Saturday

We did our usual morning walk over to Jamie & Pam's home.  Jamie had to work in the morning so the rest of us went to walk in the Descanso Gardens.  They were very pretty.

During the winter months they have an evening light show called Enchanted.  This bed of glass tulips would all be lit up.  Pam tried to get tickets for us to go but they were all sold out. 

This is how it looks lit up.

We could have ridden the train around.

Nathan naturally found a photo op

Imagine this lit up at night

Taking a break.

Even saw 2 deer.

This was a very pretty garden even in the winter.

Then we dropped Linda off at a friend's apartment for lunch and we went home for lunch.

Once Linda came home we headed off to Barnes and Noble.  We did a lot of browsing.  

After I had bought my brother's latest book I sat in the Starbucks and had coffee with Jamie.  The person in line in front of me "paid it forward" and bought me my coffee!! (because it was Thanksgiving weekend)  That was nice.  

We had gone to the book store in 2 cars because one group wanted to go hiking after the bookstore.  Jamie, Nathan, Linda and George headed off.  Then Pam and I headed home to make peanut butter cookies

The hikers did not hike long.  They decided to go wine tasting at a wine bar. They invited us but it was too late by then.  The wine bar was back near the Barnes and Noble.  They had a good time.

We had our wine after we got the cookies in the oven.

Once they got home we headed off to Annapurna Grill for an Indian dinner.  This is a south Indian food restaurant.  We had idlis as appetizers and Jamie and I each ordered the dosa, which we shared.  No butter chicken, since that is north Indian.  Other than the idlis and dosas the food was all spicier than I like.  Even the biriyani (rice dish) was spicy.  We had plenty of food.  I explained to Nathan that south Indian food tended to be hotter.  A general rule of thumb, the closer to the equator the spicier the food.

The dosas.  Every time I order this, I keep thinking that I should order it more often.  The table next to us ordered the family dosa.  It is 4 feet long!! I snuck a picture but it did not really give the feel for the size and it was not a good picture.

I took a picture of the moon to show the air pollution.  The moon was fuzzy. 

We came home and watched another old classic, Desk Set with Katharine Hepburn.  Very enjoyable silly movie. 

Friday

On our morning walk over to Jamie and Pam's we saw a wedding group.  Of course, I had to take pictures.  They had Bollywood music playing from a loudspeaker.

We headed out around 9:30 am to go to the Redondo beach again.  This time to ride bikes.  There was a line waiting to rent bikes but we all managed to get bikes.  Nathan got Rollerblades.  The bikes were 1 speed with foot brakes.  

We rode south to the end of the bike path.  

At the end we stopped to take a group picture.  Linda did not want to join us.

She was resting.

Gorgeous beach, I went down to touch the water.

On the way back we stopped at the Redondo Beach Landing for an ice cream break.

It was about an 8 mile bike ride.  We turned in the bikes and then headed home.  We had a very quick lunch at home.  It was nearly 2 pm and we had to hurry because we had 2:45 pm tickets to go see the Thor Ragnarok movie.  On the way home Jamie dropped us off at the hotel so we could have the complimentary wine and appetizers.  They are strict at this hotel and would not let us bring in guests.     Well, we could bring guest but it would $20 per person.

We walked back to Jamie and Pam's for a delicious Chana masala dinner.  Linda had a party to go to after dinner and Jamie had to go into work for a few hours.  The rest of us watched an old Audrey Hepburn movie, How to Steal a Million Dollars.  It was a cute movie.  It was set in Paris so it was fun to see familiar places.  We walked back to the hotel after the movie.

Thanksgivng

For our Thanksgiving dinner we drove to the Chart House in the Redondo/Herondo beach area.  Most of us ordered the traditional dinner.  Nathan and George found some vegetarian options.

It was delicious.

The Chart House from the outside. 

After lunch we walked along the boardwalk. What a fun area.  Lots of cool things to see. 

We walked as far as the bicycle place to check it out.  Maybe we will bike on another day in the morning when it is cooler.

Taking a rest break before heading back to the car.

Pam took a selfie with me.

a parking structure

Once we got back to the car, we headed home.  We had a relaxing afternoon.  Some people took naps.  

We took a walk to the grocery store about 1/2 mile away.  We had left-overs for dinner.  Then we looked for a movie on netflix, which we all would be willing to watch.  Hard with 6 people.  We ended out with a Chinese martial arts movie with subtitles which was very loosely based on a real person, "Ip Man".  We left our car in front of Jamie & Pam's place so that we would not have to pay the $18 a day parking at the hotel.  We were going to walk back to the hotel, but Jamie very nicely offered to give us a ride.  It is only about a mile away.  

Wednesday, November 22

George and I are flying to be with Jamie (my brother)  and Pam for Thanksgiving.  Nathan will meet us there as well.  Linda (Jamie and Pam's daughter) will fly in from DC.  Nathan timed his flight to coincide with Linda's flight into LAX.  There were to arrive around 10 pm.

Our flight to Burbank was scheduled to leave Portland at 1:30 pm,  I got a message from Southwest saying that the flight was delayed and would not leave until 3:30 pm.  Luckily, Joyce could shift and get us to the MAX at the later time. We got to the airport in plenty of time.  The flight was uneventful, I got a free drink because it was nearly Thanksgiving. 

These were taken from the airplane window as we were coming into Burbank.

Once we had landed it did not take us long to get our rented car, go to the hotel and check in. We drove over to Jamie and Pam's home just in time for dinner.  Pam made a delicious vegetarian chili and salad. We spent a relaxing evening waiting for Nathan & Linda to arrive.  They were at opposite ends of the airport so it took them a while to connect.  They took a Lyft car to Jamie and Pam's.  They got there about 11:30 pm.  Once they arrived we headed back to the hotel.

Home

Today was a day of everyone heading off in different directions.  I have heard that Sue made it back to Morristown.  Last I heard Rebecca was in Newark and getting ready to head off to Mumbai.  Nathan left Juneau to go to a conference in Denver.  He got as far at Ketchikan and they were delayed due to mechanical problems.  He spent the day in Ketchikan.  He was supposed to get to Denver at 10 pm tonight but now it will be 10 am tomorrow.  The airlines will put him up in a hotel in Seattle tonight.  Jamie and Pam made it safely back to Glendale yesterday.  Steve was dealing with his vehicle today.  I have not heard the final word on that.

We hung out in the hotel until 1 pm when we had to check out.  We had lunch at Applebees on our way to the airport.  We got gas and then returned the vehicle.  We left Albuquerque on time. It was a clear day, cool but warming up.

We had a 3 hour layover in Las Vegas.  What a different feel this airport has. Slot machines, noise, neon lights, glitz, and hand sanitizers every where. 

We arrive on time in Portland.  I ended out having a free drink on the plane.  Not sure why but that was nice.  The Portland airport felt refreshing after Vegas.  Calm, open, quiet ...!  We got home at 11 pm and I was in bed by 11:15.  I was tired.  

PS. I have heard now that Nathan arrive safely in Denver.

Relaxing day

I was up at 4:30 am so that I could walk to Starbucks this morning with Rebecca.  There is not a Starbucks at the Albuquerque airport.  Rebecca treated me to a coffee.  Then George and Sue pick us up at 5:15 to head off to the airport.  Come to find out that they were on the same flight to Denver.  Then Rebecca went on to Newark and Sue went to Knoxville.  We saw them through the security.  They stopped Rebecca and searched her bag.  Apparently all her Starbucks Via packages were suspicious.  It is always something. 

We were back at the hotel by 6:30 am.  We showered and then headed downstairs for breakfast.  We checked outside to see if any balloons were up.  There were several

We pretty much hung around the hotel. We turned in Rebecca's key for her room and we requested late check out for our room.  We have until 1 pm.  I guess we will plan to go to lunch then.  After that we will probably head out to the airport and hang out there until our flight time.  

Steve is having to deal with his car today, plus he wants to be able to spend some time with Ross and Perry.  Jennifer is sick.  Probably as a result of the wedding stresses. So that is why we are on our own.