Whirlwind SoCal Trip Recounted

With Curtis in Costa Rica for Spring Break, Andreas and I toured the Los Angeles area this week.

We flew down on Monday and were met at Ontario Airport by my mom, sister Brenda, and my nephews Nathan and Thomas. The air was clear and the temperature was perfect! I changed into shorts as quickly as possible. We drove from the airport to the driving tour of where we used to live. Saw my parents' old home (and was saddened that the new owners are not maintaining the yard at all - it looks like crap!) and my high school. Had lunch at the Del Taco where I spent many school day lunch periods during high school. We got chauffeured to Enterprise, where I picked up my Mazda 3 that would get us around for the next few days.

We enjoyed sitting in the sunshine on the back patio and getting another tour of the Rookhuyzen Resort. My mom made a lavish dinner that night and we were joined by my dad's cousin and his wife, as well as Brenda's husband, Dan. A great meal was had by all, only to be topped by Brenda's homemade cheesecake (!). After the other guests left, we went up and sat in the hot tub for a while.

The next morning, Andreas and I left before 9am for our drive to Hollywood. With the horrible traffic, it took us over two hours to arrive at the Chinese Theater. Hollywood Boulevard was closed off in front of the famous theater, as Hollywood was rolling out the red carpet (literally) for the opening of a film neither of us had ever heard of. Andreas enjoyed the celebrity impersonators who pose for pictures with tourists, as well as the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He recognized several of his favorite actors, memorialized on the sidewalk. I tried to get him to do something crazy at the Chuck Norris star, but Andreas could not be convinced.





We had a quick lunch, then drove south to Culver City, where we met up with my parents for a taping of Jeopardy.



Actually, we got to see the taping of two shows. They go very fast. Alex Trebek was the quintessential showman. He spent every free moment with the crowd, answering questions, entertaining, and sharing anecdotes. No trip to Jeopardy would be complete without a mention of Ken Jennings (a fellow BYU alum!). Alex talked about Ken's long winning streak and his eventual demise. It was very cool to see a show in person that I have been watching since my childhood. A librarian won $54,000 in just a few hours. In the second show, a guy won $22,000 in about 20 minutes. Very neat! [In other news, my sister Brenda has qualified to be on Wheel of Fortune, which is taped right next door. Congrats!] One of the clues today was a video clue taped in Denmark at a recognizable-for-Andreas landmark.

After Jeopardy, we went out for Indonesian food with my parents. It was great! Andreas and I then scurried to Venice Beach. We found parking without too much difficulty and then strolled the boardwalk. We saw the Santa Monica Pier off in the distance, but didn't get to see it this trip. Andreas got lots of great pictures at Venice. We both enjoyed the people-watching and the sights.










We next met up with my friend Sloan for dinner. He lives near 3rd/Fairfax and works in the garment district. We dined at Toast (tasty) and it was great to see him again. Sloan tipped us off to the Grove shopping center at the Los Angeles Farmers Market, so we headed over there. We watched the new film, "I Love You, Man." It was great! Coincidentally, the movie was filmed in Los Angeles and Venice Beach and we got to re-trace our day's steps.

We got to the downtown Marriott after 12:30am. Fortunately, we found FREE street parking right in front of the hotel. I slept horrible. We were up bright and early (7:45am) and drove north to Universal Studios. We had crepes for breakfast in CityWalk and were ready to storm the theme park when it opened at 10am. We did the back lot studio tour first, then the Simpsons ride. We went to a special effects demo, the Backdraft show, rode the Jurassic Park and The Mummy rides, etc.

We left at 2pm and headed into Burbank for a taping of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. My sister Morgan and her husband Carlos joined us (just in the nick of time, too, might I add!). We got lucky and got to see Halle Berry, who was promoting a new perfume. We got to see a hilarious spoof called "Name that Sound," where impersonators represented George W. Bush, the Octomom, and someone else. It was awesome! A comedian/voice impersonator named Frank Caliendo was the second guest. The show ended with a musical performance by Prince, who was promoting a new CD. He has always struck me as an odd fellow. I was surprised by how tiny he was. Andreas met three college-aged Danish women in line.

After the taping, we headed back to my sister Brenda's house in Menifee, where another wonderful feast had been prepared. What a wonderful hostess! We spent the night there and I slept GREAT. The following morning, we got a driving tour of her community before heading back to the airport. It was certainly a whirlwind trip, but I am so grateful that I got to see friends and family AND enjoy the beautiful weather of southern California.