Traveling to Los Angeles for the first time and need some travel tips? How to prepare for LA parking, airports, weather, and traffic.

 The strong personalities of the different home architecture line up as I stroll through Venice. It's like looking at a family portrait of the California family. The colorful houses reflected in the Venice canals under a bright blue sky. If the definition of beauty is symmetry and lighting, well, I just captured the perfect beautiful day.

When I was a girl, my dad always tried to teach me about cars.  He pointed to what this thing was and he explained how it worked.   And I remember none of what he tried to teach me.  I remember looking at his tan, scarred hands, that grime under the nails that would never come out.  I can close my eyes and smell the mix of diesel fuel and cigarette smoke. That was the smell of my dad after a long honest day's work in the shop.  The literal blue collar with his name stitched across his chest.

Of all of the adventures anticipated I never expected to be photobombed by bears and eagles in Juneau, Alaska.

When I arrived in Los Angeles I loved the ability to see rolling hills and beauty rising up into the sky.

Convincing my teenage daughter to hike Pinnacle Peak Mountain turned out to be more than family travel, it was a mother-daughter moment that brought us together.