La La Land

Our first day in Los Angeles wasn’t the greatest but after that the next nine were awesome. And let’s face it, nine out of ten ain’t bad and for complete transparency our first day wasn’t too bad either. Kathy just doesn’t love the inner city.

We went to Chinatown and Little Tokyo. San Francisco, Philadelphia and New York’s Chinatowns are much-much better. No comparison really. Brad could barely get out of the car the parking lot was so tight. It was really important to get out of the car because he dropped Kathy off at a bathroom before parking. She called on the phone she needed a quarter. Holy crap, if Brad delayed any further it could have been big trouble. Get out of the car!

We walked around, drove to Little Tokyo, and then walked around some more. We grabbed lunch which was only okay and split. Our campsite was cool. We stayed in Playa Del Rey which was about twenty minutes out of LA. It was a State Park right on the ocean called Dockweiler. The view was beautiful once they bulldozed the twenty foot high Dunes. Only then could we see the water.

The next day we took a twenty-two mile bike ride to Venice Beach. It was a cool ride. A combination of beach, road, residential and shoppes. Once we got beachside we scouted out our how-to‘s for when we come back. It was a reconnaissance mission of sorts. It was pretty enough there that we decided to comeback another day to hang-out. We got a little lost on the way home but that was even kind of fun.

The next morning we took a ferry to Catalina Island and boy were we glad we did. The island was like being in another country. We took our bikes with us and the company that runs the ferry makes you take out the batteries on an e-bike before you board with them. Since we never had to remove the batteries before and Brad always charges them while in the bikes, we decided to do it the day before. So we knew how. Brad removed the batteries and asked Kathy to mark which battery came from which bike.

We were the only ones on this ferry to bring bikes. There were probably 500 people on it. The ferry ride was a little over an hour long. These two people that were sitting next to Brad brought two dogs with them on the boat. Kathy is allergic and a little pissed these people brought hyper dogs (they had on muzzles) on the ferry. Brad told them Kathy was allergic and asked if they could accommodate her. So the dude took them for an hour walk.

The ride was relaxing. We get to Catalina Island, roll our bikes out, and, over the dock and try to put the batteries back in. Three, four attempts and they won’t go back into the bikes. Kathy reaches out to the Lectric owners guide online for guidance and still no luck. Kathy then calls the Help Desk for further assistance. Now, we’re the only ones left on the dock. All 500 people are now on their way. The Help Desk dude says “take a picture of that battery and send it to me”. We do, and he asks ”do you have two different bikes? Is one a step-through?”. Yep! Kathy marked the batteries wrong and he said to switch them. Brad always teases Kathy and says 97% of the time she’s right. Not this time!!!!

Catalina Island seemed like we were going to another country. It was beautiful. It had so much character. We road all around the island with exception to the scenic view at the top of the mountainness part of the Island. We had a nice happy hour and a bunch off apps at a Mexican restaurant and then we ate dinner at a water front restaurant called Blue Water. Brad had the freshest swordfish he ever ate and Kathy had a wonderful piece of salmon. We saw dolphins on the ferry ride home. It was a delightful day.

Hollywood...Swingers. We're not...but you can still sing it anyway! Ha! Yes, we took off to the Hollywood Hills after the Walk of Fame and doing lunch at Danny Trejo's place. Hollywood is kind of seedy but the history and the Walk of Fame make it grossly fun and when Brad ran onto Rodney's star, it made his day. Rodney always had a special place in Brad's heart ever since his regular stops at the Treehouse back in the eighties.

The next day we took a ride to Santa Monica. We cruised around town and took a little walk on the green overlooking the ocean. After, we took a car ride down the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu. It was breathtaking. It reminded us of a junior Amalfi Coast. Not quite there but beautiful nevertheless. A friend of Kathy's recommended we stop at Gladstone's in Malibu so we did. Right on the water. The place was cool. We caught the sunset at Gladstone's and then drove home (RV).

The following day we made a visit to Pasadena...go Granny, go Granny, Go Granny go! We liked the town. It was quaint, had personality and yes, The Rose Bowl. Brad didn't know that Jackie Robinson played football at UCLA prior to breaking the color barrier in baseball and being a future Hall of Famer. The Rose Bowl had an awesome Jackie Robinson tribute in front of the stadium. A statue and numerous plaques commemorating his life-long accomplishments. Brad read everyone of them.

One thing we didn't know before going to Pasadena was that it had such a huge Asian Community. No biggie, we just thought we'd share that little tidbit of insight. We did our usual drive-by of the town/city to size up where we wanted to land. We walked around oldtown and stopped at a local watering hole called the Blind Donkey. It was a whiskey bar but we opted for a local beer instead since it was still daytime. Too early for whiskey.

Then, we went to Rocco's for a a snacky dinner. The place was open to the front. No fourth wall. The place was hopping. We hit our two drink maximum early this day.

The next day we spent an hour on the beach at our campground at Dockweiler. After that hour we agreed that people in California don't go to their beaches to sunbath. They go to the beach cause it 's so pretty. Or, they go to the beach to fish, surf, or party. That's it! It seems like it's always cold in the California beaches.

Since we did a recognisance visit to Santa Monica and liked it, we went back again. This time we partied-down. We hit four different places. First for a drink, then some sushi for an appetizer, then our third place for our main course and a forth for dessert. It was a fun-ass day. We hit Kings Head for the drink, Sugarfish for sushi, Uovo for pasta made in Italy and shipped to Pasadena daily, and, The Water Grill for dessert...Life is good!

The picture above is of the Santa Monica Pier which we only saw from afar but it was pretty enough, and, popular enough for a picture. This day we took a day trip to Thousand Oaks, Ca. to visit our friends Pat and Becky Neville. Pat used to be Kathy's boss at SCG. He and his wonderful wife moved here fourteen years ago. They recently renovated their entire house and boy was it beautifully done. Besides coming home to CT., we haven't been entertained by friends at there home since Annapolis, Md. and that was months ago.

Becky served us a wonderful lunch, their friend Kevin was in town, visiting, and joined us. He was very cool just like our hosts. Our conversation was insightful and it was lovely to see the life their family cut out for themselves here. They were intriguing and gracious hosts. Pat recommended we visit the Getty on our way home which we did. Unfortunately it was a Monday so it was closed. We'll stop by again and visit another day. Thanks for the hospitality Nevilles. It was great spending time with you.

It rained the next day so we decided to take a drive to Beverly Hills. We drove Rodeo Blvd., The Beverly Willshire and Waldorf Astoria hotels. The highlight of the car tour was driving the Hills looking at all the magnificently splendid homes. Kathy put in the address of one home the homes and it was valued at $15,000,000.00. It was renting for $110,000.00/month and there property taxes were $200,000.00/year. Must be nice, aye?

We drove around for quite awhile goggling at the beauty. We went back to the RV and decided to hit this hopping restaurant that we saw in El Segundo. We were looking for a nearby post office a couple days ago and noticed it. It was the first time we've had pizza in seven months and surprisingly the Slice and Pint rocked! No wonder they were busy.

We did get back to the Getty. The Getty is an Art museum and garden that was left in trust by John Paul Getty. Getty in the late 50"s was the richest man in the world and decided not to leave his fortune to any of his five previous wives and left this instead. This was no ordinary art museum. First, you get there by hovertrain. It was a conglomeration of multiple museums and all the possessions Getty owned, personally.

The museum featured Rembrandts, Monets, Van Goghs, sculptures, unbelievable 14th centrury furniture, silver, it was truly amazing. Every city has an Art Museum and we haven't gone to too many. We were so glad we did go to this one. Thanks Pat! Great suggestion! The architecture, and the views, overlooking Los Angeles were unbelievable.

On the way home we briefly toured the UCLA campus. Kathy is never enamoured with the big cities but there was so much to do surrounding the city too it was a good experience. We'll see if Brad will ever talk her into going back. Thanks for reading down this far. Next stop Pismo Beach, CA. Kathy and Brad