Day 9 - Cal Arts (Santa Clarita, CA)

Today Gavin and I drove out to Santa Clarita/Valencia to check out Cal Arts, an arts school famous for having students such as Brad Bird, John Lasseter, Glen Keane and Tim Burton.

The happiest face.

The whole place was pretty swarmed with high school students that were part of a summer program, but it was still neat to check out. It's mostly just one large building with a few dorms and student studio spaces surrounding it. The view of the mountains is A+.

Scene from outside a sculpting studio.

Main Entrance.

Outdoor hallway for individual student studios.

We got to see a bit of the high school workshop life.

Students taking pictures of bottles.

Kid playing A-Train on guitar for other students.

Many of the hallways looked pretty whitewashed and blank for the summer, with labels above the doors representing different areas of the arts.

Can't make this shit up.

There was one hallway on the bottom floor dedicated to student graffiti. It was pretty evident that the high schoolers had taken full advantage.

Graffiti hallway at Cal Arts.

Student art.

Everone: 0. Bill Cosby: 1.

Deer doin' somethin.

Distraught flower.

TARDIS.

There was some sculpture from the previous semester on display in a studio.

Heads on heads.

We got some lunch at a Subway and got a glimpse of Magic Mountain on our way back to Cypress. Traffic anywhere near LA is horrendous, seriously. We accidentally missed our exit and ended up looking for gas around the town. Bad idea, but I got a few pictures of the city.

Trying to get out of East LA.

LA from Hwy 5.

Came home to a cozy house.

Yes, Bryan is reading 50 Shades of Grey.

Tomorrow: DISNEYLAND.

-Marie

Day 8 - Huntington Beach (Los Angeles, CA)

Today we went to Huntington beach and it was smogtastic.

Pipes making more smog.

Laying on the beach was nice, and it wasn't too crowded. The ocean was absolutely freezing, so the majority of us only went up to our hips at most. Gavin dove right in.

Gavin being cold.

Mom and the waves.

We didn't stay for a super long time after learning how cold the water is and how much it cost to rent one of those peddle-cart things. We listened to some 90's hits and hit up some Wienerscnitzel on the way back, a luxury we don't have back in the south.

Didn't get anything for myself, but admired the A-frame structure.

Gavin and I decided to walk to some self-serve froyo after returning home. How 2012 of us. Bryan, RJ and I went for a short jog afterwards to work off some of my vacation laziness and I jumped into the pool with my clothes on when I came back. The best way to enjoy a run.

Glenna made a huge salad with all sorts of goodies in it for dinner, and we all crowded around the TV to watch a few hours of the Olympics. I later crashed on the blow-up mattress outside and enjoyed some mosquito-less, tent-less outdoor sleep. 

-Marie

Day 7 - Venice Beach (Los Angeles, CA)

Venice Beach day! We started our day with breakfast at Mimi's. I ordered one cup of tea and they sent me four packets. I'll take it.

Kettle.

After a breakfast of oatmeal and toast, we went to this place where you paint your own ceramic figurines and they fire it for you. 

Assortment of brushes.

Jodie and her watering can.

Gavin painting his garden gnome.

I chose a cheap little rotund piggy bank and tried to get creative.

Little elephant.

Hungry for pennies.

Everyone took a pretty long time painting their ceramics, so I headed across the parking lot to a reptilian pet shop.

Surprisingly friendly.

Lizards are too wiggly to walk.

Cup o' snake.

Mom decided to let us go on to Venice Beach without her. Parking was hell but we finally found a lot that charged $25 per car.

Fairly recent.

It was just as I remembered, except with fewer street performers and more of things like these -

$40 medical marijuana cards.

Not worth it if we're only there for a little over a week.

There was a huge Hari Krishna celebration happening on the lawn. I got a few interesting pictures.

Should have grabbed some literature.

Dance festival.

Cheap food.

People handing out copies of the Bhagavad Gita.

Main building.

Huge crowd.

My favorite picture.

There was also a huge drum circle happening on the sand, but we just listened from afar and didn't feel like joining the mass of people.

Jodie stylin'.

Saw it last time. Pretty hyped.

Mountains in the distance.

Outdoor showers.

There was plenty of street art -

Botticelli.

Van Gogh.

This thing.

I got to get some free pictures with the locals, too.

This guy gave the *best* compliments.

Man from Liberia.

Gavin found another penny machine, of course.

Also, Zoltar.

The whole place is pretty campy and full of cheap stuff and all kinds of art (ranging from outrageous to nowhere near impressive). We found some flowers on the sidewalk left over from the celebration earlier and took them home for a temporary souvenir.

Feelin' real tropical.

Squinty.

And none of us got too burnt, either.

-Marie