my world. my thoughts. my journeys.
Posts tagged Los Angeles
Sunny LA weekend- Day 6 and 7
Feb 14th
After a 75 and sunny weekend in the LA sun, I’m sporting a little tan and feeling wonderful, if not somewhat dreading our impending re-entry to cold winter weather. My car has been successfully repaired and is ready for the long trek east. Katelyn and I walked a few miles to pick up my car yesterday morning and just enjoyed the weather and the sun. It was a great way to see more of the city. Once we got my car, we trekked out to Venice Beach, where we met up with my cousin PJ and Katelyn’s friend from home.
We had a nice walk on the boardwalk, complete with freak shows (too bad we didn’t want to pay admission), scantily clad people of all shapes and sizes, and all kinds of vendors lining the walk. It’s an eclectic place to say the least, but definitely worth it for the “culture” and the people watching. We had a nice meal on the boardwalk, and got to watch a beautiful west coast sunset over the Pacific.
We had a low key evening, relaxing and hanging out with Katelyn’s friend and Pooch and his roommates, complete with an acoustic sing-a-long session (a repeat from the night before) and enjoying the night.
This morning, we were again lured outdoors by the beautiful weather and Katelyn and I spent a few hours walking around Hollywood with Pooch for another dose of Los Angeles culture. Hollywood was a world in itself. We saw the Chinese theater where all the films are premiered and an entire smattering of characters and personalities for people to pay to take photos with. It kind of felt like a big kids Halloween celebration, anyone from Dora the Explorer to Jason (that costume will probably give me nightmares tonight)
And although we’ll be leaving LA without successfully getting to be in the Ellen Show audience (this mission is far from over), we still found her face plastered on the side of a bus, and found a wonderful photo op.
We’re heading off for the Grand Canyon next, it’ll be sad to leave California (I’ve been here for almost 3 weeks!), but the rest of the journey awaits!
Day 5- I guess I should have expected something unexpected to happen
Feb 12th
So. Katelyn came in at 10am this morning to inform me that my car window had been broken. Our first night parked overnight in Hollywood and we wake up to a broken window and a stolen GPS. Katelyn filmed some of the damage:
I guess it’s a part of the journey…? But still, a rather unpleasant start to our day. I filed a police report with the Hollywood branch of the LAPD and called GEICO hoping for insurance reimbursement, only to find that these things happen over a hundred times a day and that insurance only covers damages over $500.. Long story short, this is an expensive lesson to have to learn while on our road trip, but such is life and now my car is getting repaired and we will finish our journey “the old fashioned way” without modern GPS technology.
Thankfully, we redeemed a rather dismal day by doing a wonderful hike near the Hollywood sign that offered a stunning 360 view of the Los Angeles area. Chris “Pooch” (my friend from Bucktown) took us up on the beautiful walk, and it was a wonderful diversion from the day’s frustrations. It was an easy but awesome hike, but sometimes Katelyn still got lazy…
And then we made it to the top:
The Hollywood sign is barely visible in the back, but of course, this is the one time they decide to cover it up with other letters that read “Save the Peak” (some fight for preserving some land somewhere…), so the tourist shots of the Hollywood sign were a no-go, but we still made the most of it.
After spending a few weeks in California, all I can say is that it’s an absolutely beautiful state full of diversity and excitement, and it’s been fun to explore. Only a few days remain before we continue our journey east, so we have to make the most of them!
Cruisin’ South- Day 3 and 4
Feb 12th
Our last day Wednesday in San Fran/Bay Area was all about getting ourselves organized and hanging out with people we love who all for one reason or another live in northern California. We met up first with two of Katelyn’s friends who she met in India, followed by dinner with Beth (my friend from Harvard) and her boyfriend Alex (who cooked an immaculate meal that we’ve still been dreaming about ever since).
Once we ate, we played a bit of Rockband (I am HORRIBLE at drums) and had an impromptu dance party before setting out to meet up with Ivan (my friend from Harvard) and Katelyn’s Indian friends. We got delicious frozen yogurt with Ivan before jetting off to an Irish bar where Katelyn and I found ourselves again owning a nearly empty dance floor. It allows us to perfect our outlandish dance moves.
Yesterday, we took the Pacific Coast Highway to make our way to LA (where we are now). The drive is absolutely beautiful. We gave ourselves the day to stop all along the way whenever the view was amazing (which was frequent) to take pictures and soak in the scene.
the picture below is for all of my short cousins who refer to me as “the Redwood” (note the real redwoods in the background)
Although the scenery was absolutely beautiful, it was still a long drive, so we still found it necessary to take some time to dance and entertain ourselves.
We also positioned the camera to capture some of our in the car dancing, one of our favorite hobbies!
There’s a bit about day 3 and 4… it’s been a great ride so far! Now we’re spending the weekend in LA and seeing what kind of awesome things we can experience and explore.
