Venice, California, October 19 - 22

 October 19 - We got up very early (5 a.m.) and were on the road shortly thereafter. (Almost 500 miles today) We had hoped to visit Cindy in Yorba Linda, but she is away visiting her "grands." So, we got to L.A. earlier than we had anticipated. We drove to Elaine Mongeon's house and we walked along the L.A. River bike path to Spoke Bicycle Cafe where Elaine and Mark had very good burgers and Barbara had a delicious salad. It is always great to meet up with the creative Elaine and hear about her latest projects.

Chris, Barbara, Mark, Elaine

   Then, Mark drove, through heavy traffic, to Flower Avenue in Venice, thanks to former student, Will Kinsella, where we settled into his lovely oasis of a house. (Will, an avid adventurer, has been traveling the Silk Road.)We walked to a nearby Whole Foods and ate a light dinner in the garden.
 October 20 -
 We woke up way too early today - 5 a.m. as we went to bed so early and our bodies and the time zones are not in synch yet. So, after a cup of coffee, we walked 2.25 miles down to the beach and back, stopping for a coffee at Groundworks at the end.
  We viewed Elaine's short on Huluween, Swiped to Death, and shared it in hopes that she wins their contest.
  We spent the afternoon reading in Will's front garden which was great. Elaine and Chris Kinsella came over in late afternoon and we had a nice long chat about wide-ranging subjects, including their various film projects, and then went out to dinner at an Indian restaurant which was delicious, but it was the company that made the day.

  October 21 - 
 Today we woke up early - again - sigh. We took another nice walk to the beach and back.
  Around 11:30 we drove into L.A. to the Central Library for an architecture tour, having both recently read The Library Book, a history of the 1986 burning of the library which we both enjoyed and which we read for Book Club. Elaine met us there which made it even more fun. And, it was a good tour. Then we walked to a good sushi restaurant and had 4 handrolls. Yum! En route back to the parking garage, we popped into The Last Bookstore, actually hoping for a copy of The Library Book, but they had sold out. They did crazy creative things with books.

   After returning to Venice, we went to Whole Foods and got some dinner.
   We are so relaxed and enjoying Will's house and neighborhood.
 October 22 

Barbara, Donick, Rachel, Mark - Warner Brothers at writing studio of A.P. Bio

    Another great day. We have not mentioned the weather yet....sunny, blue skies. Today was the hottest day - 94, I think.

    A.P. Bio, a comedy, we also got to see Donick Cary who, quite coincidentally, works on that show. (They did not know each other previously.) So, that was even more serendipity.

We had planned to meet Scott Anderson at Warner Brothers, but he was too busy. However, we had a wonderful meeting with Rachel Lind Palmer who we had thought we wouldn't be able to see. So, it was serendipity. When we went to her office where she works on
   Afterwards, we drove back to Venice and went to the organic up-scale grocery store, Erewhon, recommended by Elaine where we got some delicious salads and ate outside at their cafe. We relaxed the rest of the day in Will's peaceful front garden.
     What a wonderful stay in Venice. Will's house is homey and comfortable and we are so happy that we were able to stay here and also sad to be leaving.