Three years ago today: L.A. Zoo

Our view of the elephants, Feb. 11, 2011.

Three years ago today we spent the afternoon at the Los Angeles Zoo!

We did the zoo "backwards" - usually we would go clockwise through the Australian section then uphill to the African section and finally downhill to the play area. We instead went counterclockwise, starting in the playground then zipping around what then was the new elephant enclosure, then down to the gorillas in Africa and finally to Australia!

I'm not sure why we did the zoo this way - I think I was trying to get us to see some sections over by the playground and South American section because we usally skipped that side; typically after going through the playground, we'd head home.

Here are a whole bunch of photos from our adventure!

Three years ago today at 'cowboy museum'

Playing in the Chinese resturant at "the cowboy museum,"
Dec. 10, 2011.

Three years today we visited the Autry National Center of the American West - or what you liked to call "the cowboy museum"!

At first, I didn't think you'd like going to the cowboy museum, as it would be too formal. But you were enamored by the Old West paintings - and even more taken by the cool Hollywood Old West sound stage and the great kids area in the basement.

The kids area included a typical California house from the 1930s and a Chinese restaurant from that period in Los Angeles. We played a lot in both places - in the latter one, you would cook me a meal and be my waiter while I was the customer!

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our trip!

Major American cities you've been to

Train Town in Los Angeles, Calif. in 2009.

I've previously written about the states you've been to. Perhaps you'd also like to hear about all of the cities you've been to, too! Here's a list of the most populous cities that you've been to so far in your life:
>>Los Angeles
>>San Francisco
>>Long Beach
>>Minneapolis/St. Paul
>>San Diego
>>Denver
>>Sacramento
>>Las Vegas
>>Albuquerque
>>Omaha
>>Des Moines
>>Santa Barbara
>>Lincoln, Neb.

I have photos of you in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Minneapolis/St. Paul, San Diego, Albuquerque, and Santa Barbara.

Remember going to the LA Zoo?

At the L.A. Zoo play area, April 26, 2011.

Two years ago today we were at the Los Angeles Zoo!

After looking at the animals from Australia and the Africa savannah, we went to your favorite spot at the zoo: Neil Papiano Play Park. It as a huge play area with lots of animal statues that kids could crawl all over.

One of your favorite animals to play on was the hippo, which was "submerged" in a soft blue covering that helped cushion kids' falls. Another part of the play area you liked a lot was the "water slide" - a slide molded to look like a waterfalls.

In many ways, you liked the play area more than the zoo animals!

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our trip!

Our trip to cowboy museum, L.A. Zoo

One year today we took a trip with Jane from our Santa Clarita motel to the Autry National Center of the American West and to the Los Angeles Zoo at Griffith Park in L.A. While you and I had been to both places lots of times before, this was Jane's first big visit to California, so we had a grand time showing her around.

At the museum, we spent a good amount of time playing on the Old West set (a picture of the area where you can apper in a film is shown here). Then we had fun playing in the bungalow house and the Chinese restaurant in the museum's lower level. You made Jane and me "lunch"!

After that, we went to the zoo, where we we saw flamingos, gorillas, zebras, giraffes, tortoises, chimps and spent some time at the playground.

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our grand adventure.

Recall our hike to Franklin Canyon Lake?

Two years ago today, we took a little hike around place you probably see a lot on television: the Upper Franklin Canyon Lake. It's been in a "Star Trek" episode and most famously in the opening credits of "The Andy Griffith Show."

You were fascinated with tossing sticks and pebbles into the water and seeing how it made ripples (see the picture at right!). You also took your favorite stuffie, Logs the bunny rabbit, with you for the whole adventure!

Though the lake looks like it's in the mountains or country, it's right smack dab in the middle of Los Angeles (well, Beverly Hills specifically). That's why a lot of TV shows are made there - because most are produced in Hollywood, which is very close by.

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our adventure!

Recall our hike to Mormon Rocks?

One year ago today, we hiked Mormon Rocks in the San Bernardino National Forest. It was on the way to the I-15, that huge freeway that takes you from Las Vegas and down the mountains into Los Angeles (and part of the route we always took to San Diego). You might remember there was a McDonalds, near the freeway intersection with the road, that we often stopped at.

The Mormon Rocks looks a lot like Vasquez Rocks because they were made the same way. About two million years ago, everything west of those rock formations was an ocean with rivers bringing water and sediment (sand and rock) down from the mountains. As the sediment fell to the river and ocean floor, it hardened into rock. Since then, the collision of two tectonic plates has raised the land out of the water and tilted them into the weird angles we see today.

During the hike, you took along your toy rifle that we picked up at Disneyland a few weeks before and played cowboy. You were Sheriff Jack as usual, and we were out looking for Black Bart!

Here's a whole bunch of photos from our hike!

Remember visiting 'the cowboy museum'?

A year ago today we visited the Autry National Center of the American West in Los Angeles. You always called it "the cowboy museum"!

The autumn of 2011 and through the early winter of 2012, you were very interested in the Old West. I bought you some cowboy play figures that you named "Sheriff Jack", "The Deputy", "Calamitous Jane", "Baby Kieran", "Baby Kieran's Mom" and so on.

In the photo at above right, you pretended to be Sheriff Jack riding his horse "Luke" while at the Autry National Center.

I was The Deputy. No name, just "The Deputy." I'm honored to have served with you, Sheriff Jack!

Here are a whole bunch of other photos from our trip.