Day 36 - Malibu, California

We got up real early this morning and were on the road by 7 AM. Leaving Vegas, the city skyline sparkled in the early morning light so very modern and sleek. Then we come upon housing developments, so many of them. You wonder how they manage to get all the water needed in the middle of the desert!!

Our road changes quite quickly back to desert with small brush and mountains in the background.

Welcome to California...people coming into Nevada are greeted with a large Casino Hotel, of course.

Our road follows the edge of the Mojave National Preserve. Lots of cacti, a forest of cacti trees (see photo), some very large.

The town of Halloran Springs actually has two dry lakes, Soda Lake and Silver Lake. "ZZyzx Rd"

Granite Mountains. Very dry again. and then an orchard with fruit. Apple Valley.

Traffic is getting heavier - La Verne - we now have 5-6 lanes.

At 12h we arrive at the Getty Center to find out that it is closed on Mondays but we are given tickets for the Getty Villa located not far away. So we drive down Sunset Blvd to the Pacific Coast Hwy. Ross was the first to see the ocean!! And so many flowers in trees, bushes, you name it. I saw a tree full of purple flowers. I need to find out what kind it is. Never seen before. Bougainvillias. Just beautiful.

We arrive at the Getty Villa. We are lucky with our tickets since normally you would have to reserve in advance for these. Lucky us!! This villa was built to replicate a first-century Roman country house, the Villa dei Papiri in Pompei. It was built to display Jean-Paul Getty's collection of Greek and Roman antiquities. We join an architecture tour to explore the layout of the villa and learn more about daily life in the ancient world. We really enjoyed the museum visit. We saw quite a few Greek statues which reminded us of our visit to Athens last fall.

Tonight, we hear the sound of the ocean breakers on the beach (our elevation is "0" or almost), away from the noises of busy Las Vegas. Good night!