Day 1: California Trip - Arrival in LA, Santa Monica Beach & Pier, Malibu

The flight was uneventful.  Kind of long.  Thank goodness we had picked up subs at Quizno's on the concourse so we would have lunch on the plane.  That worked out well!  The flight was smooth... got to LA ahead of schedule, but that's where our good airline/airport luck ended.

You know, I have heard all sorts of talk about how big other airports are... Chicago's O'Hare is HUGE, LAX is HUGE... pfft on all of them!  Atlanta has it going on.  The more I travel, the more impressed I am with our airport.  We landed in LA, followed the signs to baggage claim.  There are only 3 or 4 baggage carousels!!!  Yep, that's it!  And the ceiling is open with all these dusty pipes showing... I'm hoping that was the result of unfinished remodeling, though no one was working on it today!  There were NO - Zero - Zilch security guards around the baggage carousels.  I'm not kidding.  In Atlanta, you don't get out the door without a security guard checking that you don't have someone else's luggage.  Here, there was no one to ask any questions of or anything.  There were no more signs there for ground transportation, so I finally went over to the Frontier Airline office and asked a lady there where to go and she just barely told me to go out front on the street.  There are no signs out there either.  So of course we ended up standing in the wrong place, waiting for our car rental van.  Thank goodness some nice parking shuttle van driver pulled over and told us where to meet our van.  We made it to the car rental place and had to wait in line and then had to wait for a car since they only had one car available in the class we chose, and that car was unacceptable to us (The trunk lid was like an SUV so anyone could look in and see our suitcases, etc., break the glass, and have fun.)  The car we ended up with is a Kia and I love it.  It drives so great.  And it will fly!  (I mean it seems that it would...  not that I've tested it...)

We then drove to our motel (of course, I drove past the entrance the first time and had to go down and u-turn) and checked in.  We're staying at the LaQuinta near the airport.  It's nice.  I've always been happy with LaQuinta.  And it's a good jumping off place for the places we are going to visit. 

After dropping a couple of suitcases at the room, we hit the road again.  Thank goodness for GPS.  It's like my cell phone - I can't remember my life without it.  She (My GPS is Samantha.) actually took us on the 405 and the 10 (That's what they call interstates out here.  Not I-405 or I-10, but the 405... and they're freeways here.), but traffic wasn't bad at all.  After a couple of round-a-bouts and a u-turn, we made it to the Santa Monica beach and pier.  We walked around the pier and took pictures and then walked down to the water.  I got to put my feet in the Pacific Ocean!  It was very cool.  I just giggled like a child.  Picked up a couple of shells - there weren't many around.  Left there and drove up the coast on the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu.  Beautiful scenery.  The ocean was on our left and walls of rock on our right... with houses up on top of that rock!  Stopped and ate dinner at a seafood place... I had to have them re-do my meal since they didn't ask me if I wanted cole slaw and evidently they serve it with all meals.  Well, that's fine, I can just ignore it or scrape it off my plate, but oh no!  They had put cole slaw all over the plate and piled the rest of our food on top!  I don't like mayonnaise - UGH!  But once they fixed that, the food was excellent. I had the grilled tilapia. 

We continued up the coast past Pepperdine University and then we turned around and headed back here to the motel.  Came a different way (no freeways) and saw some interesting things.  They like their liquor stores out here - we even saw one "Liquor and Deli" place.  They also like tattoos.  Oh and the strangest thing we saw is that evidently out here it is legal for motorcycles to just drive up the white line in between cars while they are moving!!!!  We thought the first guy was just crazy, but then we saw it two more times...so I guess it's an accepted custom out here. It's kind of freaky and dangerous to me!!

Well, our internal clocks say it's after midnight while it's only 9:15 here.  But Mom just turned the lights out and I don't think I'm too far behind her.  It's been a long day, but I am thrilled that the first day turned out so well.  I wish I had taken more pictures, especially of some of the highway signs on the PCH - "Rock Slides next 5 miles" or "Drunk Driver - Call 911" or "Rough Road Ahead" with a "For Rent" sign below it!  But with the traffic here, it's not real safe to make sudden stops to take those kinds of pictures.  Oh, well.

I hope Hollywood is great fun tomorrow!

My first view of the Pacific Ocean!

And yes, I did put my feet in it! It was COLD! But sooo cool. I found 2 itty bitty shells for my scrapbook.

Then there is the woman who I have never seen before in my life who comes over and asks me to watch her bags while she goes to get something to eat!!! Besides the fact that I think that's illegal, but it is WAY too much responsibility on me today!  I'm on vacation here, people!  Then some other woman sits down with the bags, and I almost freak!  Thank goodness the owner of the bags came back then or I'd be flying with a neat self-hugging jackiet!

People in the gate area

We haven't even left GA yet and we are seeing wierd people. I think this woman is possibly a Jamaican voodoo preistess. Call it a hunch. I'm trying to not make eye contact. She may have a doll and some pins in that bag she has left laying across the aisle!

Let the adventure begin...

Well, in just twelve short hours, Mom and I will be at the airport, waiting to board a plane that will take me to a new place - Los Angeles.  I'm nervous... I don't remember being this nervous about going to Phoenix last year.  Is it because of the dire traffic warnings I've received... maybe, but I've driven in Atlanta and D.C.... and I'll have my GPS so I should be fine.  Is it because I'm leaving Daisy for the first time?  That's probably a big part of it.  Dogs are so much more needy than cats... I mean, I've always worried about and missed my cats when I've traveled, but let's face it, they are much more independent and can go potty in the house!  Daisy is soooo attached to me... I just hope she won't grieve and will realize that I AM coming back.  Anyway, I also think part of my nervousness comes from the fact that I've become such a homebody... and I've become set in my ways.  For me, it's another side effect of getting older.  I know myself well enough to know that I will be fine once we get going... that I will enjoy this big adventure to the fullest... it's just the pre-show jitters! 

Suitcase was already overweight before I even finished packing the last minute items!  So I had to shift a couple of things to Mom's suitcase (how in the world did she have room left in her suitcase?!!!) and then I came in at 46 pounds.  It is obvious that if we buy ANY souvenirs, we will be shipping them home.  Mom also has the advantage of carrying her overnight bag as her carry-on.  I have my laptop bag... which is fully of electronic items and cords with no room for overflow clothes.  I swear I'm going to drive as much as possible from now on cause these airlines are service charging us to death!  $12 to pick your seats ahead of time; $15 for the first checked bag - gone up to $20 now; $25 for the 2nd checked bag so I will NEVER do that; no lunch on the plane; $10 if you choose priority boarding; Goodness knows how much if your suitcase is one ounce over 50 pounds; etc., etc., etc.  Regular folks can't afford to fly anymore! 

Must get to bed... got to get up early to finish the last minute packing and everything else.  Hopefully, tomorrow night, I'll be able to post a picture of my first view of the Pacific Ocean!

Still testing...

Zeus doing what he does best... Getting in the way!

Testing...