Giving Thanks

We had a superb dinner, and excellent company while being hosted by Fran and Brain in their "new" home in LA. I didn't think to take photos, but Fran got some, and tagged me on a post on Facebook, so you can see all the guests and some of the scrumptious dishes she and Brian whipped up for us over a 2-day cooking frenzy. The roasted corn+roasted poblanos dish called Rajas was probably my favorite new thing to try, and the chocolate-pecan pie that Fran made could win a baking award!

We enjoyed meeting and visiting with a number of Fran and Brian's friends, and hearing about life in LA, how the weather seems to be changing, the oncoming El Nino rain that is being predicted for this area, and also stories about what's going on in our lives.

Prior to dinner, Ron and I took a walk around Fran's northern LA neighborhood and saw a couple of vintage sports cars; houses with tiny front yards, if you could call them that, and, as you wind your way to the top of the hill, larger houses with larger driveways - one house even had a 3-car garage!

Nice whitewalls, by the way!

Anyone remember the Signet?

Slug-bug!

Anyone recognize the year of this Mustang?

We loved having hills to climb right outside the door, and there are lots of views of the surrounding area: Griffith Park Observatory; one of the freeways; lots more houses on the hillsides; and the San Gabriel mountains to the north.

These Los Angelenos love their plants!

Aloe vera in bloom

Agave patch with one flowering stalk

White Bird-of-Paradise

Bougainvillea

Here are some interesting details I observed in the neighborhood:

And, for a bonus - here's an illustration of the difference between xeriscaping (xeric=arid) versus zero-scaping:

A brand-new planting of drought-tolerant plants

From the side

Maybe they just gave up on plants during the drought....

We hope everyone is safe and warm, as we know that snow swept across Nebraska yesterday, and the same storm system that brought that is heading towards our friends and family in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.

We love hearing back from those of you that have sent emails or have commented on this blog. Thanks for staying in touch with us as we travel across this land on our "Big Adventure"!