We headed down to Los Angeles/Santa Ana on Friday night so we could check into our hotel room and have the next day to rest and relax - Good thing we did because the line of cars we ended up stuck in redefined the concept of traffic. It was insanely busy down there and I can't believe that many people can live and go about their days dealing with this kind of rush of people. In any event, it really proved to be an eye-opening experience for someone who hardly ever leaves the mountains anymore. It took us quite a while to get down to Los Angeles, but it was also kind of cool because we were driving past exits for places that you usually only see on television shows: Burbank, Hollywood, LA City Center, etc. It was quite a magical experience and one that I'm glad I ended up having.
We checked into our hotel and boy did Angie do well, because the hotel was a beautiful place to stay at. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant that night, which was pretty amazing, although apparently the California concept of a lemon drop martini is somewhat different than what they put into ones here. Below are some pictures we took while having fun at the pond outside the hotel:
We had a ton of fun at that pond, if you couldn't tell. There are like thirty more pictures I took of that place but to save you all, I won't post them here :) We went exploring after we had breakfast in the lobby that morning and then headed to Newport Beach for some fun in the sun. One of my very favorite things about California is standing on the beach in the warm sun with the ocean washing over my feet. I've never felt so at peace before in my life than in moments like that. I made sure to get some beach sand and sea water to bring back with me for the memorial wall I have in my apartment. Below are some pictures from the beach trip:
.jpg)
Also, we finally got to stop at In N Out Burger, a place I've heard so many wonderful things about, but never gotten the chance to go myself. We went to one of the sit-down restaurants and it was insane for how long we had to wait for a table, but when we got the food, it was so totally worth it. I don't know what they coat those burgers and fries with, but it was like eating heaven on a bun and roasted with a side of completely frickin awesome. Moral of this little side anecdote: In N Out Burger is totally awesome. After we were done there, we headed off to LA and Hollywood Boulevard to pull the whole tourist adventure. Below are some pictures of the trip to the land of the legendary:
We had an amazing time walking along Hollywood Boulevard, although it was a bit different than I had thought from reading tabloids and celebrity articles. It was kind of interesting to walk along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, though. You can see from the pictures above that we found a couple of really well-known celebrities, but we didn't find Ellen DeGeneres' star, which would have made me giggle with excitement. We did get the chance to see quite a few famous stars on the walk and visit a souvenir shop.
We headed back to Ridgecrest for our last night in California, but we stopped in Palmdale first for dinner, stopping at a Buffalo Wild Wings, where we experienced some incredibly slow service, but at least Jake and I were brave enough to try the habañero-flavored sauce. Granted you, we almost died from eating the stuff, but at least it gave us a story to tell afterwards.
The next morning, mom and I packed up our car and made tracks to head out of Ridgecrest. Gotta love that Subaru, because it made the entire drive up from the Mojave Desert. Below are some pictures from the trip:
All in all, it was an excellent trip and I am so glad I went. Stay tuned for some more adventures as to what's going on in my wacky world :)
No comments:
Post a Comment