Sending Off 2012 Santa Barbara

Aunt Clare and Grandpa were waiting for me at the train depot. I cannot believe it had been three years since I had been to Santa Barbara!

Thursday was spent visiting with Grandma and Grandpa and heading up to Aunt Mary's to see her grandchildren. I became jungle gym Carmen for a few hours as the kids discovered that I was bouncy and climbable.

Siblings!

Dominic arrived Friday morning. After two years, it was great to see him! I was felt so loved that he drove all night to spend just two days with me. We took it easy on Friday, letting Dominic rest and catch up with Grandma and Grandpa.

View from the break water

Saturday morning was beautiful between rain showers. So Dominic and I did our traditional trip to the beach. We had our morning coffee on the break water, enjoying the view of the city and the Channel Islands. Then we walked down to the wharf and the beach. Hunger struck and we went in search of fresh fish tacos--Santa Barbara needs a taco truck! We finally settled for a chain restaurant to avoid the over-priced touristy meals. But we got our ceviche, fish tacos. and cerveza with a view of the ocean.

We then drove to Aunt Clare's (mostly from memory, go us). Thankfully we got to visit with her for a bit.  A really quite, relaxed trip this time. Though, I wish I could have seen more of the family longer.

I arrived in Boise that night to freezing temperatures and more snow. Now, we have over two feet (a little over 69 cm) of snow. I've been out shoveling daily. I'm totally not ready for Russia...

Brrr

Sending Off 2012 Los Angeles

birthday cake!

Once in LA, Kamran took me to his office at the studios and we had birthday cake and breakfast. We then went to down to the Warner Bros lot where I got a private tour of the outdoor sets. I got to see the filming location of Heart of Dixie (it was also the Gilmore Girl and Music Man set). It was surreal to see the forests, houses, and cities. They were all scaled down, and just facades. I got a new appreciation for the work that goes into making films.

Hey, where is the rest!?!

We went to the costume museum. Audrey Hepburn really was tiny and Tom Cruise is really short. The whole upstairs was dedicated to Harry Potter. I got to try out the sorting hat, I now belong to Slytherin. I always knew I had an evil streak.

We then headed to the Hollywood sign and down to Hollywood Blvd. The star walk and Grauman's Theatre are not so exciting as you would think, but it was great to see it any way. We wandered around checking out footprints, stars, and tourists before heading to a Thai place for lunch. After lunch we drove downtown and walked around the sky scrapers.

And I'm stuck.

We finished off the night at a rooftop bar. Nice atmosphere, but the wind made it freezing cold! We suffered for a bit before the waiter (an interesting Australian guy who randomly did pull-ups from the awning above the elevator), showed us to the pool area, which was protected by the wind. This is where we discovered the water bed pods. Of course I sat in one and promptly sank and had to crawl and climb my way out--not so easy in a dress and heels!



At seven that evening, I said goodbye to Kamran at Union Station and road the train up to Santa Barbara.