We were packed up and ready to get going by about 8.00am. Our aim was to get an early start after our last experience on the I-5, and we were anticipating work traffic. However, we were pleasantly surprised with the freeway actually being 'free' flowing. It's not our favourite place to be, you sure do have to have your wits about you so you take the right turn off and are in the right lane!
It was over a couple of GPS hours to Beverly Hills with a 'bathroom' stop thrown in, but we soon found ourselves in the inner city environs, and quite agog at the run down appearance of the city, combined with the smog, it didn't give a good first impression. Dirty. That's my first thought. However, travelling further out along Beverly Blvd, the homes and shops started to look smarter and cleaner and then bigger! The street appeal improved dramatically and then woo-hoo! We passed Hollywood Blvd! Wow! Hollywood, Tinsleton!
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| Hollywood Boulevard |
Universal Studios is really close and easy to park. One of the first things we did was eat. We seem to favour Subway, cheaper and healthier and familiar. I really enjoyed coming to Universal, having a pose on the famous red carpet and enjoying all the props and sets.
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| The Red Carpet for the Rich & Famous?? |
It wasn't long though before the crowds really built up and the wait for rides was getting excessively long.
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| Big mist machines to keep the crowd cool.. |
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| Marilyn Munroe and her girls giving us a performance.. |
We decided to go on the Studio Tour and ended up progressing in the line for just over an hour! Fortunately, the overhead mist machines helped..
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| The tour train in and out and round about the different sets.. |
It sure was good to finally sit down on the tour bus or 'tram' as it was called. Well, the wait was well worth it! It was a lot of fun to see all the different famous sets that are used for TV shows and movies. And then re-used for different TV productions and movies. Fascinating and really fun. So glad we got to do that!
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| There are two 'New Yorkers' hanging out the windows calling out to the passing crowd. To Rick the guy calls out: "Did you know you have three brawds following you? They only want your wallet you know!!" |
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In the London section, a Palace Guard Tom found amusing!
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| As did Chani & Sarah... |
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| ..but he had the last laugh!!! |
We spent the day exploring the different areas of the park, the kids went on rides and we saw a couple of excellent shows, the first was Terminator with actors and 4-D effects, and the other was Water World, a performance that was full of special effects, fire, water, explosives and stunts. Very spectacular. The crowds were unbelievable, so crushing. I had to admit, at this point being over theme parks. It has just become to busy and crowded to really enjoy it all.
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| The crowd waiting for entry into the 'WaterWorld' show |
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| ...which was outstanding with lots of stunts and action! |
Tom was having a great time recruiting who he could to go on rides with him, but Sarah & I slowed it down a bit after dinner and wandered casually around sussing out the various sights. For me, it was the characters, sets and amusements, for Sarah, it was the good looking Mexican or Latino young men on the stands!! She is a bit of character! We both also had a bit of a headache, I think there has been a bit much sun exposure over the past few days. We had one final ride on the 'Simpson's', which was a bumpy, fast virtual experience that made you feel you were flying, going on a roller coaster and so forth. I'm not good with the feeling of free falling, but with this one, whenever I felt uncomfortable, I just shut my eyes and cheated!! It was very cool, and everyone liked it, but I am so glad we don't have to line up anymore!!
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| Sarah in an encounter with 'Jaws'. Lucky it's dead by this point in the story, and that it's just a prop!! |
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| You just have to have a pic with Shrek! |
By the time we left, we happened to get caught in traffic that was leaving an adjacent show and it took fifty minutes to get to our hotel fifteen minutes away. It was about 10pm by the time we checked into our hotel on Beverly Blvd, so again, we didn't have time to go to the movies. Chani was desparate to see the new Harry Potter movie. Sorry Chani! Well, that was the end of another full on, packed day. Also our last full day in California. Tomorrow, Chani flies back to Australia. We have really enjoyed having her travel with us, and will miss her carefree fun when she leaves.
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| Universal Studios and LA at dusk |
We were able to get going reasonably early on Thursday morning so we could spend some time at the supermarket for Chani, and explore Hollywood Blvd. I'm glad we got to walk it before the shops opened, and before too many people were about. We had fun following the 'stars' on the pavement looking for our favourite personalities. We had fun finding the ones we knew, and after a snack at the local McDonald's we spent some time in the front of the famous Chinese restaurant looking at all the famous hand and footprints! Some of them are really old. I so enjoyed our short visit to Hollywood Blvd with all its fame and glory and palm trees. Otherwise, to the locals, as the day begun properly, it's just an ordinary city street - business as usual! By the time we left, there was quite a crowd looking at the famous hand prints, it would've been less enjoyable..
Next, we wanted a good photo in front of the famous Hollywood sign. We made our way there courtesy of our GPS and after winding our way up narrow streets, we came to the official look out point and managed to get some fun photos with the big sign over our sholders and above us. When we turned around and faced the city, the smog pretty much obscured what could have been a wonderful view. It was like trying to see past a cloud. Visibility seemed to be about 2kms at the most, with the city skyline being very faint.
It was finally time for us to make our way to LAX, the international airport. This gave us another opportunity to see some of Los Angeles. Most of all, the smog has made a strong impression on me, along with the shabby streets in some of the areas, opposed to the obvious opulance of Beverly Hills.
Pulling up at LAX, we found it to be just as easy to drop the kids off instead of parking. We said our fond farewell to Chani, what a pleasure it's been to have her travel with us. We will miss her, but not as much as Sarah. How wonderful it was that she could come on this visit. We also put Tom and Sarah on a flight back to Denver. Their flight left several hours after Chani's, but they were ok to wait. Tom was rushing back initially, so he could leave with the Tripps to Lake Powell and not hold them up. The trip has been delayed until Saturday, but that's ok, and Sarah, because she really isn't the best traveller and an $88.00 ticket seemed a small price to pay to have trouble free travel for the last 1000 miles home.
Once we left the kids, we decided we really didn't like the freeways, the smog and the crowds, so headed out of Los Angeles. We still haven't heard about Tom's call, but know it's coming, so really wanted to be back in Denver so Tom could open it with us there. As we headed out, I became aware that the city was surrounded by mountains! What a pity you couldn't see them.
Ok, homeward journey, here we go...
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