t-day in LA

okay, so it was pasadena, not LA, but i did fly in to LAX. my wonderful aunt emily invited josh and me out, and even sent us the tickets, just so she could enjoy my excellent company for the day. the flight out was pretty uneventful, and uncle dave and tom picked us up in spartacus (their minivan). my cousin john is staying in the gamble house (http://www.gamblehouse.org) for the year so that's where we had dinner.

the house was built with wooden pegs instead of nails, and had wood paneling in several of the rooms.
my favorite part was probably the coy pond

(the front door)


we were allowed to use most of the things in the house. so we ate off (i think) dior china. the silverware was a little tricky, they had pleny, it just didn't all match. luckily no one minded. there was also a view of the rose bowl from the balcony. while we were waiting for the turkey to finish roasting, we went for a walk down to see the stadium up close. when we got back everything was almost ready so josh and i took a tour of the house. we even got to go "behind the ropes"! the house has a self-guided tour brochure that we used as we walked. there was a butler's pantry, servants' quarters (this is where john lived), an attic, and a bedroom that was haunted by a dead relative. there was also a semi-secret passage that the servants used. we went into almost every room. there was a ferret in john's room, so we avoided that.

dinner was excellent and uncle dave was very attentive and getting me turkey and drinks. we even had some after dinner entertainment (see my next two posts). one of the odd things about the day was that people would just wander around outside the house, and if they saw us inside, the would try to doors. one woman actually looked in the windows while we were eating. john said this happens all the time, and they try to buy tickets from him, or ask him when the tours are, even though there is a sign right outside with that information on it.

i wish we could have stayed for more than the day, because i really enjoyed seeing everyone and visiting with them, so i guess we'll have to make another trip next year.