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California dreaming

February 2022
A trip down memory lane with mum Read more
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  • TravelerCalifornia dreaming
    Day 1

    Road trip

    February 4, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    In March 1988 we travelled halfway across the world to spend 3 months living in America. During that time with me and my sister went to school. My dad worked at UCLA and my mum spent time enjoying life in LA.

    34 years later mum and I are on a road trip to revisit some of the places that we went all that time ago and reminisce.

    This is where I'll share our trip.    Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia dreaming
    Day 1

    Painswick to Los Angeles

    February 4, 2022 in England ⋅ 🌧 5 °C

    We started the day with an uneventful to Heathrow. After a bit of confusion about our tickets at check in resulted in a bit of a delay, we eventually made it through security. Our flight was leaving from the satellite terminal so we caught the train and headed up to the lounge. After a couple of drinks it was time to board and we settled in for the flight.

    A route is taking us north of a Scotland and then over the Arctic circle before heading down over Canada and the Western United States into Los Angeles.

    It wasn't long into the flight when I realised I might have my work cut out for me in the next 10 days. We were settling down to watch a film and I noticed that mum was tapping her headphones as if to try and make them work. When I looked over I could see the problem straight away. Sadly, she had failed to plug the headphones into the socket!

    The flight itself was pretty uneventful and we landed in Los Angeles on time. After negotiating immigration and collecting our bags, we headed to find where we were picking up our car. This was not the easiest experience as they seem to be a complete lack of signs as to how you got to the rental car places. Eventually found a bus that would take us there and were given the world's biggest car as a rental. Really far far too big for just two of us and so I'm hoping we can change that in the morning.

    We parked in the garage of the hotel, although the height of the car did make me wonder whether we might not leave a dent in the roof from the low underground car park.

    After checking in we headed for a drink in the hotel bar and by 10.30 we were both flagging so decided to get an early night.    Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia dreaming
    2
    Day 2

    Memories

    February 5, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We started the day trying to beat jet lag. I think I was awake from about 1:30 a.m. and eventually gave up trying to sleep just after 4:00 and made a coffee. One advantage of being awake so early was that we were up in time to watch the rugby and I managed to find a channel that was showing the Wales Ireland game. To be honest, I wish I hadn'! 😁🏉

    After the game it was still only 8:00 and I'd already called the car hire place to see if we could change the car to something a little smaller. So we found ourselves back at the Avis garage and managed to get a different car. We then headed up towards Westwood for some reminiscing.

    Our first stop was for breakfast at a little cafe with some seats and tables outside. The sun was already high and the day warming up.

    Next, we drove to find the house that we stayed in when we were living in Los Angeles at 2146 Balsam Avenue. We reminded that the area was full of houses and not one of them alike. Was the one that could probably do with the most modernising but it was nice to see anyway.

    From here we walked along the road to the school at Kirsty used to go to, Westwood school. The weather was glorious and we then retraced our steps back to the car.

    We drove a short distance along the route that I would have taken walking to school and parked this before Santa Monica boulevard. Here we walked along the road in front of the temple and found the 7-Eleven store that I used to stop at every day on my way home for a very large Coca-Cola.

    Next, we walked along the streets to the school. I went to Ralph Waldo Emerson middle school although when I went there it was called Emerson junior high. After a quick photo stop we went around the block and passed the Catholic church and along the other side of the temple back to the car.

    Our next stop was Century city for some retail therapy and I finally stop for the hotel with the supermarkets that we used to use when we were here in 1988. We arrived at the hotel at around 2:00 p.m. and we're able to check in.

    Both are really high floors and mum's view looks out towards the temple and can actually see Emerson junior high from there. We spent a couple of hours relaxing by the pool and enjoying the sun before having a shower and getting ready for 'wine hour' at the hotel at 5:00 p.m.!

    At 6:30 I ordered an Uber and we drove the short distance to Carmine's where we met Simon and Rebecca. We worked out that it'd be at least 20 years since we'd seen each other, but despite this we had a lovely evening; great food and catching up on some of the things that changed since we last met. It's only when writing this that I realised the one thing we didn't do was to get a photo!

    We caught an Uber back which was just as well cos a temperature really seemed to have dropped and after a quick night cap had a relatively early night at 10:30 p.m.    Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia dreaming
    Day 3

    A trip to the beach

    February 6, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Jet lag is still playing havoc with our sleep patterns and both of us were awake early. We headed into Westwood village and found a coffee shop to have some breakfast. I opted for the in use eggs with potatoes and mum had some pancakes with maple syrup. We both chuck in a shot of caffeine to help us get through the day. 😁☕

    Mum decided that she wanted to go to church and so I dropped off at Westwood Methodist church in time for the 9:30 service. This was the church that we've been to a couple of times back in '88. I went back into Westwood village and sat having another coffee soaking up the sun.

    Today we were to meet back up with Marcia, who used to work with dad when he was at UCLA. I'd managed to track Marcia down (with my amazing sleuth-like abilities 🤣 aka Google related searches). Marcia disappear at 11:45 and we drove to Venice beach to eat. Marcia had booked to send at the Rose having had recommendations from her daughters colleague. The sun was out and I really enjoyed my burger well. Mum and Marcia both had the breakfast burrito.

    After this we drove through Venice beach and Santa Monica and stopped to see what we thought was the California heritage museum. The museum was actually not quite what we'd expected and we realised we'd ended up in the wrong place, but there were a couple of houses built originally in the late 19th century which had been moved intact to the current location. It was a bit of a hodgepodge of original environment and a flea market upstairs.

    Marcia then drove us around along the coast a little bit before heading back towards where we were staying showing us some of the neighbourhoods on the way. Finally, we stopped at an area with a number of museums including the la Brea tar pits. This is an area which had been developed in the early 20th century for oil and had left behind tarpets which on close for inspection contained hundreds and hundreds of thousands of bones of animals that had roamed the area up to 40,000 years ago. We went through the museum and then had a wander round outside but by now it was getting a bit chilly and the museum was closing so got back in the car and Marcia drove us back to our hotel where we had a couple of glasses of wine in the wine hour.

    We eventually settled on a place to eat that was in walking distance from our hotel. After a quick change, we headed out to walk to the Skylight Gardens at 7:00 p.m. we walked along Santa Monica boulevard and then into Westwood village. The restaurant had a range of beers and ales on tap, including Old Speckled Hen!

    We shared a starter of coconut prawns which were delicious and then I had a rib of beef while mum had lasagna wash down with some red wine. However, by 9:00 p.m. I just couldn't keep my eyes open and so we paid the bill and walked back to the hotel for an early night.    Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia dreaming
    Day 4

    Movie magic

    February 7, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    So today we're on the move. We're both still awake early and so we were checking out of our hotel just before 8:00 ready for a trip to Warner Brothers studios. Another Day in Los Angeles with blue skies with not a cloud in sight.

    We left the hotel and headed for the freeway which took us through the hills to the other side and then along to Burbank where this film studios are. Nearby the studios. We stopped a little cafe to have breakfast with me opting for the corned beef hash and mum having an omelette.

    We arrived at the Warner Brothers studios at just after 9 and after parking the car we checked in for the tour. The tour started with a presentation about some of the history of Warner Brothers and then we got onto a electric golf buggy where our guide took us around some of the sets at the front and the back lots. The sets around the back lots are buildings that are repurposed by changing the front of the cladding or repainting them and so actually when you look at it the same area would have been used in a number of different films or they've never know it because the front changed so much.

    The front lot is full of sound stages which is where they build indoor sets and where they also film live audience shows. We couldn't go into any of them because being a Monday it was a working part of the week but our guide talks about lots of different scenes have been shot in the studios there. It also appears that for some of the scenes, other movie studios will rent the space from Warner Brothers.

    After about an hour we were dropped off at especially designed vista center where there were lots of interactive exhibits majoring on the Friends set author including Harry potter and some of the marvel comics. Those explanations about writers and casting and the sound engineers and all made for a really interesting tour.

    Once we had seen that area we hopped on another golf buggy for the final past the tour where there were other interactive exhibits including some scenes from Harry potter and props from a number of the batman sets.

    And all it was a good 3 hours spent and well worth the time and cost for the ticket.    Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia dreaming
    Day 4

    Palm springs

    February 7, 2022 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    We left Warner Brothers and started the trip to Palm Springs which took a couple of hours to do the hundredish miles between where we were and the town. We arrived just before 3:00 and after a quick drive around the downtown area we checked into our hotel for the night which is the Inn at Palm Springs. This hotel is more like a motel with a lovely little pool large rooms which are rustic and spotlessly clean.

    We decided to have a quick dip in the pool before the sun went behind the mountains. It was a short swim and then a beer seeing the send dip behind the hills.

    After refreshing up we caught an Uber to the downtown area and spent a little bit of time wondering up and down before settling on a bar to have a drink overlooking the main street. It was still warm or most places here have heaters as the temperature does dip quickly once the sun's gone down. Mum at a cocktail and I had a couple of different beers and we shared some coconut shrimp.

    We wandered further down the main street past a massive statue of Marilyn Monroe and settled on a place to eat called Kaiser. The food was lovely although somewhat expensive andy 9:00 it was both getting cold and we were starting to feel the effects of the early start and so we ordered another Uber to take us back to our hotel.    Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia dreaming
    Day 5

    Palm Springs aerial tramway

    February 8, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We had a quick dip in the pool when we got up at around 7:30 before showering and then going a couple of minutes along the road to a place where we could use a voucher for some breakfast. The weather was glorious with crystal clear blue skies and even that early on the temperature was in the early 20s.

    So orange juice, coffee and eggs with hash browns later and we are back at the room to get ready before going to the Palm Springs aerial tramway in time for 10:00 a.m.. tramway itself was about 10 minute drive. Most of it uphill and we arrived just before our scheduled departure at 10:00 a.m.. the cabins were different to when we last road on them in 1988. As in the year 2000 they replaced the cabins with two large cabins which revolve as you go up and down.

    The tramway takes you from around 2,400 ft to 8,400 ft in about 10 minutes. We were on the first cabinet of the day and the views as we went up and revolved were amazing. Not that mum saw any of them but she spent time holding on to the edge of the cabin which was revolving and trying not to fall over. 😉

    Being so high there was snow at the top. Although in the warm spring sunshine it was still very pleasant. He walked down a sloping path to the start of some forest trails but neither of us was really very well equipped with our footwear even to do the shortest one because it was muddy and a bit icy. So instead we walked back at the slope and into the lift station area where there were some exhibits, compulsory gift shop and a restaurant. It was now 11:00 a.m. and so the restaurant was open and we sat overlooking the Palm Springs valley and had some soup. I also had a chicken roll with some fries. Last mum had a Caesar salad with prawns.

    Bunny it's time to head back down the tramway and again we were treated to some amazing views and thankfully mum found the return journey much less nerve-wracking.

    The bottom we locate to start car and started the 2-hour journey back to Los Angeles.    Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia dreaming
    Day 5

    Back to LA

    February 8, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    The journey back to Los Angeles was pretty straightforward, although the roads were quite busy and the temperature was over 25° C.

    Before going to our next hotel, we stopped at the pueblo in downtown LA where one of the oldest streets is situated. We'd been to Olvera Street when we came in 1988 and on that occasion it was a Sunday and it was a very vibrant and noisy place with bands playing and lots of people around. On a Tuesday afternoon in February it was a bit quieter but it was still lovely to see the brightly coloured stalls selling a range of things from shoes to wraps and toys.

    While we're in the downtown area, we also walked along to see the Catholic cathedral. En route, we passed justice department and county courts both in impressive buildings. Cathedral itself is relatively modern structure with big block work and nothing of the traditional cathedral you might think of when you consider how cathedrals tend to look.

    By now it's almost 4:00 p.m. and so we made our way back to the car and drove the short 15-minute drive to our next hotel, the Kimpton Everly. We checked in and found our rooms, both of which overlook the hill with the Hollywood sign on.

    After a quick dip in the pool we got ready for the social drinks hour until wait the arrival of Marcia who was joining us for a meal. After a couple of drinks and once Marcia had arrived we walked to the short distance to the restaurant that I booked and sat outside sharing plates of burgers, pasta and sea bass.

    We walked back to the hotel and spent some time chatting to Marcia before she left and we headed to bed.    Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia dreaming
    Day 5

    The Kimpton Everly hotel

    February 8, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    The Kimpton Everly hotel is located just off Sunset Boulevard and very close to the Capitol Records building. It's a relatively modern hotel with a very very large bar area with high high ceilings. Our rooms had an amazing view overlooking the Hollywood sign.Read more

  • TravelerCalifornia dreaming
    Day 6

    Take me out to the ball game!

    February 9, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Today started with another clear blue sky and temperatures are promised to be in the upper 20s, not bad for February!

    We had a breakfast in the Jane Q restaurant at the hotel and I had a bagel with smoked salmon cream cheese whilst mum had a pastry.

    We made our way the short distance to the Dodger baseball stadium ready for our tour at 11:00 a.m. after finding somewhere to park, we headed up to the start of the tour, which gave a great view overlooking the entire stadium. The tour lasted about 90 minutes and I really enthusiastic host explain to us all sorts of things about both the Dodger team and stadium itself.

    The Dodger team started in Brooklyn and was moved over to LA in the 50s after which the current stadium was built. It's one of the largest baseball stadiums in the country and has an obstructed views from every seat.

    It's clear that baseball has spawned a myriad of stats with most valued player and the person who has hit the most home runs in a season and the person who's caught the most balls and so on and so on. The talk us through the refurbished executive suites and also into the dugout and around the edge of the stadium. The stadium itself seems to look much smaller when you're in it at ground level compared to when you are overlooking from the top tier. We learnt that the seats of various colours representing elements of California, including the beach, the ocean and other things, which I can't now remember!

    On the tour we saw the entrance I must have walked through when I was here all those years ago at junior high school band night and it brought back some lovely memories. What I don't think either of us should realised was that the year that we were at a game the Dodgers won the world series. Maybe that bodes well for them for the 2022 season.

    The tour finished at about 12:30 and we left. Glad that we'd made the effort to do the tour on this occasion.    Read more

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