On Saturday morning, we dropped the dog off at the “hotel” and drove down to LA for the weekend. We made it to Cerritos by 5 pm and had dinner with Jes’ parents before heading up to Hollywood Bowl.

I bought tickets to “An Evening with Diana Krall” a couple months ago and it was finally time to see the show. Going to Hollywood Bowl is one of my favorite summer activities and I was so happy to be able to enjoy this even after we had already moved to SF. I was sitting there taking in the sounds and the people thinking it was as if I had started a book, put it down to start a new book, and then picked up the old book again. I don’t know if that makes any sense but for a moment I felt like we had never left Southern California. This was how we were supposed to spend our summer…under the stars with the warm summer weather and a bottle of wine. Diana Krall was awesome, as expected and she surprised us with her dry sense of humor throughout the show.

We spent the night at Johnny’s place and got to play a little Wii in the morning. We also went for a 5-mile jog down to the end of Santa Monica Pier and back. It was pretty warm outside and there were plenty of people at the beach. Once we got back and showered, it was off to Cerritos to have a birthday lunch for my dad. His birthday is tomorrow and it was fun to see everyone together again – including the Suminos.  Here are the photos.

We flew back to SF this afternoon, arrived around 7, and rushed over to pick up the dog. He seemed OK and not too traumatized by his brief time in the “hotel”. He did, however, come home really thirsty and then passed out on his doggie bed. I hope it wasn’t too bad for him.

What a great summer weekend. It was over 90 degrees down there, which was nice but a little too hot for my taste. It’s such a contrast from the fog that we encountered as we drove across the Bay Bridge this evening and they are certainly two different stories. I suppose I’m done with my LA book and ready to continue my SF book for now. Let the adventure begin!