Sunny Jim Cave - La Jolla

While Visiting the Deanes in SD we took a trip to the Sunny Jim Cave in La Jolla. It's a steep cave that leads to a place where you can get a nice little peak at the ocean and kayakers paddling by. But at Four dollars a piece the stairs weren't the only things that were steep.

La Jolla it's self was a lovely town to walk around and sightsee, and though Carl Strauss is starting to get some big name recognition, there beer is still quite good.

Las Posada

We celebrated Christmas this year by having our semi-annual Ugly Christmas Party and by going to participate in Las Posada on Olvera Street. Interestingly enough, this was the first year I had ever heard of Las Posada. A couple friends of mine had recently left their Reformerd faith for the Roman Catholic version and shared with me their desire to observe Las Posada Celebration. Then a few weeks later, our friends the Waltons invited us to join them in L.A. for the commemeration. Apparently, while Amy's family lived Guatamala for several years as teachers they participated in Las Posada. Anyhow, if you know me then you know I love finding new (or old) ways to liven up my religious holy days. So, of course we accepted the invitation and made our way to the heart of Los Angeles. It was an enjoyable evening, the only negative is that it was too crowded. Next year, another city.

For those of you that don't know what Las Posada is, here is the Wikipedia link: Las Posada

The Nativity at the Gazebo o Olevra Street.

At the Church Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles... I think the flowers are for Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The Procession

Angels

Loma Linda Tour

Over the summer my daughter was in the hospital to have reconstructive skull surgery. During that time, there were times when I needed to get away from a cramped hospital room, so I would venture out and about. The Hospital is located on the campus of Loma Linda University. During one of my walks I found a self-guided tour map and thought this would be right up my alley.


First National Back of Loma Linda opened 1929...I think it's a Barber shop now

Someone should school these university on guided tours! I would walk to one site that was the old ampitheater and think, “Ok it must be around here somewhere, oh wait I’m standing on it! The Parking Lot.” Or fumbling around to find the Asylum building to see the place where they once housed rett butlers ( that’s right my one flew over the cuckoo’s nest reference slipped in there) only to find it torn down and is now a dorm for a new bunch of crazies…first year med students! Most of these examples might be a little off kilter(since I'm writing so long since I went I this tou), but the point is don’t send a person off on a wild goose chase to find history only to be shown parking lots and dormitories.


Bruden Hall

Not that the tour was all bad, on the Saturday evening I was there, the local congregation on campus had a choir and ensemble for families to listen to while sitting on the lawn area. It was right next to the hospital, so it’s a great way for depressed vistors to come and meditate.

Local Seventh Day Adventist Church Next to Hospital

Also, the statue of the good Samaritan caught my eye while driving back and forth to the hospital and was the monument that lead me on the self-guided tour. It’s a contemplative life-size piece in the middle of a court yard that sums up why the Seventh-Day Adventist started Loma Linda.

Good Samaritian

One intriguing piece was not placed on the self-guided tour (though it should be). While looking up interesting tidbits on the school and city, I came across a museum and thought if I had the chance I would go. So while exploring, I unexpectedly found the building; The museum of Embryology in the Shyrcok building. I went inside and snapped a few pictures before someone rushed out and quickly told me that no pictures of any kind were permitted. They then asked if I would like to go to the museum and if so I needed to set an appointment. So, I did for an hour later. When I came back in they politely asked that I remove all the pictures from my camera that I had taken out of consideration for the fetus and their families. I submitted to their request. The secretary then took me to a far off room and unlocked the door, she told me the amount of time I had (it’s been awhile, I think it was a half hour) to look around and then asked me to turn off the light and lock the door when I had finished.

The room was like any basic classroom with seat in the center, a podium, and screen to show slide shows. Against the walls of the room were cases and within those cases were what looked like someone’s science fair project mixed with old carnival freak shows ( I don't mean that to be offensive, it's really the only way for a layman to describe the scene) that never made it out of the womb. I didn’t understand the science aspect, but I was intrigued by the fetuses that had formed so misshapen; Siamese twins, Cyclops, and a host of other tragedies lined the shelves. Oh yeah, and there was a giant skeleton (If I remember correctly he was around 8 feet tall). The science fair project showed most of the different things that could go wrong in utero. I think if you have children you might walk away with a great appreciation of the miracle of birth, atleast I did with my one year old daughter just having gone through skull surgery.

Lastly, on a different topic altogether, I was surprised that in the Hospital Cafeteria they didn’t serve Coke or Pepsi fountain sodas. They only offered Sprite, Orange, or Caffeine Free Coke. I think their coffee was all caffeine free as well. This led me to more research and I found that Adventist don’t do caffeine, so since the hospital is run by the seventh day Adventist church it’s out with the Caffeine. Which I suppose is better for your body, so I understood but was still a little annoyed. What is more interesting about the town is they had their own meal named after them by Bakers. Apparently they were the first crazed health food vegetarians. So Bakers had (at one time anyway) a meal called, what else, The Loma Linda Meal. Most restaurants in the city have some sort of vegetarian dish to offer, or so I read. I suppose when Adventist starts the town and they are still a strong part of the community it’s best to cater to your clientele.

Petersen Automotive Museum

Over the summer, my sister wanted us to go with her and her kids to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. My niece had gone to a prom there and thought it would be a cool place to take my nephew. They had an exhibit at the time with life size models from the movie Cars and apparently the teenagers were able to get into the vehicles. I’m not sure that’s a good thing…letting teenagers at Prom get into the back of your display vehicles???!!! Maybe, the teens were mistaken and were taking it upon themselves to get into the vehicles.

Anyhow, we finally picked a day to check out the museum. When we got there we found out that the Cars exhibit was no longer, which sucked because this was the reason we drove out to LA! Sadly, my nephew who is only four could not understand and wanted to see Buzz. Nevertheless, there were plenty of cars to view, but again telling a four-year-old boy that he could not touch the cars did not go over too well. On the third floor they did have an interactive play area for young children, but it wasn’t big cars to jump in and out of, so it was not up to par. On top of all of that my sister admitted shortly after we arrived that all of them (her and the kids) had been up late, making them all cranky. Once they realized there was no Cars display and the interactive stuff was not going to satisfy the little tikes, we opted out of staying for a long period of time.

It’s not that the Peterson was bad, just not kid friendly. Though they do have the third floor of interactive-hands on stuff for kids, you could probably find and be more satisfied with taking your little ones to a children’s museum. It will probably save you a considerable amount of money.

Otherwise, the Peterson is a pretty cool museum. I enjoyed the displays they had out the week we went. There was the Hot Wheels collection that featured a car designed by Rat fink as well as some other amazing looking hot wheels.

They had the Batmobile from the 90’s movie, grease lighting, and the car from Speed Racer.

But my favorite exhibit was From Autocamps to Airstreams: The early road to Vacationland, which covered mostly travel trailers. I was amazed how far we have come since their inception into American culture.

Afterwards, I took my family to Pinks for Hotdogs. I have been there a couple of times before and I think I have even mentioned them on this blog before, so I won’t go into much detail. I was excited when we got there, because the line wrapped around the building. Now for most of you, I know this would be a deal breaker, having to wait thirty minutes in line for a hotdog. But every time I have been there previously the line was nil. So, I wanted the experience of the whole ordeal. I was enthralled and threw myself head first into the tourist experience.

As for the food, it’s great if you love hotdogs. No complaints. However, let me give you a small tip. Bring your own soda, preferably a 44 or 64 oz.. Some of the Dogs are spicy and a little 12oz. Can sold at a buck something a pop does not suffice!

On our way home, we struck gold when Faith had to stop and pee (I’m not sure if I meant that cleverness or not). Anyhow, we stopped in the City of Baldwin Park by a Target and apparently the city was having a meet your Police and Fireman day! The kids were able to sit on police motorcycles and in the vehicles with the canines. They could crawl through he SWAT and Fire Trucks. Faith loved it! This after all is why Faith was psyched about going to the Peterson Museum and funny enough, by the end of the day she was able to play in vehicles.

Tio's Tacos

It was last summer and I’d been itching to go somewhere interesting with the family, but had to be patient and slow down a little with Verity. She hadn’t caught up to speed on staying in the truck for prolonged periods of time. So, when I heard about Tio’s Tacos I figured this was right up my alley and pretty close to my backyard. The place is only a city or two from me and is a relatively quick and painless drive, yet it has all the weirdness I crave.

We went for lunch and the place was packed with people from local business in the area and that’s always a good sign. The food was Mexican fare, but it had a different twist to all the normal places in the area. It was good. Tasty, but just different. I’m not a food critique (as much as I would love to be one), so I’ll leave it at that. While most chefs will tell you it’s all about the food, in this case it’s not, it’s about the restaurant. The owner is also an artist. So the place is filled with his folk art. Every nook and cranny has something to see. From the small chapel to people made from Barbie Dolls, the place is alive with folk art. The food was good and the place was kooky. The next time you’re in the Riverside area, I suggest you stay away from the mundane mega-chains and grab a bite at Tios.

Home-made Church

I would seriously consider going to a church like this.

Weird artifacts thrown together to make a fountain

Cool Plastic People made of McD's happy meal toys!

Look Closely, they are peeing (and lactating) in the buckets!