It was a day of travel....JUst to get you caught up....we flew to LA...saw both the Reagan and Nixon Libraries...then on the 5th of July...we drove on the various Freeways...again...and went to the favbulous Gety Museum...Daras was hoping we would have time...and we did..
Let me tell you a little about it..

We arrivede about an hour early..the woman at the entrance would not let us in until opening so we drove on the crazy Freeways again and found a place for another breakfast...and then when we returned she waived the $8.00 parking fee since she made us go and return...very nice, eh?
The parking is down a ramp in amultistoried garage and then up the ramp for many floors until we could find a space..then, an elevator to the tram level...wait at a station similar to an elevated train...and then the tram arrives whioch is a cable car...Up and up into the sky to the summit of a mountain with a drop off into the valley below which is awesome..and almost enough of a challenge to keep the breakfast which we had just eaten...where it was supposed to be!

The first view ofr the Museum directly on the peak of the mountain is startling....There are several tiers of very wide stone steps up to the open plaza which has 5 extremely contemporary buildings all reachable from this plaza...and also into the enclosed glass enclosed Atrium...Along the steps are flat large round concrete containers holding very colorful desert type plantings , all of which were in blossom...and several large stone or bronze statuary adjacent, includun g some of John Moore's....very impressive...The buildings themselves were constructed of rough gray/tan stone in combination with white ceramic coveredf metal plates which were startingly white...and the buildings themselves were constructed on several random like levels, multistoried and abstractingly unbalanced and cantilevered ledges in their style...If this is difficult to understand..it is also difficult to explain!...The view thru the buildings permitted views of sky..into infinity...and being surrounded with other pinnacles of the desert mountains..it is a sight to behold! The Museum opened in 1997...and employs 1200 employees..including 700 volunteer docents...The main entrance is at the 3rd level...and each building has several exhibits ..many of which are constantly changing....The first viewing we did was of 1600/1800 European artists...and included paintings, furniture and sculptures with most of the most famous artists being represented...There was a very large Cezanne which had not been publicly shown before...It was extremely large...and the most popular exhibit was one of a 1800 artist who did paintings of animals for Lois XV....they were absolutely beautiful and there was a sufficient number of them to term it a Menagerie!...The principal animal featured was a Rhinoceros that had travelled Europe for about 15 years in the 1840's...she was named Clara...and was so popular everywhere including China that images and sculptures were made of her by various artists...and included in ceramics, bronze, lamps, tables etc! It was Daras' time to purchase books so check with her to get a more informative discussion....we finally had enough so we took to the Freeways again...found the car-rental location and went to the Airport...There was the usual...dressing and undressing..the body frisking..the inspection of bags and suitcases etc...and finally we collapsed in the plane for the 3 hour flight back to Austin...arriving after midnite,,,It was a long day!

Today, we awakened refreshed?...and drove from south central Texas to North Eastern Texas...and we can verify that Texas is large!...finally after driving near the border of Louisiana at Shreveport...we crossed the border into Arkansas and found our way to Hope!...Tomorrow morning we will visit Bill Clinton's Birthplace...and see if we can determine what influence it had on him....Keep posted to find out!

'..till then...Nite!