Hey Chris & Elysia!

Cousins Chris and Elysia flew into town on Thursday at the end of their vacation/scouting trip to the Pacific Northwest. Sarah and I picked them up at the airport and brought them back to Long Beach, where we ate good food, drank some wine, and played some games.

On Friday, we spent most of the day in Griffith Park, a big desert/park just north of downtown LA. First, we went to the Griffith Observatory, which houses a museum, a planetarium, and a couple of high-powered telescopes:







From there, we hiked up Mt. Hollywood, which is the highest point in the park:





After the park, we tried to get to the Hollywood sign, but it was cleverly hidden behind lots of DO-NOT-ENTER signs. Then, we tried to eat at the tapas place we loved with Dianne was in town, but they were booked up. Instead, we found a little strip of shops to kill time until rush hour was almost over (a used book/music store, a gift shop, and a specialty food shop), drove home, mis-fired on dinner once again, and finally munched on In-N-Out burgers while watching an episode of West Wing.

This morning, we took a walk before breakfast, put Elysia on a plane, and visited a bass shop that Chris found. Now, we're catching up on work before it's time to head to a birthday party tonight!