Chillin' In L.A.

     On December 27 my daughter, Maria, son-in-law Justin and their children flew back to Los Angeles from their Christmas visit and, as Tom and I have done for the past several years, we flew back on the same day (but on a different flight) for a week-long visit with them.
      Now, there's nothing quite like flying from Columbus, Ohio, to Los Angeles, California in December.  You end up flying not only from one place to another but from one season to another, boarding the plane in winter and stepping off the plane into spring, or, if you're lucky, summer.
​    This year, though, the seasons have done a most michievous flip.
    On December 27 we left behind 61-degree weather in Columbus and arrived in Los Angeles where the thermometer read 40 degrees and the long-range forecast was looking like this:

     Still, a cool sun was shining as Tom and I rode the airport bus then the elevated train to Manhattan Beach, and as we walked from the train station to Justin and Maria's house the palm trees, birds of paradise and other flora and fauna we passed along the way looked none the worse for the cold spell.

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    In truth, it wasn't until we reached our daughter and son-in-law's house that the cold hit us;  their furnace, at the very moment it was needed, chose this moment to plotz and the interior of their house was colder than the air outside.

...though the orange and lemon trees in their yard seemed happy enough.

​     Needing to find warmth - and some food, for that matter - we borrowed our daughter's car and drove to the local Johnny Rocket's for lunch, where Tom had a burger and I had a mighty fine grilled cheese topped with tomatoes and carmelized onions.

     By the time we finished lunch it was time to pick up Maria, Justin and the kids at the airport.  
     When they arrived home Maria and Justin fixed us all up with a space heater, a nice fire,

...and some blankets,

...and we were quite cozy.
​     As the furnace repair man couldn't arrive until early the following morning we made a plan for the rest of the night:
     First, dinner at the Veggie Grille, a local restaurant with the yummiest vegan food in L.A.

     Vegan "chicken" , greens, and and cauliflower "mashed potatoes" in mushroom sauce:

​     Veggie burger and fries:

​    Veggie salad:      

     After dinner Maria, Justin and the kids returned home and set up a "warm room" with a space heater for the family to sleep in and Tom and I headed to our favorite Manhattan Beach hotel, The Wave (see post from 3/28/2014), 

...where we procured a nice  warm room of our own.

     By the following morning the heat was back on at Maria and Justin's, so we left The Wave,

...and returned to Maria and Justin's, where, of course, all the action was.