California Vacation

It was difficult to wake up this morning to still find a few feet of snow outside the window after spending 10 days vacationing with Suzanne, Jean-Luc (and our new best friend - a Garmin GPS) in California. With a jam packed itinerary, we flew to San Francisco, them drove some 2190 km (1360 mi) in our rented car. Trying to cram up as many stops along the Pacific coast to San Diego before turning inland to cross Joshua Tree National Park and ending our trek in Los Angeles. The weather was superb and apparently warmer than usual . We visited a few commercial art galleries, but decided to focus on the amazing larger art museums. Among our list was, the de Young Museum & the Legion of Honor Museum of Fine Art both in San Francisco, the Museum of Photographic Arts, the Timken Museum of Art and the San Diego Museum of Art all located in Balboa Park in San Diego. Then finally, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the Simon Norton Museum of Art in Pasadena.

Apart from the art, and the stunning land/seascapes, what has impressed me the most is the legacy of the architecture from the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition held in San Francisco in 1915 and the Panama-California Exposition held in San Diego in 1915-17. These could rival any buildings in Europe, and frankly I was not expecting to find this here. The renovation of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles is also a marvel. And the amazing modern design of the Getty Center with tons of limestone and each room appointed to compliment the artwork is a engineering and design feat.

There is such a contrast, coming from a small province of 750 000 to a state with a population of 36 000 000. From 4-lanes highways to 16-lanes freeways and from cross-country ski trails to hot desert paths and gigantic waves that get surfers up at 6 am. We had a BLAST!