Well, we picked up Kurt and LaDean at LAX on Sunday night. Because traffic wasn't bad, we got there between an hour to hour and a half. That was nice! Our drive home was full of talking about how everyone is doing, and we continued that for a while when we came home, but our poor guests needed some sleep. Neither one of them had slept much the night before, and with our 3 hr. time difference, it was 3 AM in their bodies when they got to bed. We didn't stress on getting up early on Mon. A simple breakfast, and then we were off for the day.
LaDean had never been to CA before this trip, and Kurt hadn't been here in years. We started the adventure by driving around our neighborhood and then taking them over to our church. The drive there was an eye-opener for them--seeing some SoCal landscape (although smog clouded the mtns. a good bit), the vast differences of beautiful new to rundown old neighborhoods so close together, diverse cultural influences in just a few miles, etc. After showing them our meeting location, and sharing what God is doing here, we headed towards LA.
Kris and I had not yet been to LA, except to go to LAX. I got some tourist info., and we decided to see Chinatown first. It was definitely like being in the Orient!
After Chinatown we headed up to Santa Monica to the pier. We had lunch at a good Mexican restaurant that sits at the end of the pier, overlooking the Pacific. Because Kurt was on a time schedule, we didn't do any rides. Spending money there was probably a factor too! :-) Here are some pics of what it looks like along the pier and beach there:
We left Santa Monica and headed up to the 405 to drop Kurt and LaDean off to meet their friends who were driving them up to their conference. If I didn't mention it before, that is how/why they were able to be in CA. Kurt is the manager for Soundforth, a division of BJU Press, and there is a Christian music publisher's conference north of LA this week. We won't get to see them again before they fly back to SC. Back to the driving. . .the 405 was "bumper to bumper" traffic, so we looked at the map and saw that Sunset Blvd. could take us to where we needed to go. Again, not having been to LA before, I didn't even realize that the exit we took was taking us right through Bel Air and Beverly Hills. We didn't have time to explore, but we certainly did see some unbelievable homes, at least glimpses. Most homes are not visible due to gates, shrubs, etc. The drive also took us right into Hollywood. We were going to drive by some of the sites there, but we really needed to get to our destination. We met up with the other couple and said goodbye to Kurt and LaDean. All of us wished we had had more time together, but we were so thankful that we got to see each other at all. We didn't even know until the week before that they were coming. It was a blessing!
Kris and I talked about not wanting to fight LA rush hour traffic to get back home, so we drove back into Hollywood and walked along Hollywood Blvd. where we saw Grauman's Chinese Theater, Kodak Theater, the Walk of Fame, and finished with a quick bite to eat at Johnny Rocket's in the Hollywood and Highland outdoor mall. We got a picture of the Hollywood sign from one of the mall balconies. It's not the most clear, but we weren't going to go drive to find a better picture spot with the sun going down and our needing to head home. Honestly we thought a lot of things were interesting, but I was thinking while we were there of the sinful influence and shaping of our current culture that Hollywood has had part of over the years. I wondered, "Why do people idolize, follow, get consumed with these 'stars'--people that they have no relationship with, yet treat like they are so important." The answer came as I remembered that we are all made to worship. The question is, "What or who will we worship?" I'll admit, I get curious, and I'll read headlines on the stupid magazines in the check out line at the grocery store or listen to news that comes across on TV about actors/actresses. But, I pray that I'll much rather be consumed with God and knowing what truths He has graciously given me in His written Word, the book that's WORTH reading!
Long post, I know. Hope you enjoyed seeing our LA adventure and hearing about the last couple days of our having the blessing of family to come visit. Hope your week is going well. God bless!
