Visitors from the Desert!

Late on Friday night, I welcomed Brian and Ronda to California! When I left Arizona, we had been disappointed about not getting to spend enough time together so I was so thrilled when they said they'd be able to come out for a long weekend. On Friday night, they pulled into town late, but we were able to get some great chatting in, while watching a few Olympic events.

On Saturday morning, we headed to Santa Monica so they could get a great feel for California's sun, ocean, beaches, and people. It was a little cool that day because of the great ocean breeze, but it made for a great day at the beach.

Ronda and I decided to walk under the boardwalk and see it from the other side. I love all the great lines of the posts, and the play on light and dark colors.
The famous Santa Monica pier from the other side.
I love my new camera's zoom! This was such a beautiful sailboat.
"Walk a mile in their shoes." I guess Brian wasn't able to actually walk in Forrest Gump's shoes, but they seemed to fit okay!
Standing in front of "their" store! We were able to wander around the Third Street Promenade a bit and did some GREAT people-watching there!


One of the great things to do on the Third Street Promenade is listen to the local artists that showcase their talent. Here's a video of some brass players that were pretty good. It's important to have selective hearing, though, because the nearby piano player can be heard in the background.

Brass-playing in Santa Monica from Kari Swanson on Vimeo.

We also saw this guy do a great rendition of Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable". There was even a couple who danced in the street. Very sweet!


The Oldies from Kari Swanson on Vimeo.


After the musical interlude, we went back to the beach to watch the sunset. We had a fun and relaxing evening!
A fun and "artsy" picture.
These feet had fun playing in the sand!
This flip-flop was sitting near us, and missing it's partner in crime. It looked a little lonely.
Then, a few waves came up close and one of them swept the flip-flop away. Poor flip-flop....
We had a really fun day together!


Here's a video I'm posting of the ocean. It's just to watch and listen to the waves crashing on the shore. It's mostly so that when I'm in MN in December and missing the ocean, I'll be able to come back and remember what it was like to sit on the beach and look out over the vast ocean. I just wish there was a way to get the smell of the salty sea air on here as well!


Santa Monica from Kari Swanson on Vimeo.

The sunset, and this couple, was beautiful! I have more pictures I took that evening to post in a separate blog post.
Brian has spent a little time in California before, but it turns out Ronda hasn't been able to spend much time here at all. She asked if we could get to Hollywood, so that's where we went on Sunday! Here's a picture of the sign with my improved zoom -a little easier to read than in previous posts!
Posing in front of the Hollywood sign. If you click on the picture, you'll be able to see it better!
If you remember back to my post from when Jessy was around (the one just below this one), I showed you a "Red Carpet" that went through the mall area. It includes stories of how a few famous people got their start on their own "Road to Hollywood". There are a few funny stories, along with some heartbreaking ones, and mostly stories of people (like this one) that just did whatever they needed to in order to get someone to notice them. There are no names included, just a title like composer, actor, comedian, director, etc, but I sure wish we could know who the people really are!
Will Ronda follow in Steven Spielberg's footsteps? It was fun to check out all the names, handprints, and footprints here! I saw Elvis on my last trip to Hollywood, but here he was hanging out at a different location.
Mickey Mouse was taking a break from Disneyland to hang out with Ronda for a few minutes.
After we left Hollywood, we went to about the most opposite place you could -the Crystal Cathedral! This is located really close to Jim and Marilyn's, and since that's where we were going for the evening, we decided to stop by and listen to the musicians practice for the evening service. We found some talented musicians, an incredible organ, and an amazing glass building. (Hence the name!) If you enlarge this picture, you can get an idea of the size of the people in front, and how big that makes the organ in front. There was also a second portion on the back wall. There are walls that can be opened for airflow, which is the bright area you see on the right side of the picture.
Looking towards a side balcony, and that wooden box holds some of the horns that are used. I'd love to be around for a Christmas concert here sometime!
We walked around the gardens a bit, and found quite a few amazing sculptures. I love the 23rd Psalm and all the implications of the Lord being our Shepherd, so was really glad to find this sculpture. (If you've never read the book "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23", I highly recommend it!)
It's a large campus, so here's looking at the main cathedral from one of the edges of the campus.

After we left the Crystal Cathedral, we grabbed some dinner and went to Jim and Marilyn's. It was really fun to hang out and great for them to meet Brian. Ronda's been working on a scrapbook that included pictures from Africa, so Jim and Marilyn were able to answer some questions. It was fun to see the pictures and hear a few stories, and just be together!

My picture of our group included a few closed eyes, so check out Jim and Marilyn's blog for a better shot. (You can also see my new Chacco sandals -which I'm really loving so far!!) I had a great evening with them on Monday night as well. I am going to miss them SO much when I leave California!