In our last blog we were in Santa Barbara. Well, we haven’t really travelled much further south on our trek to the U.S. – Mexican border. From Santa Barbara, Jay cycled along bike paths following the contours of busy US-101 and the rather lazy Pacific Coast Highway that hugged the shoreline. Jay was not the only one soaking in the rays along the shoreline. This was Labor Day weekend and the beaches were crowded with holiday sunbathers and a seemingly endless population of surfers bobbing in the gentle sea swells waiting to catch that perfect wave.

Jay continued riding until he reached a park next to the Naval Air Station at Point Mugu near Oxnard, CA. Known as the Missile Park, the small park contains three formerly state-of-the-art aircraft and a collection of missiles and other aviation armament. The park was selected as the end point of the ride since we planned to spend time with old Atlanta friends, Mark and Mary. They moved to Sherman Oaks (near LA) a year and a half ago.

Time with our dear friends in their absolutely fabulous home was filled with great conversations, visits with their adult kids and two cute-as-buttons animated grandchildren.

Getty Museum

Our visit was also an excuse to visit the nearby J. Paul Getty Museum in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Commonly known as “the Getty,” the building, grounds and museum are sprawling. We were very fortunate to join a museum tour that started shortly after our arrival. Our docent took us to several galleries and spent time explaining in detail just one item in each gallery. The most impressive piece was a marble bust of Pope Paul V carved by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1621, valued at over $33 million. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens

The next day we toured the desert and Chinese gardens at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. The Huntington is a large complex of gardens, libraries, and archives from the estate of Henry and Arabella Huntington. It contains the second largest collection of books in the world (including many old and rare books including a Gutenberg Bible) after the Library of Congress.

Again, we joined a two hour tour that explored the Desert Garden. After lunch in their café, we wandered through the Chinese garden and admired the beautiful architecture, water lilies and exquisite walkways.

Crack

We shared in our last blog our “snap” incident when Jay’s shifting cable broke. Today we are reporting our “crack” incident. Thursday morning we discovered a large crack in the windshield of our Prius. After many miles traveled, the windshield endured two tiny stone chips that we had patched. Today’s long crack transversed a curving path toward the driver’s side and could not be ignored. On inspection, we found a sharp ding near the top of the crack. With Mark and Mary’s help we identified a nearby auto glass repair shop, filed an insurance claim, and had the repairs completed by early afternoon. Whew! Another bullet dodged.

Back on the Road

After breakfast with Mark and Mary, we mounted the bike on the Prius and returned to the Missile Park so Jay could resume riding today (Friday, September 8). We now have only 150 miles remaining on this adventure.

There are hundreds of varieties of cacti from all over the world in the desert section at the Huntington Botanical Gardens.

Surprisingly, there is something in bloom almost all year at the Huntington.

The Getty has outdoor sculpture that quickly gets visitors' attention!

There are a number of famous paintings at the Getty. Irises (1889) by Vincent van Gogh is one of them.

The Chinese Garden at the Huntington Botanical Gardens was full of Chinese architecture, unlike the desert garden, which had none.

The paths and floors in the Chinese garden were made of beautifully crafted small stones. There weren't any signs that said so, but they looked as if they had been fashioned by hand.