Where were we?

Oh yes...

Los Angeles. 


The City of Angels. 


The Dream Factory.


The place we saw the second largest number of people begging...

We drove the 100-or-so miles from Palm Springs to Los Angeles, with one eye on the traffic, the other on the thermometer.

It dropped at least 15F between the two places, and the (slightly) cooler air was most welcome.

When we got to our motel, we were welcomed by the eponymous owner, Jerry. I'd read reviews of the motel online, and decided that Jerry sounded like a thoroughly nice bloke and that we should pay him and his Motel a visit. It's not in the most salubrious of districts, but we were really only there for the room at night.

After dropping our stuff off in the room, getting a quick refresher and looking for directions, we headed out for an afternoon at Universal Studios Hollywood (we had a 'Buy one day, get a second free' ticket, so decided to use them both). 


We went there on public transport (this time). After realising that we didn't have the correct change for the subway, I put a $20 bill into the machine - and got the win that I missed out on in Vegas. $14 in $1 coins cascaded into the 'change' tray. I gave a small, but noticeable 'woo-hoo' and got smiles from a couple of locals.

Universal Studios Hollywood (USH from now on) is a brilliant theme park. It's how theme parks should be done. The ones in the UK are nowhere near as good. 

Lots of rides, lots of people, lots of fun. 

The second day was more of the same USH-wise. We went in the car this time as we were going to the Griffith Observatory in the evening. It's a great place, very edu-ma-cational. While there we watched a show that was projected on the ceiling of a huge dome (the seats were very comfortable and angled back at about 30 degrees. I kept feeling like I was about to fall asleep!)

It's a bit of a must-see for the space science geek in you.

However, these weren't the only reasons for going to LA. On our second full day, we met a friend that I made years ago on Livejournal (a kind of pre-Facebook Facebook).

Alisa, her husband Mike and daughter Alex were waiting for us at The Grove - a huge shopping mall (with it's own tram). It was an odd meeting, even though we'd never actually met, we instantly recognised each other and started talking like old friends.

I choose my friends wisely.

We got in our cars and headed out into Hollywood. Yup, that Hollywood...

After Ooohing at Graumans Theatre and the Walk of Fame (where, incidentally, you have to buy your star), we broke for lunch. But not before out guided tour took us past the Playboy mansion and various famous bars from Hollywood's sleezy past.

After a great chili, we moved on... The end of Route 66 was calling.

 Santa Monica is cooler and less fake than LA. It serves as a perfect companion. We had a walk down the world-famous pier and decided that the Pacific ocean was looking tempting. Shoes were taken off and trousers were rolled up. It was paddlin' time.

The Pacific was behaving like it's name suggests. Lots of people were out in the water, cooling down and splashing around. Quite a few were fully dressed, something we didn't see coming.

It was an unexpected treat, and our first sight of the ocean that would be our constant companion for the rest of the holiday.

The following day, we left LA for the drive up the coast. Morro Bay was our first stop,  before the delights of Monterey, Carmel and our final destination, San Francisco.