Hwy 1 between Paso Robles and Pacifica

This is the view from our apartment in Pacifica. That bay is full of surfers.

My nephew, J.P.'s shopping center

This is a photo of the third floor restaurants, which my nephew tells me is "risky."

This part of L.A. used to be a ghetto.

My nephew works in Santa Monica. His company owns and manages shopping centers all over the U.S.

Here we are approaching his latest innovative shopping mall.

This is it!

He tells me it is impressive because it has both a Nordstrum and a Bloomingdales.

Our neighborhood in Manhattan Beach

Our place was up the street from the beach. This is a famous surfer beach named "El Porto" which (of course) means "the door" in Spanish.

Manhattan Beach is truly a surfing town.

This was one of the better looking houses along The Strand where we walked the dogs and watched the surfers.

There is surfing all up and down this coast.

If it looks cold it's because it was cold. Highs were in the 60s.

The Getty Malibu

The museum was closed for 7 years to add all the hardscapes around it.

In September they perform Greek plays in this amphitheater.

This is the facade.

So it's a reproduction of a villa that was located at Herculanium and was buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius whenever. When I was @ Pompeii I didn't get the aspect of how large these villas were but here (because you're walking thru the rooms) you feel how large and palatial these places were.

This is the entrance to the restrooms. I always check out the restrooms in museums because they are always gorgeous.

This is the central courtyard.

Another view of the central courtyard.

Las Vegas II

When we woke up the second morning, we devised a game plan to attack this very overwhelming city. Ed headed out with the camera to attempt to visit all the casinos. That task proved impossible. Here are some shots.

This is Thomas Keller's restaurant, Bouchon, in the Venetian. We ate dinner here before going to a show with a bunch of naked girls. The food was amazing as was the decor.

The Lagoon outside the Venetian.

This is the entrance to The Luxor.

The entrance to the gambling floor at Harrod's.

Bouchon was on the 10th floor of The Venetian and this is the private pool for the guests on the 10th floor out the terrace from the restaurant.

The restaurant recreates a Paris bistro, however, everything is new!

Look at this colonnade, look at the floors, they reproduce Venice only it's not old and tacky.

Arriving in Las Vegas.......................

This is part of the grounds of the LaQuinta where we stayed because it is "dog friendly." It was a perfect set up because the hotel had a shuttle bus ready and waiting to take us to the Strip all the time. We were very close to the Strip but the blocks in Las Vegas are enormous. Ed had never been in the State of Nevada before. I hadn't been there since I was a small child. He were blown away by the magnitude of the structures and spaces.

This is the Dale Chihuly ceiling @ the Bellagio.

We ate dinner in one of the restaurants @ the Bellagio. Walking out the Dancing Waters were performing with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

I can't remember where this ceiling is; but all of Las Vegas is completely mind boggling. It's not appreciated by the gamblers.

Just one of the bodies of water. They have a monorail to get around because each hotel is the size of an airport.

Hoover Dam

The last time I was here was on our way to Arizona from Chicago when I was 10 years old during the Korean War. There was nothing here then except the dam. The road was the two-lane road that goes across the top of the dam still today. Now there is all this hardscape for tourists. It is truly a great tourist stop!

The face of the dam.

Ed loves stuff like this.

The spillway.

A very cool sculpture.