mid trip
everyone’s taking a shower, and i’m next in line…so here i sit at the computer killing time. even on vacation i can’t stay away from the internet.
our flight on thursday was fantastic…direct, a good movie, no turbulence…i also welcomed cassie to the world of noise cancelling headphones. she’ll never go back. we also had the pleasure of sharing the flight with naomi judd (we sat next to her in the waiting area prior to leaving as well, and discovered we were also on the flight with a christian group “the isaacs”…i have never heard of them, but i might research and see if i’ve unknowingly heard a song of theirs.
we were excited to see grams’ face at the airport upon our arrival, and immediately got lost in the sketchiest part of la, trying to go home (in our defense, all the usual on ramps to the freeway were blocked for some reason)…cassie got to see a different side of la, as grams naively tried to pull our car over next to the scariest building with boarded up windows and no lights. nice.
we made it to the house safely, and soon after mom and dad pulled up after they arrived at a different airport also that night. a happy reunion indeed, but since it was feeling like 1 and 2 am, to us, we headed to bed.
the last two days have been a whirlwind to say the least…there has been no lack of sites seen by us. friday morning started with brett’s convocation ceremony (a baccelauriette of sorts), lunch at an authentic thai restaurant, a tour of the gamble house (one of the most well known american arts and crafts homes by greene and greene, and the owner gamble being from the original proctor and gamble). after a quick meal at home, we were already off again, heading to the symphony in downtown la, at the new(ish) disney concert hall, by frank gehry. cassie and i didn’t know what to be more amazed at…the structural feats of the building or the amazing players in the philharmonic.
saturday was not as full, but still one thing after another. we attempted to go to the huntington library, but with an unexpected decision to the see the pasadena showcase house (our boss would be so proud!), that got nixed and we headed to the ritzy hills of pasadena. the spanish colonial house was interesting to compare to the interior design of the south that we have grown accustom to. we had a few moments of rest back at the house at the pool, before leaving again to get an early parking spot and seat at brett’s graduation. and it’s good we did…sitting in the football bleachers for 5 hours would not have been a good thing if we didn’t grab the top row with bars to lean back on! we watched 700 students go by, and in a bizarre moment, we heard two students from sisters announced across the stage…one happening to be my old high school boyfriend. we tried to scour the football field after the ceremony with no luck. mom and dad also tried to find some old family friends of nana and papa’s that had a granddaughter graduating as well. instead, we just ended up taking a bunch of pictures with brett, hugging him and congratulating him. you’d think our day would have ended there, but we decided on a whim to drive down to hollywood to see the happenings there…after a cruise down the jampacked hollywood blvd, we got out at kodak theatre, walked on the steps where the stars walk up every oscars, put our hands in the prints of stars old and young, and saw a glimpse of a portion of the stars on the walk of fame. equally as entertaining were to see all the scantilly clad girls going to the clubs on the saturday night. no hollywood sign on the hill for us though…it was not lit up. 
well, i think i heard the shower stop, so it’s my turn to get ready…i think everyone will be waiting for me at this point. we’ve got breakfast, brett’s graduation party, and a few post party events in line for the day. hope you are all well! i will probably deal with all my pictures after i get back…
