Los Angeles

We began our trip in L.A., so that's where I'll start. Not long after we landed and found our hotel in Garden Grove (which we soon discovered was an inconvenient part of L.A. for us to stay in, yet cool that we've been where Sublime sang about!), we headed to Hollywood. Some things you just want to say you've "been there, done that," and that was the thinking behind walking down Hollywood Blvd, driving through Beverly Hills and down Rodeo, and seeing the Hollywood sign. It was cool and I'm glad we experienced it, but I can't think of a reason to go back. That sounds worse than I mean for it to.

I think this picture of Bailey and Keena was taken at the corner of Hollywood and Vine. Just 'cause!

Rodeo Drive kind of looked like streets of Paris.

While in the L.A. area, we drove to San Bernardino for Alan to try hangliding. This is a picture of Alan flying tandem of course, and I could be wrong but I think they were about 2000 feet up? He's glad he tried it, but I don't think he feels the need to do that ever again. It was fun for us three girls to watch, though.

After the hangliding, we drove to Venice Beach. I don't even know a word to describe it - bizarre is the best I can come up with. I've seen and heard about Venice, but nothing on TV or in the movies could ever compare to actually being there. It's just so WEIRD. You spend the first 20 minutes or so walking around laughing, pointing, with your jaw dropped half the time. And then it just gets creepy, dirty, sad. (I don't have good pictures, because I wasn't about to pay anyone just because they were painted silver or walking around in nothing but an American flag speedo.) I think you have to keep a good sense of humor to enjoy it, but frankly I couldn't wait to leave and wash my hands!

The beach itself, however, was beautiful and clean.

Sunday we spent at Universal Studios Hollywood, and I think it's safe to say that we were all a little disappointed. Universal Studios in Florida last year was awesome, with lots of thrill rides, water rides, etc. The one in Hollywood had way more 3D and 4D experiences than a person like me who gets motion sickness easily can handle. There was ONE roller coaster, if you really want to call it a roller coaster, and ONE water ride in which we barely got wet. So really, I can't say a lot for a theme park that we gave $250 to (before food) and only moderately entertained us.

The next day however, we spent at Santa Monica Beach and had a great time! The beach was beautiful, and except for how bone-chilling cold the water was, it was too short a day:

Does Alan look cold? :-)

The girls played in the waves and tanned, while I spent a lot of time walking up and down the beach and taking pictures of Alan surfing for the first time. By the way, if we ever move remotely close to a beach, Alan's first priority will be buying a surf board. He's absolutely hooked:

So after a few hours at the beach, we packed up the car and began our very long drive towards Yosemite. I was ready to leave the city for the mountains, and Yosemite did not disappoint. I'll post those pictures tomorrow!