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!
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