Los Angeles visit
Last weekend I made a trip to Los Angeles to visit old friends and attend the wedding of two good friends from UCLA. I had an excellent time and want to thank everyone for making the visit so pleasant.
I stayed with my good friend Jo-Ann Krohn, whom I met several years ago while taking the "Behavioral Research" class at the Los Angeles zoo. She was a wonderful hostess and made me feel right at home. Since I last saw Jo-Ann, she has adopted two male cats. It was really fun to see how happy those two cats (Macho and Pico) and Jo-Ann are to have each other. We went to lunch at Canter's - I have missed their potato pancakes! Jo-Ann lives in my old neighborhood in West LA, so it was nice to be in familiar surroundings. I immediately felt like I had never left.
On Friday evening, I went hiking with some of my friends from UCLA. The LA-area fires hadn't started yet and so the sky was wonderfully clear. We had a great hike up to Skull Rock in Topanga State Park and then watched the sun set as we hiked down. I normally walk my dog at least 3 miles away, but Florida is extremely flat and a chance to do some real hiking was greatly appreciated. After the hike, some other friends from UCLA joined us for dinner at Curry House. Like the Canter's potato pancakes, I have thought often about Curry House and couldn't wait to eat the extra-spicy chicken katsu curry. After dinner, we tried the "Polar Monkey" frozen yogurt store in Westwood. This place actually serves TOMATO frozen yogurt. We all tried a sample and it was quite interesting. Katherine, Linh and Ganesh were impressed enough to try a full serving of the tomato frozen yogurt; Anthony and I stuck with the vanilla. A few others decided to go with Diddy Reese's ice cream sandwiches. Another frozen yogurt vendor, "Pinkberry", seems to have taken over Los Angeles since I left. It seems like I saw it everywhere I went. But, I didn't have a chance to try it this time around.
Katy and Albert are two dear friends of mine from UCLA; their wedding was held Saturday evening at the Long Beach Aquarium. It was a wonderful, contemporary ceremony. Katy even had a
"man of honor" as one of her attendants. The ceremony was held right in front of one of the main tanks - it was awesome (picture here). Between the ceremony and dinner, we had a chance to walk around the aquarium and look at the exhibits. Katy and Albert had the traditional "bride and groom growing up" picture slideshow, which is always fun. However, they added a really nice personal touch. Katy and Albert are both big gamers (especially Albert) and play one of those online games where you can team up with other people and go on quests. Within their photo slideshow, they added screen caps of some of their most important gaming moments. LOL.
Sunday I went back to visit my friends (human and non-human) at the LA Zoo. It was neat to see the nearly-ready Gorilla exhibit and spend some time with the chimps. I like to think that all of the chimps remembered me, but only the two young females (Jean and Zoe) were willing to show it. The others were "too cool" to show their excitement. My good friend Kristine joined me at the zoo, so it was like "the old days" when we used to do ape enrichment together.
After the zoo, I spent the afternoon with my good friends Anne and Rick Lainhart. Not content with just having a pirate ship in their backyard, Anne and Rick have built and decorated a lovely pub in their backyard. Their handiness and thoroughness are always astounding. Rick had a health scare last fall, so it was good to see that he's doing so well.
The Los Angeles Griffith Observatory has re-opened after 4 years of renovation and Katherine was kind enough to take me there for a visit. We had an awesome time. Not only does the observatory present an excellent view of the city (video below), but it also had a great planetarium show and cool exhibits. I was most impressed with their "Big Picture" feature. Inside the observatory, there is a statue of Einstein holding up his finger (picture here). On the opposite wall from that statue, there is an enlarged photographic image of the amount of night sky that would be obscured by Einstein's finger. This picture was amazing. I was initially impressed by the color variability (picture here). But then one of the volunteers pointed out that there is no true "empty" space in that picture. When you get really close, you can see that what initially appears as black, empty space is actually full of very faint stars. It was mind boggling.
On Monday I joined some of my friends from the zoo, Mimi, David, Nancy and Kristine for dinner. And then, way too soon, it was time to go home. It was a night flight and we were able to see the fires from the plane. Overall, it was a fabulous trip. There is a complete set of photos here.
My animals were all very happy to see me. The people at the dog kennel (Sun-Kiva kennels) had fallen in love with Sheba and were sad to see her go. She, on the other hand, couldn't get out of there fast enough.
These are busy days. Next Sunday (Nov 4th), I'm off to Salt Lake City for the annual Chemical Engineers conference. It's another chance to spend some time with my good friends. Katy, Katherine and I will be sharing a hotel room. This will be my first trip to Utah!
I stayed with my good friend Jo-Ann Krohn, whom I met several years ago while taking the "Behavioral Research" class at the Los Angeles zoo. She was a wonderful hostess and made me feel right at home. Since I last saw Jo-Ann, she has adopted two male cats. It was really fun to see how happy those two cats (Macho and Pico) and Jo-Ann are to have each other. We went to lunch at Canter's - I have missed their potato pancakes! Jo-Ann lives in my old neighborhood in West LA, so it was nice to be in familiar surroundings. I immediately felt like I had never left.
On Friday evening, I went hiking with some of my friends from UCLA. The LA-area fires hadn't started yet and so the sky was wonderfully clear. We had a great hike up to Skull Rock in Topanga State Park and then watched the sun set as we hiked down. I normally walk my dog at least 3 miles away, but Florida is extremely flat and a chance to do some real hiking was greatly appreciated. After the hike, some other friends from UCLA joined us for dinner at Curry House. Like the Canter's potato pancakes, I have thought often about Curry House and couldn't wait to eat the extra-spicy chicken katsu curry. After dinner, we tried the "Polar Monkey" frozen yogurt store in Westwood. This place actually serves TOMATO frozen yogurt. We all tried a sample and it was quite interesting. Katherine, Linh and Ganesh were impressed enough to try a full serving of the tomato frozen yogurt; Anthony and I stuck with the vanilla. A few others decided to go with Diddy Reese's ice cream sandwiches. Another frozen yogurt vendor, "Pinkberry", seems to have taken over Los Angeles since I left. It seems like I saw it everywhere I went. But, I didn't have a chance to try it this time around.Katy and Albert are two dear friends of mine from UCLA; their wedding was held Saturday evening at the Long Beach Aquarium. It was a wonderful, contemporary ceremony. Katy even had a
"man of honor" as one of her attendants. The ceremony was held right in front of one of the main tanks - it was awesome (picture here). Between the ceremony and dinner, we had a chance to walk around the aquarium and look at the exhibits. Katy and Albert had the traditional "bride and groom growing up" picture slideshow, which is always fun. However, they added a really nice personal touch. Katy and Albert are both big gamers (especially Albert) and play one of those online games where you can team up with other people and go on quests. Within their photo slideshow, they added screen caps of some of their most important gaming moments. LOL.
Sunday I went back to visit my friends (human and non-human) at the LA Zoo. It was neat to see the nearly-ready Gorilla exhibit and spend some time with the chimps. I like to think that all of the chimps remembered me, but only the two young females (Jean and Zoe) were willing to show it. The others were "too cool" to show their excitement. My good friend Kristine joined me at the zoo, so it was like "the old days" when we used to do ape enrichment together.
After the zoo, I spent the afternoon with my good friends Anne and Rick Lainhart. Not content with just having a pirate ship in their backyard, Anne and Rick have built and decorated a lovely pub in their backyard. Their handiness and thoroughness are always astounding. Rick had a health scare last fall, so it was good to see that he's doing so well.The Los Angeles Griffith Observatory has re-opened after 4 years of renovation and Katherine was kind enough to take me there for a visit. We had an awesome time. Not only does the observatory present an excellent view of the city (video below), but it also had a great planetarium show and cool exhibits. I was most impressed with their "Big Picture" feature. Inside the observatory, there is a statue of Einstein holding up his finger (picture here). On the opposite wall from that statue, there is an enlarged photographic image of the amount of night sky that would be obscured by Einstein's finger. This picture was amazing. I was initially impressed by the color variability (picture here). But then one of the volunteers pointed out that there is no true "empty" space in that picture. When you get really close, you can see that what initially appears as black, empty space is actually full of very faint stars. It was mind boggling.
On Monday I joined some of my friends from the zoo, Mimi, David, Nancy and Kristine for dinner. And then, way too soon, it was time to go home. It was a night flight and we were able to see the fires from the plane. Overall, it was a fabulous trip. There is a complete set of photos here.
My animals were all very happy to see me. The people at the dog kennel (Sun-Kiva kennels) had fallen in love with Sheba and were sad to see her go. She, on the other hand, couldn't get out of there fast enough.
These are busy days. Next Sunday (Nov 4th), I'm off to Salt Lake City for the annual Chemical Engineers conference. It's another chance to spend some time with my good friends. Katy, Katherine and I will be sharing a hotel room. This will be my first trip to Utah!
posted by Laura at 1:36 PM
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