Los Angeles and Julian, California

We had a very relaxing time in LA this time around but still were busy doing a lot of different stuff. We went to several conventions, a NIN concert, a great haunted house, ate some good food, and took a mini vacation out to the town of Julian. We also went to Pasadena and to Disney Adventure Park, both for the first time.

Here's a big random collection of almost entirely phone shots from the trip. The last post was about our visit to the Museum of Jurassic Technology. It sounds ridiculous to make a whole post about that but i do like an occasional museum review.

The carousel was simply dreamy.

I don't know what this was. It appears to be Aztec in origin.

Disney Adventure Park is more of a traditional amusement park with a few themed rides. A big thanks to Nicole Concepcion for getting us in the park!

In the Car's ride area of the park. They did a great job of the stonework.

We were really let down that the Car's ride was closed.

Afterwards we wandered into Disneyland. I have never been on this ride

The Tea Cups looked fun

Above is a haunted old Spanish church. We attended an interactive haunted play called Delusion: Masque of Mortality. It was really fun, and could probably be considered the same genre as the play we saw in New York called Sleep No More (you can read my description of that here). Delusion is a temporary play that operates only during Halloween month. As such the sets they use are less detailed and elaborate than Sleep No More, which has had the benefit of operating continuously in one location for several years. On the other hand Delusion is half the cost, much more interactive and geared towards groups rather than individuals.

I won't go in the details here but we had a blast. I don't' think Maree has ever been so scared in her life. It feels very awkward at first but ends up being way more fun than a regular haunted house experience. The acting is very good and is done by a large number of local LA actors. Some of the actors listed are in tv and movies, and Neil Patrick Harris has had something to do with the production.

You aren't allowed to take any pictures during the event but there is a waiting lobby in the courtyard of the church with a both outside and inside areas to have some drinks before and after the experience.

In Pasadena I wandered into a large antique shop where you could buy cans of horse meat.

They also had a bunch of old movie posters. Some looked like fantastic movies.

We attended toymaker Ryan Adza's birthday party!

Part II: Julian, California

We took a side trip to Julian, a small town high in the mountains between San Diego and Coachella. They are known for their apple orchards and old  mines. It's a very small, cozy little town where all the residents lock themselves indoors after sunset because at night the town is over run by evil black cats. In the morning you can have pie.

Jimmy and Maree in front of the cemetery. The Julian cemetery is not very pretty, but there are some old graves scattered around.

This is not the hotel we stayed in but it representative of the look of the town.

 Julian has a lot of shops selling either candy and pies and honey or antiques and decorations.

 We stayed at the Julian Lodge B&B. This was our room. It was nice and warm.

After we left Julian we headed east to the Anza Borrega Desert. I'll have some genuinely cool pictures of that next week but below are a few more phone shots as we left the desert.