California - UCLA Botanical Gardens

Susie and I met Claire (and her husband George) when we traveled to BVI for Tony & Sarah’s wedding in 2012. Claire & George live in Calabasas and we hoped to get to see them on our California adventure, but we knew finding a time might be a challenge. Claire suggested that we come to Westwood and join her for lunch at the Napa Valley Grille. It was fun to get together, sorry we didn’t get to see George too. George is a member of the Strawberry Alarm Clock, if you're old enough you might remember 'Incense and Peppermints'!

MUSAP meeting Claire - love the guy in the background!

After lunch Claire had to get back to work ~ office has an amazing 19th floor view of the UCLA campus and beyond. Susie and I asked her about the botanical garden at UCLA - she didn’t know that there was one. The waitress hadn’t heard of it either when we asked her about walking directions. Apparently it’s a hidden gem. If you are visiting the LA area and want a peaceful place to visit that isn't choked with tourists ~ check this place out.

a hidden gem

So with a campus map in hand Susie and I set off in search of the gardens. We left our car in the garage back at Claire’s building. The Mildred Mathias Botanical Gardens are located on the southeast corner of the UCLA campus. The day was sunny and we enjoyed the walk. It was wonderful to see so much green in February. There were more flowers in bloom than I expected.

camellias - lovely splashes of color

Whenever I see Bird of Paradise plants I think of cousin Wendy and take lots of photos. There is a Bird of Paradise plant here that is huge! Actually seeing these plants was pretty common around LA - I stop for photos while others walk right by without noticing.

Bird of Paradise

I am getting better about remembering to photograph MUSAP at all of the stop along the way in my adventures. Sometimes I balance him in precarious spots and worry that he will tumble into a place where recovery will be a challenge - so far no major disaster. I wonder where we will be when he loses the tag on his wing.

MUSAP and some lilies

The botanical garden was a quiet and serene place and we enjoyed strolling the trails. I don't think we covered all the trails while we were there. It would be wonderful to come back throughout the year and see how the scenery changes. There are signs identifying a lot of the plants, but of course we found a few plants with no signs and we were curious about what they were.

CLICK HERE to see photos of the UCLA Botanical Garden on Flickr

one of many varieties of bamboo

2/7/14

California ~ Will Rogers State Park

On each MUSAP adventure I look for opportunities to try something a little different or see a place that is off the beaten path. I don’t remember how I found out about Will Rogers State Park in Pacific Palisades, my trip planning is a series of computer clicks, but when I saw they offered trail rides I was immediately tempted. So I called Susie and asked she what she thought of the idea. Despite not having ridden a horse for about 50 years she was willing to give it a try. It turned into an even better idea when I found out there was a Groupon that we could use. In future planning I will be checking Groupon for my destinations.

Susie riding Tucker, me riding Wylie

The Westside Riding School offers the trail rides. After parking (and getting the senior parking rate) we made our way up the hill to the riding school. It’s a very nice facility. The buildings all look well maintained and the grounds are clean.

I think the walk may be to prove you are fit enough to go on the trail ride

We got there early so we had some time to walk around and see the original barn where Will Rogers kept his horses. Will Rogers enjoyed spending time at his ranch in the 1920’s and 30’s when he was a popular Hollywood star.The barn is still a beautiful building and we enjoyed photographing it from many angles. 

Will Rogers Ranch ~ the original barn

I walked up a hill behind the barn to see what I could find. There was a paddock with just one horse, but there were several deer there too. A photo op that I couldn’t resist. When we arrived at the paddock for our ride we saw deer in with the trail horses, and at the end of our visit we saw a herd of deer near the parking lot - I think I was the only person there who was excited to see the deer. 

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As it turned out Susie and I were the only 2 riders that day. We immediately liked our wrangle, Dayna, and were excited for our ride. Dayna got our horses, Wylie and Tucker, saddled and ready. After signing the required paperwork and putting on our required helmets we were ready to go.

Susie;s ready to ride

The trail took us down past the lower barns and then we headed up the trail to Inspiration Point. It’s a walking trail too and we passed hikes along the way. It’s a 3 mile loop. We could look back down and see the barns and the riding school ring. The weather was ideal for our ride - sunny, but not too hot.  

along the Inspiration Point Trail

Looking south we could see the buildings of Los Angeles. This was a pretty clear day by LA standards. Looking west we could see the sun sparkling on the water of the Pacific Ocean.

Los Angeles

Here’s the horse eye view of what we saw from Inspiration Point. There were 2 hikers at the Point and one of them was a little nervous when she saw thee horses arrive. After we were there for a few minutes she relaxed and was confident enough to come over and pat my horse, Wylie. 

Wylie's view of LA

We even got to see some the homes of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg from the trail. Tom Hanks' home was listed for sale last summer for $5.225 million! Tom Hanks house

Tom Hanks & Steven Spielberg's Pacific Palisades homes

The trail ride is scheduled to last for an hour.  Susie and thought that was a good idea because we expected to be stiff and sore after spending an hour in the saddle. Not sure why - perhaps Dayna didn’t have a lot to do that day - but our ride lasted 2 wonderful hours. We took our time and enjoyed the experience. Wylie looked a little tired when we got back to his paddock, but Susie and I were feeling fine. We tipped Dayna well for her efforts.

MUSAP and Wylie after the ride

After our ride we went back to the park to check out Will Roger’s house and the rest of the grounds. The Visitor Center was undergoing renovation and the house was closed when we got there. We spent some time admiring and photographing the exterior before heading back to Santa Monica.

CLICK HERE to see all the Will Rogers and trail ride photos on Flickr.

the yard by the ranch house

2/5/14

California ~ Santa Monica

MUSAP on Santa Monica beach

February 2014 and MUSAP’s 10th state ~ California! This was my first trip traveling with another person ~ Susie, my sister in law, joined me for this adventure. This was also the first adventure where we had lots of family that we planned to visit.

California family

We started with 5 days in Santa Monica where we got to spend time with Katie (Susie’s daughter) and Mike, along with their cute little dog Bodie. They moved to California almost 2 years ago, so it was nice to spend some time with them.

Bodie

While we were in the LA area we also had lunch with Claire ~ she is related to Susie’s daughter in law Sarah. We met her at Tony & Sarah’s wedding in the British Virgin Islands in 2012. When we got up to the San Francisco area we saw our nephew Mike and his family, our niece Jen and her family, Susie’s brother in law Rico, and my cousin Mary. Sadly I didn’t get to see my mom’s cousin who lives in Berkeley - a good excuse to return to California sooner than later.

California Grand Nieces and Nephew

Day One was a travel day. We spent the night in Boston to make our early departure a little easier - we are not morning people. Everything went smoothly and we arrived in Los Angeles on time. Our rental car was a huge SUV and after seeing our parking space in Santa Monica our next stop was back to Hertz to trade it in for a smaller car. Big cars and Los Angeles are just not a good combination!

giant SUV and reasonably sized rental cars

Susie’s daughter Katie and her husband Mike live in Santa Monica. We stayed in an AirBNB unit near their place called Santa Monica Beach Tree House. First time I have used AirBNB - great experience and it worked well because there were two of us and it gave us plenty of space. The location was amazing - one block from the beach and a quick walk to the pier.

sunset at the beach

CLICK HERE to see pix of Santa Monica and our AirBNB

On our first full day we decided to take a bus tour of Los Angeles. What a wonderful way to see the sights! From the minute we met our tour driver, Kevin, we could tell it was going to be a fun day.

Olvera Street in LA

The 5 ½ hour tour started at Starline’s Santa Monica terminal where there is free parking available on site. We were all over the city driving from Santa Monica to Downtown LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and Hollywood Blvd. Kevin’s commentary was informative and entertaining. He shared fun facts about the Los Angeles area all along the route.  He pulled over and slowed down for photo ops when possible which everyone appreciated. 

Chinatown entrance gate

There were many stops during the tour where he parked the bus and we had 15-30 minutes to get off the bus and see the attraction and take lots of photos ~ Staples Center, Olvera Street, Walt Disney Hall, La Brea Tar Pits, Rodeo Drive, Walk of Fame. We found there was enough time to see things and we never felt rushed. Our lunch stop was over an hour at the Farmers Market/Grove.

77 Sunset Strip

Kevin made sure we knew what to look for whenever we got off the bus, for example walking us over to Olvera Street or getting us maps of the Farmers Market to make it easier for us to find our way around.

at The Grove - a shopping plaza

Taking a city tour gives you ideas for places that you would like to return to and spend some more time. Great way to see the sights without having to drive in LA traffic! My photos don’t really show the classic LA tourist sites, but I had fun creating them.

CLICK HERE to see pix of or tour of LA

Bugatti on Rodeo Drive

We took a few walks on the beach in Santa Monica and a walk over to the famous pier with Katie. It was nice to be on a beach in February. The beach was wide and sandy, didn't see many shells.

feet in the Pacific Ocean

Toes in the water, watching surfers, enjoying some sunshine. The famous gymnastics rings on the original Muscle Beach and lots of nets set up for beach volleyball.

surfers

Cirque du Soleil’s Totem was performing in their tents set up right next to the pier. I didn’t really pick the dates for this adventure around seeing Totem… but I was happy to discover that they would be there at the same time. So the 4 of us went to see the show and loved it. It was the 5th time I saw Totem - the trapeze duo are amazing!

Cirque du Soleil tents

The Santa Monica Pier has a history over 100 years old. It’s like an amusement park over the water - ferris wheel, carousel, arcade. There are also fisherman along the sides. Did you know that the end of Historic Route 66 is on the Santa Monica Pier? I hope to drive a lot of Route 66 with MUSAP in the coming years.

Historic Route 66

CLICK HERE to see pix of the Santa Monica beach and Pier

Santa Monica ~ beach, pier, and mountains in the distance

Florida - Sanibel

Final full day ~ off to Sanibel

MUSAP enjoying Ding Darling

Best thing about Day #5? Catching up with my friend Blair. We spent summers together in Duxbury when we were teenagers - lots of family memories. He moved to Florida over 30 years ago. We lost touch, then reconnected. We share a love of nature photography and push each other to do more and work for better photographs.

Blair looking for a heron that was hiding

Blair wanted to start the day with a sunrise shoot - I declined! He went without me and then came to pick me up for a day of photography fun.

shorebird with a fish, or it might be a shrimp

First stop of the day was Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge. This has been a place we have visited together every winter for the past several years. Ding Darling is part of a mangrove ecosystem. It’s a stopping point for lots of migrating birds.

white pelicans

To see Ding Darling you drive along their Wildlife Drive and pull over whenever you see something of interest. Lots to see and not too much walking. We saw lots of egrets (great & snowy, herons (great blue, little blue, tri-color), anhinga, and pelicans.

tri-color heron

There was a flock of roseate spoonbills and I caught them in flight. Also saw a bald eagle when I was scanning the skies.

roseate spoonbills

There were lots of birders and photographers along the drive. Also some hopeful fisherman.

fisherman hoping for a bite

CLICK HERE for Ding Darling photos.

white ibis

After grabbing a quick lunch and picnic behind the store we headed to the Bailey Tract. This is another place we have photographed together on previous visits. It’s managed by Ding Darling, but far less crowded. There are several looping trails.

wildflower

Most of our photography was plants on this stop.

great egret

We saw an egret who posed well for the camera. Also a butterfly that stayed still for a photo op.

white peacock butterfly (thanks BTH for the ID on this one)

Blair noticed a rain gauge and discovered a little frog in the top of it.

frog (no idea what kind)

CLICK HERE for Bailey Track photos.

foliage at Bailey Tract

We were both getting tired but we weren’t done yet. Last stop on Sanibel was the fishing pier near the lighthouse at the south end of the island.

egret at dusk

It was nice to stroll on the beach and there were some birds at the water’s edge that were good subjects for my camera.

reddish egret

Our last stop of the day was Bunche Beach back in Ft Myers. We thought we might get some sunset photos but clouds had moved in so we weren’t successful with that idea. But being on the beach at the end of a day spent with a good friend was a nice ending to this adventure.

at Bunche Beach

CLICK HERE for more photos of Sanibel and Bunche Beach

snowy egret - golden slippers

New goal - take pictures of family & friends with MUSAP.

MUSAP needs to pose with more friends and family