Act 2
14 August 2008 – 16
August 2008
14/08/08
Today was a real sleep in after our very late night last night plus one
of the few chores from home had to be done – yes the washing. Reg volunteered
LOL.
It is another very warm day again with temperature around 85ºF
(29ºC). Very much like summer back
home but without the humidity. The
smog seems to be present most of the time.
Well we headed off around 12.00 into the mall for some lunch at
Johnny Rocket’s Diner. The food was
good and then the staff came out and sang and danced in the aisles to the song
Respect which was lots of fun.
After a photo op in the Mall trying to get a picture of the
Hollywood Sign we head out to try to get some better photos of the sign. As we go up N Beachwood Rd Reg took some
video of the sign and they have turned out quite
good.
From here we head to the Griffith Observatory for a look
around. The observatory is on top
of a hill with million dollar views of LA.
We had intended to stop but the car park was full so we headed back down
the hill and onto our next destination.
Next stop was to be a drive through Rodeo drive. On the way there we saw a Target store
and detoured there 1st as Reg needed a new electric shaver. He had seen one at home before we left
but it was $A178 and we thought we might find something even a little cheaper
here. Well this was definitely
worth the stop as he found the exact same shaver he wanted and for $US69.95 +
tax. Wow it worked out less than
half price definitely worth waiting for.
We then continued on to Rodeo drive. This is in Beverley Hills and is very
upmarket with lovely homes. We
decided not to stop and wander around but just do a drive through and get some
photos. Even if we had tried to
stop parking was definitely at a premium.
As we were driving down here Reg seemed to think that I had found
my driving “Mojo”. Yes I was
becoming quite at ease one hand on the wheel and the other arm resting on the
window just like I sometimes do at home.
Our next stop was to be Venice Beach except Reg was having
problems programming “Alice”. She
didn’t want to know about Venice Beach without a street name. Oh come on now “Alice” even we Aussies
have heard of Venice Beach.
I just sort of headed in the direction that might get us toward
the Pacific Ocean. Obviously, my
internal radar was working – mmmmm perhaps more luck than radar. LOL. Reg finally sorted it out by going to a
full map and just setting a point near the beach. From here she headed us in the right
direction (which we were going anyway) and we took over ourselves and then just
found the street we thought we should turn down. Yippee we did arrive at the Beach and
the parking lot ($US7).
We walked up past the stalls and shops for quite a way. I found Reg the perfect singlet shirt
“Muscle Beach XXL Venice Beach”
Although we were not quite brave enough to have him change into it and
take some pics of him in front of the “muscle
machines”.
It is a very busy spot a lot of stalls and shops with t-shirts,
dresses, glasses, bags, tattooing and plenty of street performers etc. After going as far as we wanted to we
headed back to the car along the beach walkway.
From here we headed toward home with a stop for fuel on the
way. Now this was interesting as
when we pulled in we had to pay before we filled. Reg was somewhat stunned at this (I
already knew this would happen) with a feeling of “What the?” how am I supposed
to know how much to put in. Another
customer came to his rescue and explained that a car our size would take about
$US30 is half full so Reg put in this amount and it came up fairly
close.
I just realised I hadn’t mentioned that our car is a Pontiac
Sedan. It fits all our bags in the
boot and is quite comfortable and getting easier to drive every
day.
Once back at home after downloading out pics and videos Reg went
off to get a couple of things at the market. As neither of us felt like too much for
dinner we decided we would have a burger from Johnny Rockets again. I asked Reg if he could get them “to go”
(yes I did say that and not ‘takeaway’).
If he couldn’t then he was to sms me and I would meet him there.
Anyway I did get and sms and off I went and when I found Reg the
only reason I had to meet him was because he forgot to take much money with him.
LOL. Oh well it was good to sit in
the diner and eat and again it was very good. I had the best chocolate milk shake I
have had in ages – it was more like a thick shake. Reg likes that fact that the soda is
refilled for free so you only ever pay for one glass of soda (soft
drink).
After dinner we headed back home for hopefully an early night as
this is our last day in LA and tomorrow we head north to Cambria for a few
nights.
One thing we know about LA is that we will never complain about
the roads back home. The road
maintenance here seems to leave a lot to be desired. Even the main highways and freeways in
and around LA leave a lot to be desired at times. They a very rough and bumpy and in need
of repairs.
We will be posting some pics on the website of our days in LA and surrounds.
15/08/08
We left LA today around 10.30am and headed north for Cambria following
Highway 101 till we were able to turn onto Highway 1 along the coast. There was quite a bit of traffic on the
way as well as the usual slowdown for road works. I was keeping to the speed limit (65mph)
but was being passed continuously and some of them were positively flying by
us.
We stopped at Los Alamos to refuel the car and they couldn’t give us change of $US100. Needless to say Reg was stunned at this. Then we headed next door for lunch at the Subway. After which we continued onto Cambria.
Arriving around 4pm with only a couple of hiccups with “Alice’s” directions we found where we were staying. We are booked for 3 nights at the White Water Inn which is on Moonstone Beach Drive opposite the Pacific Ocean. Oh it is such a beautiful spot and the White Water is just like its pictures on the net and our room is lovely and roomy.
The lady in the front office was great she even wanted to see our
Australian money and also booked our dinner reservations for tonight for
us.
After unloading the car I headed off over the road to the boardwalk above the beach for a look see. Well there are seals perched on the rocks and it is just beautiful. I took lots of photos but will be back for some more photos and a longer walk. Reg followed me a little later and he thought it was great too.
Heading back to home (the Inn) Reg saw a little animal with a
bushy tail and was trying to show me but it had gone into hiding. Then a few more steps down the boardwalk
and there were some more of them.
Very cute and it turns out they are ground squirrels. Yes we took lots of pictures.
We had dinner at the Sows Ear (her recommendation) and well the
meal was excellent and it came with beautiful fresh cooked vegies. Oh how I have been looking forward to
some vegies as I was starting to have enough of salad and fries. We were both so very full afterward and
Reg couldn’t even manage desert – now for those of you who know Reg that is
unheard of. LOL. Heading back to our home for the next 3 nights we are looking
forward to tomorrow and our tour of Hearst Castle.
16/08/08
After a good night’s sleep we were refreshed and ready for another
day. Breakfast was good and enough
for us to start the day with fruit, juice, tea/coffee, bagel and
muffins.
It was cool and cloudy in Cambria but as we moved away from the
coast it warmed up considerably.
Today we went to Hearst Castle for the Experience Tour, which is
the one recommended for first time visitors to the Castle. We were booked for the 10am tour but we
arrived a little early and were given the option to take the 9.30am tour which
was great.
The Castle is magnificent and filled with treasures hundreds to thousands of years old. Reg was in total awe of it all and a lot of what was there one would only see in a museum if you were lucky.
The tour took us through some of the gardens which are immaculately kept, the Neptune Pool a huge outdoor pool in Roman style, one of the guesthouses, Casa Grande the main house and finally the indoor pool.
Casa Grande is huge and we were taken through the main meeting
room where Hearst’s guests would meet before dinner. There are treasures everywhere from huge
wall tapestries, marble statues, furniture, even one of the largest handmade
books, the ceiling of carved wood is just amazing. The dining room is set up with flags
from an Italian provincial area flying high above the table, again intricately
carved wooden ceiling. It was all
just amazing but what caught my eye, on the table, was that it was set up with
bottles of tomato ketchup and jars of mustard, of the period, but it piqued my
sense of the comedic in that here is this elegant table setting but with ketchup
and mustard on it.
From the dining room we moved into the morning room then the pool
room set with 2 pool tables from the era and this time the ceiling is made of
Spanish wood which had been intricately painted and was overtime being
restored. Then into the home
theatre – this was as large as some movie theatres we have been into at
home. It was huge with large comfy
chairs (no we couldn’t sit in them) and from here we moved outside and down to
the inside pool which is under the tennis courts.
The Roman Pool is 10 feet deep and as was explained to us most of
Hearst’s guests were not good swimmers and probably would not use this area much
for swimming but it was a place for them to go and “canoodle”. The pool is huge and tiles in the bottom
of the pool as well as on the floor around the pool are ‘gold leaf’ tiles.
It is so opulent and truly hard for us to grasp that people lived
like that then and even today.
Hearst was a great collector and Reg is pleased that he did as some of
the things we saw today we might never have seen. They would either have been lost or in a
museum in Europe somewhere. Reg
also reckons that as he was such a great collector and if he lived now then he
could be one of EBay’s largest customers. LOL.
All in all a brilliant tour and a most enjoyable morning spent
there.
From here we headed off to Paso Robles and the Firestone Walker
Brewery to try some local ale and to do their brewery tour. This proved a very relaxing part of the
day and Reg thoroughly enjoyed the 3 different beers he
tried.
Arriving back late afternoon we relaxed for a short time before
walking down to the Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill for another excellent
meal.
Back home I collapsed into bed early as I am bushed while Reg was
checking out what had been happening with the
MotoGP.
We have had another wonderful day.
