Trip to L.A. April 2008

I went to So. Cal. this last week. Just got home yesterday. A much needed get away even though it was busy as all hell. I'm exhausted.
First day I stayed with my friend Ric and we went out for dinner at Daily Grill and saw "Leather Heads" (It's ok, not great).
Next day I drove 60 miles east of L.A., with a stop in Pasadena to photograph the Rose Bowl and a few other landmarks and a stop by the house I lived in when I was married, then out to stay with my friend Pat and his family in Brea. He showed me the new office building he bought for his business. Pat and his wife had some friends over to party with me that night. We stayed up till 3am and played songs on guitars. I think I played 12 of them. One of Pat's kids, daughter (18 ), is an aspiring Artist and damn good!
The next day I drove 120 miles west through downtown L.A. and a stop off the freeway to see the Disney concert hall designed by Frank Gehry, then out to Thousand Oaks to hang out with my friends Bob and Lalane and their 2 year old Tyler. Great food out there!!
Later the next morning/afternoon, I drove over Kanan Dume canyon to Malibu and hung out there for a while. Then back to L.A., via Santa Monica and Playa del Rey (where I used to live), and a side trip to West L.A. to satisfy my hunger with a quick bite of Hickory Burger at the famous Apple Pan (celebrating 61 years this last weekend!), then to Culver City to see my friend Rene and his Mom. Mrs. Garcia is 89 (I think)years old, looks great and is a very sweet woman. They are the managers at the apartment building I lived in during most of the 80s. Mr. and Mrs. Garcia and Rene fled Havana when Castro took over. I remember them cursing Castro when I lived there. They always treated me well and cooked great Cuban food!!!
Leaving Culver City in time to arrive at Venice to stay with Glenn, Jessica and son Sam, who invited my friends Bill and Ric as well as old friends from Michigan, Jeanine, Phil and their son for a nice evening of food and conversation and fun. That was a great night. I slept in Glenn's Architect/Art studio at that back of the house. He's got way more books than I do. I don't know when he has time to read anymore but he must read fast.
The next day I went with Glenn and Sam to day school. Twice. Sam was sick and was sent home. Glenn had prostate cancer last fall and had surgery. He's ok now.
I had to leave to meet up with my old friend Paula Corriea in Santa Monica. It was the only day I could have lunch with her. She just turned 74 and looks great. She had cancer last year when I was dealing with Holly and I didn't have time to talk to her very much. We spent a long afternoon talking. I hung out with her in the 80s but never saw where she lived. (I also did a lot of work with her back then.) For 30 years she had an apartment at the beach on the 4th floor. Directly out her front windows is the beach and the water. You can watch the waves crash on the beach from her couch! It's awesome! We ate lunch at my favorite, Broadway Deli at the 3rd street promenade. From there I drove over to Bel Air to stay at friend Bill Robles's house. He's the courtroom artist, mostly for CBS but has been all over cable and tons of newspapers over the last 40 years. He's been divorced for years. His kids live a over 60 miles away and his girlfriend lives in northern California. We BBQ'd on the patio and watched "John Quincy Adams" on HBO. I was totally beat by the trip that night and started to drift off to sleep throughout the movie.
Got up early for my flight which was delayed several hours, which is how long it takes to fly from L.A. to Seattle.
Now I'm back home and the weather is cold and dark again. Man, I need to get away again. Maybe in a few weeks.