CHRISTMAS EVE

Twenty-nine ghouls all snug in their beds while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads!

Some of Charley's Monster High "ghouls" all lined up "in bed" awaiting Santa's arrival! Keep reading for an explanation. These photos are weird sizes since they were taken with my phone.

It has been a lot of years since we did the whole Santa routine on Christmas Eve. This year we are blessed to have Charley & Darrin here in Sacramento with us on the actual Christmas & Christmas Eve days. It has been a delight!

Today, on Christmas Eve, we had my family celebration at my dad's. We opened presents galore & shared a Christmas brunch that my sister, Stephanie & I put together. Charley could hardly contain her joy waiting to open her presents. Of course, Gaga let her open one on the 22nd & another this morning before we headed to my dad's. If you can't break the rules, what fun is it being a Gaga?

This afternoon the talk turned to Santa. When will he arrive? How will he find Gaga & Lou's house? How does he get in? And, on & on. Of course, most questions could be answered with a simple phrase, "It's the magic of Christmas."

Charley loves anything Monster High & currently has 29 "ghouls" (actually a few of them are boys, not "ghouls", get it? - ghouls, girls?), most compliments of Gaga. You already know I can't help it. They provide her endless hours of pleasure. They put on shows, they zipline, they sing, they have discussions, they sometimes fight, they share each other's clothes & they really have good messages in all the movies. Google "Monster High" if you want to find out more about them.

Late this afternoon Charley began putting all the ghouls to bed for Christmas Eve. She used boxes, gift bags &, finally when those ran out, napkins to make beds lining them up from our stairs, across the dining room & into the kitchen. We all had to be really quiet & whisper while the ghouls were going to sleep.

I had bought her four pairs of baby socks to use for the ghouls' Christmas stockings which we placed tape on the top of so she could write their names on them. She hung them up along our fireplace with hers & Daddy's, mine & Lou's.

All of the ghouls stockings taped to our fireplace along with ours.

More ghouls snoring away on the night before Christmas.

Upon our return from driving around looking at Christmas lights, we had dinner then eventually Darrin got Charley to sleep in spite of the pending Santa excitement. I placed a Hershey's kiss in each of the ghouls stockings. We pulled out the Monster High school bus that transforms into a spa & holds six ghouls that Santa delivered for her here in Sacramento! Her stocking was filled with lots of things from Daddy & Gaga.

Our little Christmas tree with Santa's delivery awaiting Charley in the morning!

Charley put a gingerbread man cookie & a marshmallow out for Santa along with a glass of milk. Santa, AKA Darrin, ate the cookie & took a bite out of the marshmallow leaving the rest & the empty glass on the table.

I can't wait for Christmas morning either!

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

We returned from a quick four day road trip to Southern California last night. Due to some potentially serious health issues with my dad, I didn't send out an itinerary since the decision to go wasn't made until the day before. Fortunately, my dad showed some improvement so we headed out "on the road again" as Willie Nelson sings.

Our first stop was the Gamble House, of Proctor & Gamble fame, in Pasadena on Sunday afternoon after a seven hour drive from Sacramento.

The Gamble House was designed by architects Greene & Greene in the Arts & Crafts style commissioned in 1908 by David & Mary Gamble of Cincinnati as their summer home in Pasadena. 

The living room area of The Gamble House. The architects worked closely with the Gambles to incorporate their ideas into the design of the home.

Looking down at the brick porch area from one of the second floor sleeping porches.

A few of the snap dragons in the Gamble's garden. I remember having snap dragons at our house in Hayward as a kid.

Just down Orange Grove Blvd, once known as "Millionaire's Row", is the Wrigley Mansion. It is now the headquarters of the nearby Tournament of Roses Parade.

Bird of Paradises, or is it Birds of Paradise???, seem to grown well in Southern California. There were many in the Wrigley Garden. We had those in Hayward, too.

Monday morning we headed south via the oldest freeway in the Los Angeles area. Lou is way into old bridges as well & found a couple in Pasadena.

The Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena was completed in 1913 & at the time was the highest concrete bridge in the world rising 150 feet above the arroyo.

The first freeway in Southern California is "The 110" running from Pasadena to Los Angeles. There are four Art Deco tunnels in the north bound lanes near Dodger Stadium. Many of the on ramps have stop signs. When it sort of clears, you gun the engine, close your eyes & hope for the best.

The coast of Rancho Palos Verdes is the home to the Wayfarers Chapel, designed by Lloyd Wright, the son of Frank Lloyd Wright. It is a beautiful glass chapel that is in use most days for weddings or memorials.

The Wayfarers Chapel strives to bring the outside into the church. 

The opening lines of the Lord's Prayer adorn the altar steps - "Our Father who art in heaven  hallowed by they name. They kingdom come. Thy will be done." 

The back view of the Wayfarers Chapel with the bell tower, colonnade & garden.

There were some lovely gardens at the Wayfarers Chapel & of course, I love taking photos of plants & flowers.

I'm guessing this is some sort of chrysanthemum but I could be wrong.

These aloe vera plants were interesting.

I don't know too many plants but I know these are some lovely bougainvellea. 

Maybe some kind of lily? I just like to look at them & marvel at what God can create.

We decided to take a leisurely drive through the beach towns of Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach & Manhattan Beach on our way north to Hawthorne.

The Point Vicente Lighthouse over looking the Pacific Ocean. This lighthouse is only open one day a month & it wasn't the day we were there. It is visible from a nearby park where we enjoyed our picnic lunch.

The Manhattan Beach pier. The white poles in the foreground hold volleyball nets during the summer time when beach volleyball games line the sand.

Looking the other direction down Manhattan Beach.

Southern California is beautiful. The scenery is striking & the weather is usually gorgeous. NOW, if they could just do something about the horrendous traffic that makes you want to scream! My Everyday Musings post regarding the traffic nightmare of SoCal will follow in a few days.

Some of the beach residences. The Pacific Coast Highway, or PCH, is a block above the beach. These streets to the beach are for bikes & pedestrians.

This monument to the Beach Boys is erected on the site of their Wilson childhood home in Hawthorne. The house was torn down to accommodate yet another freeway. You can see the sound wall behind the monument.

Our primary reason for this trip was because we had tickets to a Jeopardy taping! Lou & I have wanted to see this for years. He has checked the availability many times & finally found some for Tuesday morning. They don't allow any photos but it didn't disappoint! We saw a young man named Ryan win three games earning about $65,000!! They film three shows in the morning & another two in the afternoon - one week in one day. Alex & the champion change clothes & are back in 15 minutes to do it again. We don't know if Ryan kept winning but will find out the week of Jan 29th when the shows air.

Following the taping we decided to head to Santa Monica for the rest of the afternoon. Little did we know that the eight mile drive to our hotel would take two hours!! WTF???

The sign at the entrance to the Santa Monica Pier. It took several minutes of waiting for the cars & people to clear for this photo. 

Santa Monica Beach. I've been to Santa Monica many times & it really is an idyllic setting.

A ferris wheel & roller coaster ride on the Santa Monica Pier.

We had a late lunch after the Jeopardy taping so it made perfect sense to have ice cream for dinner on the Third Street Promenade shopping area in Santa Monica.

The following morning, Wednesday, we tackled the 405 freeway again to make our way back home. But first we made a stop at Randy's Donuts, built in 1953, with a 40 foot high concrete donut on top of the small shop. I don't know how Lou finds these things but he comes up with some interesting landmarks.

Another obscure destination that my guy found is Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park about 30 miles north of Bakersfield which we visited on our way home.

This is Lou's photo. I was dealing with a nasty bout of sciatica so I let him stand in line for a donut & take the tacky concrete donut picture. It was a pretty good donut - & the lines were long. There is also a drive through lane.

Allen Allensworth was a black man born a slave in 1842 who became a Union Soldier during the American Civil War. His mother insisted on education & he ultimately helped found a town for African American families where they could improve their economic & social status.

This is the library founded by Allensworth's mother. About 30 buildings have been restored or reconstructed.

There was a huge area of prickly pear cactus that still had just a few blooms. These two blossoms were in full bloom & beautiful.

Just a few feet away these prickly pear fruits still looked to be edible.

ARIZONA QUICKIE

Each year we try to plan a trip around watching our San Francisco Giants play in another city. Their schedule & ours didn't allow for a longer trip this year but we did manage a "quickie" to Phoenix & Tucson for a few days to take in a baseball game among other sightseeing.

Fourteen years ago we visited part of Saguaro National Park near Tucson & planned to tour the recently opened Kartchner Caverns but to our dismay the tours were all sold out at the popular attraction. Both attractions were on our list for this getaway.

This photo in Saguaro National Park shows the three primary cactus plants - the tall, stately saguaro in the background; the cholla cactus in the middle & the prickly pear in the foreground.

Some of the thousands of saguaro cactus. They can grow to 50 feet tall & live to be over 150 years.

No two saguaro seem to be alike. The arms grow at all angles & sizes.

The cholla cactus seem to almost glow in the light. They say do not get close because the thorns will stick into you skin & are difficult to remove. We didn't for sure!

Some detail on the saguaro. If I remember correctly it takes about 30 years before a saguaro grows the "nubs" which will become arms in the next 100 years.

A barrel cactus. The blooms on top were at the end of their life span. Normally the cactus bloom between February & early September. We were a little late but it was still beautiful.

When Darrin lived in El Paso for a year, he enjoyed the ocotillo. He cut several stalks & kept them in a vase in his apartment. I took this photo & texted him, "Remember this?" He immediately replied, "Ocotillo!"

Most of the prickly pear cactus was done producing its fruit but we found a few that still had prickly pears on them.

I moved around to put the sun directly behind the top tip of this saguaro.

We lucked out on the weather since the temperatures were only in the mid to high 80s when it could have been well over 100 degrees. Here are a few creatures we encountered along the trails in Saguaro National Park. 

Lizards were everywhere. We saw several different varieties & all of them did a good job of camouflaging themselves in the desert landscapes.

This little cottontail rabbit stayed put for some good photo ops.

We wondered how this bird didn't hurt his feet perched on top of a saguaro cactus. This is Lou's photo since mine wasn't quite as clear.

Kartchner Caverns doesn't allow any photography inside the cave. BUT we had a delightful surprise! One of the two men who discovered the cave in 1974 was in attendance on our tour! Gary Tenen shared his insights with us regarding his first forays into the cave & their efforts to preserve it. These men kept their find a secret to protect the cavern until a deal was made with Arizona State Parks to keep the cave in its "living" state while conducting tours for the public. 

Just to the right of this photo is where Gary Tenen & his partner, Randy Tufts, found the entrance to Kartchner Caverns.

In contrast a couple hours later we visited Colossal Cave just a few miles away. It is no longer "living" & was decimated by people who either didn't know better or didn't care. When a cave is actively growing, it can take thousands of years to add just a couple inches to the formations.

 

Look at the broken stalactites. Our guide told us how many years ago people would enter Colossal Cave with sledge hammers & break off stalactites for souvenirs. It was accepted practice to take pieces of the cave. Of course, this destroyed the formations which took thousands or even millions of years to form. It is sickening to think how people destroy our beautiful natural resources. Thank goodness for those who are working hard to protect these incredible places.

Another formation in Colossal Cave that is no longer growing.

We dined at El Charro Mexican Cafe in Tucson. It was established in 1922 & has been continuously operated by the same family ever since. Lou saw it on Travel Channel so we decided to check it out - good food & half price margaritas! 

I'm not sure how this all happened but I seem to have been to more air museums in my life time than I ever would have imagined or needed to see! Actually I know exactly how it all came about - having an ex-husband, son & current partner who all love airplanes & flying! The Pima Air & Space Museum (and Aircraft Boneyard) in Tucson were next on our itinerary.

There were 6 or 7 hangers filled with various aircraft as well as another 150 outside. I'm not even going to attempt to tell you what these are - I figure if you are an airplane geek, you'll know what they are & if you aren't, you don't care.

I do know what this is from all my airshow days & air museums - it is a P-51 Mustang. I passed up a chance to ride in one owned & flown by Russ Francis (former 49ers tight end) 30 years ago. Air aficionados were upset with me but I figured if we crashed the headline would read, "Russ Francis & Unidentified Woman Killed in Plane Crash".

The Boneyard houses hundreds of aircraft. Many of them are being stored in case they ever need to be pressed back into service. Hundreds more are earmarked for parts or to be destroyed.

I loved the crazy paint jobs on some of the display aircraft. You can click on any of these photos to view a larger shot.

The final night of our four day quick trip we headed to Chase Field in Phoenix for a game between our Giants & the Arizona Diamondbacks. We picked the right game - this one we won easily but the next night we lost big!

Chase Field in Phoenix is another beautiful ball park. We still enjoy the games even though, unfortunately, our Giants are lousy this year. We have the worst record in baseball & are working hard to not lose 100 games. 

The stadium has a retractable roof which they opened to take advantage of the mild nighttime weather.It seems that the past 25 years have produced some state of the art downtown baseball venues. 

Our infielders chatted as they waited for the results of a challenge replay by the umpires. The Giants went on to win the game 9-2. It was fun to win a game easily for a change. We sat next to some D-Backs fans who were friendly & nice.

 

This was my 17th Major League Baseball stadium in which I have watched a ball game.

Having explored many Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings on previous trips to Arizona, Lou found a few more to see before our flight this morning. AND there are still several more for our next visit!

The Frank Lloyd Wright designed Gammage Auditorium on the campus of Arizona State in Tempe.

The back of the Gammage Auditorium. 

These flowers were growing outside the auditorium. As always, I have no idea what they are but they were striking.

First Christian Church in Phoenix. This church was built from plans designed by Frank Lloyd Wright many years after his death. The office people were happy to let us in to see the facility.

The interior of the sanctuary. Many liberties have been taken with FLW's design. They guessed that he wouldn't have been too happy at the changes to his plans.

The clouds created a gorgeous background to the tower of the First Christian Church.