a pebbled beach beside (I think) the Merced River, which runs downs the center of Yosemite Valley. My kids swam and wadded with their cadre of cousins for most of the afternoon. Towards the end of the day, smoke from a fire outside Yosemite blew into the Valley and left the sun an orange orb and the views obscured. The next day, I read in the newspaper that the fire had cut power to Yosemite Valley and swallowed the park in thick smoke while distributing ash throughout the area. Truly the land of disasters of biblical proportions.
As our vacation drew to a close, we drove back to L.A. to spend the day with a friend of ours before our plane left the next day, where we enjoyed an excursion to:
That friend of ours works in "the industry" and gave us a fantastic whirlwind tour of the area, including the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where I freely admitted I was a geek of the greatest proportions as I snapped the picture below, heh.
In front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, I also snapped pics of hand and shoe imprints from the likes of Fred Astaire, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Dick Van Dyke, and (my favorite below) John Wayne.
It was a great trip, full of fun, family, friends and adventure. Heh, our suitcases are still sitting in the hallway waiting to be fully unpacked.