This day of tour was much more laid back. Not as much packed in, so it didn’t feel quite as hectic. In the morning we went to a place called Forest Lawn. It is a cemetery, but made with the design that people should come and hang out and be inspired instead of just grieving. The man who built it had a vision of what he wanted. He found a famous painting of the Crucifixion that had been lost, but he restored it and built an entire building to house it. It is huge!!! And Amazing. I didn't take pictures while I was there but you can find plenty on the internet. There is a whole theater for this painting.
There was a presentation where they talked about the painting and described the figures in it. Peter, Paul, Mary, the Pharisees. Even the guy who carried the cross for Jesus. I felt it was really inspirational. I cried a little.
There was another large painting of the Resurrection that was nice but not nearly as impressive. It felt more contrived. The art is actually a set of three: Last Supper, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. But the third piece (the stained glass picture of Leonardo’s last supper) is housed in a different building so we saw that later in the morning.
Forest Lawn is on a hill and the view is pretty spectacular. We took some group photos up there. Once again, if I get those I'll put them on here.
There was a museum next door to the theater. We went to check that out since....ya know...art tour. Museums are a must.
There was some cool stuff. There was a whole section of aerial photography. It was neat because they had aerial pictures of places we had just been like the Getty, the Disney Concert Hall and the LACMA. They had other interesting things like a collage of lakes from an aerial perspective.
This next picture is some kind of water pollution seen from the air. It looks beautiful, but is actually destructive.
I also liked this aerial shot of the area after a massive earthquake.
In another part of the museum, there were pieces of David’s statue. During that earthquake, it broke. They made it again, but they displayed some of the broken pieces. It was cool to see perspective on how big the statue is. (Sorry I didn't take a picture.)
We saw some other interesting art, including some animals and a Bouguereau. (Bart says he does the most lifelike skin tones.)
Then we headed to the Mausoleum, but stopped to see David on the way. Yep. Larger than life and very naked. It was funny to hear some of the girls comments. :) It isn’t the original, but still very impressive.
Then we visited the Mausoleum. Outside, there was a plaque with the Builder's Creed on it. As mentioned before, the Builder (Hubert L. Eaton) wanted cemeteries to be places of beginning, not ending. He dedicated his life and money to making Forest Lawn a different place. It still felt like a cemetery to me...maybe just a fancier one.
Please note the creepy dog toy with the children. Tim Burton couldn't have made a better one.
Inside the Mausoleum was the stained glass. There was also a little spiel on it, how it was commissioned and accomplished. Interesting fact: the lady who made it said the face of Judas broke 5 times. No pictures allowed again, so thank you internet.
After Forest Lawn we went to a Farmer’s market. It had some of the feel of the last market but not nearly so crowded or anxiety driven. Also, it was outdoors instead of inside a building so it felt more open. There were so many options. Robyn went for BBQ, Jazmin did a HUGE chicken sandwich and I went for an Empanada. The Empanada place had so many kinds. Almost anything you could think of to stuff in a pie. Mac and Cheese, Philly Steak, Shrimp, or sweet ones. I just chose a chicken, mushroom and cheese and it was amazing. I also stopped by an fantastic bakery and got a Strawberry cream cheese danish. Love me some baked goods.
Then we walked around and explored the shops. When we left the Farmer’s market, it turned into a really fancy, expensive mall. This Chinese Dragon is actually made out of tiny bottles filled with colored liquid.
Jazmin bought a rose croissant at a fancy bakery. (Pretty sure she paid double what I did. That place was swanky.) She left her earbuds there and we had to go back. That made all three of us forgetting something at some point. Easily done.
The weather was so nice while we were there. It was gorgeous and sunny almost the entire time. The sun brings out the caramel in Robyn's eyes.
Going back through the market, we found a sticker store. I bought some stickers and a flower tattoo. Robyn and I wanted to put them on, but we didn’t have the right stuff. So we stopped at a
Ross to use the bathrooms for warm water. We didn’t have a wash cloth so I sacrificed and used my shirt. Your’re welcome Robyn. I put mine on my upper arm and she put hers on her lower inside arm. Fun.
Back on the bus, we headed to the beach, but the traffic was so bad, it took quite a while. But we eventually arrived and found a spot close to a park walkway. We were told no swimming, which is fine. I’m sure it was chilly. There was a pier/boardwalk area, but it was a bit of a walk. We decided to skip that. There was a large fence around the beach, but there was a break in the fence, so we stepped through and went right down to the beach.
The girls took off shoes and rolled up pants and walked in the surf and looked for sand crabs. I just stayed back and watched our stuff. It would suck to lose stuff on the beach right at the end of tour, so I just hung out. Not too bad. It was fun to take pictures of the girls down on the beach as the sun got lower.
We stayed down there for about 45 minutes. Most of the other groups went to the pier. You can see part of it in this picture, but there was a ferris wheel and lots of stuff. I was happy to avoid the crowds.
We carried our shoes back so the girls’ feet could dry on the sand. We found a spot to sit down when we got back and we were dusting off feet and putting on shoes. We were on one side of the fence and on the other side were a bunch of creepy, possibly homeless guys. They looked like they were high as well. One came over and was trying to talk to Jenna. It was making her so uncomfortable. She didn’t even want to walk by them to get to the stairs. I told her it would be fine. Our plan was simple. We would walk through the parked cars and if all else failed, we would let Robyn beat them up. (She was still pretty fresh from her Self Defense training.) Melissa went first and misunderstood and she walked right by them. Oh well. Nothing happened luckily. We got to the stairs just fine, but you can never be too careful. There are definitely crazies in the world.
There was a lovely sunset as we headed toward the bus. We'll miss you CA. You have been a great break from the Utah winter.
That night, the teachers ordered pizza for everyone. We played some more games in the evening and tried Mau again. Bart and Sam had crazy rules. I’m afraid I wasn’t very impressed and Bart was actually offended. Sorry. I guess you get used to certain kinds of rules. I need to be more open minded.
When it was time to go to bed, I once again had to drag Julia back from the room next door. I didn't think much of it, but it ended up being more exciting than I wanted.
When I woke up early the next morning, I saw a text from Robyn saying that she hadn't been feeling well around 5:45 in the morning and when she got up, Julia
wasn’t there! She hadn’t been there all night. I freaked out a little because she was my charge. I was pretty sure she was in the room next door where I found her every night, but what if she wasn't?!
Sure enough, when I knocked on their door and asked where she was, they told me she came to grab something she forgot and she was coming right back to her room. (As if she just barely left. Not buying it. I know better.) The art teachers didn’t seem to be too concerned and honestly, I was glad we found her so easily. Way more scary if she hadn’t turned up. Even on the bus later, I heard Bart talking to her and she was still lying about it. She said she came back to the room later but everyone was asleep. Lies. She was gone all night. Her bed wasn’t even touched. Proof.
Whatever, she was not my problem. But I’m always surprised how easily people give away their integrity.
The last day was just another long day on the bus. Robyn and I read our books in tandem. (We were reading number 2 and 3 in the
Renegade series.) We were almost on the same page. My Arch Enemies book was just a bit shorter, so I finished first. Then when Robyn finished her book, I started hers. Handy for me...not so much for her.
Sheila was the cutest chaperone on the bus. She walked up and down for half the trip with random snacks distributing and sharing. She is really nice.
Long day, but we made it. It was so good to be home. Art Tour was awesome and I’m so glad I was able to go. Now back to regular life. And the countdown goes on. Only three days until Braces Off!
