Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Visiting parents!

My (Kristi) parents came to Pasadena to visit us last week. We were grateful for the chance to reconnect for the first time since our wedding--for me it felt like a bridge between my 'old life' and new life of being married.

We saw several of the local sites, including the Gamble House, the Getty, and a hike in the mountains. Unfortunately, the weather was rainy and cold (for southern California), but we still enjoyed ourselves, and the rain also meant that we saw a few rainbows! Here is one at the Getty:
The Getty museum is incredible--huge, with a wide variety of art, and free every day. How could it get any better? My dad felt a special kinship with a sculpture of Old Man Winter:
One of the great things about the Getty museum is that they not only have great art, but also beautiful gardens! Exploring the gardens was the perfect solution for 'museum fatigue'. Here is a shot from one of the gardens that also shows some of the immense size of the buildings.

Then, on Saturday we all went hiking. This was a miracle for 2 reasons: 1) The weather forecast for that day was cloudy and rain, but then spontaneously it was sunny, all morning. 2) Bob hasn't exercised or been outside much since he got sick almost a month ago (and he got sick the day after a hike, incidentally, so was particularly nervous about hiking). We drove a very scenic route through the mountains, then hiked a bit near the Mt. Lowe railway. It felt great to get outdoors and appreciate the beauty of creation!
The red-coated hikers. And yes, that is snow in the corner!