Grand Canyon/Los Angeles - Day 8

Sunday, November 19, 2017 - Church, then off to the airport to fly home:


Easy getting down to Vintage Church - Trinity House:


and the place was full once the service got going:


Said our goodbyes to Ruth and Meg, and headed down the road to the Dollar Rent A Car return at LAX.

LAX can be a fun place:


But it can get a bit crowded:


An easy flight back to Boston on American Airlines, and Ellie picked us up at Logan at midnight. home and in bed by 1:30. THANK YOU GOD for this wonderful Grand Canyon/Los Angeles adventure!!

Grand Canyon/Los Angeles - Day 7

Saturday, November 18, 2017 - I get the day to myself, so I hit the road and saw a pair of museums I had not seen before:

150 miles - The Irvine Museum Collection, the Laguna Art Museum, and the Huntington Library/Art Collections (I previously visited the Huntington with Wendy back in 2014, but they have a GREAT collection) - its going to be a GREAT DAY!

Easy getting down to the Irvine Museum Collection at the University of California, Irvine:

which is in the ground floor of what looks to be a fancy office building:

The paintings they had on display were part of an exhibit titled "Moods of California" - pictures of California by California artists. Although they did not show the William Keith painting I was hoping to see, they did have a BEAUTIFUL Thomas Hill - Yosemite Falls, 1885 (Private Collection)

It took my breath away!

I then headed further south along Highway 1 to Laguna Beach:

Um, Laguna Beach is REALLY NICE:






The Laguna Art Museum

had an exhibition called California Mexicana: Missions to Murals, 1820-1930:

They had a BEAUTIFUL Thomas Moran - Cortez Tower, Mexico, 1883, on loan from the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma. I have not seen it before!

Another highlight was Samuel Colman - On the Viga, Outskirts of the City of Mexico, 1892 (from the Brooklyn Museum)


I grabbed a panini in town, and had lunch on the road, heading back up north. Traffic was bad, and it was 2;30 when I turned off for what I thought was the way to the Huntington. I got lost - instead of heading NORTH on South Atlantic Blvd, I headed SOUTH on North Atlantic Blvd!! By the time I figured out what was wrong, it was time to head back to Bel Air. Good thing I did that - I-10 was PACKED with people going to tonight's game at the Coliseum - UCLA versus USC! (I saw some of the game in the bar at dinner). Got home in time for a dip in the pool:


Even with today's traffic, I still have to say THANK YOU GOD for these wonderful adventures!

Music for today was albums from my iPod:

Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays - As Falls Wichita, so Falls Wichita Falls, 1981


various artists - Surfin' USA, 1964


Tears For Fears - Tears Roll Down (Greatest Hits 82-92), 1992


The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request, 1967

Grand Canyon/Los Angeles - Day 6

Friday, November 17, 2017 - The day in LA:


Started with a morning hike up in Franklin Canyon Park, then the Original Comic Art auction at Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills, then a stroll up and down Rodeo Drive.

Franklin Canyon Park is in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, and has a nice group of trails that go up and down and around a pretty pond:




The Visitor Center had a cool 3-d map of the area, showing the canyons:


Sure makes me want to go exploring!

Nice lunchtime back at the house:

Then it was down into Beverly Hills to Heritage Auctions. Well, it wasn't Sotheby's, but they sure sold a lot of comics and original comic art! The auction started at 1:30, and my Neal Adams-Batman page sold at 1:46:40

I had hoped for more, but it was a Very Good Experience to see it as it happened. (Now I don't need to do that again ["go see the auction" - not "sell comic art"])

Wendy and I had a cup of coffee at Peet's Coffee up the block, and then went to see Rodeo Drive:




It might be early for christmas-tree-lights-around-palm-trees, but it does make it look festive!

Back home for a quick dip in the pool:

Then down to "The Beach Club" for a great dinner - it reminds me of a fancier, built-out Chappaquiddick Beach Club, with the families and kids doing smores out on the beach (and very nice dining service!).

THANK YOU GOD for this wonderful LA Adventure!

Grand Canyon/Los Angeles - Day 5

Thursday, November 16, 2017 - Leave Barstow behind, visit 3 museums, and end up in Bel Air:


no swimming this morning!

(maybe in LA?)

The first stop this morning was 1 1/2 hours southwest to the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery at Scripps College in Claremont, California. I had exchanged emails with Kirk Delman, their Gallery Registrar, and was looking forward to seeing their 2 Winslow Homers and 3 pieces by Thomas Moran.

All the pieces were "in storage", so I AM SO GLAD I MADE PREVIOUS ARRANGEMENTS!

The standout is Winslow Homer - Four Fishwives, 1881 watercolor:



there was also a lovely piece by Childe Hassam - Highland Light, 1900

William Keith - Mt. Tamalpais, 1893


We then headed west to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. They open at noon, which is PERFECT TIMING for the nice lunch-time view of the Sculpture garden and pond (from their Garden Café):

The Museum has a GREAT collection of European art, including:
Amedeo Modigliani - Portrait of the Artist's Wife, Jeanne Hébuterne, 1918

Claude Monet - The Artist's Garden at Vétheuil, 1881

Canaletto - The Piazzetta, Venice, Looking North, early 1730s

Francesco Guardi - View of the Santa Maria della Salute with the Dogana di Mare, c. 1780

Auguste Rodin - The Burghers of Calais, 1884-95


Only 15 minutes west is the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles:



Although Thomas Moran's Mountain of the Holy Cross (1875) has a wonderful positioning front-and-center:

Along the Mariposa Trail by Virgil Williams (1863) was not so fortunate, being BLOCKED BY THE BIG RED DRESS:


A final lovely piece was Mountain Lake by Albert Bierstadt (undated):


We were soon making our way up Beverly Glen Blvd, watching the TONS of headlights going the other way! Traffic here is insane. THANK YOU GOD for these wonderful museums-out-west!

Music for today was albums from my iPod (not very loud, so we would listen through the albums twice):

Joni Mitchell - Ladies of the Canyon, 1970

(because we are driving among the canyons!)