A Grand Day Out

We took a little road trip on Saturday. Just across the bridge to Palos Verdes, but it felt worlds away.

There is this old Mercedes (1982) that Aaron has had his eye on for a while. So long that he and the owner have become friends. So long in fact, that the owner suggested he take it for a day and see how he liked it. The idea is that we need another car that will fit the 5 of us. His current vehicle, the truck, fits 3. It really isn't an issue unless the wagon is in the shop, and then the whole, staying up into the wee hours looking at autotrader.com starts again. The wagon was in the shop this week, thus the renewed interest in the Benz.

All 3 car seats fit into the back seat, snugly, and we were off. The boys immediately voted Yes! on the car because it was "jumpy and bumpy and rumbly." The car is a diesel. They also loved the sunroof. It was a beautiful day to use the sunroof. The air was clear, cool and the sun was shining brightly. Catalina looked like it was just across the harbor. True to form for Southern California, we ran into some traffic crossing the Vincent Thomas Bridge, but as soon as we crested the hill in San Pedro the view made us forget all about traffic.

We decided to make The Wayfarers Chapel our destination. It is a beautiful chapel designed by Frank Loyd Wright's son, whose name I do not know. You wouldn't think the boys would be much taken by such a place, but they were. James was suitably impressed by the chapel's glass ceiling and William liked the water fall made out of rock right there in the church. They especially liked running around the grounds while we kept reminding them to "run quietly" since we were at a church. The views are amazing. The grounds make you feel like you are in a forest. It would be a really lovely place to take a picnic for 2--adults.

We climbed around on the hill for a while, explored some paths and then piled into the car to hit a playground. We found one on a cliff overlooking the Pacific. The water was turquoise. At the bottom of the cliffs were some great looking tide pools which we plan to visit when we are not in a borrowed Mercedes. The hills behind us were refreshingly free of development. It felt a bit like the central California coast that we love so much. Not a bad spot for a playground, even though it was super windy. After a little play, we piled back in the car and headed back for naps.

When we got home Aaron was leaving to return the car and asked if he could stop at the bank.

"Are you buying the car?" I asked incredulously.

"No, I can't bring myself to spend the money," he said. (Aaron is a saver.)

Yeah, that's what he says now, when the wagon is fixed. Maybe we can just make an arrangement to borrow the Mercedes whenever the wagon is in the shop.