Doing Los Angeles

 Even though I've only been to Los Angeles three times (I'm not including the times we drove through to and from other places), I will definitely miss that city. It is such a fun town and once you get off of the freeways, the traffic isn't even that bad. I really love seeing all the places that, until I moved to California, I had only seen on TV, in movies, or read about in books.

My first trip to LA was with my very good friend, Jennifer S. She's pretty familiar with LA and took me to all the great tourist sites. The second time was back in 2010 when the Mister and I went to the LA Times Festival of Books at UCLA. That was pretty fun and we're going to try and go back again this year at USC. The third time was just this past Wednesday. I wanted the Mister and the girls to be able to see all the places that I saw with Jennifer.

First, we went to the Santa Monica Pier. We all got lemonades at the original Hotdog on a Stick and had a potty break in some very nasty restrooms. Why are restrooms at the beach so freaking nasty?? Then we went to the famous Farmer's Market for lunch and a bit of shopping. That is a really unique experience and there is so much food that it was hard to choose a lunch spot and we ended up going to different places. Next, we went to the La Brea Tar Pits and Page Museum. We got to touch the femur bone of an extinct giant land sloth. I can't go to the La Brea Tar Pits and not think of the movie, My Girl 2, lol. Because we walked from the Farmer's Market to La Brea, we walked back to the Farmer's Market and had dessert, hehehe. After some massive sugar shock, we drove to the TCL (aka, Grauman's, aka, Mann's) Chinese Theater/Dolby Theater.

Both of these theaters have changed names since the last time I was there. I was confused. Anyway, here, we checked out the foot prints, hand prints, and signatures of celebrities, saw the Hollywood sign (a first for all of us), and bought some kitschy souvenirs. After we were done walking around the there, we drove down Rodeo Dr. to gawk at the shops and the houses in Beverly Hills.

SO. MUCH. FUN.

I could barely walk the next day, but we have some great memories to take away with us to Florida. I didn't take very many pictures this time around because I had so many from my first trip. However, I did get one of the Hollywood sign since I didn't get to see it my first trip because it was dark. I also got one of the original Star Trek crew's cement slab at the TCL Theater. I know many people who will find this particular slab very cool. Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Good Things

Grumpy and the lesser known dwarf, Bitchy have been my favorite dwarves of late. So, it's nice to have a few things to look forward to that are good.

We're doing something this weekend. I don't know what yet, but it'll be either the beach, Seaport Village, or maybe Old Town. We'll have to wait and see what we're in the mood to do and what the weather is like.

Next Saturday, the 17th, we're going to a Padres game. The Mister bought the tickets weeks ago, lol. He got them online at that website, www.stubhub.com. From what I understand, the tickets are sold by season ticket holders that don't plan on attending the game or event. Which means, they are excellent seats. We're very excited to take the kids to a major league game. We went to a few minor league baseball games in NC and the girls thought that was cool. Just wait until they see a major league game!

The following weekend after the baseball game, we are going to the LA Time Festival of Books!! I'm so excited about this that I could pee myself. I've been reading about Literary Feline's experiences at the festival for the past couple years and I can't believe that I actually get to go this year. It's a two day event and we're not sure if we're going Saturday, Sunday, or both days but we'll be going at least one day. Woot!

That's the next three weekends! Woot! I can't wait. They are all very excellent things to look forward to doing.

Vacation Days 2, 3, and 4

I'm still alive. We've been staying pretty busy. My first full day in Cali we went to Encinitas so that I could buy my daughter a California Webkinz (yes, I know they're all the same but she wanted one that came from California) and we ate some Mexican from a dive Mexican place. It was excellent. The scary looking places have the best food. And because I was exhausted from travelling, that's all we did the first day.

Yesterday, we hit L.A. We started out at the Santa Monica pier which was very cool. We walked out to the end and back and I bought a magnet to remember it by. We also bought a lemonade from the original Hotdog on a Stick which was yummy.

Then we had to try out Tito's Tacos. This will sound familiar to the Rachel Ray fans since this is one of her favorite fast food places to eat. Tito's tacos, burritos, chips, salsa, and guacamole were excellent. YUMMO!!!!

After lunch, we went to the La Brea Tar Pits so that nobody could say that I didn't try to educate myself while I was gone. I was duly impressed by all the dino bones. I tried to buy a magnet there but they were sold out.

Next, we went to the Farmer's Market and bought some crap. Well, actually, I got some tea and some stuff for my kids. That was cool and shopping is always fun.

Then we went to China Town and Olvera Street to buy more crap...I mean meaningful souvenirs that will last a lifetime.

After that, we drove into Beverly Hills where I about had a heart attack at all the shops. I took a picture of Mikimoto's store front and the lady in the car behind us laughed. I also took a picture of somebody's gorgeous multimillion dollar home. We also had a little road rage at a stop light. Some fool thought it was necessary for us to turn left in front of oncoming traffic so that he could get to his destination faster. I yelled, waved my arms, and called him a bad name. I miss California road rage. Nobody does it better than Californians except for maybe New Yorkers.

After that, we drove down Hollywood Blvd and gawked at the weirdos. They were NOT in short supply. We stopped at the Graumann's Chinese Theater, took pictures, looked at the footprints, and fit in with all the other tourists doing the same thing. I tried to see the Hollywood sign but by this time it was dark and they didn't have it lit up. I could tell where it was supposed to be though so I wasn't too disappointed.

All in all, a completely thrilling day. I have pictures that I'll post when I get home. It's too much of a hassle to do it from Jennifer's.

Today, we drove up into the mountains, 5,550 feet to be exact, to the Palomar Mountain Observatory. More educational sightseeing. On the way back to Jennifer's we stopped at the Julian Apple Pie Company for, you guessed it, apple pie. Yum, yum, and YUMMO!! We also bought a caramel apple pie and an apple mountain berry pie to take home. Oh! And guess what we see as we're getting ready to leave the pie place!!! Flurries! We were far enough into the mountains that it was only in the 30's. It was COLD!! And, oh yeah. We stopped at a roadside fruit stand on the way up the mountain and bought oranges, avocados, and lemons. 5 pounds of oranges for $3.50!!! You can't beat that with a stick. I don't remember the last time I saw oranges that cheap. Probably when I lived here, heheh.

In our eating excursions, we also had In and Out and Weinerschnitzel. California staples.

Tonight, we're just being lazy which is a theme that we plan on continuing tomorrow as well. We're worn out. And gas is freaking expensive here. EX-PEN-SIVE!!!! Holy, moly, cow.

Lastly, thanks to Jennifer's mom for her contribution the 2008 version of Jennifer and Trisha's Vacation. You're a gem. :)