Los Angeles and east . . .

View of the I-210 from Getty Center

We slept in Pasadena last night after one of the more exciting driving days I've experienced: frequent freeway slowdowns, bumper-to-bumper traffick, high tostosterone drivers, and at least one stretch limo, all barreling along at plus 70 miles per hour.

At one point, Allen changed his mind about which exit we needed, so I shifted across three lanes at speed in heavy traffic. Thank goodness people respect turn signals here. This picture doesn't do justice to the numbers of cars on the freeway, nor to the fog/smog we drove through.

But we finally arrived at the Getty Center, a sprawling art complex atop a hill, to spend the next three hours wandering through the exhibits, seeing paintings so familiar they seemed like old friends and discovering a few new artists whose works we'd never seen. Then back to the freeway for another hour of driving and supper at a little Japanese restaurant right next to our hotel, the sushi so fresh I would go back for breakfast -- if they were open. Today, we head for the desert and home to Tucson in two days.