A room with a view

I admit to being a beggar when I check into a hotel that has the potential to offer a nice view out the window. It doesn't hurt to have status with the hotel and then I use the "I live in Illinois and its winter there, please, oh please, can I have an ocean view?" (my check-in speech during the many many trips to Fort Lauderdale and Miami over the past 24 months).

Last week I was in Orange, Calif and not near anything I thought would be worth begging about, so imagine the nice surprise when I looked out one window and saw snow covered mountains and out the other some interesting architecture.



It was late afternoon (PT), 70 degrees and sunny. I decided to take a walk and check out the buildings. This was the view from the hotel room.



Here's the view close-up. I found out this is the Crystal Cathedral, a protestant "mega church". 10,000 panes of glass (installed with silicone glue), holds 2,900 people and will withstand an 8.0 earthquake. Robert Schuller was the founder (hosts a weekly TV show - "Hour of Power"). I didn't get a picture of this but next to the church is a parking lot set up like a drive-in movie theatre with speakers you can hang on the car window. Hadn't seen that before!









Night shot from hotel window.


For a brief moment during this walk, I wondered why I live in Illinois. Flowers were blooming and there were dozens of Harley riders out riding (vs. home where it was 20 degrees with snow on the ground). But it was just for a moment...