Extemporaneous Ramblings

The high tempuratures continue in LA. Thank you car air conditioning!

As most of the US continues to cook in a heat wave, LA is well in synch. Perfect weather for our journey, and potentially a great time for sight seeing at the beach later.

We started today with another Centure Wilshire courtyard continental breakfast – leisurely and relaxed. It is such as shame that this has to pass into history, to be replaced by some concrete, overpriced behemoth. Even people at the courtyard tables using their laptops (the hotel has wireless in the courtyard) did not seem out of place, but just relaxed, sharing it with those reading books.

Next morning we had determined to take a tour of the Warner Brothers Movie/TV studios (www.warnerbros.com) in Burbank – on the other side of Laurel Canyon as it happens. I had read on the net that although others, like Universal, are large and glitzier, they are not ‘real’ in showing you how movies and TV shows are made. After another delightful start at the Century Wilshire, we proceed sanely through Laurel Canyon to the studio. The only classic LA surprise is that it takes twice as long as it should due to traffic, but we have left enough time.

What a place and what a tour!!!! It was terrific and much, much more than we had even hoped. The place was perfectly laid out, the tour well arranged, and the guide beyond knowledgeable and informative.

We were on the set of the TV show “Gilmour Girls” just before they started filming, seeing all the live sets in place on the sound stage and then the back lot outdoor sets. We saw so many back lots sets and indoor sound stages it was incredible (see Lynette on the set of ‘ER’ above) – both from older shows and those now in production. We learned how things are done and were surprised many times.

For example, the same backlot sets were used in modern shows, by Cagney long before and also by Bogart in “The River Queen”. How they do it all is astounding. It was all great.

A day well and very enjoyably spent, also changing the way we would see some things on the large and small screens.

On the way back we bought dinner and took it back to Wilshire – eating it in the courtyard amongst the flowers.

So there we are scooting about in Laurel Canyon. Streets about 2 cars wide, house built into the sides of the steep hills and cars parked sideway in the 5 foot space between the bottom of the houses and the sides of the street. Then there are the locals that like to whiz arounds these snaking streets at night at breakneck speed. All very disconcerting as you drive and argue about which street goes out of here.

So we are doing just that and we finally get back to Laurel Canyon drive and think “whew, out of the woods now!”. Think again folks. YIKES!

Adding to the mix is that guys coming the other way don’t even bat an eye at us and just proceed as if we are normal. I quickly see and opening to get back and whip across into the correct side feeling lucky to be still driving.

We proceed back to the Century Wilshire, having had too much adventure for tonight…

We are prceeding down Laurel Canyon Drive and there is there indeteriminate Y in the road. We take the left fork only to figure out that it is really a split into a divided road (no signs that we saw) and now we are on THE WRONg SIDE!!

Our first night at the Century Wilshire we figured it would be neat to go out and cruise up and down Sunset Strip. So off into the Beverley Hills evening – temp about 80 Degrees F…

Now, ya have to understand that Beverley Hills is tucked into the nap of some low mountains that cut that part of LA in half. To the north is Burback, where all the movie and TV studios are.

So here we are will a scanty map and turning at the end of Sunset Strip to come back. There is this Laurel Canon drive, so lets zip up there.

OH, OH!

The canyon area, is turns out, is labrinth of VERY narrow road making a catacomb of streets carved into the side of the hills. No ryhme or reason and impossible to read on a map in day, let alone night.

So there we are roaming these streets that are scary to drive by day – lost in Laurel Canon. But there is even more surprises to come…

This turned out to be a real gem. A hotel from the silver screen era – small 3 story white building with brass fittings, filled with antiques, grand piano in the lobby and a wonderful central courtyard of tables and flowers where you could sit, chat, eat the continental breakfast, and relax. Wonderful indeed – an oasis surrounded by high-rise Beverley Hills condos. Many guests had clearly made this a cherished stop for many years.

We enjoyed every moment of our stay there.

Sadly, we learned on checking out that the hotel had been sold (they eventually couldn’t turn down the mega $$) and that we were privileged to stay there the second last week before it closed.

Truly the passing of bit of elegant history and it was wonderful to have enjoyed it while it was still there.

So, the next morning we checked out of the Mission Valley (San Diego) Marriott, to head to LA. The Marriott had been a nice start but somewhat over-priced, especially the $13 to park the car overnight. The pool/spa was lovely, though, and fun in the lights at night.

To finish in San Diego we toured the harbour area, including the Boats and Museum. If you saw the movie “Master and Commander”, we were on the square rigger they used for it. Neat! Also toured a Russion sub (incredibly cramped) and several others. A short walking tour of the harbour enclave of eclectic shops (I regret not buying the awesome bet buckle I saw) finished it off.

We headed out up the coastal highway for the short 90 mile jump to LA.

The first half was fine, then came the LA traffic. Overall it took about 3 hours to go the 90 miles and find the next hotel, the Century Wilshire in Westwood/ Beverley Hills.

Note added later – this turned out to be at peak rush hour. We had not further trouble with traffic in LA and I found it no worse than Ottawa mostly.

California in the summer is hot. We see from the news that the US in general is being cooked in a heat wave. San Diego apparently has an idyllic climate virtually all year. The coastal location normally provides some temperature moderation. Not this year.

It is beautiful and sunny but very HOT.

submitted by Lynette

Ok, so first day with the car, makes life a lot easier right? Ha! That’s what you think! So, he had already locked the keys in the trunk, one disaster a day you might think? Well, apparently, luck is not on our side!

So, my father, who is usually very sharp when it comes to things like this must have been feeling the heat, considering that not only had he locked them in the trunk, but he also managed to later that day throw the keys out with the garbage from dinner at Wendy’s! So, we put our trash in the respective trach can, and procede out to the car, only to find that the keys aren’t in any of dad’s pockets. Now we start to panick! So, we go back inside, and look in the trash, and sitting at the top with the container from my dad’s salad, were the keys! We quickly took them out the proceeded back to the car!

For the rest of the trip I will personally watch and make sure that those keys are safely buttoned in the pocket of his shorts at all times in which they are not in use!

What a Zoo!!!!! The San Diego Zoo (www.sandiegozoo.org) was a most wonderful experience. We had been advised – by the US customs guy at the Ottawa Airport, of all places – to take the bus tour of the park first. Good advise. The bus tour covers 90% of the exhibits in about an hour. Then you can go back and see the ones that intrigue you most. We also preceded the bus tour by a 1 hour stroll around the Apes and Monkeys are that are not on the bus route. At the end we took at the sky ride (about 100 feet about the park) that goes over the park.

What a day! We saw wonderful exhibits and incredible species in natural environments. It is no wonder this is known as one of the best zoos in the world.

All in all about a 5-6 hour time. HIGHLY recommended!

Well, no sooner did we enjoy the normalcy of a car but things started to happen (they girls would say that I lost my mind <grin>). We motored happily off to the incredible San Diego Zoo (more on that later). When we parked, I pocketed my real car keys from home, and promptly locked the keys to the rental car in the trunk – ARGH!

Precipitously, the car door was not yet locked, so we thought we were saved. Just release it from inside the car. Yes, but you have to find the button!!

Looked high, looked low – no release button. This caused some stress and agitation. Eventually we called the car rental office, who had no idea. Then we called the road service guys, who pointed out the special little door by the drivers door jam that contained the button. That door is the fuse box on my car at home so it had been ignored. The guy on the phone says “I thought you said you looked everywhere in there?”.

Anyway, with adrenaline subsiding we locked the correct keys in the trunk and hoofed it to the zoo entrance.

For the rest of the trip, my placement of the keys in the buttoned back pocket is to be monitored by my daughter…

After hauling our carcasses and stuff around for a day on the Trolley I have learned my lesson. The normal use of a car is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!!!

So I called budget and move the car rental up to NOW. The hotel guy kindly drove out to get it (after all, he was about to get another $13 daily in parking charges) and we have wheels.

I feel liberated already!

We like Mexican food. Lynette has eaten it since she was about 6 months old. Sooooo, we figured that on our first night we would tour the ‘Old Town’ area and get some Mexican beans, etc. Granted we, especially Lynette, were way over-tired.

So off we went again, on the Trolley.

Old Town is lovely and a very pleasant Mexican venue to wander – when you are not over-tired.

We found a nice open air restaurant. Restaurants in this climate often have no actual doors or windows to speak of, mainly because there are no bugs to speak of. We ordered what looked reasonable in portion. We had forgotten that everything in the US is SUPERSIZED. We got enough food for 6, literally.

It was nice enough and the people were grand, but the real story was the food. I had Mexican food on my last trip to LA and when it was not as good as our favourite place in Ottawa I figured it was just one place. Wrong! The cooking was the same in San Diego – very heavy and oily.

So the lesson here was that Mexican food for us is Paucho Villa’s in Ottawa (Elgin and Frank) or not at all. It has been consistently great for 25+ years – literally.

Live and learn…

Finally at the hotel and in the room, but it would be REAL nice to have a glass of Diet Canada Dry, my favourite. Well, after some looking, maybe it will have to be some US diet ginger ale.

Good luck! Not only had nobody ever heard of Canada Dry, but ginger ale is next to impossible to come by. It would appear that Coke and Pepsi have made exclusive deals not only with the hotels (and airlines) but also with the stores such as Sears, etc. Only their products are stocked and sold.

We will see as we proceed, but it appears that the land of the free are only free to buy what the local monopoly tells them they can buy. Canadians have MUCH great product selection in this type thing in most venues. This was a shock…

The hotel, on the other hand, was lovely – beautiful room, picturesque outdoor pool and nice view.

Just got to the hotel. It was an interesting trip. Final flying time was only about 45 minutes overtime, which was good.

Our itinerary calls for a 2 day stay in San Diego before heading North. Since I read that most things are on the San Diego Trolley line, we figured that we didn’t need the car until we leave the city.

Sooooo, we had to get to the hotel from the airport some other way. Use the Trolley, right? Wrong! Turns out that the Trolley line doesn’t cover nearly as much as of the city as we expected. Thus, we took a bus to the downtown Trolley line stop – hauling all our luggage. No fun at all.

On the bus we encountered our first ‘locals’. The bus driver was very friendly and agreed to kick us off at the right place. A couple near where we sat at the back talked to us, directing us to the correct Trolley. They were very friendly and helpful. They live on a sail boat in the harbour.

On the Trolley we encountered a couple of more locals – a lady hotel worker and an older gentleman. They were, again, colourful and very friendly upon finding out who we were. They gave us various amounts of useful and always interesting advice.

I eventually called the hotel on my cel and said “where do we get off”. We got off as directed and then hauled our stuff a distance to the Marriott.

In this little local trip we have the first several of many lessons and interesting paradoxes:

1. From the media, American cities appear to Canadians as full of violence and dangerous people. This is no doubt true, but all the Americans we meet are very welcoming and friendly. A strange paradox.

2. Travel rule -> Forget saving a few bucks by waiting to rent the car. Get it at the airport!