The Stars Wars Exhibit...

...at the Discovery Science Center made for another great winter weather outing for us this week! Great memorabilia, models, and costumes from all six films. Larry tried out the hover craft, and we even went into the simulator of the bridge of the Millennium Falcon! School groups are coming in by the busload to see this exhibit, but not surprisingly, there were a lot of Baby Boomers like us taking pictures, too!

Another winter sunset...

The calm before last Sunday's "storm". (Which gave us almost no rain! Hope the next round has a lot more precipitation!)

Southern California blessings...

Our Thursday morning trips to the Orange County Fairgrounds Farmers Market have become not-to-be-missed events. And this time of year we are especially grateful that there is always something fresh from the field to bring home. Above are pictures of just a few of things we had to choose from.

A return to Bowers Museum in the New Year...

...to see the latest featured exhibit entitled Warriors, Tombs and Temples, China's Enduring Legacy. We've been talking about going back to Bowers since we first heard about this amazing traveling exhibit of Chines artifacts. It certainly did not disappoint! The statuary is especially fascinating, and needless to say, we were both drawn to the many pieces that depicted horses.

Clothing and jewelry...

After leaving the main exhibit, we passed through another small gallery room with several examples of the beautiful clothing and metallic jewelry the Chinese have used for adornment over the centuries.

Scrimshaw...

Also new since we were last at Bowers is a collection of Scrimshaw pieces. The intricacy of some of the pieces we saw was astounding.

Another sunset from our balcony

The western sky as it appeared here on Tuesday night.

The first full moon of 2012...

It was crystal clear here on Monday night and the Full Moon was so beautiful!

The Mission Inn Festival of Lights...

We were able to check another Bucket List item off last night when we traveled to Riverside (about 50 miles away) to take in the Festival of Lights at the the historic Mission Inn there. When we learned that the Festival was continuing through this week, we decided to wait and go when the crowds had thinned. Local temps yesterday reached the low 80s, and when we parked the car a bit before six last night, the car thermometer showed it still to be 72! We couldn't have asked for a more perfect night to take in this amazing display of over three million lights.

Lights around the block...

The 299 room "Resort and Spa" covers a full city block, with each exterior wall decorated as part of the Festival.

A carriage ride around the Festival...

When Larry saw the horse drawn carriage rides around the hotel, he insisted that we take our turn. The carriages were all decorated and lighted for the holidays. Even our sweet carriage horse, Dolly, was dressed for the season with "fairy dust" on our hooves!

Al Fresco Dining...

There are lots of dining options available at the Mission Inn with its six or seven restaurants and two bars! We decided on the Mexican restaurant so that we could sit in the outside courtyard and enjoy the beautiful, balmy evening. It was also a perfect vantage point to see the lights in the main entrance display from another perspective.

Equally lovely interior...

We suspect that this hotel lobby is beautiful any time of year. The interior Christmas decorations made it incredibly so.

Monday night's sunset...

EquestFest 2011...

One of the Tournament of Roses events, EquestFest, is a program of demonstration rides performed by the equestrian groups appearing in the Rose Parade. It took place last Friday at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank and we were there. The program went on for well over two hours, concluding with the Grand Finale - 100 Palamino horses entering the Equidome together in tribute to Roy Rogers, who would have turned 100 in November. Sadly, we missed that part; we needed to get on the road to avoid rush hour coming home! But, it was a beautiful sunny day and we had a wonderful time watching the horses, as well as the people watching the horses!

Above are a few pictures from the Grand Entry of all the participants and the playing of the National Anthem.

The "Variety" Acts...

The Wells Fargo Stagecoach, performers from Medieval Times, and the Scripps Miramar Saddlebreds, with the Calliope, in their best performance dress.
(We were near the staging area when the Calliope rolled up... It was not very popular with a lot of the horses!)

The Hispanic Influence...

Horses and riders from one of two Charro groups who performed, as well as members of the Southern California Peruvian Paso Club.

Lots of Cowboys and...

...lots of cowgirls!

Mounted Military and Police...

Members of The New Buffalo Soliders, LAPD Metro Division Mounted Platoon, and the First Calvary Horse Detachment.

The Indians and their Spotted Ponies...

Lots of pictures because the costumes are so cool!

In the Warm-up and Staging Areas...

There was almost as much to see outside the arena as in. We saw a replica of the Wells Fargo stagecoach, (Wells Fargo was the sponsor) and ropers practicing, members of the Charro group whose horses lie down on command with the riders mounted, a very patriotically decorated Western pony, and the Arizona Miniature Horses preparing to enter the ring. And, there was the opportunity to get up close and speak to some of the riders while giving their horses a pat. The cute and very friendly paint horse was a big hit with many kids. Larry was quite intrigued by the blue-eyed appaloosa mare, and we both fell in love with Annie, the 17.3 hand Shire mare.