Day 17 - Wednesday, Sept 19 - Pasadena to San Diego

Starting mileage:  4553 Starting time: 1:30 pm
Ending mileage: 4690 Ending time: 4:00 pm
Travel mileage:  137 Travel time: 2:30 hours

We had a relaxing morning at the hotel as we wanted to visit the Huntington Library & Gardens which as only a couple miles away and didn't open until 10am. We had wanted to go there 3 years ago when we were in Pasadena but were there too early in the morning and didn't want to wait.

 Henry Huntington, nephew of Colis Huntington - a railroad "robber baron", came to California in the late 1800s and became very wealthy by first selling merchandise to gold miners and subsequently, the electric tram system in Los Angeles. He bought a 600 acre farm in Pasadena and built a mansion similar to the Vanderbilt's in Hyde Park. He and his wife Arabela filled the mansion with European tapestries, paintings and sculptures. They also had large gardens constructed on the property. On their death, they wanted the property to be open to the public and available for research. He also had the largest private library in the world.

 The trip down to San Diego was typical, with stop and go traffic on 14-lane California freeways.

 Amy and the 4-footed girls greeted us when we arrived. Anna got home around 5pm.

Day 17 map
Japanese garden at Huntington
Chinese garden at Huntington

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