I feel the end of the semester-blue lapping at my heels and with the pleasant spring weather outside, I alternately want to lay outside on the chaise lounge and read a book, or tackle cleaning out the garage. A pleasant conundrum. (Notice that grading papers and entering grades isn't even on this list, but will roll over me like a heat wave in New Orleans in summer come this Tuesday.)

Instead of doing either task, Dave had a conference at the Mission Inn and I took advantage of "being a guest" and walked through places I'd never been. Here are some photos.


Frank Miller was the one who built and furnished this Inn, on what I think of as a multi-year-long garage sale troll. There are unique features and furnishings to this place. As they say, it has "character."

A tile from the rotunda stairwell: "Come in. It's your house, friend." Only they've sort of made this section of the hotel hard to get to ever since some guy tried to jump off the fourth floor railing.


Door on the fourth level--the hardly-ever-anyone-goes-to fourth level.

Abraham Lincoln was really popular around here. There's a whole building dedicated to him in Redlands. Someday I'll get there, too.


Fourth floor terrace with reflecting pool. The guy on his cell phone was reflecting quite loudly about the mortgage market dropping down out of sight. He must be doing okay, though, to be staying up here.



Author's Row, or Author's Way, or Writer's Way, or something. Some notable writers stayed here and they have brass ribbons over the doorway with their names on them.


Looking down into the Asian Courtyard.


The Mission Inn mechanical clock. The figures move on the quarter hour.

I thought this view of the Music Room rotunda looked like a spectacular giant cactus springing out of the gray earth, little bromeliads leaning in homage.


The archway over the Chapel. Yes, this place even has a chapel.
The chapel facade, revealed. On the left is the Fliers Wall, each pair of brass wings affixed to the wall in honor someone who has died in war. I think they have to have been shot down, not shot at.



A gathering of grad students and one ringer, in the middle.

Random Whatevers

from the balloon kiosk, South Coast Plaza Mall
Orange County

Playing Chinese Checkers with my grandchildren
Christmastime 2011

Bumper Sticker Reads

"We Speak English"

Rotunda with Christmas Tree

South Coast Plaza Mall

 Lights at Mission Inn

Riverside, California

Horse-drawn Cinderella Carriage

Mission Inn, Riverside

Happy 2012

Sparklers in Time Lapse Photography
St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna

Quadriga, Brandenberg Gate

New Year Fireworks

Lights for the New Year

Temple of Heaven Park

Bejing, China

Flat Stanley

Some time ago, our grandson Alex sent us a letter asking us to take a creature called Flat Stanley around on a few adventures in Riverside.  Now that the souvenirs and the little book I created have been received by Alex (making him "the most popular boy in second grade," he told me) I can now write about it.  Here are a selection of photos I printed out and made into a book.

 First stop was UCR, and Dave's lab and office.

We dressed him up in a lab coat and showed him around.

Microscopy Room

Then to Dave's stacked-with-papers office.

We showed Flat Stanley where the Citrus Experiment station was first established--right here at UCR.

Back in the car, we buckled him up for a longer drive.  Apparently this is the photo that made Alex's class laugh the most--to see Flat Stanley in a seatbelt.

We drove out to Cabazon where there are concrete dinosaurs, on a large scale.

 That's Dave holding Flat Stanley by the foot of Tyranosaurus Rex, as it was VERY windy out there and we didn't want him to fly away.

All good exhibits include a gift shop, where we picked up a couple of things for Alex.  The letter was quite specific on that score.

Back in Riverside, we showed him Victoria Avenue, with long lines of palm trees on either side of the street.

Then to the Citrus State Park, where there are orange groves.  Riverside's claim to fame is that this is where the first navel orange tree in the US was grown.

 Then we took Flat Stanley to the Mission Inn, an historic hotel of strange and wonderful architecture.

We knew he had to sit in the chair designed for President Taft, who was going to visit the Mission Inn (apparently he was offended and never sat in it after all).  There were already some couples there taking photos of each other.  We stood politely waiting, but when one couple took longer and longer, we asked if we might have a moment to take a photo.  We placed Flat Stanley in the chair and the two couples started laughing.  

"Flat Stanley--they've got a Flat Stanley!"  

As we left we wondered how we were never blessed with knowledge of Flat Stanley before, but were really happy we were now in the loop.

The Chinese Pagoda, a gift from out sister city.

The next day Flat Stanley waited in the car during church, but he did come to choir to sing.

The last place Flat Stanley visited before being folded back up into his envelope and mailed back to Alex, was the school where I teach.  Here's the envelope, tucked into my briefcase.

 I thought they matched nicely.

Flat Stanley was a good student, better than some of the ones in the class!  Here he is, being hosted by Brenda--one of the great students.

 

The book.  I made it a double-sided, Japanese folding-style book.

Here it is, all tied up, ready to go.

The souvenirs.
Thanks for coming, Flat Stanley!