the rest of my week off...

I got through Tuesday in my last post.  Wednesday I got up lazily, did some laundry, and took Sarah and Vince's dog Chang for a walk.  I decided I really didn't need to drive anywhere until my dinner plans.  A phone call or text from a friend convinced me otherwise, that I really ought to check out Griffith Observatory.  After finishing a blog post, I finally dragged myself out and up the hill.  Griffith Park really isn't too far from where I was staying, so it didn't take long to get there at all.  I was quite surprised to find it teeming with people - there were some buses, but there were also a lot of private vehicles.  The parking lot was completely full, and I ended up parking a little way down the road.  It was too crowded to enjoy the inside of the observatory, but walking around outside and admiring the view was worth it.

approaching griffith observatory

painting inside the main dome

foucault pendulum under the dome

panoramic view from the roof of the observatory

I went back to Sarah and Vince's for a little bit before heading out to meet Greg and Joan for dinner in Korea Town.  I forgot to mention that I had started off Monday morning with some dental work by Greg.  He's one of "my kids" from CIBC's high school group that I saw a few weeks earlier.  We had a good time getting more caught up on each others' lives.

joan, greg, and me after dinner at kobawoo

Thursday was another lazy morning, then I headed to downtown LA and wandered a bit, taking in the Walt Disney Concert Hall (by Frank Gehry) and the garden/ park on its roof.  I then headed back by my car which I had parked near Q Pop - a shop owned and operated by a high school friend, Chris.  I stopped in and did some more catching up after years of not seeing each other, met his girlfriend Miki, and got to check out the shop.

walt disney concert hall from across the street

looking up from the rooftop garden/ park

with chris in his shop, q pop

I suddenly realized I was running late (and my parking meter had expired!) so I hurried out to get to my next appointment.  Fortunately, there was no parking ticket!  I fought traffic over to Biola University in La Mirada to meet up with the two daughters of my good friend Bruce from Tahoe.  Jordyn is a senior and Lauren is a freshman at Biola, and it was great to spend a little time with the two of them.

lauren, jordyn, and me on biola's campus

I spent the evening with Sarah and Vince and family, with a large part of the time reviewing neuroanatomy with Sarah to help her out with her physiology class AND prepare me for my fast-approaching neuro rehab rotation.  The next day, I also spent a good portion of the day with Sarah.  We studied in a cafe for a while, ate lunch there, then headed back to Griffith Park for a short hike to an overlook.

sweeping view including downtown la

sarah and me with downtown la in the background

After the hike, we picked her kids up from school and headed back to their house.  From there, I went to Irene's.  Their kids were busy watching a movie, so Irene, Joe, and I headed to Noodle World for dinner.  Since Joe had been otherwise occupied the other times I visited, it was nice to have him join us for dinner.

irene and me after dinner

I didn't have too much packing to do since I had moved a bunch of stuff into Sarah and Vince's storage and have just been living out of a bag for the week.  So Saturday morning I was able to sleep in and enjoy breakfast with the family before heading out on my way to Tucson!

vince, sarah, me, and the kids