Only in LA

I haven't posted lately in my "Only in LA" blog label so I thought I'd share something that recently happened.  Our cousin David (who lives in Taos, New Mexico) is married to an artist Tracy Turner.  I've linked before to her wonderful paintings.  Tracy flew into LA to spend time with her best friend who lives in London.  Her friend participated in one of those "Home Exchanges" like in the movie, "The Holiday."  Her friend has a villa in France and she swapped for a very famous house in the hills of Malibu.  Tracy and her friend stayed in "The Wing House."  It's a home made from the parts of a 747 airplane.  The huge wings serve as a roof and many other parts of the plane were incorporated into the home.  HERE's a link to The Wing House.  It's really quite fabulous and famous!  Scroll down to see all the photos.  We had a really nice dinner with David and Tracy and hope to visit them again in Taos.  David built their home and on the property, Tracy has an artist studio and Aunt Joy (David's mother, Audre's sister) has a casita that she says we are welcome to use anytime.  She only spends one month there in the summer so it's free most of the year.

Speaking of London, Justin's girlfriend Sarah arrived there on Monday for a business trip.  She works for Yum Foods Corporate and they have Taco Bells and KFC's all around the world.  Yesterday she was in a rainy Manchester and posted on Facebook this fun fact:  When ordering "chips" at a Taco Bell in England, you need to clarify if you're asking for fries or nacho chips.  She will be gone for 5 weeks.  She's combining a vacation in Spain with her business trip.  Her aunt will meet her in a couple of weeks and they will travel around Spain and other locales.  

Wild & Wacky Venice

Jeff and I took a Sunday drive down the coast to Venice Beach, my old stomping grounds.  I went to Venice High School.  Venice, California has canals like in Venice, Italy and you may have seen them featured in some movies or the television series, "Californication."  Venice is the number one tourist stop in Southern California.  I guess it beats Disneyland because it's free.  Over the years, Venice has changed from rundown buildings and homes to million dollar homes and upscale businesses.  Still, it hasn't lost it's weirdness factor.  I remember taking Justin and Jessica there when they were young and they thought it was like visiting a different planet.  There are lots of street performers, tattoo parlors, piercing salons, booths selling arts and crafts, palm readers, people who will tell you an insulting joke for $1.00, let you kick them "below the waist" for $10.00, and the list goes on and on.  I took this photo of a Medical Marijuana Clinic where they had a young guy and girl dressed in green scrubs urging passersby to come in and get a prescription for $40.00.  They barked, "Walk on in, fly on out!"  The weird guy in the black bikini photobombed my shot of the clinic.  He's wielding a plastic bat but was harmless enough.  He asked for a dollar and took it well when we passed.

I told Jeff I should ask my doctor for a medical marijuana Rx for my herniated disk!  Can you imagine my wholesome, Harvard-educated doctor in Thousand Oaks getting a request like that?  Makes me laugh just to think about it!  Can you imagine the quality of the doctor lurking behind the doors of that lime green building?  This post has to go under my "Only in LA" category!

Carmageddon Part Deux

This weekend we are having the sequel to the first Carmageddon where they shut down the 405 Freeway from the 10 (Santa Monica Freeway) to the 101 (Ventura Freeway) in order to knock down the second half of the Mulholland Bridge.  For those unfamiliar with Los Angeles, this is a major thoroughfare from the valley to the westside, including the airport.  Like last time, people are being urged to stick close to home.  Last time, after all the hype, it turned out to be a non-event.  People steered clear of the area and there were no big problems.  However, officials are warning against any shenanigans like last time where a trio set up a dining table and toasted with wine.  This time they are warning, "You will be arrested!"  Party Poopers!

Jeff's iPhone arrived on Wednesday but mine came a day later so we waited to have them activated and our numbers transferred until Thursday.  Both times the Fed Ex guy was scared by our Halloween spider that drops down and then slowly climbs back up.  Jeff's been busy over at the other house working on the bathroom remodel. We'll stick close to home over the weekend and I'll learn about my new phone and add apps to it.

Today we are heading in the opposite direction towards the beach in Ventura to have lunch with Chris and Liz.  We have another heatwave on the way!

A Fair to Remember

We had a fun time at the Ventura County Fair.  The boys were mostly interested in the kiddie rides so we bought $20.00 worth of tickets.  They picked pretty tame rides for the most part like this little animal train.

Ryan has issues with loud noises so he was plugging his ears so Jacob had to follow suit.  They thought the big ferris wheel was too scary so they went on a little helicopter and some swings that went around in circles.  We headed for lunch and tried to find food that wasn't too gross...like chocolate-covered bacon- or too expensive... like a $9.00 hot dog.  We found a hot dog on a stick for Ryan but he didn't want the corn breading part so had to peel that off.  Jeff struck gold by finding a big cup of French fries for only a dollar.  I brought Capri-suns, bananas and pita chips so they filled in with that.  Jeff had never tried a frozen banana- chocolate covered and dipped in nuts- so I made him try that so he can scratch that off his bucket list.  He loved it!  Then we went on to all the agricultural displays and livestock areas.  The boys got to see goats, sheep, cows, bulls and lots and lots of pigs,

What they really wanted was more rides so we took them back to the kiddie ride area to use up the last of their tickets.  They wanted to go on these race cars so I made them watch it first because it really picked up speed at each turn.  They insisted they wanted to go on it so here's the result.

Are we having fun yet?

While we were at the fair, Cooper was at Camp Bow Wow.  He came home with a big folder detailing his day complete with a report card with his picture on it.  It says he had a great time playing with Fargo, Gibbs, Mookie and Sutter. His overall camp experience was 5 tail wags and the personal note said:  Cooper is so adorable!  He was such a joy to have at camp today.  We all can't wait to see Cooper again.

While Cooper was at Camp Bow Wow, Kanan was at The Barkley.  When I picked him up, the trainer came out to ask me who had trained Kanan.  She raved about how calm and well-behaved he was.  Told her we really can't take any credit as that's just the way he is.  They sent us an email while he was there :  Hi Dad!  I am having a great first day at camp! So much to do! Guess what! I got caught by the pawparazzi! Check it out! Hugs & Woofs, Kanan.  Here's the photo from the email

Here's a photo of the outside of The Barkley

Only in LA!

  

      

Dog Days

We are going on another long weekend trip later this month but this time the dogs can't come along.  We need to find a place to board them.  We've used Camp Bow Wow for Kanan before but thought we'd check out ultra-posh The Barkley since the price seemed the same as Camp Bow Wow @ $50.00 a night.  We went on a tour last Friday.  When we pulled up in front of The Barkley, it looks like the lobby to a fancy hotel and parked in front is a big stretch limo for picking dogs up and taking them home. ($45.00 each way.)  We live less than 5 minutes away!  It was all very nice and parts of it was way over the top but here was the big catch in the pricing... the $49.50 per night is just for staying in a nice glassed in kennel.  Your dog only has 3 bathroom breaks and is not allowed to go to the communal play area without paying an additional $20.00 per day!  I thought that was ridiculous!  At Camp Bow Wow, being with the other dogs is included in the price.  So, we will probably go back to Camp Bow Wow.  Cooper has to spend a day there on Thursday to be evaluated.  The evaluation is free.  They won't accept aggressive dogs.  Kanan has already been evaluated there so we decided to take him to The Barkley on Thursday.  They charge $35.00 for evaluating but we have a coupon for a free evaluation.  We'll take advantage of our dog-free day to take the boys to the Ventura County Fair.

If you didn't visit since Friday, be sure and check out my last post with photos and video of our day at the beach with the boys.  I'll be having a fun day today.  Having a colonoscopy... just routine and something everyone should do.      

Beach Boys

Things have been progressing well with the "swimming lessons."  We've spent a lot of time in the spa and on Thursday, we spent the whole day at Zuma Beach.  If Ryan and Jacob can play in the surf, a pool should be easy.  Here's a video.

Two Little Beach Boys from Darylynn Mills on Vimeo.

I have some cute photos, too, that I took with my cellphone camera and posted on Facebook.  Here are a few similar ones from my camera.  

Jacob and Jeff with Jacob doing his best Coppertone Baby impersonation

Look how happy Ryan is!

My favorite shot- Silly Jacob!

I'll have to write next week about our visit to the Barkley Pet Hotel in Westlake Village just a few blocks from our house.  Our dogs will not be staying there!

Bewitched

Thought it was time for another "Only in LA" post.  There is a Witch's House in Beverly Hills.  It was originally built in 1921 on a movie lot in Culver City where I grew up.  Many "Hollywood films" were made (and still are) in Culver City notably The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind.  Famous MGM, now Sony Pictures, was located in Culver City.  The Witch's House was moved to Beverly Hills in the 1930's where it still stands attracting lots of visitors, especially on Halloween.  HERE's a link about it.    Look at the pointy hat roof and if you look closely, you can see the moat.  How would you like to go trick or treating here?

Rock Star

This is another of those "only in LA stories."  A 340 ton boulder is being transported nightly across the city to it's final destination at the LA County Museum of art where it will be installed as a piece of art called "The Levitated Mass."  The 22 foot tall granite rock is in the middle of a 105 mile journey.  The trailer carrying it has 196 wheels and is traveling at the rate of about 5 miles per hour.  Crowds are actually coming out each night to cheer it on and follow it along it's route. I never did understand those people who follow parades. Today, they even had a party for it in Long Beach. They called it, "I Want to Rock with You."  There were games, food and, of course, rock music.  When it is in place at the art museum, it will be suspended and look like it's floating in air.  Don't think I'll be in a hurry to walk under it!  Here's a photo of the rock on it's journey.

I don't know why but this story reminded me of "The Grand Canyon Skywalk."  HERE'S a video of it.  Do you think you'd like to walk on it?  I think I could do it despite being afraid of heights.