LOS ANGELES

You can't have visitors from out of state and then just sit around doing nothing, so yesterday we loaded the car with people. Mr. Bob stayed home with a digestive disability; we waved goodbye and off we went to Los Angeles, with Tim at the wheel. First stop: Philippe, the restaurant that Zagat describes as "The atmosphere is really relaxed; sort of barnyard family style dining" and then goes on to say "Large portions of fresh made and cut food."

We never vary our order at this eating establishment. A French dip pork sandwich, double dipped and cole slaw. Yum. It was its usual busy, crowded self yesterday with eight  l-o-n-g  lines at the deli counter. Susan, Justin and I found a table and didn't mind the wait. It's one of the best places in the world to watch people, drawing a crowd that includes men dressed in business suits and street people who've scraped together enough for a 10¢ cup of coffee.

I don't know when Mr. Bob and I determined that the Philippe meal should be ended with a York peppermint patty, but it continues to be part of the ritual. With that conclusion, we piled into the car again and drove across the street to let Ryan get a glimpse of Los Angeles' Union Station with its Art Deco interior.

I was eager for the kids to see the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Tim is less impressed than I ...... to each his own, I guess ........ if nothing else, I enjoyed seeing it again. Tim also commented on Los Angeles lacking the energetic bustle that one experiences in New York City or San Francisco. I do remember when in New York, thinking that in comparison, Los Angeles seemed like a sleepy little pueblo.

Forgetting the tourists for a minute, I marveled at the idea of residents being able to sit on their balconies high above the busy street with no more visible support than what I could see on the balustrades. I do think I'd have trouble relaxing and enjoying the view.

Another landmark bookstore is managing to carry on in these most unusual retail times. I think I visited it once, forty years ago. Now I have to figure out how to get to it again. 

"Caravan Book Store: Caravan, at Grand Avenue and Sixth Street, is a Downtown mecca for rare and used books. Established in 1954 on what was then known as Booksellers Row, Caravan is the last antiquarian bookstore in Downtown. Although the shop is virtually surrounded by towering glass and steel skyscrapers, inside is a cozy nook devoted to the books and artifacts of bygone eras. The shop's floor-to-ceiling shelves and wooden cases reveal the colorful bindings of rare books, first editions and out-of-print tomes. Every nook holds a vintage treasure and in one corner, there is an Alice in Wonderland-themed chess set complete with the Queen's men as pawns. Currently, the shop does not have Alice's Adventures in stock; its last copy (a first edition) was recently sold, said proprietor Leonard Bernstein. But, he added, the store has many other Carroll titles."

Scheduled for today............a trip to see how the Rose Parade floats are progressing. Our guests can go back to Alaska in time to watch the parade on television with a little personal experience to enrich the viewing.