Valencia Travel Park, Valencia, CA:  Drove down to Santa Monica and Malibu today.  I decided to drive and give Mike a break for a change.  Took the 5 down to the 405 and then west on the 101.  Gave Mike a break from the driving but he had to listen to me bitching the whole way.  Either people were driving too fast or too slow.  I was so glad when we got off the freeways.  Got off the 101 on the Topanga Canyon Road down to Santa Monica.  A beautiful drive through this rugged canyon.  Parked at the Santa Monica Pier and we walked around the pier and had lunch at Mariasol on the pier.  The old Route 66 ends here in Santa Monica.  After lunch we walked back down the pier to the old, historic merry-go-round house.  The merry-go-round is still running and they have an old soda fountain in there.  I continued driving down the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu.  Beautiful ocean views and some amazing homes.  Out of Malibu we hung a right at Pepperdine University on the N1, changed drivers and drove through an even more amazing canyon with beautiful views. Back on the 101 to the 405 and then the 5 back to our park.  Relaxed and read the rest of the afternoon. 

Route 66 ends in Santa Monica

Santa Monica beach.  Temps in the low 70s.  Water temps probably in the 60s.  People in there swimming and surfing like it was no big deal.  We're wimps I guess.

Heading up the canyon out of Malibu.

Valencia Travel Park, Valencia, CA:  Rick and Andrea stopped over this morning and hung out for a while.  Neither Andrea nor I were feeling real great as a result of last night’s soirée.  They went over to the pool and we did our laundry.  They stopped by later and invited us over for some take-out Chinese food.  Mike and Rick went out and bought all the food and brought it back and we ate at their picnic table.  Left by 8:00 and went back to our site and crashed.  We were all pretty tired.

Somewhere in Hollywood

Rodeo Drive

Monday, 6/27/11


Valencia Travel Park, Valencia, CA:  We started out this morning to check out the rapid rail.  I saw a sign when we were driving in yesterday and we thought we’d stop at the station and pick up some information.  Never saw the sign so we (Mike) just drove in again.  Parked on Hollywood Blvd. and walked down to Hollywood & Vine to catch a tour.  Toured Beverly Hills first.  We had a lousy tour guide and were glad when that was over. We walked around Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the Kodak Theater (which are right next to each other) through mobs of people since they were setting up for the premier of the latest movie with Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks.  Ducked out of the crowds into a really pretty mall next to the Kodak Theater and had a nice lunch at The Grill on Hollywood.  After our nice relaxing lunch we got on one of those double-decker buses and toured Hollywood/West Hollywood.  Saw a lot and now we can go back on our own—if we want to subject ourselves to freeway traffic again.  Drove back to Valencia through the rush hour traffic, which wasn’t too bad really.  At least no accidents.  Relaxed outside for a while and then Rick and Andrea, the couple in the RV next to us, stopped by and we imbibed a few bottles of wine.  They lived in the LA area for years but recently moved to Oregon, which they love.  Had a great time with them.

View of LA from Mulholland Dr.--check out that smog

The historic Hollywood sign--again in the smog

The Kodak Theater where the Academy Awards are held

Closing down the street getting ready for the Red Carpet premier of the latest movie with Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks

Grauman's Chinese Theater

Frank Sinatra's spot on the sidewalk in front of Grauman's

Bugatti parked on Rodeo Drive

Rick and Andrea

Valencia Travel Park, Valencia, CA:  Another beautiful morning here in sunny California.  We decided to drive to downtown LA today instead of the Burbank, Hollywood thing.  At first I didn’t want to go anywhere near downtown LA, but I figured we’re here, so why not?  Besides I wanted to see the beautiful Walt Disney Concert Center.  So we headed in on the 5 and then took the Hollywood Freeway to downtown and found the Walt Disney Concert Center easily and parked right in front.  Metered, on-street parking, but it’s free on Sundays.  Great!  Parked and walked around this beautiful building.  The architecture is wonderful—all stainless steel.  And I discovered I love downtown LA!  Who knew?  Of course we were in the financial district with all the beautiful high rise buildings and the theater district with all the fantastic concert halls.  We dined alfresco at the Grand Café on the plaza by the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). The skyline seems shrouded in smog as you’re approaching downtown, but once you’re down there it’s clear and you can even see the blue sky.  I thought, this is great—until the freeway drive home.  Then it wasn’t so great.  Another motorcycle accident in the opposite lane but backed up traffic on our side anyway.  Don’t know how the person made out.  He was lying in the road still when we went by.  Back home to our park and we relaxed outside reading. Decided we would check out the rapid rail here.  Would be great if that worked out.  Can only imagine what the traffic will be like on a work day.

Walt Disney Concert Center

Walt Disney Concert Center
Looks different from every angle

Downtown LA

Downtown LA

Collage of airplane parts on the plaza outside the Museum of Contemporary Art

Golden Shore RV Resort, Long Beach, CA, to Valencia Travel Park, Valencia, CA:  Left Long Beach this morning at around 11:20.  Just a short drive—only about 60 miles.  Took the 710 north and then the 5 through the San Fernando Valley through the smog.  The LA skyline was shrouded in haze.  Don’t know how you can live here.  After leaving the San Fernando Valley we climbed into the hills outside LA to Valencia.  Really pretty up here and the smog is hardly noticeable. We’re kind of out in the country. It was 86 when we pulled in.  It’s nice to be able to sit outside in shorts and be comfortable, which is just what we did after getting set up.  The guy in the RV next to us came over and talked with us for a while.  He was in the movie business in LA for years but is now retired and living in Oregon.  He knows a lot about the area and will be a great resource for information.  He was a lighting technician.  Nice guy and has a lot of great stories.  Just relaxed this afternoon.  Will probably drive into Burbank tomorrow and then on to Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

Lunch at the Yard House in Long Beach with George & Janet

Golden Shore RV Resort, Long Beach, CA:  Had a relaxing day today.  Met some friends of Mike’s for lunch in Long Beach.  They live in Tustin, CA.  Had a great lunch at The Yard House right on the water.  They have an RV also but have done a lot of traveling all over the world.  They’ll be in St. Louis in October for Mike and George’s 50^th high school reunion.  Will be nice seeing them again.  After lunch we fueled up the truck and headed back and relaxed the rest of the day.  Tomorrow we leave for Valencia, CA, which is close to Hollywood, Beverly Hills, etc. 

George and Janet

Golden Shore RV Resort, Long Beach, CA:  Took the Catalina Express fast cat out to Catalina Island this morning.  Really wanted to get a hotel and stay for a few days, but we had to be out of this park by Saturday.  Just didn’t have the time.  We took a short tour of this rugged island but didn’t even scratch the surface.  Wrigley, of Wrigley chewing gum fame, owned the whole island at one time.  He still has several homes on the island.  But in the 70s he donated 70% of the island to the Island Conservancy, which he set up, and guarantees that the island will remain in its natural state in perpetuity.  He also built the Casino, which isn’t a gambling establishment, but houses one of the largest circular ballrooms still existing in the US.  It also houses a beautiful movie theater.  Back in the day, all the big bands played here and it was a favorite playground of a lot of celebrities.  It’s also a favorite diving spot because of the crystal clear waters surrounding this beautiful place.  It’s very mountainous and rugged.  Wish we could have seen more.  Left on the 6:00 fast cat to go back to the mainland.  By then the marine layer was moving in again.  

Took this picture as we walked over to the ferry terminal to show how close we are to downtown--in fact, right in the middle of downtown.  The entrance to our park is on the left.  The park office is the grey building on the left.  We're surrounded by high rise office buildings.  Very different.  And there's a bike path right out of the park that goes along the Los Angeles River.

The fast cat as it's pulling into Catalina.

One of the little streets in Avalon.

The harbor at Avalon

The historic casino in Avalon

The yacht club

Took this picture as we were leaving on the fast cat.  Kind of fuzzy since I took it through the window, but it shows the ruggedness of the island and the "marine layer" moving in.