Stay - cation = A local Vacation

Friday was our mini outing to Los Angeles. I've been going through old family photos and historic documents. I came across the Forest Lawn Glendale papers for the burials of my grandparents and decided that since we were headed to L.A. we might as well stop by the Cemetery and visit the Great Mausoleum.

Here is a picture from the Forest Lawn Website of the Great Mausoleum where just about every famous movie star and famous personalities of the past are buried. Some noteables are Walt Disney, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Mary Pickford (I know by now all of you young people are saying "Who the Hell are They??") W.C. Fields, Sammy Davis, jr., Sid Grauman, Carole Lombard, Jean Harlow, Nat King Cole, Billy Barty (my favorite midget who I happened to meet as a kid), L. Frank Baum (wrote The Wizard of Oz) and many more, Including Roy T. Fjastad and Helen M. Fjastad (my grandparents).

It turns out that this is also the building where Michael Jackson's crypt is. We had to have security escort us into the building so that none of the MJ fans would sneak inside. We had the proper papers so they let us in and we searched for the grave marker on the white marble walls. Carl finally located my grandparents wall crypt in the Columbarium of Adoration. I put my hand on the bronze marker with their names engraved on it and the whole damned front of the Niche (wall crypt) moved like it was going to fall off or open up. Freaked me out, I squeaked and jumped, which really scared Carl. So I wiped the creepies off of my hand onto him, not a good move. He immediately went to wash it off in the bathroom. Not that anything was actually on us, but just in case.

After visiting the folks, we (I) started the search for MJ's crypt. Turns out he is located on the next columbarium right behind theirs. So they are actually neighbors; ghost neighbors. My grandpa was the head of the music department at Paramount Studios, so they have music in common. Enough of that. I did, however, respect the signs that said "NO PHOTOS" and left my camera in the car. So I went online and found this photo of Michael Jackson's grave, which I can verify that this is the actual crypt. It was surrounded by flowers and balloons that were left outside by fans for Valentines Day. The caretakers bring in the flowers to the site when the fans leave. It was a very interesting visit, the Great Mausoleum is so beautiful and it reminds me of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.


Then we drove around the grounds and stopped at the little church, "Wee Kirk o' the Heather". My grandparents were married in this church, so were Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman.



The church is a replica of a church in Scotland.


Me again.

Then we drove to Los Angeles and the CBS Studios to watch the filming of the Wanda Sykes Show. We knew that Ray Romano was a guest, but when we got inside they surprised us with additional guests, Chris Rock, Colin Quinn, Cheryl Hines. (Watch it at 11:00 Tonight!).

Again, I was not allowed to bring my camera inside.

Before the show taping we walked to the Farmer's Market and had dinner at the Wood Ranch Grill. Great Beef! Got home around 12:30, late for us old folks.

Today was the "Big Storm". It poured rain most of the day and hailed at least 5 times.

Tomorrow is our next big adventure where we take a Charles Phoenix tour of Los Angeles www.charlesphoenix.com . We are taking the Disneyland tour of Downtown Los Angeles on the yellow schoolbus.

Kathy