The day began with a trip to the mall.

Probably not the most exciting thing we could have done today, but Cheryl and Billie both decided that they needed to do some shopping.  I tagged along a) to drive; and 2) to spend the time mall-walking.  We were all successful in our efforts.

Following lunch we returned to casa Freeman to relax and wait for Rob to get home from work. (Did we feel guilty that he was the only one of the group who has a day-job?  Nope!)

When he arrived we all piled into the van and he drove us up to the Griffith Park Observatory

Which is closed on Monday, but there was a “Friends of the Observatory” event this evening.  We got there in time to wander the grounds, taking pictures of landmarks and cityscapes:

And at the appointed hour repaired to the “Cafe at the End of the Universe” for supper, then on to a presentation on the Explorer rocket program

Before finding our seats in the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theatre for a lecture on the history of rocketry at Cal Tech and the Jet Propulsion Lab.  The lecture was great! The speaker was an historian who has studied the subject extensively and he peppered his talk with stories about the people involved.

Following the lecture we returned to the Freemans where we said good by to Rob and Dawn, picked up our car and returned to the hotel.  Tomorrow morning Billie and Steve will pick us up and drop us at Union Station where we will meet the Fly-Away shuttle to the airport and from there back to reality.

One other note.  Our preferred route between our hotel and the Freemans takes us thru the Cal Tech campus.  We’ve looked but haven’t been able to spot any of the gang.  We can only assume that they are ensconced in a top secret lab working on who knows what.

Nite all,

R