It is an interesting experience to see the sun rise on the east coast and then watch it set on the west coast. As would be expected, I didn't get any sleep Wednesday night as I was packing and trying to make sure I had everything that I needed. My roommate was able to take me to the airport at some ungodly hour since one of her friends also needed a ride at the same time. Check in was a breeze and since I was flying business class (the coach seats were all books in the times I wanted to fly), I was quickly placed on board. Before I could even sit down the stewardess was getting my drink order. After a quick switch in Atlanta, I was on my way to Los Angeles. When I arrived, I grabbed my bags and jumped on the shuttle to Alamo and picked up my car. I reserved the cheapest (and hopefully best gas mileage) car I could get and ended up with a great little vehicle (a blue Chevy HHR). The great thing about this is that the back and front seats fold flat, so I was able to easily stack my bags and gear on one side and have the other for my foam sleeping pad and be able to stretch out when sleeping on the road. My first
trip was to Burbank to check the schedule for the 'Tonight Show', but apparently they were not taping this week for vacation. I the headed over to the Hollywood area and drove up to a park near the Hollywood sign and did a bit of hiking to get some great shots and decent views of the area. After that I headed to Santa Monica to hang out at the pier. Every Thursday night there is a free evening concert, and the headliner was the
'Indigo Girls', a group I've enjoyed since early high school. During the concert, I was able to meet a couple of lovely people. I talked to Tracy, who is apparently a very talented artist that even has a few gallery shows going on with samples viewable at
www.tracy-rose.com)
for a while when she came up to the pier (her friends were sitting on the beach) until her friend April finally joined us. We chatted for a while and sang along with the group whenever we knew the lyrics, which was probably more often than I should admit! An unannounced surprise guest showed up at the end to play with group. Vonda Shepard (best known for singing on the show 'Ally McBeal' many years ago) played one of her songs from that show soundtrack; 'Baby, Don't You Break My Heart Slow' with Emily Saliers. It was indeed a trip to seem them playing together and quite enjoyable, especially for a free concert. After the concert ended, the three of us hung around and played on the
pier for a while and rode the Ferris wheel, roller coaster, and some other ride while enjoying the scenery and just chatting. Eventually it got late enough and exhaustion was setting in and I needed to get my start towards San Diego so I could at least get out of LA before I crashed so I wouldn't get slammed by traffic in the morning. I did have a slight scare in a typical moment of dumbassness. I went into what I thought was my parking garage and couldn'’t find my car!! I guess the first clue should have been that this garage only had 5 floors when I swore I was parked on the sixth! After going between floors, thinking I misremembered the right number, I decided to try
another location. I went back down a block and found the right garage (that in my lackluster defense had the exact same decor and in the same location relative to the corner). All was right with the world again and I headed out. I eventually crashed about 45 minutes after leaving Santa Monica (around 2AM local) on some side road off the interstate. This was definitely a way to start the trip! I have a feeling that this is going to be a heck of a trip and I'm already calling it the 'summer of superlatives'.
It is an interesting experience to see the sun rise on the east coast and then watch it set on the west coast. As would be expected, I didn't get any sleep Wednesday night as I was packing and trying to make sure I had everything that I needed. My roommate was able to take me to the airport at some ungodly hour since one of her friends also needed a ride at the same time. Check in was a breeze and since I was flying business class (the coach seats were all books in the times I wanted to fly), I was quickly placed on board. Before I could even sit down the stewardess was getting my drink order. After a quick switch in Atlanta, I was on my way to Los Angeles. When I arrived, I grabbed my bags and jumped on the shuttle to Alamo and picked up my car. I reserved the cheapest (and hopefully best gas mileage) car I could get and ended up with a great little vehicle (a blue Chevy HHR). The great thing about this is that the back and front seats fold flat, so I was able to easily stack my bags and gear on one side and have the other for my foam sleeping pad and be able to stretch out when sleeping on the road. My first
trip was to Burbank to check the schedule for the 'Tonight Show', but apparently they were not taping this week for vacation. I the headed over to the Hollywood area and drove up to a park near the Hollywood sign and did a bit of hiking to get some great shots and decent views of the area. After that I headed to Santa Monica to hang out at the pier. Every Thursday night there is a free evening concert, and the headliner was the 
'Indigo Girls', a group I've enjoyed since early high school. During the concert, I was able to meet a couple of lovely people. I talked to Tracy, who is apparently a very talented artist that even has a few gallery shows going on with samples viewable at www.tracy-rose.com)
for a while when she came up to the pier (her friends were sitting on the beach) until her friend April finally joined us. We chatted for a while and sang along with the group whenever we knew the lyrics, which was probably more often than I should admit! An unannounced surprise guest showed up at the end to play with group. Vonda Shepard (best known for singing on the show 'Ally McBeal' many years ago) played one of her songs from that show soundtrack; 'Baby, Don't You Break My Heart Slow' with Emily Saliers. It was indeed a trip to seem them playing together and quite enjoyable, especially for a free concert. After the concert ended, the three of us hung around and played on the 
pier for a while and rode the Ferris wheel, roller coaster, and some other ride while enjoying the scenery and just chatting. Eventually it got late enough and exhaustion was setting in and I needed to get my start towards San Diego so I could at least get out of LA before I crashed so I wouldn't get slammed by traffic in the morning. I did have a slight scare in a typical moment of dumbassness. I went into what I thought was my parking garage and couldn'’t find my car!! I guess the first clue should have been that this garage only had 5 floors when I swore I was parked on the sixth! After going between floors, thinking I misremembered the right number, I decided to try
another location. I went back down a block and found the right garage (that in my lackluster defense had the exact same decor and in the same location relative to the corner). All was right with the world again and I headed out. I eventually crashed about 45 minutes after leaving Santa Monica (around 2AM local) on some side road off the interstate. This was definitely a way to start the trip! I have a feeling that this is going to be a heck of a trip and I'm already calling it the 'summer of superlatives'.
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