I left home kind-of early (well, early for me) on Saturday, June 13th, to get to Stephen's house at a decent hour. He then drove for the rest of the trip. (Yay!) We headed to Ventura to pick up Shana at her place. Then we were soon on the road to Santa Barbara.

We arrived at the Santa Barbara Zoo just in time to have lunch. (Even fast food in Santa Barbara is good.) While we were sitting there, Kelly arrived, and our little group was complete. We had a delightful time looking at the animals and enjoying each others' company. We took a ride on the little train that goes around the perimeter of the zoo but doesn't pass by any actual animals. The zoo itself is a lot different than I had remembered, but in a good way. AND the zoo has capybaras! :) Also, Stephen made me buy some food so that I could feed the goats. It was kind-of disgusting, but they were cute enough (as long as I didn't look at their eyes). We saw the entire zoo (except for the reptile house, which no one was eager to visit) and even had some time to sit and talk.





Kelly had to leave us for an appointment, but Stephen, Shana, and I were ready for dinner. We headed to the Beachside Bar Cafe at Goleta Beach. Nestor was off of work, so he met us there, too. The three of us got there a little early for dinner, so we took a walk on the pier before dinner. We finally were able to be seated on the patio, where we had a lovely view of the beach, the pier, and UCSB. We were a little disappointed by the abbreviated menu. I had forgotten that the restaurants in Santa Barbara do that for UCSB graduation weekend. Nevertheless, the food was delicious, and we had a very nice time.

The July field trip is to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, tentatively scheduled for July 18th in the afternoon. Feel like joining us?

Our January field trip was a great success, and some people have told me that they are eager for February's excursion. It will be on Saturday, February 21st, and we will be visiting the Asia Pacific Museum in Pasadena.

More details to follow soon. Let me know if you want to join us!

Well, Saturday, we finally had our January field trip. We visited the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. It was a wonderful day.

It began with lunch at Daisy Mint. I met Evelyn, Lloyd, Victoria, Finster, Stephen, and Carla at the restaurant. We had a delicious meal with good company. (This is the second weekend in a row that I've eaten at Daisy Mint, and I've had a good experience both times.)

Then it was time for the main event. Everyone was a little late, but finally everyone showed up. And by everyone, I mean . . . LaViva, Jaela, Carla, Lloyd, Victoria, Evelyn, Finster, Stephen, Ashley, Nestor, Shana, Janelle, Virna, Danny, and Michelle. Most of the people attending had not been to the museum before, so it was nice to see it through their eyes. We started off heading in the same direction, but with such a large group it was hard to sightsee together. Nevertheless, we made sure to check in with each other throughout the day, so that it still felt like a group outing. I really love the Norton Simon Museum. The collection is eclectic and wonderful. My favorites are the Degas and Picasso, and the religious art is always interesting. And, of course, I love museum shops. :) Everyone seemed to have a good time and told me that they really liked the museum.

After the museum, some people (Ashley, Nestor, Shana, Janelle, Virna, Danny, and I) went to Starbucks and sat on the patio. After Danny and Virna left, the rest of us went to Acapulco restaurant. We were having such a good time that we didn't want the night to end, so after dinner we headed over to Nestor's house, where we watched "The Princess Bride" and quoted lines to our hearts' content.

Overall, our first field trip was a success. Next month's trip is to the Asia Pacific Museum in Pasadena and will most likely occur on Saturday, February 21st. Wanna join us?

I'm not posting all of my New Year's resolutions in one great list. How embarrassing if I can't keep them!

But I thought I'd post some goals every so often.

Here's my first one . . .

This year I will visit at least one local museum every month.

I am surrounded by a lot of amazing things here in L.A., and I rarely take advantage of my environment. I even have a book that lists all of the museums in Southern California. When I bought the book years ago, I went through and put tags on all of the pages that looked interesting. Unfortunately, nothing ever came of that . . . until now.

I'm going to start with something familiar and move on to places I haven't been. First stop, the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. Who's joining me?