L A, HOLLYWOOD, and VENICE

You can tell we are on the “homeward bound” phase of this adventure, neither one of us wanted to do much exploring or “touring” in LA.  I think we are “done in” with being tourists for a while.  LOL Part of that is a mindset.  It’s not that we’ve “done it all”, but with the flight home now in sight we are getting ready for re-entry into Charlotte.  For us, LA was about visiting friends.

The RV Park proved to be the worst one yet.  We were really glad we had parked at the beach on Monday, for Walnut RV Park was an asphalt and gravel parking lot, and while there were a few trees, none were near us.  I think when we canceled the one night, we got on the lady’s bad list and she sent us to Siberia.  LOL Dave was re-parking the RV while I registered and she started quizzing me about why we called and canceled the night before.  Was it mechanical problems? Traffic?  I didn’t know what Dave had said, so I was trying to give as many “non-answers” as I could think of…. “You know, it’s always something….”  LOL… I should have gotten very indignant and said, “You mean he shuffled a night, and we could have been on this beautiful gravel and asphalt a day sooner?  I’m going to give him a piece of my mind!” LOL

Tuesday night we visited the newlyweds, Kate and Matt and were their first “out of town” visitors.  They were eager to show off their new condo and get their presents from the wedding.  Their condo is truly wonderful and has about 1600 square feet on the “penthouse” floor.  The condo project has 3 roof top courtyards one with a view of the Hollywood sign, and another with a view of downtown LA.  They are very proud of their purchase as they should be and we swapped tales of first apartments and houses (probably boring them… we tried real hard not to say “when we were your age” but...) We walked to a British Pub down on Ventura Blvd. and enjoyed a nice supper learning more about Kate’s tenure and Matt’s new internet business.

Kate in her new kitchen

On the roof - Hollywood sign in background

Wednesday we had called and scheduled lunch with the Bartch’s in Venice.  They were so glad to see part of the Charlotte “contingent” and truly made us feel welcome.  We rode down to the harbor and had lunch and marveled at the boats and condos.  Donna seems to be doing well and has recovered from her numerous back surgeries, but still has issues with some activities and positions, but generally seems to be feeling much better.  After lunch we discussed several “touristy” activities, and I suggested a rubber of bridge on their back patio instead.  Thus ensued one of the longest rubbers in history with each side making and “blowing” some interesting hands.  It was a very pleasant afternoon and we truly enjoyed their company and catching up with old friends.  They may try to come to Charlotte for Advent’s November bridge night.  Though we had a great afternoon with the Bartch’s the timing was less than great for the traffic.  We got a dose of rush hour traffic gridlock on “The 405”.  First we had been late arriving because of construction and now on the way home it was compounded with rush hour, which I think lasts from 6 am til 8 pm in LA!  The 20 mile drive took us about 2 ½ hours with probably ¾ of it done at about 2 miles/hr, rarely getting out of 1^st gear.  At least we were in the truck and not the RV!!!  As gas nears $5/gallon out here, it is amazing that they have so little public transportation.

As I write this we are moving the RV to our final park, another county park in San Bernadino near the storage unit in Ontario.  From Googling it, we are looking forward to a more park like setting and Dave is itching to grill one last steak over a campfire.