California Dreaming: Part 1

I mentioned earlier that I have had the most WONDERFUL summer of travel. Literally, COAST to COAST!  I have been blessed to marry into a family of travelers (no, not Gypsies, the literal kind).

 There are ten of us: the grands,  hubby's sister's family of five, and we three on my husband's side of the family (soon to be 11 since my niece is engaged). We travel together on a regular basis. To some people this could be a nightmare, but we have F U N!!!
 This past summer we flew to Los Angeles, rented 2 vans, stayed a few days, and then drove up to San Francisco for a another few. I had been to LA  before with them back in 1985 and had no desire to return. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my faded memories were not at all what I saw this time. Also, we headed to northern Cali which was STUNNINGLY beautiful, an absolute delight. I will share some of the photos, but I am going to separate them into two posts. I hope you ENJOY!

LOS ANGELES

We took a day tour of LA in The Rasta Bus. Interesting! 

1st stop Venice Beach

Venice Beach is a trip! Surfers, homeless, dogs, skaters, just what you imagine it to be.

Next we had a little stop at Rodeo Drive. NO SHOPPING HERE! Remember Pretty Woman?

We went by a LOT of stars homes, but I didn't keep those pictures because I couldn't remember which house belonged to which star.  We supposedly saw the homes of Matt Damon, Bill Cosby, Ellen Degeneres, etc. There's no way to know if the guy is telling you the truth because he just pulls up and says "This is so-and-so's house." It was super fun though.

We then headed to the Griffith Observatory for a quintessential  LA/ Hollywood view.

We topped off the tour with a stop at Grauman's Chinese Theater

The next day we left for Northern California, and I will continue the tour tomorrow.

Thanks for hanging in there with me through the "family vacation photos". Isn't that when most people leave the party? The next set of photos are much more scenic! Think Pebble Beach!

As always, thank you for stopping by!