In the San Fernando Valley

After breakfast at the hotel, we headed towards the Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana. I am not sure that I have ever been to one of the 21 missions in California. I was impressed with the site. It is very well restored. The mission has an extensive collection of artifacts spread throughout the different buildings as well as a number of rooms decorated to represent the early 1800s. The Convento at the San Fernando Mission is the largest structure built at any of the missions in California.

We were surprised to find that Bob Hope is buried here. The Bob Hope Memorial Gardens are north of the church on the grounds of the San Fernando Mission.

After some debate, we ended up heading to the Los Angeles Zoo after we finished with the mission. This turned into a very successful afternoon; Jack had a great time. The zoo is touting its new Gorilla exhibit [The Campo Gorilla Reserve] which opened in November. One of the highlights of the afternoon was sitting and watching one of the female gorillas interact with the crowd. It is amazing how much intelligence there is in the eyes of a gorilla. Another highlight was watching the hippos being fed.


We left the zoo in the late afternoon and drove up to the observatory in Griffen Park. There was a huge amount of traffic so we just decided to head back to the hotel.

Jack and I went to the fitness room for a short workout on the treadmill and stationary bikes and a quick dip in the hot tub.