Love and Fireworks: The Perfect Weekend Combination

          D was lucky enough to get the Fourth off which gives us a four day weekend to enjoy together.  The best way to start an extended weekend is by sleeping in, so we do.  When D was here last year he climbed a mountain with a bunch of other Fellows to watch the fireworks, but he said the view of the actual fireworks wasn't that great.  I love fireworks and this is the first time we'll get to watch 4th of July fireworks together so I request finding a spot on the ground near enough to fireworks to feel them, and he agrees.

          I'd found a website that lists several celebration locations in the greater LA area and D finds another website, so we begin reading reviews and summaries and checking Google maps to see what kind of parking is available.  We narrow it down to three fireworks displays within a 30 minute drive and pick the one with the highest rating in Rosemead.  There is ample street parking so we're confident that we'll have a good trip.  Getting ready and eating a quick dinner doesn't leave us too much extra time, but I grab my camera and we're heading out the door.

Santa Monica Beach: A great way to end a long weekend.

          The first sign of trouble is the traffic as soon as we get into the Rosemead area.  It seems like the entire town is trying to get to the park.  I see one parking spot near the railroad tracks off to the right but the park is off to the left and so should be lots of street parking so at the last minute I suggest we turn left.  Ultimately this was the wrong choice.  We end up parked several blocks away from the park and across a busy street and the fireworks begin as we are still heading toward the park.

          I suppose I should say the official fireworks began as we were walking.  Fireworks are legal in California and families are already setting them off EVERYWHERE.  Imagine the last war movie you saw during one of the most intense shootout scenes where things are exploding and bullets are whizzing past in every direction.  That's close, just replace all that with fireworks and you can begin to see what getting to the park is like.  D has to dodge fireworks that are going off in the streets as we find parking and we make sure to give wide distance around exploding and snapping fireworks as we're walking.  We see fireworks being sent across the street ahead of us and when we get closer we see that it is the brilliant result of drinking while holding a roman candle as the young man's hand is aiming it at the streetlights across the road.  For the first time I am very grateful that Illinois does not allow fireworks.  I am much happier having just a few families gutsy enough to set off fireworks instead of every neighbor filling the sky with explosions.

          People have pulled out lawn chairs and are filling the sidewalks in front of their homes.  We continue walking until we reach the fence at the edge of the park.  We find a great spot where we can see the launching area and we stand watching the fireworks explode above us as the sound fills my chest with that wonderful drumming sensation.  I get some good video and a handful of clear, beautiful pictures, and several other colorful shots.  D makes sure I am happy with this spot before relaxing and enjoying the show himself.  It's nice standing with him at my back as we watch our first 4th of July fireworks together.  The finale arrives and fills the sky with color and light.

The Thriller

          The carnival in Rosemead Park will continue for another hour and a half so we fight the out-pour of people to get inside.  They have the typical Zipper, Gravitron, rocking boat ride, and then something new called Thriller.  I pull D closer so we can see how this ride works.  It looks like an enclosed flying saucer with lights on the outside and in the very center of the inside.  After several minutes the door closes and it spins like a top.  I'd really like to know what's going on inside that draws people to this ride.

A perfect game for a pirate.

          Next stop is the food stall to get the traditional cotton candy.  For the past few years my sister and I have gone to the fairgrounds in our town to watch the fireworks in the grandstands, and then we always get cotton candy and walk around looking at the animals and rides while we wait for the parking lot to clear.  It's time to introduce D to this tradition.  We eat our candy as we walk around looking at the fairway games, rides, and exotic food stalls.  Normal carnival food in the Midwest includes elephant ears, funnel cakes, giant pretzels, lemonade, corn dogs and the like.  Here we see Korean, Thai, and other authentic food stands.  It all smells so good and we're tempted to try something.  Looks like they give good sized portions, too, a full meal's worth!  If we weren't both so repelled by crowds I'm sure we would have bought something.

I love riding the Zipper.

          I grab a great shot of us as we leave the carnival and we return to our rental car to find it unscathed much to D's relief.  Now that we see what the Fourth is like on the ground, we decide to watch them from atop a mountain next year.  We just need to remember to pack a  couple small flashlights.

          The next two days are spent relaxing, getting groceries, and D gets some work done on a paper.  Sunday is July 7th and that is our 2 year dating anniversary so my job is to pick someplace to go.  I decide on Santa Monica Beach since it is the closest beach to us and it has lots of good reviews on Yelp, a website I discovered this summer.  D also wants to go out somewhere nice for dinner but I couldn't decide on a place.  We can pick one after the beach.

          Happy Second Anniversary!  I wake up excited that we finally get to spend an anniversary together.  Last year on this morning I was awoken by the doorbell.  My parents must have been out somewhere because no one answered the door.  I quietly crept to the door and saw a van in the driveway when the phone starts to ring.  I check caller ID and see it's a florist.  I answer the phone and am surprised to hear that the call is for me, not only that, but she pronounced my name correctly so this is no mistake!  Now my heart is starting to pound and I stop caring that I'm in my pjs as I answer the door and run out to the van.  The woman reaches in back and presents me with a beautiful bouquet of red roses, white carnations and beautiful pink lilies.

They safely made it to the kitchen.

          I'm in total shock to the point that I still ask, "Who are they from?"  Of course I knew the answer, but I was so surprised that my brain still hadn't kicked back in.  Thankfully she directs me to the card and I rush onto the porch and sit down on the door mat before my shaking hands drop this gorgeous vase and bouquet.  I grab the card and cover my mouth as my streaming eyes make it hard for me to read the sweet note from my D wishing me a happy anniversary and wishing he was here to spend it with me.  I am so overwhelmed with emotion that I just sit for a few minutes before I am certain that I can get the bouquet to the kitchen without dropping it.  Needless to say I take dozens if not hundreds of pictures of all the flowers.  More lilies bloom throughout the week and it is such a treasure getting to enjoy those flowers, just for me.

          This year my morning treat is getting to wake up next to the man I love, within reach and more importantly within kissing distance.  We decide to wait until afternoon to head to the beach to see if I can get any good sunset pictures over the ocean.

I want to think that is just clouds but I'm afraid it's not.

          We decide to drive in the back way to avoid driving through LA and this allows us to see some of the shorter mountains near the ocean.  As we leave the mountains we can see the smog covering the city and it's hard to imagine that it used to be worse.  Once we are in the city, though, it is harder to notice.  We find our parking garage near the beach and are surprised by how cheap parking is here compared to Chicago.  The first thing we notice about Santa Monica is that it is certainly a city that caters to its pedestrians and the sidewalks are full of people.  It is a beautiful city with a variety of shops everywhere and they all look well kept.

Santa Monica Pier

          After a short hike through the city, across the Palisades Park, and over a bridge over the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) we reach the beach.  There are tall, narrow, fancy buildings lining the ocean front walk and we begin guessing how much it must cost to live there.  We first head toward the Santa Monica Pier to get a view of the roller coaster and Ferris wheel.  It looks so crowded and I think D is relieved when I say that I don't want to actually go on the pier, just wanted to get close enough for pictures.  We head back and pass a live band again.  Finally it is time to take off our shoes and trek through the sand to the water.

          This beach is kept very clean and it probably has 100 yards of beach width that stretches for miles.  We are on a hunt for shells today.  We are going to be painting some models and I want my models to be standing on the beaches we've visited so I'm collecting sand and shells to make their bases look more interesting.  Before we even reach the beach we're finding small shells that will be more to scale with the models... if you pretend they live in a world with really huge clams.  I'm good at pretending, how about you?

          As we are walking on the ocean's edge we continue collecting the small shells we find here and there while also enjoying the sound and view of the waves.  The water feels very cold but the longer we are exposed to it the more our feet get used to it.  I am happy that I brought my jacket, though, the dropping sun  is leaving the sand quite cool, also.  Now and then I find a smooth, round black stone and do my best to skip it into the ocean.  I get a few skips usually.  After a while D hands me another black rock and I skip it on into ocean.  It won't be another week or more before I realize he intended for me to keep the rock... oops.  Thank goodness he doesn't take offense at my throwing his gift into the ocean and just shrugs it off, happy that I'm enjoying myself.

He stood very still for pictures then bolted as soon as he got in the water.

          In Florida as we walked along Cocoa beach my family and I noticed all the tiny snails that live right under the top of the sand.  Remembering this I dig into the sand to see if anything is living right below this surface but I don't find anything but more sand.  As we walk, though, we begin to notice movement under the sand as the waves recede.  I bend down and dig and this time we spot dozens of little sand crabs.  We saw sand crab shells on Cabrillo Beach but here they are alive and burrowing quickly back under the sand every time a wave reveals them.  In the handful of sand I scoop there are several crabs that quickly try to burrow down and run into my palms.  They tickle and the sensation is also a bit alarming so I release all except one.

My favorite picture of the "volcano."

          D and I look at this little crab for a while before finally releasing him back into the water.  Can you tell we really like wildlife and little animals?  We continue along the beach until the sun reaches the tops of the mountains.  I take several pictures and love that the sun's rays look as though they are exploding from the top of a mountain making it look like an erupting volcano.  D makes sure I get all the pictures I want before we head back.  On our way we find an abandoned plastic beach shovel and keep it just in case we need a shovel next time we got to a beach.  We try digging up a beach hopper but we were actually digging into empty holes.

          Santa Monica is all lit up when we get back to the car.  The trees have purple and yellow lights shining up into their leaves.  The ocean spray left us feeling sticky and gross so we decide to head home to have a quiet dinner by ourselves instead of stinking up a restaurant.  D made french toast for lunch and I bought us a celebratory Reeses ice cream cake so we made today special ourselves. Soon we are stuffed and ready to crawl into bed and pass out.  Today was a very nice, relaxing anniversary getting to go for a long walk on a beach together.

Fireworks to end our second year together and a beach to begin our third.  I think we're on the right track.

My Heart's Been Stolen by Cabrillo Beach

A striped shore crab at Cabrillo beach.

          On Sunday, June 30 we are heading to San Pedro to see a small but highly rated donation-based aquarium.  We arrive shortly after ten and the greeters correctly guess that this is our first visit.  We are told about tide pools on the beach that we should go explore a bit then be back by eleven to take part in a grunion hatching, whatever that means.  We thank them for the information and head to the Cabrillo Beach tide pool area.

One of the hundreds of hermit crabs moving between the rocks.

          When we get there we are stunned by how many hermit crabs, red crabs, and snails are everywhere.  This beach is covered in rocks and doesn't have sand like I would normally expect.  Instead the areas between rocks are covered in fragments of shells and rock to create a very colorful ground.  We spend most of our time hunting the fast crabs that dart between and under the rocks.  I'd love to catch one but they are so fast!  I make sure to get pictures of my first time seeing the Pacific Ocean before we head back to hatch grunion.

My first view of the Pacific Ocean with the waves crashing in.

          We make it back to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium with plenty of time to spare so we hang around in a shady building and read some information while we wait for the show to begin.  A woman carts out a tray full of little jars and a full water bucket and everyone gathers around.  We will all get to hatch our own grunion eggs after we do the grunion song and dance.  The little kids all get into the simple motions and now they are handing out jars of sand and fish eggs.

Tiny limpets that live on the rocks.

         D grabs a jar for us and I have my camera at the ready for pictures and video.  We can see the tiny silver bodies inside the eggs but nothing is happening, yet.  We are instructed to shake the jar with our hand over the top to mimic strong waves that tell the grunion it is time to hatch.  After a couple minutes of vigorous shaking we begin to see tiny silver fish pop out of the eggs just like popcorn.  D stops shaking so we can watch as more and more fish pop out and begin swimming in the jar.  After naming all our fish the same name (I think it was Fred) except one, we hand our jar back and begin exploring the buildings.

D hatched a bunch of grunion!

          There are two main buildings separated into three exploration areas.  The first building we explore is their Aquatic Nursery where aquaculture and research are being run to learn more about the marine life and find ways to protect the endangered species and the ocean in general.  Many fish are also being raised to be shared for education purposes to prevent wild animals from needing to be caught.  There are many interesting fish in here including a creature that looks like a mix between a seahorse and worm.  It is long and straight with a long thin nose sticking straight up like the rest of its body.  I don't take any pictures in this room since most of the tanks are covered in condensation and even my eyes were having trouble picking out the details on most of the animals.

A super fast fiddler crab who disappears almost as quickly as you spot it.

          Now we head next door to the Exploration Center where we start to learn the names of some of the creatures we just saw at the beach.  The crabs we saw are striped shore crabs and all the tiny shell creatures are limpets which can actually dig themselves into rock.  In this building are a few tanks of fish and plants with one tank that we can crawl under to be surrounded by the fish.  That one is very cool and great for taking distorted pictures.  We learn about rockfish at the next tank and are then surprised to find living specimen of several creatures under microscopes and in open shallow tanks that we can explore to our hearts' content.  I start up a conversation with the women working there to find out what some of the creatures are and why they look the way they do.

A pretty white animal with a brittle sea star.

          We see sea slugs, anemone, urchins, kelp, star fish, baby swell sharks and even swell shark eggs which look like plant seed pods rather than animal eggs.  We learn that sea urchins also dig into rock and that they are in their own secondary container within the tank to prevent them from digging a hole in the side of the tank again!  I can't imagine what it must be like to live here and have all of these animals and plants be just a normal part of the ecosystem.

A really colorful sea cucumber (?) with a large anemone.

          Before moving on we explore the jars of preserved specimen, skeletons, and exoskeletons of a few more animals: sea otter, a 30 some year old lobster , and shells of all kinds.  There are a few more crabs to explore under the microscopes and it is fun to focus on their mouth parts and shells to see all the detail that is harder to see with the naked eye.

The two sea horses on the right were wrapped around each other in a very cute way.

          Onto the main building full of tanks.  The Susanne Lawrenz-Miller Exhibit Hall manages to fit so many tanks full of colorful and exciting creatures that it makes the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago look like it doesn't know how to manage its space efficiently.  We easily spend hours exploring these tanks and trying to learn the names of the animals.  D loves the seahorses and I like watching the jellies.  We head to the highlight of the aquarium, the touch tank, to find out when it will open next.  We have some minutes to wait so we get a closer look at the huge crabs and lobster in a nearby tank.  Another area is full of orange, pink, purple, and white star fish much larger than my hand living with deep purple sea urchins and pale pink brittle sea stars.

Bat stars, brittle sea stars, and sea urchins.

          Suddenly a mouth opens in the next tank taking in a gulp bigger than its whole body to strain out the small krill for food.  Is this some type of unusual sea slug?  We've already seen a couple pretty sea slugs but none had mouths like this.  I catch a quick video of this strange thing before we look at the next tank. I'm beginning to learn that when it comes to the ocean it is harder to distinguish plants from animals.  The giant acorn barnacle fans out like a plant but it retracts its long "fingers" as to tries to pull in small bits of food.  A group of red, spherical feather dusters share the tank and definitely look more like a plant than animal.  As we loop around we realize we can get behind some of the tanks to get a different view.  One tank has several back-lit swell shark eggs at various stages of development so we can see the growing embryo feeding on the yolk.  I get a couple pictures of D next to a huge lobster before we go back to wait for the touch tank to open.

These hooded nudibranchs have large mouths!

          As usual we are asked to only touch the animals gently with one finger and then we are allowed to the edge of a large tank full of anemone, star fish, and sea urchins.  Little kids and their grandparents alike are leaning over the edge, excited to get a close look.  Amusingly it is the older generations who are more hesitant to reach in for a feel.  The inner tank that we are not to reach in has leopard sharks and some large fish.  Leopard sharks are generally docile, but they eat food the size of our thumbs so it's best not to confuse them and scare some poor little kid who gets a nibble.

Back lit swell shark eggs with hatched shark resting on the bottom.

          I am really excited to get to touch the urchin and anemone.  I got to feel star fish at the Shedd before but these two are new to me.  The anemone tentacle is covered in what feels like tiny velcro spines and they grab onto our finger hoping we're food.  Our skin is too thick to worry about getting stung, though, so don't worry.  I touch a tentacle first then feel the inner slick circle.  As I touch this area several tentacles close in and slowly grab my finger and I feel like I'm in an old fashioned horror movie.  I carefully detach my finger from all the tentacles and laugh at the experience.  D does not like anemone as much as I do and he's satisfied with one touch.

D touching a sea anemone for the first and last time.  I couldn't get enough.

          Next I touch the spines of a sea urchin.  They feel like the same material as a fingernail but are very sharp and pointed.  As I'm touching these spines I notice small flexible "fingers" come out and try to suck onto my finger.  I touch one of these and it attaches itself to me.  I gently pull my finger away and the suction is broken and the finger withdraws.  That was cool so I do it again, and this time it gets a much better suction on me.  Now the tip of this little finger is about the size of a mechanical pencil lead so it's hardly big enough to feel, but as I pull my finger away this time, it doesn't let me go.  I slowly pull further and further and I can feel the suction grip me tighter and I don't know what to do.  It doesn't hurt, in fact it more tickles than anything, but it won't let me go.  So I pull further away assuming at some point it will let go but it breaks off instead.

Touching the spike on a sea urchin before I discovered the small suckers.

          Aww, I feel bad.  I didn't want to hurt it.  At least it has hundreds or thousands of these tiny suckers so losing one probably doesn't matter.  We take a quick look at the sharks and head back in to explore the rest of the tanks.  Sand dollars burying themselves and jellies glowing under black-light are the last exciting things to see before we hit up the gift shop and head to the beach.

Waves crashing over the breakwater that separates the bay from the rest of the ocean.

          After a quick phone call to my sister we decide to spend some leisure time on the beach and postpone our trip to the USS Iowa battleship.  We can come back on a low tide day to explore the tide pools then visit the ship afterwards.

D's foot prints in the bi-colored sand.

          As we walk along the inner bay side of the Cabrillo beach the sand appears to be the typical tan color, but as we walk we notice a lot of black hiding beneath the surface.  The sand getting stirred up by the gentle waves makes it hard to see below the surface of the water as we dip in our feet.  It feels so nice to be walking barefoot in the sand, letting the water pull the sand from below my feet as the waves roll out.  We walk along the shore hunting for shells and soon I'm excited to spot a live sand dollar.  I pick it up to show D and several small water "rolly polly"s or pill bugs go crawling away and I quickly rinse the remainder into the water.  Eek!  I don't expect sand dollars to be covered in creepy crawly things.  As I release the sand dollar back into the water something bites my foot.  I shoo it away with my other foot and we continue hunting.  Soon our feet and ankles are getting bit again and we decide we want to get away from this water.  Maybe the locals are used to getting bit by tiny unseen creatures and are willing to brave them to wind surf and play, but we've had enough of this biting.  (It turns out the "rolly polly" creatures are the offenders called beach pillbugs that will attack human feet if they are hungry enough.)

A view of the shipyard from atop the rocks.

          The view of San Pedro from here is wonderful.  The city sits atop a hill that is currently obscured by low clouds.  This is the first time it's been this cloudy since landing.  We climb up some rocks and walk along the fishing pier taking in the view of the shipyard across the bay.  The USS Iowa is somewhere over there.

          Seagulls fly up and circle back to their spot as we pass, only slightly caring that we are here.  After looking at the long stretch of beautiful San Pedro that ends in cliffs at the ocean's edge, we head to the ocean side of the beach.  The waves are strong enough to push us around by our ankles and sometimes we're surprised with a splash that gets the bottom of our shorts.  We're holding hands and D stops to maintain his balance every time a wave comes making me halt as well.  Kelp tangles itself around our legs.  Walking sure can be a chore when you're fighting the ocean over who is stronger.  I love the views of the distant waves and watching as they crash onto the shore, but we did not come prepared for all the water's power, kelp, and the flies that come with it.  While all of this is normal for the people around us, we Midwesterners will have to get used to it.  I am very eager to learn to get used to it.

A seagull returning to its post on the fishing pier as pigeons also fly in from the left.

          Back at the car we promise to return at the lowest tide opportunity we'll get in the next month to explore the tide pools.  I wonder what we will be able to see.  We rinse the sand off our feet and begin the 55 minute drive home.  How awesome is it that this treasure of a location is less than an hour away?

We'll be back under those cliffs to explore the tide pools the next lowest tide day we get.

Finding Friendlier Wildlife

          Our next adventure is a very short drive down the highway to The Arboretum on June 28th, .  I heard that our region is supposedly under a heat wave warning, but I can't figure out what that means.  Every time I check the weather it is in the upper 80s or low 90s.  When is this heat wave going to hit?  Does it somehow skip our little town?  Are they wrong and the heat wave won't come?  Silly me, how was I supposed to know that in SoCal 90s are considered a heat wave?  At home right now they are getting mid 90 degree days and haven't had rain in a while.  To me, that's summer.  Sure 90 degree days aren't the typical summer weather but it happens often enough that it isn't a massive surprise.  As a kid it seemed like it was always super hot when we wanted to play outside, and the only time we would allow ourselves to be kept indoors was if the heat was over 100.

          Apparently my tolerance for heat has changed since I've grown, and I'd rather not go out if the temperature is in the upper 80s.  However, I'm in California.  Everyone says the heat out here is different, it's a "dry heat" or something, which makes it sound like it should be more bearable.  So when the temperature is supposed to be in the low to mid 90s I say sure, let's spend a few hours outside looking at exotic plant life.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

          As the housekeeper and I discuss the following Monday: heat is heat.  It's the same wherever you go and it doesn't feel any better just because people call it a "dry heat."

          We leave for the arboretum after lunch and the sunscreen accidentally remains on the table with our plates.  The first thing I notice, though, is the beautiful peacock roaming freely outside the grounds beside some large, pink flowers.  The first thing D notices are two lizards, one sunbathing on a palm tree trunk and the other running through the grass away from us.  We try to get as close to these animals as we can without them running away before we realize we really should head inside and see what we'll be paying for rather than spending all our time near the parking lot.

          We buy our tickets and head in.  Peacocks are calling from several directions.  Just how many are there in here; why don't they leave?  Peacocks can fly, and one is outside the grounds so I'm guessing the others can get out, too.  We begin our world plant tour by heading through Africa and Australia.  The plants are grouped by appearance and we explore the spiny area which offers no shade but plenty of horror movie inspirations.  Now we notice how miserable the heat is, and the sun makes it all the worse.  Without sunscreen I foresee my turning into a lobster by tonight.

          Sadly the heat and sun act as accelerant for our feet and we speed through the beautiful flowers and plants in search of our next shady reprieve.  The greenhouse full of orchids is also full of humidity that the fans blow over my  head but D is tall enough to enjoy the breeze.  We don't spend much time in the greenhouses or anywhere, but I am obligated to stop just long enough to get a few photos.  I don't think D would let me leave without plenty of pictures.

There are so many minnows in these ponds. I wonder if the turtles eat them.

          The strange thing about my body is that I seem to be intolerant to my own sweat.  I break out in small itchy hives everywhere I sweat and scratching only turns them into large, unbearable welts.  I learned quickly to leave them alone until I can shower the sweat away.  I've told D about this but today is the first time he sees for himself.  Thankfully he takes pity on me and understands when I don't want to hold his hand and I definitely don't want to be touched.  He even lets me set the pace and asks before taking routes that could extend the trip.  We are here to see as much as we can, so I make sure not to let the itchies prevent us from seeing too much.

          D's favorite spots are the ponds full of turtles and large fish.  Thankfully the biggest one is near a shady area so we pause to enjoy the shade, breeze, and animals.  A bee is stuck in the water and several minnows are trying to get it.  A turtle swims toward us along with some large fish.  We wonder if people sometimes feed them and that is why they don't seem scared of us.  There are more turtles in a pond that can be seen from a yin-yang patio, and some ducks and large fish in a pond across from a waterfall.  I can certainly see that this place would make an ideal wedding venue.  All the photo ops!  I'd just look for a cooler day.

          I love the waterfall, too, but I am amazed when I spot some huge, vertical lines I've only seen in other people's photos: bamboo.  I don't know what it is about bamboo that I find so magnetic but it draws me right in.  Despite the uncomfortable heat we take time to enjoy this amazing plant.  It comes in many varieties, too!  As we continue around the last circle I grabbed shots of the different kinds of bamboo.  We hold hands happily as we head for the exit and on the ride home I dream of a cool shower.  After the itchies are gone I see that I got lucky and only the tops of my shoulders are red.

          That night D introduces me to the Magic Shell ice cream topping and that makes all the cares of they day melt away as the chocolate syrup solidifies on my Triple Play ice cream.  Saturday is a lazy day since D has a video chat meeting.  We go out to lunch at Olive Garden and enjoy unlimited soup, salad and bread sticks.  Their chicken and gnocchi soup is the best.  Sunday will be our next day of adventure and we'll be off to see a completely different variety of wildlife.

Adventuring in California: Meeting the Local Wildlife

          When you live in the Midwest and don't often leave the state, you hear about the most interesting parts of the other states without knowing exactly what is true or what has been exaggerated simply because it makes a better story.  I am not a fan of poisonous spiders, they are very interesting to study in a book, on the Internet, or in a jar, but I'd rather not meet one roaming freely.  By poisonous, I mean the ones known to cause people harm.

          My grandma was bitten by a brown recluse which made her very sick and left a white scar on her forehead about the size of the tip of my pinky finger.  I don't want to see a brown recluse myself.  Television likes to broadcast about dangerous creatures, too, again because they are interesting, and another poisonous spider popular in stories is the black widow.  I've heard of it living in the southern states like Texas and in the western states like California.  Supposedly they live all over and you need to check your shoes before sticking your feet into them, and never sit on a guardrail as they live inside.  Sometimes really unlucky people will find poisonous spiders in their bathroom towels!

          For anyone who lives in those states or knows more about them than I do you might laugh at that.  As I've grown up I've begun to realize that just because you hear about something, doesn't make it true, and just because a shark bit a surfer doesn't mean all surfers or even many will ever get attacked.  So the tales and warnings I've heard are probably exaggerated.  My mom was nervous about me coming out here because she's heard of mountain lions, bears, spiders and snakes that live in California and aren't afraid to harm us.  Well I listened to her fears but accepted them as fears of a mother.  I probably won't see anything dangerous out here except perhaps one of those infamously bad celebrity drivers.  I feel that I'm in more danger on the roads out here than in the mountains or among the wildlife.

          D and my first adventure out here is a walk around the block and down the street.  I want a better look at the mountains.  We end up leaving toward the end of sunset so I couldn't really see the mountains, but I do stop to admire all the blooming flowers.  I wonder if flowers bloom for a much longer period out here rather than the short day/week or couple week blooming time some flowers have back home.

          As we are walking along the sidewalk we pass through a spider string and brush it away.  Soon we see a huge bug flying about and I get really excited.  It doesn't look like a bee or anything harmful, it looks like a super-sized June bug!  It keeps flying out into the road and back toward the light of the buildings, and I can't catch it midair.  It finally lands high on a wall behind a bush and is sadly out of reach, but at least I know it is just a beetle so if I see another I can catch it without fear of getting bit or stung.  We walk down under the highway and realize there is no good spot to get a picture of the mountains so we turn back.

          Another giant beetle is by the building and this time we catch it.  Oh how cool it is!  I wonder if it is the exact same type of June bug we have at home or if it is a close relative because it is at least 3 times larger than some that I've seen.  D and I both hold it and joke about keeping it as a pet.  Instead I try to place it on a clump of flowers for a photo but it falls right off.  I take a couple more flower pictures and move on.

          I'm trying to get a picture of each kind of new plant I see when I spot movement at the top of a long plant.  I take a couple flash pictures to reveal a giant yellow-ish spider making a web.  D and I watch it in amazement then remember the web string we walked through earlier and I think we both shudder a little.  Neither of us wants one of these guys hitching a ride on us.... ew.

          We move on and I stop to take fewer pictures as I am now feeling slightly creepy crawly at having seen that bugs out here definitely are bigger than at home.  And they say everything is bigger in Texas!  If Texas has even bigger bugs, my visit there will be very brief and I will only visit areas that are so heavily trafficked no giant bugs will want to stick around.

          We are back on our street talking about how creepy and huge that spider was when I notice a familiar shape near the ground.  About two weeks before, we'd visited the Brookfield Zoo, a fantastic zoo for anyone to visit.  If you are ever in Illinois and looking for something to do, go there.  You will not be disappointed.  They have exhibits of all sorts of animals from around the world: elephants, hippos, rhinos, alligators, crocodiles, otters, birds of all kinds, fish of all kinds, chameleons and other lizards, colorful snakes, Galapagos turtles, and all sorts of fuzzy animals, even a few bugs to be seen.  The shape I see reminds me of one of the bugs.  I stop D, turn around and bend down to have a closer look.  No, it can't be.  It's not possible that this bug would just be chilling here below a drainpipe.  I get a better angle and find the mark that proves my instincts correct.

I figure since this is the only one we've seen in three weeks, that I can finally show you, Mom.

          Hello Mom, do you like my new friend?  Our first walk out and about and we find a black widow spider.  I am certain I will have nightmares tonight.  We are now feeling absolutely creeped out from this excursion and our minds start playing tricks on us, making us feel like things are crawling on our skin.  We quickly head back to our apartment; we can't reach the safety of our room, away from all these bugs, quick enough.  But can we make it back safely? Noooo, as D bends down to scratch at an imaginary itch a large bug scurries across our path and disappears into the grass before I can tell what it is.  My best guess is a very big cockroach.  We only have small American cockroaches at home that come in from the farmer's field.  I've never seen one this large that wasn't on television.

          That's it, we've had enough, we are heading inside, possibly showering away the creepies, checking under the covers one more time and we are never living here or going out at night again.  Ok, so that's admittedly over dramatic, but California did just get a big strike against it in my book.  I am still freaking out a bit, I can't believe I just saw an actual wild black widow just a block from where we're sleeping, when I send my California cousin a Facebook message telling him about our discovery.  I love cousins.  He comes back with the best response: first, he's never seen one in all his years living in Santa Monica; second, he warns me not to start thinking about the spider crawling into the room, up the bed, onto my feet and making its way toward my face. Ah, evil humor, what else is family good for?

Our hunt for a mountain view resulted in this.  I must try again somewhere else.

          Despite the excitement we both manage to sleep quite well with no dreams about giant spiders attacking us.  We only go out at night for groceries, though.  I think we'll save the rest of our adventures for daylight.  I just hope I don't see any of the other "monsters" my mom warned me about!

Hello from California!

          Yes, you heard right. This small town, Midwest girl is spending six weeks enjoying the sunny skies, sandy beaches, and so much culture that California has to offer.  I am here with D, and he is the only reason I am here.  D is working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena for the summer as part of his fellowship.  He came out here last summer without me and we didn't enjoy those weeks apart at all.  So this year I begged and pleaded for him to agree to bring me along, and he finally said yes.  Ok, so maybe I didn't have to try too hard to convince him, and here we are!

I can see these mountains by stepping outside the hotel.

          One June 26th I met D at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport with my bags in my hands and many suppressed butterflies trying to flood my stomach.  I have never flown before and the thought of it is quite terrifying.  For the first time in my life I am living 100% in the moment.  As I told my dad on the trip to the airport I am not feeling nervous about the flight because it doesn't exist, yet.  3 seconds from right now does not exist or I would be too nervous to handle it.

          D's big smile at seeing me makes relaxing a bit easier to accomplish although thoughts of the next thirty minutes start to stress me out.  I tell my dad goodbye, wish him luck on finding his way back home (driving in O'Hare is madness) and D and I head inside.  The first thing we must do is drop off our check bags, then head through security.  I try very hard to memorize each step since I will be on my own for my flight home.  I am coming back early to make it to my friends' wedding.  Checking our bags is easy and the line for security is right there.

          Getting through security is a bit crazy just because I feel rushed and I have no idea what the rules or expectations are.  What am I supposed to do?  Where is my stuff supposed to go?  Am I sure no one will try to grab anything of mine while I'm not looking? I am most concerned about one very small, very important item going missing.  I take out my laptop and put that in a bin, I put my book bag on the belt, my shoes, and my carry on bag.  D goes through security first and some of his tools from school get confiscated.  Oops, he forgot some machining tools were at the bottom of his bag and security doesn't like them.  I double checked all of my pockets so I shouldn't have anything with me that I don't know about, and none of it seems potentially dangerous to me, so I am not surprised when my stuff makes it through just fine.  My back jeans pockets set off an indicator so a TSA agent pats my pockets and swabs my hands with something before telling me I can go.  I am so curious to know what was on that swab.

          Made it through.  We check on our flight and see that the flight before us was delayed due to weather so we will have to wait for them to leave and for our plane to arrive, disembark and get cleaned before we can get on.  D and I find a couple empty seats and sit.  I must have looked scared because D keeps looking at me and asking if I'm alright.  I feel alright.  I'm living in the moment.  I am not thinking about flying.  I am not thinking about how on Earth I'll remember everything and be able to find my way home on my own.  I am sitting in an airport terminal with my man, and that is all.  Nothing else is happening and nothing else will happen.  I can be pretty convincing when I want.

Then it poured.

          About twenty-five minutes after our boarding time, we are welcomed aboard.  I now only have my bookbag since they checked my small carry-on for free, fearing there would not be enough overhead space for everyone's belongings.  I just hope nothing happens to it since all my clothes are in that bag.  We get to our seats and I take mine by the window and continue living in the moment.  I take a few pictures of the interior and the view of the tarmac and notice that is raining.  Within minutes the rain gets so heavy that it obscures the air traffic control tower and muffled thunder reaches my ears.  The captain announces that we will have to wait at least ten minutes before we can move.

It is strange having the ground look small and the plane stay fully sized.

          Thirty minutes later the plane is backing up out of its spot and getting in line for the runway.  D goes into zen mode as takeoff and landing are his least favorite parts, and suddenly I am excited.  As I watch plane after plane take off before us I begin to wonder what it feels like to accelerate so quickly and then leave the ground.  Whenever I fly in my dreams I just jump: no super acceleration, no wings, no engines.  It's our turn.  We get on the runway and begin accelerating.  The ground is flying by at a ridiculous rate.  The fastest I've ever gone was around 110 mph on a highway with a very daring driver.  I felt much safer going faster in the airplane than I did in that car, although both are quite the rush.

My first time seeing the Mississippi River. I am in awe.

          The plane tilts back and soon we are flying.  My mouth hangs open as I watch the ground leave me.  Soon people are ants, then cars are ants!  How funny.  I take pictures as I stare out the window, unable to look away except to check that D is still in zen mode.  We are in near constant turbulence but it just reminds me of a bumpy roller coaster so it doesn't bother me.

I adjusted the contrast to make this image easier to see.

          Before I know it, houses and huge warehouses are looking like ants and clouds are below us.  Those wispy clouds that look like piano keys in neat little rows.  I see Dixon, IL a town I've been through to visit my grandparents many times.  I see the Mississippi River for the first time even though I've lived about two hours from it my whole life.  I watch Lincoln, NE pass before we are consumed by thick clouds that obscure Colorado, a corner of Utah, and part of Arizona before I see it.  The Grand Canyon stretches out below us and never seems to end.  We are still in light clouds so pictures are fogged, but I take a bunch anyway.

The Nevada/Arizona border.

          The sun is setting and by the time we see the Arizona/Nevada river boarder darkness is falling so quickly that we get to see Vegas all lit up.  The shadow of distant mountains turns black and suddenly Los Angeles lights up the ground below us.  L.A. and all of the surrounding cities melt into each other to make the largest lit area I've ever seen.  As we descend toward LAX the buildings grow again and baseball fields shine out as bright green areas.  Streets full of cars make glowing and moving snakes and now we are so low that I cannot see beyond a few blocks, a single block, the row of buildings, and now we are landing.

Are those big shadows mountains? Yippee!! I was happy we got out of clouds so I could see more.

          I take a look at the terminal trying to prepare myself for my return visit as we make our way to our luggage.  We get our bags, catch our bus, make it to the rental lot and are finally heading to our temporary home.  The pavement is damp and the streets aren't too crowded but I am busy watching for the numerous palm trees and other strange plants along the road.  We drive through tunnels cutting through hills; that is very different.  When we get to our hotel we are exhausted and starving.  We drop off our bags and make a quick trip to a 24-hour Walmart to get enough groceries to last us the night and the next day.  D has to go to work so I will need food.  We will do the rest of our shopping tomorrow.

          Three weeks later we are comfortably moved in and we've already had many adventures.  I will work on sharing those through the next few posts.  If any of you dear readers have any thoughts on things we should see or try while we're here the next three weeks, please let me know in the comments.  We are in Arcadia but we've traveled to Carlsbad, San Pedro, and Santa Monica so we don't mind a bit of driving to get to a destination.  So far we've avoided going directly into LA for fear of traffic but I'm curious to see what is has to offer as well.  If we aren't able to make it to some of your suggestions this year, there is a good chance we'll be back next year and we will be off on new adventures!