An LA Visit
1. Mountain Drive: last week, we headed to LA for six days of visiting family and friends. John’s family has a cabin at Lake Arrowhead that we had never been to together, so we finally made it a point to stay there! We drove up early one morning and were treated to incredibly gorgeous vistas once we got above the cloud line. We pulled over at a few different overlook spots along the drive so we could take it all in. I’m not sure I’ve seen anything like this before (not counting flying above the clouds on airplanes). It was surreal, in the best way.
2. Lake Arrowhead Queen Boat Tour: one of the activities at the lake is this 50-minute tour that takes you all around the entire lake. Our captain was full of stories about the lake and pointed out lots of celebrity homes the entire way around. It was a really great way to see the lake, and the weather was perfect for the tour.
3. Lake Arrowhead Village: after the boat tour we enjoyed wine on the patio overlooking the lake at The Grapevine, then grabbed pizza on the deck at Lake Arrowhead Pizza. Though we weren’t facing west, we could still see the sunset glow while we waited for our pizza. The village is very cute but had an odd vibe. Many of the storefronts are empty; plus, it’s now off-season so a lot of stores don’t stay open late. The community must be much busier in the summer. Also? I loved that up in the mountains it got CHILLY once the sun went down! After a long, hot summer in DC, I was thrilled to actually feel cold while sitting outside. 🙂
4. Altadena Airbnb: after two nights in Arrowhead, we drove back to LA and checked in to a cute midcentury home in Altadena. The location was relatively remote up in the hills, but the view was so pretty! Those gigantic picture windows in the living room were the best feature of the place.
5. Hiking in the Hills: aside from the view, another cool thing about staying in the hills is that there are hiking trails nearby. We walked to the end of the street we were staying on and there was a hiking trail right there! We didn’t have much time to hike, but we walked around for about 20 minutes. TBH I was a little afraid of encountering a rattlesnake, though I wasn’t even sure if they hang out up there. I definitely kept my eyes peeled. LA hiking just hits different (as the kids say) from East Coast hiking.
