We started our day with a 70 mile drive on Los Angeles freeways. And, it actually wasn't too bad. The traffic moved along nicely for the most part. The smog was awful. It was thick like fog. Gross. When we arrived at the Los Angeles Temple--#13 on our trip--it was still gray outside. When we came out, though, the sun had burned through and it was lovely.
The Los Angeles Temple is one of the oldest temples. It was dedicated in 1956 and was the first in California. It is the second largest temple at 190,630 square feet. It is truly lovely. Eileen was able to do 61 baptisms and 1 confirmation. They kept her very busy!
This pool and the gardens really added to the beauty of this temple. It is located right on Santa Monica Blvd in the heart of Los Angeles.
There is a visitor's center at the Los Angeles temple and they have this Christus statue with a sunset background.
Our next stop was the Newport Beach Temple--#14. This temple is also quite similar to Sacramento's temple. One thing that was really beautiful was the mural in the ordinance room. Like most temple murals, the surrounding area geography is taken into account. For this temple, the mural covered all four walls and it was a scene at the ocean. The rear wall was a seaside bluff with foliage and rocks, the front was the ocean and the sides were ocean, beach and rocks. The carpet was the color of sand. It was stunning!
After our temple session, we decided to go ahead and stay the night in Newport Beach. It is only a 6 hour drive home from here. We went to Target and bought beach towels and chairs. We found a motel 4 miles from the beach. We stopped for clam chowder in a bread bowl and some shrimp cocktail then headed for Newport Beach.
We thought it pretty good to have started our trip at the Statue of Liberty at the Atlantic Ocean in New York and to end it on Newport Beach at the Pacific Ocean in California.
We have had a wonderful time. We have laughed and cried. We have played hard and strolled leisurely. We have taken planes, busses, trains and cars to places far and wide. It has been an unforgettable journey.
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