Black Friday arrived at midnight on Friday,and I awakened barely two hours later to head to the airport for the early flight to Los Angeles. This is a brutal schedule for anyone who lives an hour awayfrom the airport, but since I can only be gone max three days, I have tomake every minute count. Listening to the news frightenedme about parking at the airportthe day afterThanksgiving, but parking problems and TSA lines did not materialize.

I arrived in L.A to a gloomy morning lessening the appeal of a mostly outdoor trip looking for Christmas trees and lights. Our first adventure was to the Ojai Valley to visit The Ojai Valley Inn. Jude and family are big fans of the place, and every time I ask for a”nature”experience in beautiful California we wind up at a glamorous resort. I to am a fan of such places, but I was thinking more of hiking