Pasadena

No more shakin' in LA! And, another great California day of sun and fun. After a leisurely start to a Sunday morning, we headed off to Pasadena to visit the Huntington, which is gardens, gallery and library. This meant a route that took us through downtown LA.

This was our first visit to Pasadena, famous for the Rose Bowl and it's parade. The old town has been lovingly protected and therefore has tons of character, with an impressive City Hall.

Before we headed off to the Huntington, we had a nice prix fixe lunch at Bijoux, a downtown Pasadena eatery that featured French cuisine and a $15 three course lunch. Then it was off to the Huntington via the Rose Bowl.

Since it was a beautiful sunny, warm Sunday, the Huntington was packed, but due to the vast expanse of this estate the crowds quickly thinned out.

We spent some time in the gallery, loaded with an impressive art collection and "Pinkie", the most famous piece of art work.

The highlight of this property, in my estimation, is the gardens. They are divided into numerous themes over 640 acres.

Because it's spring, flowers and trees were bursting forth.

The first themed area we walked through was the desert garden with more cactii and succulents then you can shake a stick at.

We continued our walk and next wandered through the expanse of Japanese gardens, with ponds and structures.

We had a fabulous walk and met some intersting birds and critters along the way.

A few days ago, they forecast serious rain for today, but there was nothing but sun. How fortunate! The day concluded in Brentwood with a steak dinner, wine, cards and wine. Am I repeating myself?