Caroline & Dan's Visit!

On Thursday our friends, Caroline and Dan, from Greensboro, N.C. arrived.  They had been planning a trip out west for a while and we were so excited that they decided to spend some time with us.  It was such a treat for us to have them here.  I wish I had taken more pictures, but I'll post what I have and also use some from Google images! (Thanks Caroline for emailing more pictures to me!)

This is Walter -not getting a bath, but "helping" me clean the day they arrived.  He just climbs into the tub at random times for no particular reason.  He's such a funny dog.






I'm thankful that Caroline & Dan love dogs because Walter sure loved them.  He joined us for lunch at Gaby's, a mediterranean cafe near our beach entrance.



Thursday night we grilled out by the pool and enjoyed our time visiting.  It had been over a year since I had seen Caroline and probably 1 1/2 years since they came to see us in Florida to watch a shuttle launch. We had a lot of catching up to do!

While Steve was at work on Friday morning I showed Caroline & Dan the Venice Canals and Venice Beach.
They were struck by the beauty of one . . .

                                                                                                    . . . and the outrageousness of the other!

Friday afternoon we left to see the Dodgers play the Washington Nationals. With the help of three navigation devices, three navigators, and one driver we arrived at the Dodger Stadium with not a minute to spare.

The view as we entered the stadium

                                                 

We had great seats (thanks Caroline!), beautiful weather, and saw an exciting game.

 We didn't catch any foul balls or spot any movie stars, but I'm sure there were some in the crowd.
We also didn't see any activity that supported the horror stories I'd read regarding the Dodger fans.  I think our experience created some new Dodger fans!

On Saturday morning we went to Cafe Buna, our new favorite breakfast place.  Here's a sample of their interesting menu.













After breakfast we hiked the Will Rogers Park in Santa Monica.  Some hikers coming down the mountain said that they had just seen a rattlesnake cross the path, but we didn't see it.

We drove to the Santa Monica overlook and viewed the ocean and mountains and then walked on the Santa Monica Pier.  Dan and Walter got a lot of attention on this outing - Dan because he was wearing Steve's UF hat which solicited "Go Gators" by a couple and the Gator chomp by another and Walter, well . . . just because he's a cute big dog.  One little girl had her picture taken with Walter by her father while we were on the pier!

At the Santa Monica overlook Walter met Hazel, another 8 month old labradoodle.  They were so cute together.



We had plans to drive into L.A. to see some more sights, but after another tense driving experience we opted to stay in the neighborhood.  We tried out another local restaurant, Mercedes, and enjoyed some delicious Cuban/Caribbean cuisine followed by a walk on the pier to view the sunset.  We also saw this leopard shark-about 3 1/2 feet long.

It was a great visit Caroline and Dan- hope you can come again within the next year!  We sure enjoyed having you and so did Walter!