UCLA

Walkway at UCLA

We went over to UCLA today.   Beautiful campus, great architecture and landscaping, nice paintings and prints in the hall at Anderson School of Business…he’s in a good place. (I think he’s getting a good education, too)  There was a lot of activity on campus today.  It looked like a lot of tours for inner city kids including a group from Reading is Fundamental…a bunch of six and seven year olds learning a UCLA cheer.  I have a feeling there’s a great outreach program here working to get kids interested in going to college and starting very early.  Pretty impressive.

I didn’t take many photos today. We drove around and checked out some of the upscale neighborhoods in Beverly Hills…reminded me a bit of Casey Key with hills and no Gulf…big houses close to the road and close together on narrow streets.  And then, the thrill of the day…Costco…the busiest one I’ve ever been in.  Insane parking lot, insane inside.  We headed home after Costco…time to rest before going out to dinner for Jerry’s birthday (which will be Monday)

Books:  Haven’t said much about books for awhile.  I read The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (thank you so much, Carol Connery) and loved it.  It was truly a treasure…reminded me of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry...not the same story at all but the same feeling of deep satisfaction of having gotten to know some very human and very lovable people.  And I read Lila…Marylynn Robinson is such an amazing writer.  Loved that one, too. And I read Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.  She’s good.  I started it, wasn’t sure I liked it but kept reading and ended up caring about the characters and sucked into the plot.  Clever woman.

Now I’m reading The Burning Room, Michael Connelly’s new one.  Always liked his Harry Bosch series.  This one is more fun because now that I’ve seem a bit of LA, I can picture where it all takes place.  And I’m listening to Landline…not sure about that one yet.  I loved Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor and Park (YA book) so I’m giving this one a try.  (another LA book, by the way)

We leave California tomorrow.  On to our next stop.  I’ve loved every minute here…well, almost every minute.  The traffic wasn’t fun but I wasn’t driving so it didn’t really bother me much.  Honestly, it’s a beautiful place and of course, some of our favorite people in the world are here so we’ll be back again and again and again.  Besides, we still have a lot more to see and do.  Next time, we keep saying…next time.