Olvera Street and Lockdown

Just catching up on a few things around here...

Everyone had the day off on MLK day so instead of just sitting around the house we decided to go somewhere and do something.  After mulling over a few options we finally decided to go down to Olvera Street which is where the original Mexican settlement was located, and invited the Jorgenson's to go with us.  In spite of living here for 8 years now, only a couple of the kids had ever been there.  But instead of just driving down and parking we decided to get there by bus - I haven't ridden a bus in years but it turned out to be pretty easy.  The Orange Line (which travels on a busway) goes to the Red Line (I'd heard rumors there was a subway in LA but hadn't seen it) which ends at Union Station (which was pretty cool) which is across the street from Olvera Street.  In the end, I think the bus and subway rides were the highlight of the day for the kids - Olvera Street ended up being basically a market for cheap junk.  Oh well, lunch was very nice and we toured the oldest house in Los Angeles.  Pictures below.

Also, maybe you've heard the kid's school's were locked down a week or so ago?  The story was that the police officer confronted a man breaking into cars and was shot by him.  It turns out the officer lied and may have accidentally shot himself (this amid other rumors).  Maybe he was playing around with his gun?  I don't know... but they had another lockdown this week when someone thought they saw someone with a weapon on campus - I never did hear how that turned out, but that lockdown didn't last long.  At any rate, I want to express my gratitude to the teachers and school administrators at El Camino and Hale who made sure the kids were safe.  It was a real pain for everyone, and I know there were some complaints, but if it had really been a dangerous situation I'd have hoped they did just what they did.  So, Thank you!

Get on the bus...

Inside Union Station

At the head of Olvera Street

 

Shopping

In the courtyard of the oldest house in Los Angeles

Taylor goofing off (?) on the subway