We’re back home in Texas after a wonderful holiday vacation in California. While I enjoyed myself quite a bit, I let my daily habits fall by the wayside, but that’s okay. I was on vacation after all. Nothing to beat myself up over.
While I did post on my blog, play some ukulele (my dad has a cool Kamaka ukulele), exercise/stretch, and take a daily photo, I didn’t study my Japanese vocabulary nor do a daily drawing. And of course, I didn’t do a daily decluttering. But now that I’m back home, I’ll pick those back up. It’s a new year which is kind of cool. No new year’s resolutions for me. I’m just going to continue what I’m doing. Little by little, every day, ought to be enough. 😊
This afternoon we went to the Redondo Beach Pier to walk around, have some snacks, and enjoy the outdoors. Even though it was chilly out, the kids got ice cream and funnel cakes, and Mariko and I enjoyed some oysters on the half-shell. As the sun went down, we got sat down for a cocktail and then took photos of the sunset. It was a good day! Please enjoy the photos.
またね～
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO400 “Sunset Silhouette” Redondo Beach, 2019Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO640 “Oysters” Redondo Beach, 2019Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/7.1, 1/90 sec, ISO3200 “Seafood Snacks” Redondo Beach, 2019Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/7.1, 1/100 sec, ISO400 “All Signs” Redondo Beach, 2019Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/7.1, 1/100 sec, ISO400 “Tony’s” Redondo Beach, 2019Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/160 sec, ISO200 “The Horseshoe” Redondo Beach, 2019Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/16, 1/220 sec, ISO200 “Black and White Pacific” Redondo Beach, 2019Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/16, 1/100 sec, ISO1250 “Bye-bye Sun” Redondo Beach, 2019
Today we took a day-trip up to the town of Ojai, California. It was about a two-hour drive, and when we arrived it was time for lunch so we headed straight for our first destination, The Nest. The food was a delicious mix of vegan and non-vegan foods, and the coffee was also yummy. We shared cauliflower tacos, brisket sandwiches, and sangria.
After lunch, we visited The Ojai Olive Oil Company, where we took a short tour and learned a lot about their olive oil operation, and olive oil in general. Very enlightening and educational! I didn’t know that the time from picking the olives to producing the actual oil happens within the span of only a few hours to retain the most flavor.
Next we made a stop at Topa Mountain Winery for a wine tasting, and then it was onto a really cool bookstore, Bart’s Books. What’s special about Bart’s is that it is the largest independently owned outdoor bookstore in the U.S.! There are so many cool books to browse through, and I found myself exploring a lot of the books from the early 1900s. How cool to read from a book that is over 100 years old!
Today I visited The Getty Center for the first time, which is kind of surprising since it has been around for over 20 years. I was blown away by the architecture, and also the paintings from their permanent collection. Seeing more paintings by Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, and Cezanne was pretty mind-blowing. I loved it.
We were fortunate to visit on a super-clear day (due to the gusty winds) so the already-amazing views were absolutely breath-taking. You could see downtown, the San Bernardino Mountains, Long Beach, Palos Verdes, and Catalina. It was awesome!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/600 sec, ISO200 “Los Angeles Panorama” Los Angeles, 2018
Admission to the Getty Museum is free, but parking in the lot is $15. I recommend arriving early at the lot because it gets super-crowded. We got there at about 9:45 am (the museum opened at 10 am) and we were able to go right to our parking space, then hop on the tram that took us up the hill to the museum. But when we left at around 1 pm there was a huge line of cars trying to get into the lot. It looked like a nightmare. So go early!
Here are a few more photos from the grounds. The Getty Center is a definite must-do if you visit Los Angeles for a few days.
