I am running around like a crazy person this morning... packing, cleaning, more packing. I swear packing up a dog is as bad as packing up a baby!! Her bed, blanket, towels in case she gets wet, toys, food, food bowls, water bowl, treats, leash, harness, bones, etc. etc. etc...
Headed up to the North Georgia Mountains to see some turning leaves. I am basically a single mother so thus all the last minute running around like crazy. We are obviously taking Daisy... I am sure she will have a ball! As long as she doesn't meet a bear or a skunk, then Mama and Daddy will be happy!
There is no Internet access where we are going, so I will have to give the blow-by-blow of our trip after I return. Keep an eye out!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Quick update
It took about four days, but I FINALLY got over my jet lag or exhaustion from the California trip! I've just been piddling around the house since I've been home. I haven't scrapbooked much, but I am going to crop at a friend's house tomorrow, so maybe I'll get a few pages done.
Since we are now having absolutely beautiful weather... sunshine and in the 70's... I'm back to taking Daisy to Oxford for a walk everyday. We've been averaging about 30-35 minutes; yesterday, we made it 45 minutes. I would like to work up to an hour, but it will take a little while since we are both out of shape! She loves the trails through the woods where she can chase squirrels and especially chipmunks! She loves to go after the chipmunks! She sticks her head in almost every hole she can find, and I tell her something she doesn't want is going to get a hold of her nose if she keeps doing that!
Next weekend, Tracy, Daisy, and I are going to the mountains to see the turning leaves. We've never done that before. I'm sure it will be beautiful. We found a pet friendly place and will be staying in a cabin near Blue Ridge. We'll hike to a waterfall or two, go to the drive-in theater, and maybe walk through the antique stores. Should be relaxing fun. Can't wait to see how much fun Daisy has.
Last Saturday, the First Baptist Church of Conyers was having a huge amount of yard sales in their parking lot. Since it was outside, we took Daisy. She loved it. All those people petting her and telling her how pretty she is. We almost couldn't fit her head back into the car! LOL
Well, again, I'm just piddling around the house today. I need to get into my scrapbook room and make sure I'm ready for tomorrow!
Since we are now having absolutely beautiful weather... sunshine and in the 70's... I'm back to taking Daisy to Oxford for a walk everyday. We've been averaging about 30-35 minutes; yesterday, we made it 45 minutes. I would like to work up to an hour, but it will take a little while since we are both out of shape! She loves the trails through the woods where she can chase squirrels and especially chipmunks! She loves to go after the chipmunks! She sticks her head in almost every hole she can find, and I tell her something she doesn't want is going to get a hold of her nose if she keeps doing that!
Next weekend, Tracy, Daisy, and I are going to the mountains to see the turning leaves. We've never done that before. I'm sure it will be beautiful. We found a pet friendly place and will be staying in a cabin near Blue Ridge. We'll hike to a waterfall or two, go to the drive-in theater, and maybe walk through the antique stores. Should be relaxing fun. Can't wait to see how much fun Daisy has.
Last Saturday, the First Baptist Church of Conyers was having a huge amount of yard sales in their parking lot. Since it was outside, we took Daisy. She loved it. All those people petting her and telling her how pretty she is. We almost couldn't fit her head back into the car! LOL
Well, again, I'm just piddling around the house today. I need to get into my scrapbook room and make sure I'm ready for tomorrow!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Day 8: Coming Home
Sorry this has taken awhile to post. First, I was too tired and unable to stay awake to do any blogging. Then all day today, I have been unable to get into my blog... on Firefox, at least. I finally had to open it in Internet Explorer. Don't know what's up with that.
Anyway, we had checked the weather on Tuesday night, and in some strange twist of fate, it was to be 59 degrees and raining in LA when we left and 75 degrees and sunny in Atlanta when we got home!! And the weather was true to its word! It was raining when we left the motel. We were fortunate, though, that we only had to get out in the rain at McDonald's to get our breakfast. Our car was parked in the parking deck at the motel and the rental car return was covered with the shuttle van right there. Also, the van let us out right on the curb at the airport so we were good to go!
We got to our gate about 2 hours early. We read for awhile, grabbed something to eat at the only place available at that terminal (Again, Atlanta has it going on at the airport!), Burger King, gobbled that down and it was already time to board the plane. It was another uneventful trip. It was a full flight, though, so VERY crowded. There is definitely no room to stretch out. They pack you in like sardines! However, because it was a full flight, Mom got to check her carry-on for free! Since we already had checked bags, it was a no-brainer for us. Made it easier on me and Mom not having to carry that extra bag on the plane and (me) not having to lift it into an overhead bin.
We left LA at about 11:35am PST and actually got into Atlanta 30 minutes early - at 6:30pm EST. I was so psyched to be home! Our bags were already coming down the baggage claim when we got there, and we zoomed out to find the shuttle van back to my car. He was waiting for us! It was great. Got to the car fine... and then we tried to leave. Well, there was some idiot (I'm sorry - I couldn't think of a nicer way to put it.) in a truck at the window that didn't have his ticket. An instead of having him pull over and waiting on the car ahead of us and us... no they made us wait. and wait. and wait. For so long, that I honked the horn. A female employees stuck her head out the window and held up her index finger like, "Just one more minute." Well, that minute stretched into 2 to 3. FINALLY, the line started moving. When it was our turn, the male manager that was at the window by this time, apologized, and I told him that they should have had the difficult customer pull aside while they waited on the others. Of course, he made some excuse why that wouldn't work.. but you know what? This guy showed great customer service skills. #1 - He apologized... that goes a long way with me when someone screws up, but a lot of people won't apologize for anything anymore; #2 - He never got mad or upset. He was upbeat and smiling through the entire thing. He even diverted me by asking about our trip and expressing that he knew we were ready to get home.; #3 - He thanked us. All of that EXCELLENT customer service (which we rarely see anymore) diffused the situation and will make me give them my business in the future.
Anyway, we got out of there and I very quickly re-adjusted to driving in Atlanta! That is to say I did about 80 MPH all the way home! LOL I couldn't wait to see my babies!
Tracy went and picked up hot wings for our dinner, and (perfect timing!) we pulled into the driveway at the same time he did! I didn't have my house key with me so we had to wait for Tracy a whole minute or two, and Daisy was barking up a storm on the other side of the door! She was very impatient to see her mama! She was very happy to see me, as was Gracie. Trixie hid because Mom was here, of course. And surprisingly, Zeus kept his distance until I went to bed. He's been sticking close to me ever since, though! Daisy wouldn't hardly let me out of her sight. When I finally went to bed (about 2AM!!!), she jumped right up on my side of the bed so that I had to angle and squeeze my way in between her and Tracy! She wasn't about to sleep too far away from me - I might disappear again! LOL
You should have seen how happy she was to see my mom leave the next morning! She knows that every time Mom comes, I leave. So once Mom was gone, I guess she figured I was home to stay! She's so funny!
My friend who came over and let Daisy out a couple of times a day while I was gone called me and said that Daisy was a different dog on Wednesday. Every other day, she had just scooted outside, did her business, came right back inside, no playing, no nothing. On Wednesday, Daisy met her at the door with a toy in her mouth and was all happy cause she just KNEW her mama was coming home that night!!!
I am waaaayyy jet lagged, but I am glad to be home... though I'm not too thrilled with doing laundry, cleaning house, or paying bills. It never goes away. ;)
Anyway, we had checked the weather on Tuesday night, and in some strange twist of fate, it was to be 59 degrees and raining in LA when we left and 75 degrees and sunny in Atlanta when we got home!! And the weather was true to its word! It was raining when we left the motel. We were fortunate, though, that we only had to get out in the rain at McDonald's to get our breakfast. Our car was parked in the parking deck at the motel and the rental car return was covered with the shuttle van right there. Also, the van let us out right on the curb at the airport so we were good to go!
We got to our gate about 2 hours early. We read for awhile, grabbed something to eat at the only place available at that terminal (Again, Atlanta has it going on at the airport!), Burger King, gobbled that down and it was already time to board the plane. It was another uneventful trip. It was a full flight, though, so VERY crowded. There is definitely no room to stretch out. They pack you in like sardines! However, because it was a full flight, Mom got to check her carry-on for free! Since we already had checked bags, it was a no-brainer for us. Made it easier on me and Mom not having to carry that extra bag on the plane and (me) not having to lift it into an overhead bin.
We left LA at about 11:35am PST and actually got into Atlanta 30 minutes early - at 6:30pm EST. I was so psyched to be home! Our bags were already coming down the baggage claim when we got there, and we zoomed out to find the shuttle van back to my car. He was waiting for us! It was great. Got to the car fine... and then we tried to leave. Well, there was some idiot (I'm sorry - I couldn't think of a nicer way to put it.) in a truck at the window that didn't have his ticket. An instead of having him pull over and waiting on the car ahead of us and us... no they made us wait. and wait. and wait. For so long, that I honked the horn. A female employees stuck her head out the window and held up her index finger like, "Just one more minute." Well, that minute stretched into 2 to 3. FINALLY, the line started moving. When it was our turn, the male manager that was at the window by this time, apologized, and I told him that they should have had the difficult customer pull aside while they waited on the others. Of course, he made some excuse why that wouldn't work.. but you know what? This guy showed great customer service skills. #1 - He apologized... that goes a long way with me when someone screws up, but a lot of people won't apologize for anything anymore; #2 - He never got mad or upset. He was upbeat and smiling through the entire thing. He even diverted me by asking about our trip and expressing that he knew we were ready to get home.; #3 - He thanked us. All of that EXCELLENT customer service (which we rarely see anymore) diffused the situation and will make me give them my business in the future.
Anyway, we got out of there and I very quickly re-adjusted to driving in Atlanta! That is to say I did about 80 MPH all the way home! LOL I couldn't wait to see my babies!
Tracy went and picked up hot wings for our dinner, and (perfect timing!) we pulled into the driveway at the same time he did! I didn't have my house key with me so we had to wait for Tracy a whole minute or two, and Daisy was barking up a storm on the other side of the door! She was very impatient to see her mama! She was very happy to see me, as was Gracie. Trixie hid because Mom was here, of course. And surprisingly, Zeus kept his distance until I went to bed. He's been sticking close to me ever since, though! Daisy wouldn't hardly let me out of her sight. When I finally went to bed (about 2AM!!!), she jumped right up on my side of the bed so that I had to angle and squeeze my way in between her and Tracy! She wasn't about to sleep too far away from me - I might disappear again! LOL
You should have seen how happy she was to see my mom leave the next morning! She knows that every time Mom comes, I leave. So once Mom was gone, I guess she figured I was home to stay! She's so funny!
My friend who came over and let Daisy out a couple of times a day while I was gone called me and said that Daisy was a different dog on Wednesday. Every other day, she had just scooted outside, did her business, came right back inside, no playing, no nothing. On Wednesday, Daisy met her at the door with a toy in her mouth and was all happy cause she just KNEW her mama was coming home that night!!!
I am waaaayyy jet lagged, but I am glad to be home... though I'm not too thrilled with doing laundry, cleaning house, or paying bills. It never goes away. ;)
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Day 7: Burbank, etc.
By this point, WE ARE SO TIRED!!! LOL! The places we go in L.A. aren't really that far apart... but we drive a block, stop at a red light; drive a block, stop at a red light, on and on and on. Now nothing has taken twice as long to reach as my GPS tells me (like an article I read on the Internet warned), but it ALWAYS takes longer than Samantha originally figures. It seems that we loose 2-3 minutes at every single red light! So that became the big joke of the day. Oh, Samantha says we'll reach the scrapbook store in 20 minutes? Well, we know that actually means about 30. The last joke of the day was that I will be glad to get back to driving in Atlanta... it's easier! LOL
We started out about 8 this morning, heading to the Warner Bros. Studio. Like I mentioned, there aren't that many breakfast places, so we were looking for a McDonald's. Now they are on almost every corner here, but not when you're actually looking for one. Or it's on the left side of road, with 4-6 lanes of traffic between us and it. We finally found one, though on the left side of the road, it was the middle of a block with less traffic so I shot over a couple of lanes and headed in! After filling up our tummies, we continued on to Burbank. Warner Bros was easy to find, and I lucked up and turned down the correct street to find the parking for the VIP tour. Everyone was very nice and helpful... one lady stopped us on the sidewalk to give us directions (We didn't even ask!). Our tour was scheduled for 10:20, but we were there about 9:30 so they bumped us up to the 10:00 tour! (Again, we didn't ask!)
The tour started EXACTLY on time... you gotta love that! It was a great tour. If you are ever in Los Angeles, I would highly recommend going on this tour. They start out with a short film that very quickly covers their 85 year history. Then your tour guide takes you out to the tram to start the 2 hour tour. Our tour guide kept telling us that every tour is a little different, since it is a working studio and every day has different sound stages being open or closed or different back lot "streets" closed for filming.
We saw a back lot "city street" where a lot of films and shows are/have been filmed, such as "The Road to Perdition," "Annie," "Cold Case" (TV Show), "Spiderman," etc.; the last set left from "Casablanca" (!!); and we got to go in and see the set of TWO AND 1/2 MEN!!!!!!! They weren't filming and we weren't allowed to take pictures, but it was still very cool. The front door and living room of Charlie's place was right there in front of us! We walked through their furniture warehouse, where they have a lot of antiques, and I saw a Grandfather Clock tagged for "Chuck." Then later we saw a mountain tram (a real one from Palm Springs) that the man working on it told us it's for "Chuck." We also saw an actor step out of his trailer with a bathrobe on, and we think it was Rob Morrow. He was there today became they were filming his new show, "The Whole Truth." "Chuck" was also filming today, but we weren't lucky enough to see any of the stars. Our tour guide me that they are all very nice. We stopped by the Warner Bros. Museum and saw outfits from "Casablanca"(!!!!!!!), "Pushing Daisies," "Music and Lyrics," "I Am Legend," "Cool Hand Luke," and many, many more. Plus props from movies and shows, letters from stars to the studio heads, etc. AND the entire second floor was dedicated to "Harry Potter." The guide also took us to the transportation department and into a warehouse full of famous automobiles: A Geek Squad car from "Chuck," one of the original "General Lees" from the "Dukes of Hazzard" TV show, the car from "Harry Potter," the van from "Scooby Doo," and more that I can't remember right now. Take a look:
So all in all, it was a fantastic tour! Mom and I stayed and had lunch in their Cafe. We didn't see anyone famous, just the regular folks that work there.
After lunch, we drove to up to the Griffith Park Observatory. It has got to the be highest point in Los Angeles. You can see for miles in every direction. It really helps you grasp how large an area Los Angeles encompasses. The Observatory itself is a museum with a planetarium, but unfortunately, due to budge constraints, they are now closed on Tuesdays. Just our luck, but the view made it well worth the drive!
We left Griffith Park and drove and drove and drove to another scrapbook store. For as much trouble as this store was to get to, it was a big disappointment. First, you had to pay to park in a parking garage, take two escalators up (one of which was not working), walk in the wrong direction twice, finally figure out the right direction and walk halfway around the building! Whew! And then she had it so packed in there, you could hardly get to stuff to look at it. Mom bent down to try to see something and hurt her back! Of course, we bought stuff... ;)
Now that we had purchased all the scrapbooking supplies and souvenirs we were going to, we had to find a postal store to ship it all home. Like I said, I don't trust the airline with my scrapbook paper, and my suitcase was borderline in the weight department coming out here; I sure couldn't add much going home! LOL So after coaxing Samantha to find us such a shipping place (the clouds today made it very hard for her to make contact with the satellites), we set off. And drove... and drove... and drove. Mind you, it was only 7 miles away. 30 minutes to go 7 miles. And then it was a game of hide and go seek to find the store. It was actually behind another strip of stores. But find it we did and spent a fortune to to ship a 24x14x4" box home.
We went ahead and ate dinner at 5pm at Sizzlers so that we wouldn't have to go back out again tonight. That dinner is another story that I am too tired to relate at the moment. I'll add some details I have missed after I get home this week.
We fly out of L.A. in the morning.... It's supposed to be 59 degrees and raining when we leave here, and 75 degrees and sunny in Atlanta when we land! What's up with that?!! Mom is all freaked out about being cold and wet. I figure I won't melt, so I'm not too worried about it. I'm just ready to go home.
If you have read this far over the last 7 days, bless you. Like I said, I'll add some tidbits after I return home.
In the immortal words of one of the greatest of Warner Bros.' creations, Bugs Bunny:
"That's all, Folks!"
We started out about 8 this morning, heading to the Warner Bros. Studio. Like I mentioned, there aren't that many breakfast places, so we were looking for a McDonald's. Now they are on almost every corner here, but not when you're actually looking for one. Or it's on the left side of road, with 4-6 lanes of traffic between us and it. We finally found one, though on the left side of the road, it was the middle of a block with less traffic so I shot over a couple of lanes and headed in! After filling up our tummies, we continued on to Burbank. Warner Bros was easy to find, and I lucked up and turned down the correct street to find the parking for the VIP tour. Everyone was very nice and helpful... one lady stopped us on the sidewalk to give us directions (We didn't even ask!). Our tour was scheduled for 10:20, but we were there about 9:30 so they bumped us up to the 10:00 tour! (Again, we didn't ask!)
The tour started EXACTLY on time... you gotta love that! It was a great tour. If you are ever in Los Angeles, I would highly recommend going on this tour. They start out with a short film that very quickly covers their 85 year history. Then your tour guide takes you out to the tram to start the 2 hour tour. Our tour guide kept telling us that every tour is a little different, since it is a working studio and every day has different sound stages being open or closed or different back lot "streets" closed for filming.
We saw a back lot "city street" where a lot of films and shows are/have been filmed, such as "The Road to Perdition," "Annie," "Cold Case" (TV Show), "Spiderman," etc.; the last set left from "Casablanca" (!!); and we got to go in and see the set of TWO AND 1/2 MEN!!!!!!! They weren't filming and we weren't allowed to take pictures, but it was still very cool. The front door and living room of Charlie's place was right there in front of us! We walked through their furniture warehouse, where they have a lot of antiques, and I saw a Grandfather Clock tagged for "Chuck." Then later we saw a mountain tram (a real one from Palm Springs) that the man working on it told us it's for "Chuck." We also saw an actor step out of his trailer with a bathrobe on, and we think it was Rob Morrow. He was there today became they were filming his new show, "The Whole Truth." "Chuck" was also filming today, but we weren't lucky enough to see any of the stars. Our tour guide me that they are all very nice. We stopped by the Warner Bros. Museum and saw outfits from "Casablanca"(!!!!!!!), "Pushing Daisies," "Music and Lyrics," "I Am Legend," "Cool Hand Luke," and many, many more. Plus props from movies and shows, letters from stars to the studio heads, etc. AND the entire second floor was dedicated to "Harry Potter." The guide also took us to the transportation department and into a warehouse full of famous automobiles: A Geek Squad car from "Chuck," one of the original "General Lees" from the "Dukes of Hazzard" TV show, the car from "Harry Potter," the van from "Scooby Doo," and more that I can't remember right now. Take a look:
So all in all, it was a fantastic tour! Mom and I stayed and had lunch in their Cafe. We didn't see anyone famous, just the regular folks that work there.
After lunch, we drove to up to the Griffith Park Observatory. It has got to the be highest point in Los Angeles. You can see for miles in every direction. It really helps you grasp how large an area Los Angeles encompasses. The Observatory itself is a museum with a planetarium, but unfortunately, due to budge constraints, they are now closed on Tuesdays. Just our luck, but the view made it well worth the drive!
We left Griffith Park and drove and drove and drove to another scrapbook store. For as much trouble as this store was to get to, it was a big disappointment. First, you had to pay to park in a parking garage, take two escalators up (one of which was not working), walk in the wrong direction twice, finally figure out the right direction and walk halfway around the building! Whew! And then she had it so packed in there, you could hardly get to stuff to look at it. Mom bent down to try to see something and hurt her back! Of course, we bought stuff... ;)
Now that we had purchased all the scrapbooking supplies and souvenirs we were going to, we had to find a postal store to ship it all home. Like I said, I don't trust the airline with my scrapbook paper, and my suitcase was borderline in the weight department coming out here; I sure couldn't add much going home! LOL So after coaxing Samantha to find us such a shipping place (the clouds today made it very hard for her to make contact with the satellites), we set off. And drove... and drove... and drove. Mind you, it was only 7 miles away. 30 minutes to go 7 miles. And then it was a game of hide and go seek to find the store. It was actually behind another strip of stores. But find it we did and spent a fortune to to ship a 24x14x4" box home.
We went ahead and ate dinner at 5pm at Sizzlers so that we wouldn't have to go back out again tonight. That dinner is another story that I am too tired to relate at the moment. I'll add some details I have missed after I get home this week.
We fly out of L.A. in the morning.... It's supposed to be 59 degrees and raining when we leave here, and 75 degrees and sunny in Atlanta when we land! What's up with that?!! Mom is all freaked out about being cold and wet. I figure I won't melt, so I'm not too worried about it. I'm just ready to go home.
If you have read this far over the last 7 days, bless you. Like I said, I'll add some tidbits after I return home.
 |
| Does anyone recognize the set behind Mom??? |
"That's all, Folks!"
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Day 6: Back to L.A.; Hollywood (again!)
Got up early, left Redlands about 8am; thought we we had plenty of time. Yea, right. It was 11AM before we got to Hollywood!! The traffic was bad on the freeway (of course), so we got off the freeway and took back roads and that took a lot of time, too, since there is a stop sign or light every block! Then to add insult to injury, it was RAINING in Southern California today! Not a downpour, thank goodness, but a good drizzle - enough to make it miserable.
We were back in Hollywood to finish what we had wanted to do there in the first place. First off, we went to Madame Tussauds wax museum. I've never been to one, and to be honest, I've never been interested, but it was part of our City Pass. I actually enjoyed it. Took LOTS of pictures since this is as close to the "stars" as I'll ever get. I even got my picture with Humphrey Bogart from "African Queen"!!!! But that's on Mom's camera. Here's a couple I took:
Some of them didn't look too much like the person (like George Clooney (above), but some were dead ringers and would almost scare you... like Anthony Hopkins. He was made up to look like Hannibal Lecter in the jail cell. They had a place for you to stand in front of him and look into his eyes. I couldn't do it!! WAY too realistic!! Anthony Hopkins scares the **** out of me.
They take pictures of you at a couple of spots along the way and give you a claim card (like at the aquarium or Disney). We got to the end to look at our pictures and they didn't have most of them. They only had 2 poses in front of the Hollywood sign - when they took 3 (AND that picture was taken in front of a green screen and the photographer didn't bother to tell me that my green shirt would not show up. I looked kind of splotchy.) and they didn't have the picture we took upon entering at all. That kind of ticked me off.
Then we made our way through the rain (We didn't pack umbrellas, mind you. The 10 day weather report I got before we left home showed NO rain, and besides, umbrellas weigh at least a pound or two apiece - we couldn't waste that much weight in our suitcases for something so mundane!) to purchase our tickets for the tour of Grauman's Chinese Theater. Since the next tour wasn't for an hour and a half, we went to Johnny Rockets and had lunch. After eating, we did some shopping, trying everything we could to say out of the rain and still had to stand around for 15-20 minutes waiting for the tour to start!
The tour only lasted about 30 minutes, and that tour guide took us out in the rain twice! And while the tour wasn't nearly as interesting, and we had already heard a lot of what the guide told us, the theater itself is beautiful and worth the visit. Mom had been there in 1960 to see "Ben Hur," so she was really interested in seeing it again. It was about the only thing out here, she said, that hasn't changed much!
We gave up after this tour and headed to our motel. It was only 2pm. Mom made the comment that it was too bad that the scrapbooking store was closed on Monday. So when we got checked in and everything, I did a search and found a scrapbook store in Torrance (supposedly 20 minutes from the motel - more like 30) open on Mondays until 6pm. So away we went. It was a nice store - They are called A to Z Scrapbooking because the store is alphabetical, i.e., A is for Adult, B is for Baby, C is for Christmas, etc., etc. all the way around the outer wall of the store. Pretty neat idea. I found some things, but again, my mom, who doesn't even scrapbook, had even more fun. She spent twice as much as I did!
After a couple of u-turns and a ride through a shopping center, we finally found a Mexican restaurant for dinner. I had steak and shrimp fajitas, and it was VERY good. It wasn't authentic Mexican; it was almost like what we have back home.
It doesn't sound like it, but it was really another long day. I think I am now ready to go home so every day seems long! :) Tomorrow we go on the Warner Bros. Studio tour. I just hope it doesn't rain cause I'm betting most of that tour is outdoors!
We were back in Hollywood to finish what we had wanted to do there in the first place. First off, we went to Madame Tussauds wax museum. I've never been to one, and to be honest, I've never been interested, but it was part of our City Pass. I actually enjoyed it. Took LOTS of pictures since this is as close to the "stars" as I'll ever get. I even got my picture with Humphrey Bogart from "African Queen"!!!! But that's on Mom's camera. Here's a couple I took:
 |
| George and I are discussing our future... no kids, and we'll live in Italy. |
 |
| Mom gave Mary Hart an interview on our way out! |
They take pictures of you at a couple of spots along the way and give you a claim card (like at the aquarium or Disney). We got to the end to look at our pictures and they didn't have most of them. They only had 2 poses in front of the Hollywood sign - when they took 3 (AND that picture was taken in front of a green screen and the photographer didn't bother to tell me that my green shirt would not show up. I looked kind of splotchy.) and they didn't have the picture we took upon entering at all. That kind of ticked me off.
Then we made our way through the rain (We didn't pack umbrellas, mind you. The 10 day weather report I got before we left home showed NO rain, and besides, umbrellas weigh at least a pound or two apiece - we couldn't waste that much weight in our suitcases for something so mundane!) to purchase our tickets for the tour of Grauman's Chinese Theater. Since the next tour wasn't for an hour and a half, we went to Johnny Rockets and had lunch. After eating, we did some shopping, trying everything we could to say out of the rain and still had to stand around for 15-20 minutes waiting for the tour to start!
The tour only lasted about 30 minutes, and that tour guide took us out in the rain twice! And while the tour wasn't nearly as interesting, and we had already heard a lot of what the guide told us, the theater itself is beautiful and worth the visit. Mom had been there in 1960 to see "Ben Hur," so she was really interested in seeing it again. It was about the only thing out here, she said, that hasn't changed much!
We gave up after this tour and headed to our motel. It was only 2pm. Mom made the comment that it was too bad that the scrapbooking store was closed on Monday. So when we got checked in and everything, I did a search and found a scrapbook store in Torrance (supposedly 20 minutes from the motel - more like 30) open on Mondays until 6pm. So away we went. It was a nice store - They are called A to Z Scrapbooking because the store is alphabetical, i.e., A is for Adult, B is for Baby, C is for Christmas, etc., etc. all the way around the outer wall of the store. Pretty neat idea. I found some things, but again, my mom, who doesn't even scrapbook, had even more fun. She spent twice as much as I did!
After a couple of u-turns and a ride through a shopping center, we finally found a Mexican restaurant for dinner. I had steak and shrimp fajitas, and it was VERY good. It wasn't authentic Mexican; it was almost like what we have back home.
It doesn't sound like it, but it was really another long day. I think I am now ready to go home so every day seems long! :) Tomorrow we go on the Warner Bros. Studio tour. I just hope it doesn't rain cause I'm betting most of that tour is outdoors!
Monday, October 4, 2010
More differences I have thought of...
I thought of a category I missed... Grocery stores. There are no Krogers or Publix. There are Albertson's and Stater Bros. And lots of fresh food markets like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and one I had not heard of: Fresh & Easy.
Also, the roads are TERRIBLE here. Georgians don't realize it, but we have excellent roads. In Beverly Hills, the roads are all smooth and nice and the next lane over might be in Los Angeles and it's all bumpy and rough! LOL We can just about tell when we go from one city to another by the road conditions!
On the freeways, there are no signs letting you know what restaurants or gas stations are on the next exit. You just have to chance it, I guess, and hope something is there you want!
At almost every red light intersection, instructions are painted on the road, in each lane, letting you know to "Stop Here" or if there is another road feeding into the one you're on, the instruction may be "Keep Intersection Clear." The only thing that is really driving me crazy about driving here is that your right lane will at some point run out with no warning or your left lane will suddenly turn into a left turn only lane with no warning!
That's all for now...
Also, the roads are TERRIBLE here. Georgians don't realize it, but we have excellent roads. In Beverly Hills, the roads are all smooth and nice and the next lane over might be in Los Angeles and it's all bumpy and rough! LOL We can just about tell when we go from one city to another by the road conditions!
On the freeways, there are no signs letting you know what restaurants or gas stations are on the next exit. You just have to chance it, I guess, and hope something is there you want!
At almost every red light intersection, instructions are painted on the road, in each lane, letting you know to "Stop Here" or if there is another road feeding into the one you're on, the instruction may be "Keep Intersection Clear." The only thing that is really driving me crazy about driving here is that your right lane will at some point run out with no warning or your left lane will suddenly turn into a left turn only lane with no warning!
That's all for now...
Random thoughts/things from California
I like going to new places and seeing new things. Whether it be new scenery, museums, zoos, aquariums, tourist spots, or plants, I like to see them. I like seeing how things are different in different parts of our vast country. So I thought I would share some different and alike things I've observed while being here.
Restaurants: Plenty of McDonald's - almost on every corner - kind of like Waffle House at home. KFC and Taco Bell are also in good supply here. NO Waffle House or Krystal. Chick-fil-As are few and far between. We have seen one each of Applebee's, Macaroni Grill, Dairy Queen, and Red Robin; a couple of Wendy's; a few IHOP; and several Denny's. No Arby's (Even though my GPS says there is one around here, I have yet to see it). Del Taco, Carl Jr., and Jack in the Box are popular here. Also El Pollo Loco (LOTS of Mexican and Italian restaurants out here). There is something called Weinerschntzel that I just figured out today is a hot dog stand. I may have to try that before we leave. In and Out Burgers are plentiful in Los Angeles, and I have heard they are good. So lots of familiar "faces" with several new and different.
Shopping: Targets are the favorite out here, hands down. It wasn't until we were headed out here to Redlands that we saw our first Wal-Mart or KMart. But there was a Target on almost every corner in LA. Didn't really see any other familiar chain stores in LA, but out here in the suburbs, we have seen all the usual: Kohl's, Dress Barn, Michael's, Jo-Ann's, Mervyns, Best Buy, Big Lots, Ross, Marshalls, etc. Home Depot seems to be the more popular home improvement store out here; we've only seen a couple of Lowe's and those were not in LA. We did find a Goodwill here. There are a few Dollar Trees around, but the 99 cent store seems to be the more popular choice. Oh, and there is no shortage of CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, or RiteAid!
Convenience stores: 7 Eleven and Circle K are almost everywhere. No Raceway, Racetrac, or QuikTrip. The rest are the usual Shell or others I don't recognize. There's no BP out here that we've seen. Gas is running anywhere from about $2.83/gal to $2.99. Not nearly as high as I thought it would be.
Plants: Of course, there are LOTS of palm trees. According to Mom, there used to tons of orange trees, but they are almost all gone now. Not a whole lot of cactus... we're not out in the desert here. Saw this bird of paradise out in front of the building where the reunion was held last night:
There is also hibiscus, but I haven't gotten a picture yet. I posted an earlier picture of the "Graveyard Cyprus." They are everywhere out here. There is also a lot of eucalyptus and roses. Beyond that, I wouldn't know what I was looking at! LOL
Prices are a little higher out here, but nothing like I imagined. Or had been told. Maybe it's just housing prices that are through the roof; I don't know. In some of the local restaurants, food can be pricey; like $15.99 for a sandwich, but the chains seem to be pretty comparable.
Of course the air is dryer out here. There was some humidity a few days ago, and everyone we talked to was complaining about it and even saying we brought it with us. Mom and I say they know NOTHING about humidity!!
I've already mentioned the no cell phone while driving laws. I can see it works. Also, I told you about the weird way motorcycles weave through traffic in LA, but I haven't noticed that out here. You can turn right on red here, which is great. I haven't noticed an obvious "green" movement like I thought there would be. Maybe that is more in Northern California. I've noticed a lot of Priuses on the road, but that is it. And like I said, the only rude people we have encountered are the drivers in LA.
That's some of the things I've observed here. I'm really tired, and you're probably really bored, so I'll quit now and get some sleep!
Restaurants: Plenty of McDonald's - almost on every corner - kind of like Waffle House at home. KFC and Taco Bell are also in good supply here. NO Waffle House or Krystal. Chick-fil-As are few and far between. We have seen one each of Applebee's, Macaroni Grill, Dairy Queen, and Red Robin; a couple of Wendy's; a few IHOP; and several Denny's. No Arby's (Even though my GPS says there is one around here, I have yet to see it). Del Taco, Carl Jr., and Jack in the Box are popular here. Also El Pollo Loco (LOTS of Mexican and Italian restaurants out here). There is something called Weinerschntzel that I just figured out today is a hot dog stand. I may have to try that before we leave. In and Out Burgers are plentiful in Los Angeles, and I have heard they are good. So lots of familiar "faces" with several new and different.
Shopping: Targets are the favorite out here, hands down. It wasn't until we were headed out here to Redlands that we saw our first Wal-Mart or KMart. But there was a Target on almost every corner in LA. Didn't really see any other familiar chain stores in LA, but out here in the suburbs, we have seen all the usual: Kohl's, Dress Barn, Michael's, Jo-Ann's, Mervyns, Best Buy, Big Lots, Ross, Marshalls, etc. Home Depot seems to be the more popular home improvement store out here; we've only seen a couple of Lowe's and those were not in LA. We did find a Goodwill here. There are a few Dollar Trees around, but the 99 cent store seems to be the more popular choice. Oh, and there is no shortage of CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, or RiteAid!
Convenience stores: 7 Eleven and Circle K are almost everywhere. No Raceway, Racetrac, or QuikTrip. The rest are the usual Shell or others I don't recognize. There's no BP out here that we've seen. Gas is running anywhere from about $2.83/gal to $2.99. Not nearly as high as I thought it would be.
Plants: Of course, there are LOTS of palm trees. According to Mom, there used to tons of orange trees, but they are almost all gone now. Not a whole lot of cactus... we're not out in the desert here. Saw this bird of paradise out in front of the building where the reunion was held last night:
There is also hibiscus, but I haven't gotten a picture yet. I posted an earlier picture of the "Graveyard Cyprus." They are everywhere out here. There is also a lot of eucalyptus and roses. Beyond that, I wouldn't know what I was looking at! LOL
Prices are a little higher out here, but nothing like I imagined. Or had been told. Maybe it's just housing prices that are through the roof; I don't know. In some of the local restaurants, food can be pricey; like $15.99 for a sandwich, but the chains seem to be pretty comparable.
Of course the air is dryer out here. There was some humidity a few days ago, and everyone we talked to was complaining about it and even saying we brought it with us. Mom and I say they know NOTHING about humidity!!
I've already mentioned the no cell phone while driving laws. I can see it works. Also, I told you about the weird way motorcycles weave through traffic in LA, but I haven't noticed that out here. You can turn right on red here, which is great. I haven't noticed an obvious "green" movement like I thought there would be. Maybe that is more in Northern California. I've noticed a lot of Priuses on the road, but that is it. And like I said, the only rude people we have encountered are the drivers in LA.
That's some of the things I've observed here. I'm really tired, and you're probably really bored, so I'll quit now and get some sleep!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Day 5: Redlands, Yucaipa, San Bernardino Mountains; Lake Arrowhead
Whew! It's been a long, full day. We thought we had an easy day today... we were wrong!
We ate a full breakfast at IHOP right next door the motel. Then we headed over to Mom's high school and walked around to take some pictures there. She said it looks very different and is much larger than it used to be. We rode out (being careful to avoid the breast cancer awareness walkers that were out today) to Hillside Memorial Park to visit the graves of some of Mom's relatives. We were luckier this time and didn't have much trouble at all locating the graves. It is a beautiful cemetery full of trees, including what Mom calls "Graveyard Cypress." Here is a picture:
Different, huh? I'm going to talk about some of the differences between Georgia and California later.
It was getting hotter, so Mom wasn't real interested in going to the picnic her class was having (with no food or anything provided and not enough places to sit. I kid you not. And we would not have know this if Freddie had not asked at the reunion last night. All they kept saying was "no host picnic." We did not know that meant bring your own food. Plus when Freddie asked if there would be enough seating for everyone, she was told "Well, some can sit on the wall." !! Can you see a class of 68+ year olds sitting on a concrete wall?! I think not!) So we skipped the picnic and took the scenic route to Yucaipa, which is the actual town (only about 6 miles from Redlands) where Mom grew up. Along the way, we traveled along this street:
:)
Unfortunately, Mom's house in Yucaipa is gone... it's just a field now. We rode by her elementary school (still there) and her church (no longer a church, but still there). We rode by her junior high, but it's a high school for 9th graders now, but still in the same location. We found a Big Lots and bought a few scrapbook things.
Then we headed back to Redlands. We decided to have lunch at El Pollo Loco. They are all over the place out here. They specialize in flame broiled Mexican-style chicken or something like that. The food was good, but I noticed when I was ordering, the girl at the register was looking at me funny. I didn't think a whole lot about it since I get that a lot after people hear my accent. After we finished eating, I went to the restroom. I looked in the mirror and one of my earrings was missing. (Look closely at the picture above... you can see the new style I'm sporting! LOL) I came out and told Mom that now I knew why the girl was looking at me so funny. Then I told Mom that she doesn't notice anything and how long had I been without one of my earrings? And my mother... the woman who carried me for nine months and bore me from her body... says to me, "I don't look at you."!!!!!!!! Can you feel the love?? So obviously from the picture, I was without the earring a lot longer than I thought.... before we left Redlands... which means I walked through Big Lots like that, too.
After lunch (and after removing my remaining earring), we went to the Redlands library. My mom spent a lot of time there when she lived here, and it is a beautiful building. It opened in 1898 and is the oldest continuously operated library building in the country, It has a Spanish tile roof and wonderful stained glass windows. Here's a looksie:
Neat building.
Behind the library is the Lincoln Memorial. It is basically an Abraham Lincoln museum. It was donated by a family in honor of their son, who was crazy about Lincoln. It was interesting, especially since I'm such a Civil War buff and admire Lincoln so very much. Here I am with the great man:
They had quotes on the wall from famous people, and this is my favorite: "Ohio claims they are due a president as they haven't had one since Taft. Look at the United States, they have not had one since Lincoln." - Will Rogers. :)
We walked across the street to the Redlands Bowl. It is basically an outdoor amphitheater... and where my mom graduated. She said they would have plays, etc. there during summer evenings back in the day. Obviously they still use it.
By this time, it was 2PM and we had done everything we had wanted in Redlands and Yucaipa. We had planned to just go chill at the motel, but then I asked Mom how far was it up to the mountains. She said it wasn't far so we hit the road. After stopping at the California Welcome Center in San Bernardino (??? - It is NOwhere near the state line!) and getting directions, we took off. I had no idea that where my mom grew up was so close to Lake Arrowhead (20 miles) and Big Bear (45 miles)! We only made it as far as Lake Arrowhead today. The drive was a little scary... VERY curvy road up a VERY high mountain -- over 5,000 feet elevation. At Lake Arrowhead, there is shopping and restaurants. The best part was the temperature was only 67 degrees up there. It felt wonderful! And the entire village is geared toward dogs. They are allowed into the stores on leashes - there were dogs everywhere! It was great. And check out the door sign at the Three Dog Bakery - a bakery for dogs:
Isn't that awesome?!!! Anyway, we shopped a little and got an ice cream. The drive back down the mountain was a lot more fun and certainly didn't seem to take as long! LOL Here's a view:
See that road way up there... yea, we were there.
So that was our busy day. After supper at Red Robin, I've been right here at my laptop, recording it all for you... and me! :) Tomorrow it's back to the big city and the crazy drivers. We're going back to Hollywood for the 3rd time - hopefully we'll get it all done this time around!
We ate a full breakfast at IHOP right next door the motel. Then we headed over to Mom's high school and walked around to take some pictures there. She said it looks very different and is much larger than it used to be. We rode out (being careful to avoid the breast cancer awareness walkers that were out today) to Hillside Memorial Park to visit the graves of some of Mom's relatives. We were luckier this time and didn't have much trouble at all locating the graves. It is a beautiful cemetery full of trees, including what Mom calls "Graveyard Cypress." Here is a picture:
Different, huh? I'm going to talk about some of the differences between Georgia and California later.
It was getting hotter, so Mom wasn't real interested in going to the picnic her class was having (with no food or anything provided and not enough places to sit. I kid you not. And we would not have know this if Freddie had not asked at the reunion last night. All they kept saying was "no host picnic." We did not know that meant bring your own food. Plus when Freddie asked if there would be enough seating for everyone, she was told "Well, some can sit on the wall." !! Can you see a class of 68+ year olds sitting on a concrete wall?! I think not!) So we skipped the picnic and took the scenic route to Yucaipa, which is the actual town (only about 6 miles from Redlands) where Mom grew up. Along the way, we traveled along this street:
Unfortunately, Mom's house in Yucaipa is gone... it's just a field now. We rode by her elementary school (still there) and her church (no longer a church, but still there). We rode by her junior high, but it's a high school for 9th graders now, but still in the same location. We found a Big Lots and bought a few scrapbook things.
Then we headed back to Redlands. We decided to have lunch at El Pollo Loco. They are all over the place out here. They specialize in flame broiled Mexican-style chicken or something like that. The food was good, but I noticed when I was ordering, the girl at the register was looking at me funny. I didn't think a whole lot about it since I get that a lot after people hear my accent. After we finished eating, I went to the restroom. I looked in the mirror and one of my earrings was missing. (Look closely at the picture above... you can see the new style I'm sporting! LOL) I came out and told Mom that now I knew why the girl was looking at me so funny. Then I told Mom that she doesn't notice anything and how long had I been without one of my earrings? And my mother... the woman who carried me for nine months and bore me from her body... says to me, "I don't look at you."!!!!!!!! Can you feel the love?? So obviously from the picture, I was without the earring a lot longer than I thought.... before we left Redlands... which means I walked through Big Lots like that, too.
After lunch (and after removing my remaining earring), we went to the Redlands library. My mom spent a lot of time there when she lived here, and it is a beautiful building. It opened in 1898 and is the oldest continuously operated library building in the country, It has a Spanish tile roof and wonderful stained glass windows. Here's a looksie:
Neat building.
Behind the library is the Lincoln Memorial. It is basically an Abraham Lincoln museum. It was donated by a family in honor of their son, who was crazy about Lincoln. It was interesting, especially since I'm such a Civil War buff and admire Lincoln so very much. Here I am with the great man:
They had quotes on the wall from famous people, and this is my favorite: "Ohio claims they are due a president as they haven't had one since Taft. Look at the United States, they have not had one since Lincoln." - Will Rogers. :)
We walked across the street to the Redlands Bowl. It is basically an outdoor amphitheater... and where my mom graduated. She said they would have plays, etc. there during summer evenings back in the day. Obviously they still use it.
By this time, it was 2PM and we had done everything we had wanted in Redlands and Yucaipa. We had planned to just go chill at the motel, but then I asked Mom how far was it up to the mountains. She said it wasn't far so we hit the road. After stopping at the California Welcome Center in San Bernardino (??? - It is NOwhere near the state line!) and getting directions, we took off. I had no idea that where my mom grew up was so close to Lake Arrowhead (20 miles) and Big Bear (45 miles)! We only made it as far as Lake Arrowhead today. The drive was a little scary... VERY curvy road up a VERY high mountain -- over 5,000 feet elevation. At Lake Arrowhead, there is shopping and restaurants. The best part was the temperature was only 67 degrees up there. It felt wonderful! And the entire village is geared toward dogs. They are allowed into the stores on leashes - there were dogs everywhere! It was great. And check out the door sign at the Three Dog Bakery - a bakery for dogs:
Isn't that awesome?!!! Anyway, we shopped a little and got an ice cream. The drive back down the mountain was a lot more fun and certainly didn't seem to take as long! LOL Here's a view:
See that road way up there... yea, we were there.
So that was our busy day. After supper at Red Robin, I've been right here at my laptop, recording it all for you... and me! :) Tomorrow it's back to the big city and the crazy drivers. We're going back to Hollywood for the 3rd time - hopefully we'll get it all done this time around!
Day 3 Pictures
 |
| Mom at her Redlands (California) High School 50th Reunion |
 |
| Mom went to school with Vera (on the left) and Penny (next to Mom in the red dress) all the way through from 2nd grade! |
 |
| Freddie and Art (They live in Utah.) Mom has known her since 7th grade. |
 |
| Check out this fun house that we saw on our tour. Look closely and see how many animals you can see in the rock. |
 | |
| Going on a bus tour of Redlands. |
Day 4: Redlands
Yes, I know... Day 3 was yesterday, but I was literally nodding off at my computer last night about 11pm PST so I had to give up! So it is bright and early here (7:15) and I'm writing this before I even get dressed.
Let's see... Oh yea! We left the motel yesterday morning and went straight to the Chick-fil-A for breakfast! LOL! Then we rode by Mom's grandmother's house... and it's still there and according to her, looks very much the same. The entire neighborhood looks almost the same! Everything is just neat as a pin here in Redlands. So you have a neighborhood that dates back to before the 1940's and everything is tidy and well-kept. Very nice. Of course I took pictures from every angle and again, thank goodness no one came out shooting! We continued riding around the neighborhood for a bit to see what Mom could remember and then it was time to head to the high school for our bus tour.
We actually rode a Redlands school bus for the tour! The first thing that struck me was how narrow the space is between the seats. I actually had to sit sideways. I wasn't the only one noticing that, either! The kids today must be tiny! Like short with no legs! Anyway, before we boarded the bus, we got a great group shot (with MY camera) of the entire group! Then we were off. The lady that did the tour, Dodie, is a fellow graduate who I think actually did all the work to make this reunion weekend happen. She did a great job on the tour... she shared some history of Redlands and showed us some beautiful old homes... Victorian, 3 story, fully restored, painted wonderful colors... On the tour, Mom did recognize some places... but it seems that when the freeway came through, of course, the entire landscape changed, and sadly, some beautiful homes were lost.
There is something here in Redlands, obviously, that I am allergic to. I awoke yesterday morning with full sinus headache. Luckily, I had brought my medicine, but I still wasn't feeling 100% while on the tour. While it was cool and comfortable before the tour, it quickly heated up and the bus got very hot, indeed. By the end of the ride, I wasn't doing too well. I just thought my allergies were gearing up for a bad episode, but Mom thought I had gotten too hot. She was right... after we got off the bus and I got in the air-conditioned car, I began to feel better.
Next stop: SCRAPBOOK STORE!!!! It was heaven, I tell ya! I had fun there. Mom did, too, which is so funny to me because she buys and buys, but she never scrapbooks! Sound familiar to anyone??? LOL Anyway, typically, they did not have a whole lot of California stuff... I know at Memories, we would sell out of the Georgia stuff quickly. But I found some neat papers for Washington DC and Arizona and the Civil War. I did get some California stickers. They had some QuicKutz on clearance, so I had fun there. Overall, a good time was had by all. We will have to be shipping that stuff back home (I certainly don't trust the airline with my scrapbook paper!), but we want to wait and go to the scrapbook store in LA before shipping anything.
We had lunch at Marie Callender's restaurant. Yes, they have actual restaurants out here... seems they are from the area. Alas, we didn't save room for pie, but the lunch was good. Potato and cheese soup... YUM!
We had seen a Goodwill from the freeway, so we hunted it down. Didn't find a thing. There is a Jo-Ann's here so we went there - hoping to find some California items. That was a total bust. Not only did they have very little good scrapbooking items, but the aisles were so packed in there and narrow that two shopping carts could barely pass! There were many aisles that you couldn't even go down cause someone was in it and wasn't moving. Also, the store had ladders or carts of merchandise blocking others. On a busy Saturday! I was ill-tempered when we got out of there! Mom wanted to find postcards, but I don't think Redlands is geared toward tourism. We thought maybe a drug store would have some, so we found a Walgreen's. No luck. Then we found out where a Wal-Mart is, and I actually went in there on a Saturday. Again, a total bust. We gave up and came back to the motel!
I read for a few minutes and then crawled in the bed and took a nap! It was so hot yesterday and it had worn me out with all the getting in and out of the car. When I awoke, it was time to get ready for the reunion.
The reunion was held downtown in a building called The Mitten Building. It's an old, red brick building. We entered and they gave Mom a pretty glass with "RHS Class of 1960 Reunion" engraved on it. Then we had our picture made - I was her date, you know! Then we entered the main room. There was a crowd. The tables were round and beautifully decorated with white tableclothes, mirrors in the center with lit candles and a vase of flowers. There was also dessert already sitting out, along with salad dressings in bowls (including Ranch). We found Freddie (Mom's childhood friend) and her husband, Art (I loved this guy! He is a hoot!) and we chose a place to sit together with the desserts we wanted. (I chose the chocolate cake. And spent the entire evening protecting it from Art! LOL) We tried to mix and mingle, but there are just so many people Mom didn't know. She did find two other friends she has known since 2nd grade. That was nice - it even ended up that they were sitting at our table. We found pictures posted on the back wall - and there was Mom with her 6th grade class at Dunlap Acres Elementary!! She tried to hide her picture from me, but she was front and center! There was also a picture of the graduating seniors from 1960 who were from Yucaipa - there Mom was again. 1960 was the last year that Yucaipa kids were bussed to Redlands High - they got their own high school after that. They also had a HUGE picture of the entire graduating class in their caps and gowns. I found Mom and took a picture - just of that section. She said what she remembers the most is that it took FOREVER for them to get to the "T's"!!
We were served our salads at about 6:30... and our meal at about 7:30. No kidding. Then it was almost 8:30 before they started the program. By then, the bad chair was killing my rear end, and I didn't think the program would ever end! Freddie and I had a good time complaining about it! I told her we needed to be on the committee next time! Mom got to stand up and speak when they asked if this was the first reunion anyone had attended. I don't think she gave the real reason (Daddy), but she just said it was so far. But they had someone there last night from England! The other thing I found funny (which my mother did NOT) was I think everyone thought I'm illegitimate! Her last name is still Tapley, and I had my last name on my name tag - TAPLEY-Matthews. I asked her during dinner if anyone had asked her about a husband, and she said not a soul. LOLOLOL Anyway, as soon as the program was over, Mom was out of there like a shot. It was her bed time!!! We didn't last long after we got back to the motel.
I MUST get dressed now... bacon is calling to Mom, so I will have to post pictures tonight.
Let's see... Oh yea! We left the motel yesterday morning and went straight to the Chick-fil-A for breakfast! LOL! Then we rode by Mom's grandmother's house... and it's still there and according to her, looks very much the same. The entire neighborhood looks almost the same! Everything is just neat as a pin here in Redlands. So you have a neighborhood that dates back to before the 1940's and everything is tidy and well-kept. Very nice. Of course I took pictures from every angle and again, thank goodness no one came out shooting! We continued riding around the neighborhood for a bit to see what Mom could remember and then it was time to head to the high school for our bus tour.
We actually rode a Redlands school bus for the tour! The first thing that struck me was how narrow the space is between the seats. I actually had to sit sideways. I wasn't the only one noticing that, either! The kids today must be tiny! Like short with no legs! Anyway, before we boarded the bus, we got a great group shot (with MY camera) of the entire group! Then we were off. The lady that did the tour, Dodie, is a fellow graduate who I think actually did all the work to make this reunion weekend happen. She did a great job on the tour... she shared some history of Redlands and showed us some beautiful old homes... Victorian, 3 story, fully restored, painted wonderful colors... On the tour, Mom did recognize some places... but it seems that when the freeway came through, of course, the entire landscape changed, and sadly, some beautiful homes were lost.
There is something here in Redlands, obviously, that I am allergic to. I awoke yesterday morning with full sinus headache. Luckily, I had brought my medicine, but I still wasn't feeling 100% while on the tour. While it was cool and comfortable before the tour, it quickly heated up and the bus got very hot, indeed. By the end of the ride, I wasn't doing too well. I just thought my allergies were gearing up for a bad episode, but Mom thought I had gotten too hot. She was right... after we got off the bus and I got in the air-conditioned car, I began to feel better.
Next stop: SCRAPBOOK STORE!!!! It was heaven, I tell ya! I had fun there. Mom did, too, which is so funny to me because she buys and buys, but she never scrapbooks! Sound familiar to anyone??? LOL Anyway, typically, they did not have a whole lot of California stuff... I know at Memories, we would sell out of the Georgia stuff quickly. But I found some neat papers for Washington DC and Arizona and the Civil War. I did get some California stickers. They had some QuicKutz on clearance, so I had fun there. Overall, a good time was had by all. We will have to be shipping that stuff back home (I certainly don't trust the airline with my scrapbook paper!), but we want to wait and go to the scrapbook store in LA before shipping anything.
We had lunch at Marie Callender's restaurant. Yes, they have actual restaurants out here... seems they are from the area. Alas, we didn't save room for pie, but the lunch was good. Potato and cheese soup... YUM!
We had seen a Goodwill from the freeway, so we hunted it down. Didn't find a thing. There is a Jo-Ann's here so we went there - hoping to find some California items. That was a total bust. Not only did they have very little good scrapbooking items, but the aisles were so packed in there and narrow that two shopping carts could barely pass! There were many aisles that you couldn't even go down cause someone was in it and wasn't moving. Also, the store had ladders or carts of merchandise blocking others. On a busy Saturday! I was ill-tempered when we got out of there! Mom wanted to find postcards, but I don't think Redlands is geared toward tourism. We thought maybe a drug store would have some, so we found a Walgreen's. No luck. Then we found out where a Wal-Mart is, and I actually went in there on a Saturday. Again, a total bust. We gave up and came back to the motel!
I read for a few minutes and then crawled in the bed and took a nap! It was so hot yesterday and it had worn me out with all the getting in and out of the car. When I awoke, it was time to get ready for the reunion.
The reunion was held downtown in a building called The Mitten Building. It's an old, red brick building. We entered and they gave Mom a pretty glass with "RHS Class of 1960 Reunion" engraved on it. Then we had our picture made - I was her date, you know! Then we entered the main room. There was a crowd. The tables were round and beautifully decorated with white tableclothes, mirrors in the center with lit candles and a vase of flowers. There was also dessert already sitting out, along with salad dressings in bowls (including Ranch). We found Freddie (Mom's childhood friend) and her husband, Art (I loved this guy! He is a hoot!) and we chose a place to sit together with the desserts we wanted. (I chose the chocolate cake. And spent the entire evening protecting it from Art! LOL) We tried to mix and mingle, but there are just so many people Mom didn't know. She did find two other friends she has known since 2nd grade. That was nice - it even ended up that they were sitting at our table. We found pictures posted on the back wall - and there was Mom with her 6th grade class at Dunlap Acres Elementary!! She tried to hide her picture from me, but she was front and center! There was also a picture of the graduating seniors from 1960 who were from Yucaipa - there Mom was again. 1960 was the last year that Yucaipa kids were bussed to Redlands High - they got their own high school after that. They also had a HUGE picture of the entire graduating class in their caps and gowns. I found Mom and took a picture - just of that section. She said what she remembers the most is that it took FOREVER for them to get to the "T's"!!
We were served our salads at about 6:30... and our meal at about 7:30. No kidding. Then it was almost 8:30 before they started the program. By then, the bad chair was killing my rear end, and I didn't think the program would ever end! Freddie and I had a good time complaining about it! I told her we needed to be on the committee next time! Mom got to stand up and speak when they asked if this was the first reunion anyone had attended. I don't think she gave the real reason (Daddy), but she just said it was so far. But they had someone there last night from England! The other thing I found funny (which my mother did NOT) was I think everyone thought I'm illegitimate! Her last name is still Tapley, and I had my last name on my name tag - TAPLEY-Matthews. I asked her during dinner if anyone had asked her about a husband, and she said not a soul. LOLOLOL Anyway, as soon as the program was over, Mom was out of there like a shot. It was her bed time!!! We didn't last long after we got back to the motel.
I MUST get dressed now... bacon is calling to Mom, so I will have to post pictures tonight.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Day 3: A little more Hollywood, San Bernardino, Arrive in Redlands
It seemed to take longer to get ready this morning. We're a little tired. Finally headed out the door, originally headed back to Hollywood. However, since it was only about 8:15 and nothing gets going down there until 10, we decided to head to "The Valley" and check out the house where Mom's family was living when she was born. We made sure to take back roads and the drive wasn't bad... just long (over 20 miles). And we couldn't find anywhere to eat breakfast! The day before there had been a McDonald's on every corner - now we couldn't even find one of them ANYWHERE!! Finally, after driving for over an hour and beginning to starve, I managed to get Samantha to find us a McDonald's only slightly off our route.
We found the house and it is still there!! Took several pictures and luckily no one came out shooting. Mom had been a little fidgety about the drive, but once we got there and saw the house, I believe she was glad we came.
Then we headed toward Hollywood - another 10 miles. It was 10:30 before we finally made it down there. The area in front of the Chinese Theatre looked very busy so we decided we would wait until Tuesday to try to finish our stops there. Instead, I found a parking space on the street near Hollywood and Vine, and we walked the sidewalks looking for Humphrey Bogart's star. And we found it!!! Picture to follow. We walked up and down Vine and also found Lauren Bacall's star. We also happened upon a small, impromptu concert/promo in front of Capital Records for the first band John Lennon was in which is performing at the Egyptian Theatre, which we toured yesterday!
Alas, I still didn't get to shop for any Hollywood souvenirs or postcards since we needed to get on the road! Maybe on Tuesday.
We started driving out to San Bernardino, which was 58 miles from where we were in Hollywood. It was all freeway, but going out that way wasn't bad. I was so sleepy that when we stopped for something to drink (they have 7 Elevens out here!), I got a Coke and added a Red Bull to it!! That drink yesterday at Hard Rock has started something. My combo was also good and it gave me the kick I needed to keep going.
The drive is really beautiful with mountains in the distance. I snapped several pictures from the car while driving on a freeway doing at least 65MPH. I need either a chauffeur or a photographer along on these trips, cause my mom is neither!
In San Bernardino, our first stop was at San Bernardino Valley College where Mom got her AA degree in Liberal Arts in 1962. She didn't recognize anything. It has expanded and changed so. She did order a copy of her transcript and we walked around the campus and took a few pictures.
Then we went to an address where my mother's grandparents had lived from about 1938-1943. We found it... but unfortunately there was only part of the foundation and a hole in the ground left. I took pictures anyway. Not a terrible loss, since that was before Mom's time.
Next we went to the location of the original McDonald's... the first McDonald's. Yes, no matter what the Kroc family has said all these years, the original McDonald's, owned by the McDonalds, was in San Bernardino, California. The original is no longer a restaurant; it is a museum of sorts about McDonald's in 1/2 the building and a museum of Route 66 in the other half. It is located in a rough neighborhood, and I had read online that what was inside wasn't that great, thus Mom didn't even get out of the car. I hopped out and took some pictures and we took off out of there!
Last on the list for San Bernardino was a visit to my great-grandparents' grave. The office there had sent me a map of their location before we left home. We went ahead and stopped by the office to thank the gentleman who helped me. He was very nice, and offered if we had any trouble locating the graves, to call him and he would come out and help us. Well, I am good with directions and can read a map, but cemetery maps and directions are an entirely different animal!! Mom and I found the correct section, but then we walked and walked and could not locate the graves. It looked like a storm was coming in so I had to give in and call the guy from the office to help us. It took him a few minutes, but he did find them. Thank goodness!
Then it was off to our final stop of the day, Redlands. The town where Mom went to high school and where her beloved grandmother lived. The town I have heard about my entire life. And to be honest, I liked it a whole lot better than San Bernardino. It kind of reminds me of Peachtree City, GA (near Atlanta). All the buildings are built in the same style, using the same materials. Upper class. And then... the heavens parted and the angels sang... when I found a Chick-fil-A!!! I had to come 70 miles out of LA, but there it was. There will be Chicken Minis in my morning tomorrow!!
As we were headed to our motel in Redlands, we realized that we had never had lunch. What the? Liz - miss a meal?!! I say if that is what the Red Bull will do for me, I will drink it all day every day! LOL We checked into our hotel... which is another story... and got ready for the get reacquainted social for the Redlands High School Class of 1960 to be held at the American Legion. We got all prettied up... both of us in new outfits... and got some dinner at Macaroni Grill. The only damper is that now they are listing the calorie content of each dish. I had no idea and didn't want to know how many calories are in the Penne Rustica. I ordered it anyway. And savored every bite. And passed on dessert.
The social was held outside in the back "yard" area of the American Legion. There was a half door opening where you could walk up and order something to drink from the bartender working inside. Come to find out there were over 600 people in Mom's graduating class so she didn't recognize a whole lot of people there. (I thought it was a great turnout until I found out how many were in the class!) Luckily, one of her best friends from high school, Freddie, came. That really helped put Mom at ease. I really liked Freddie and her husband, Art. He was a hoot. I'm not sure he hears very well nor remembers much, but he was a good sport! I took some pictures of Mom with the few people she knew. And she was ready to go by 7:15. Fine by me.
Got into my jammies IMMEDIATELY and have been on this laptop ever since. I am really tired and ready to go to bed. But I will share some pictures first.
Oh and the story of checking into our room. Well, of course there was a line at the counter and of course there was only one person working. We finally got checked in and when the girl gave us the keys to our room, she tells me that we might want to wait a few minutes before we go up to our room since the lady that just asked for a key had already checked out and the room had already been cleaned, but she had left her belongings in the room and was just then picking them up. O....K.... Mom and I go up to the room, and it was not in pristine condition. The ironing board was sitting in the kitchen area, there was trash (paper) all over the desk, and they had used the bathroom! There were dirty towels hanging on the back of the door and over the shower curtain bar!!! I saw the housekeeper in the hallway and told her. She was sooo aggravated. It just made extra work for her. She asked if we wanted to change rooms, but once she shared that it would only take her about 10 minutes to clean the bathroom and straighten up everything, we decided to stay put. And she was in and out in no time... very nice. The girl at the front desk is super nice. We chatted with her for quite awhile when we got back from the social. It is different from LA out here.
People at the tourist areas were really nice in LA. The only rude people we have encountered are drivers. People drive really aggressively there. They will not hesitate to honk at you, u-turn, cut you off, or even run you down. They have little to no patience with newbies to the area. And yet, we have not seen any traffic accidents. So I guess their driving is controlled aggressiveness. There is a lot of traffic, but it keeps moving.
OK, I'm rambling now so I'm off to bed.
We found the house and it is still there!! Took several pictures and luckily no one came out shooting. Mom had been a little fidgety about the drive, but once we got there and saw the house, I believe she was glad we came.
Then we headed toward Hollywood - another 10 miles. It was 10:30 before we finally made it down there. The area in front of the Chinese Theatre looked very busy so we decided we would wait until Tuesday to try to finish our stops there. Instead, I found a parking space on the street near Hollywood and Vine, and we walked the sidewalks looking for Humphrey Bogart's star. And we found it!!! Picture to follow. We walked up and down Vine and also found Lauren Bacall's star. We also happened upon a small, impromptu concert/promo in front of Capital Records for the first band John Lennon was in which is performing at the Egyptian Theatre, which we toured yesterday!
Alas, I still didn't get to shop for any Hollywood souvenirs or postcards since we needed to get on the road! Maybe on Tuesday.
We started driving out to San Bernardino, which was 58 miles from where we were in Hollywood. It was all freeway, but going out that way wasn't bad. I was so sleepy that when we stopped for something to drink (they have 7 Elevens out here!), I got a Coke and added a Red Bull to it!! That drink yesterday at Hard Rock has started something. My combo was also good and it gave me the kick I needed to keep going.
The drive is really beautiful with mountains in the distance. I snapped several pictures from the car while driving on a freeway doing at least 65MPH. I need either a chauffeur or a photographer along on these trips, cause my mom is neither!
In San Bernardino, our first stop was at San Bernardino Valley College where Mom got her AA degree in Liberal Arts in 1962. She didn't recognize anything. It has expanded and changed so. She did order a copy of her transcript and we walked around the campus and took a few pictures.
Then we went to an address where my mother's grandparents had lived from about 1938-1943. We found it... but unfortunately there was only part of the foundation and a hole in the ground left. I took pictures anyway. Not a terrible loss, since that was before Mom's time.
Next we went to the location of the original McDonald's... the first McDonald's. Yes, no matter what the Kroc family has said all these years, the original McDonald's, owned by the McDonalds, was in San Bernardino, California. The original is no longer a restaurant; it is a museum of sorts about McDonald's in 1/2 the building and a museum of Route 66 in the other half. It is located in a rough neighborhood, and I had read online that what was inside wasn't that great, thus Mom didn't even get out of the car. I hopped out and took some pictures and we took off out of there!
Last on the list for San Bernardino was a visit to my great-grandparents' grave. The office there had sent me a map of their location before we left home. We went ahead and stopped by the office to thank the gentleman who helped me. He was very nice, and offered if we had any trouble locating the graves, to call him and he would come out and help us. Well, I am good with directions and can read a map, but cemetery maps and directions are an entirely different animal!! Mom and I found the correct section, but then we walked and walked and could not locate the graves. It looked like a storm was coming in so I had to give in and call the guy from the office to help us. It took him a few minutes, but he did find them. Thank goodness!
Then it was off to our final stop of the day, Redlands. The town where Mom went to high school and where her beloved grandmother lived. The town I have heard about my entire life. And to be honest, I liked it a whole lot better than San Bernardino. It kind of reminds me of Peachtree City, GA (near Atlanta). All the buildings are built in the same style, using the same materials. Upper class. And then... the heavens parted and the angels sang... when I found a Chick-fil-A!!! I had to come 70 miles out of LA, but there it was. There will be Chicken Minis in my morning tomorrow!!
As we were headed to our motel in Redlands, we realized that we had never had lunch. What the? Liz - miss a meal?!! I say if that is what the Red Bull will do for me, I will drink it all day every day! LOL We checked into our hotel... which is another story... and got ready for the get reacquainted social for the Redlands High School Class of 1960 to be held at the American Legion. We got all prettied up... both of us in new outfits... and got some dinner at Macaroni Grill. The only damper is that now they are listing the calorie content of each dish. I had no idea and didn't want to know how many calories are in the Penne Rustica. I ordered it anyway. And savored every bite. And passed on dessert.
The social was held outside in the back "yard" area of the American Legion. There was a half door opening where you could walk up and order something to drink from the bartender working inside. Come to find out there were over 600 people in Mom's graduating class so she didn't recognize a whole lot of people there. (I thought it was a great turnout until I found out how many were in the class!) Luckily, one of her best friends from high school, Freddie, came. That really helped put Mom at ease. I really liked Freddie and her husband, Art. He was a hoot. I'm not sure he hears very well nor remembers much, but he was a good sport! I took some pictures of Mom with the few people she knew. And she was ready to go by 7:15. Fine by me.
Got into my jammies IMMEDIATELY and have been on this laptop ever since. I am really tired and ready to go to bed. But I will share some pictures first.
Oh and the story of checking into our room. Well, of course there was a line at the counter and of course there was only one person working. We finally got checked in and when the girl gave us the keys to our room, she tells me that we might want to wait a few minutes before we go up to our room since the lady that just asked for a key had already checked out and the room had already been cleaned, but she had left her belongings in the room and was just then picking them up. O....K.... Mom and I go up to the room, and it was not in pristine condition. The ironing board was sitting in the kitchen area, there was trash (paper) all over the desk, and they had used the bathroom! There were dirty towels hanging on the back of the door and over the shower curtain bar!!! I saw the housekeeper in the hallway and told her. She was sooo aggravated. It just made extra work for her. She asked if we wanted to change rooms, but once she shared that it would only take her about 10 minutes to clean the bathroom and straighten up everything, we decided to stay put. And she was in and out in no time... very nice. The girl at the front desk is super nice. We chatted with her for quite awhile when we got back from the social. It is different from LA out here.
People at the tourist areas were really nice in LA. The only rude people we have encountered are drivers. People drive really aggressively there. They will not hesitate to honk at you, u-turn, cut you off, or even run you down. They have little to no patience with newbies to the area. And yet, we have not seen any traffic accidents. So I guess their driving is controlled aggressiveness. There is a lot of traffic, but it keeps moving.
OK, I'm rambling now so I'm off to bed.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Day 2: California Trip - Hollywood
Mom and I were both wide awake at 5:30 AM. Besides the fact that I never sleep well the first night in a motel, my body is also still on Georgia time. And in Georgia, it was 8:30. So it was time to get up! LOL So there were no worries about getting a late start. After grabbing breakfast at the McDonald's next to the motel, we headed toward Hollywood.
I set Samantha on "Shorter Distance" so she would avoid the freeways, and the drive was fine. No big traffic pileups - there may be a lot of cars, but they keep moving. Cell phone use is illegal while driving, and I can see that makes a BIG difference. We found the parking garage at Hollywood and Highland and other than a van trying to run over me (Mom thinks they filmed "Speed" in that parking garage!), we had no problems. We found our way outside onto Hollywood Blvd and found stars on the Walk of Fame immediately. They are up and down both sides of Hollywood Blvd. I took pictures of so many such as: Bill Cosby, Jamie Lee Curtis, Vivien Leigh, Tony Curtis (with a candle and wreath in remembrance), Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, Mickey Mouse, Shrek, Sandra Bullock, and many, many more. I still did not make it to Humphrey Bogart's, and I swear with my hand up to God that I will not leave this town until I get a picture of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Bogie's house is in a restricted area, his gravesite is under lock and key... I deserve to at least see his star!!
We walked down to Grauman's Chinese Theatre to check in for our first tour of the day - homes of the stars! In front of the theatre is where stars who have had a movie premiere there AND are invited by the Chinese Theatre put their hands and feet and other parts of their body or mementos associated with them in concrete. For example, Roy Rogers and Trigger's has his horse shoes and Roy's gun imprinted in the concrete; John Wayne imprinted his fist; the stars of the Harry Potter series left imprints of their magic wands, etc. It's VERY cool. The stars also signed in the concrete and some wrote funny sayings, i.e., Arnold wrote "I'll be back." After taking tons of pictures of these, we boarded our open van for the tour. It was a small tour - there was only about 10 or 11 of us, and the tour guide was great. We saw so many stars' homes and I have spent the last few hours trying to remember which one is who's! Some that we saw: Orlando Bloom (and that might have been him standing in the garage with his back to the road!!! The hair color and build were about right.), Robert Pattinson, Lucille Ball, Sylvester Stallone, Peter Falk, David & Victoria Beckham, Mark Wahlburg, George Clooney, Nicholas Cage, Dr. Phil, Michael Jackson, Snoop Dog, Wolfgang Puck, Mariah Carey, and Tom Selleck. Some that we only saw the gate include: Elvis, Frank Sinatra, and Madonna. Former homes of the stars we saw: the Osbournes, James Dean, Roseanne & Tom Arnold. Then there are several that Mom and I can't remember whose house they were! I'll keep working on that. I'll also try to post pictures of some of these another night.
We also saw the houses where scenes from "Halloween" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" were filmed; the Beverly Whilshire Hotel (where scenes from Pretty Woman was filmed); the Beverly Hills Police station looking pretty much like it did in "Beverly Hills Cop;" Chateau Marmont where John Belushi died; the Viper Room where River Phoenix died; the Whiskey a Go Go; Capitol records (that round building), the house from "The Beverly Hillbillies;" the Hollywood sign; and Rodeo Drive. There was a lot packed into this tour!
After we finished this tour, we walked up Hollywood Blvd, looking at more stars, to the Egyptian Theatre to sign up for our next tour. It's a 75 minute walking tour of the area. We had a couple of hours before that tour started so we walked back down and had lunch at Hard Rock. Our server was from Kentucky and was so sweet. We tried a nonalcoholic drink: Mango with Orange juice and Red Bull. It was good. And I definitely felt that energy boost immediately! We each picked out a Hard Luck pin (mine being just the basic Hard Rock guitar with 'Hollywood' on it and Mom's being the pink guitar with the breast cancer awareness ribbon) and the total came to $26!!!! Things are definitely more expensive in Hollywood!
After lunch, we walked and took more pictures of stars on the sidewalk and made our way back to the Egyptian Theatre for our tour. Again, it was a great tour. This one is a walking tour, but they gave us headphones to wear so we could hear everything the tour guide said, whether she was ahead of us, had her back turned, or whatever. It was great. Probably one of the few tours I've ever taken where I didn't miss a thing. We toured the Egyptian Theatre (also built by Sid Grauman and is older than his Chinese Theatre), and it is beautiful... reminded me our our Fox - which I told our tour guide about. We saw stars on the sidewalk again, and she pointed out places where movie scenes had been shot (including from "The Italian Job" where the Mini Coopers drive down into the Metro station!). She took us back to the Chinese Theatre and gave us more stories about the concrete impressions there, plus pointed out some Mom and I had missed that morning. It was a really good tour... and hopefully our tour guide will make it to the Academy Awards one day. :)
We got to see them setting up for the premiere of "Secretariat" tonight at the El Capitan (Disney's) Theatre, complete with red carpet. That was pretty neat to see how they set it up cause it looks so different on TV.
It had gotten rather warm by the afternoon, and Mom and I were dropping fast. But we wanted to squeeze in one more thing from our City Pass for the day so we walked just a couple of blocks to the Hollywood Museum. It is located in the old Max Factor building (Did you know that it was Max Factor that turned Lucile Ball into a redhead? She was just another blonde in Hollywood and wasn't getting discovered until he made her a redhead. She never looked back.), and there were several rooms on display of his makeup and work with the stars. The museum had a lot of gowns and outfits worn by the stars at award shows or in the movies. They had Elvis's favorite bathrobe; nude pictures of Marilyn Monroe; and the bottle from "I Dream of Jeannie." They also had Hannibal Lector's jail cell down in the basement, but Mom and I were too tired to go down the stairs and back up! LOL So we cut the visit to the museum kind of short. Mom was so tired, she didn't even want to shop for souvenirs. We picked up one item for a friend of mine and headed back to the car. I would have killed someone for a glass of COLD water, so I swung into a McDonald's... I had water in one cup holder, and a Coke in my hand! Again, the traffic wasn't bad back to our motel.
(Oh and I have yet to see a Chick-fil-A... godforsaken place!)
We ordered in from a nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner, and it was pretty good. We are both so sore, we can hardly move and very, very tired.
Another big day tomorrow: finish Hollywood (got to see Bogie's star and our last City Pass ticket is for the wax museum), hopefully visit the scrapbook store, the house where my mom's family lived when she was born, and drive to San Bernardino where we will visit my great-grandparents' graves, the college Mom attended, and the original McDonald's. Then it's on to Redlands for the first event of Reunion weekend. Darn, I'm tired just typing all that!
I set Samantha on "Shorter Distance" so she would avoid the freeways, and the drive was fine. No big traffic pileups - there may be a lot of cars, but they keep moving. Cell phone use is illegal while driving, and I can see that makes a BIG difference. We found the parking garage at Hollywood and Highland and other than a van trying to run over me (Mom thinks they filmed "Speed" in that parking garage!), we had no problems. We found our way outside onto Hollywood Blvd and found stars on the Walk of Fame immediately. They are up and down both sides of Hollywood Blvd. I took pictures of so many such as: Bill Cosby, Jamie Lee Curtis, Vivien Leigh, Tony Curtis (with a candle and wreath in remembrance), Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, Mickey Mouse, Shrek, Sandra Bullock, and many, many more. I still did not make it to Humphrey Bogart's, and I swear with my hand up to God that I will not leave this town until I get a picture of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Bogie's house is in a restricted area, his gravesite is under lock and key... I deserve to at least see his star!!
We walked down to Grauman's Chinese Theatre to check in for our first tour of the day - homes of the stars! In front of the theatre is where stars who have had a movie premiere there AND are invited by the Chinese Theatre put their hands and feet and other parts of their body or mementos associated with them in concrete. For example, Roy Rogers and Trigger's has his horse shoes and Roy's gun imprinted in the concrete; John Wayne imprinted his fist; the stars of the Harry Potter series left imprints of their magic wands, etc. It's VERY cool. The stars also signed in the concrete and some wrote funny sayings, i.e., Arnold wrote "I'll be back." After taking tons of pictures of these, we boarded our open van for the tour. It was a small tour - there was only about 10 or 11 of us, and the tour guide was great. We saw so many stars' homes and I have spent the last few hours trying to remember which one is who's! Some that we saw: Orlando Bloom (and that might have been him standing in the garage with his back to the road!!! The hair color and build were about right.), Robert Pattinson, Lucille Ball, Sylvester Stallone, Peter Falk, David & Victoria Beckham, Mark Wahlburg, George Clooney, Nicholas Cage, Dr. Phil, Michael Jackson, Snoop Dog, Wolfgang Puck, Mariah Carey, and Tom Selleck. Some that we only saw the gate include: Elvis, Frank Sinatra, and Madonna. Former homes of the stars we saw: the Osbournes, James Dean, Roseanne & Tom Arnold. Then there are several that Mom and I can't remember whose house they were! I'll keep working on that. I'll also try to post pictures of some of these another night.
We also saw the houses where scenes from "Halloween" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" were filmed; the Beverly Whilshire Hotel (where scenes from Pretty Woman was filmed); the Beverly Hills Police station looking pretty much like it did in "Beverly Hills Cop;" Chateau Marmont where John Belushi died; the Viper Room where River Phoenix died; the Whiskey a Go Go; Capitol records (that round building), the house from "The Beverly Hillbillies;" the Hollywood sign; and Rodeo Drive. There was a lot packed into this tour!
After we finished this tour, we walked up Hollywood Blvd, looking at more stars, to the Egyptian Theatre to sign up for our next tour. It's a 75 minute walking tour of the area. We had a couple of hours before that tour started so we walked back down and had lunch at Hard Rock. Our server was from Kentucky and was so sweet. We tried a nonalcoholic drink: Mango with Orange juice and Red Bull. It was good. And I definitely felt that energy boost immediately! We each picked out a Hard Luck pin (mine being just the basic Hard Rock guitar with 'Hollywood' on it and Mom's being the pink guitar with the breast cancer awareness ribbon) and the total came to $26!!!! Things are definitely more expensive in Hollywood!
After lunch, we walked and took more pictures of stars on the sidewalk and made our way back to the Egyptian Theatre for our tour. Again, it was a great tour. This one is a walking tour, but they gave us headphones to wear so we could hear everything the tour guide said, whether she was ahead of us, had her back turned, or whatever. It was great. Probably one of the few tours I've ever taken where I didn't miss a thing. We toured the Egyptian Theatre (also built by Sid Grauman and is older than his Chinese Theatre), and it is beautiful... reminded me our our Fox - which I told our tour guide about. We saw stars on the sidewalk again, and she pointed out places where movie scenes had been shot (including from "The Italian Job" where the Mini Coopers drive down into the Metro station!). She took us back to the Chinese Theatre and gave us more stories about the concrete impressions there, plus pointed out some Mom and I had missed that morning. It was a really good tour... and hopefully our tour guide will make it to the Academy Awards one day. :)
We got to see them setting up for the premiere of "Secretariat" tonight at the El Capitan (Disney's) Theatre, complete with red carpet. That was pretty neat to see how they set it up cause it looks so different on TV.
It had gotten rather warm by the afternoon, and Mom and I were dropping fast. But we wanted to squeeze in one more thing from our City Pass for the day so we walked just a couple of blocks to the Hollywood Museum. It is located in the old Max Factor building (Did you know that it was Max Factor that turned Lucile Ball into a redhead? She was just another blonde in Hollywood and wasn't getting discovered until he made her a redhead. She never looked back.), and there were several rooms on display of his makeup and work with the stars. The museum had a lot of gowns and outfits worn by the stars at award shows or in the movies. They had Elvis's favorite bathrobe; nude pictures of Marilyn Monroe; and the bottle from "I Dream of Jeannie." They also had Hannibal Lector's jail cell down in the basement, but Mom and I were too tired to go down the stairs and back up! LOL So we cut the visit to the museum kind of short. Mom was so tired, she didn't even want to shop for souvenirs. We picked up one item for a friend of mine and headed back to the car. I would have killed someone for a glass of COLD water, so I swung into a McDonald's... I had water in one cup holder, and a Coke in my hand! Again, the traffic wasn't bad back to our motel.
(Oh and I have yet to see a Chick-fil-A... godforsaken place!)
We ordered in from a nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner, and it was pretty good. We are both so sore, we can hardly move and very, very tired.
Another big day tomorrow: finish Hollywood (got to see Bogie's star and our last City Pass ticket is for the wax museum), hopefully visit the scrapbook store, the house where my mom's family lived when she was born, and drive to San Bernardino where we will visit my great-grandparents' graves, the college Mom attended, and the original McDonald's. Then it's on to Redlands for the first event of Reunion weekend. Darn, I'm tired just typing all that!
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