This was my first day off from work in three long, long, weeks. I worked my regular Mondays through Fridays, but I was on call at the hospital over Thanksgiving weekend and the following weekend as well. Unfortunately for me, both weekends ended up being rather busy days. But, it only hurts until payday as we say. So, it should be no surprise I already had my first off weekend days planned out with activities.
Back home when the kids were little we would wake up early, if it was not a sweltering hot summer day, drive over to Dunkin Donuts, grab a box of yummy Munchkins, and head on down to the airplane viewing area at McCarran airport and watch as the planes took off and landed. My son loved watching the aircrafts, but he became even more interested after our trip to Thailand in 2011. He knows all the domestic planes and their livery as well as a few international airlines we would sometimes see arriving in Las Vegas. I knew Ethan would grumble when I told him to wake up and get ready but, I also knew he would be super excited once we saw how close we would be to the planes.
The best place to view the planes landing is at an In-N-Out right next to the LAX runway. We all just LOVE In-N-Out. I think I could eat there every day and never get tired of it. It took us about an hour drive to reach it and just like every other place in Los Angeles; this place was packed. The line of cars was through the parking lot and out into the street. We had to park on the street even though there were plenty of parking spots. Because of the constant line of drive-thru cars, you would never be able to back out and leave. There is a row of a few umbrella tables along the landing path, and I immediately claimed one and sent Thao and Ellie off to fetch our burgers. It took them about 20 minutes to return. In the meantime, Ethan and I were in awe of all the large planes passing right in front of us. Guys were sitting with binoculars, and across the street, at a little park, a kid was having a birthday party. All were there to plane spot just like us.
After eating our scrumptious burgers and fries and getting our fill of airplanes, we headed out to our next destination. I believe the Los Angeles Natural History Museum was our first natural history museum. I was not too sure what to expect since I did not do too much research beyond checking out the ticket prices, and I can assure you the prices are very reasonable. The museum entrance is through the gift shop. We passed the gift shop and were so surprised at how the museum looked as if it was straight out of the movie "Night At The Museum," complete with skeleton dinosaur at its entrance. The themed rooms such as Hall Of African Mammals and Hall Of North American Mammals was just like the staged dioramas in the movie. This gave the museum a little something extra. I think we were all hoping for the exhibits to come alive and party with us.
The Hall of Gemstones and Minerals was a crazy place. So many gold nuggets, and precious gems. I can't even begin to imagine how much insurance they would need to cover such goods. Three meteorites are on display here and look so unlike anything I have ever seen on Earth. It just makes you wonder what else is out there in the universe that we have yet to see.
I love when the kids see an exhibit that relates back to their school work. Ellie did a project this year on short-faced bears. I had never heard of them before she did her research. She would talk about how short-faced bears never come up in pictures, articles or books bears are mentioned. At this museum, she found a skull of one of these extinct short-faced bears, and she could measure herself up against one. Fabulous!
All in all, we had a fantastic day. If you are ever in the Los Angeles area I highly suggest visiting the Natural History Museum and if you have extra time and are a bit hungry, In-N-Out by LAX has great food and great entertainment.
