We left Las Vegas early to get a jumpstart on our trip to LA. We were excited about leaving Las Vegas, and will probably not be returning unless absolutely required to. My sister lives in LA and suggested we leave between a certain time period, otherwise we would be caught in traffic, so we attempted to heed the warning. Regardless, at 3:00 pm local time we still got stuck in traffic. You couldn’t pay me enough money to live in this congested, traffic at all times of they day city. LA has a lot of positives about it, this not being one of them, at least in my books. To me it begs the question, how do people work around here? If businesses don’t get rolling until 9 am and if traffic starts between 2-3 pm, you must have to work between the hours of 4 am and noon, in order to get anywhere without a traffic nightmare. Thanks, but no thanks.
We stopped for lunch at Lola’s Kitchen in Barstow, CA. It was a tiny, authentic Mexican restaurant just off of main street. I am learning from this trip I am directionally challenged. I thought I had gotten over that since I started working for the State 5 years ago, but apparently not. It seems at least once a day I make some type of directional screw up and we end up driving in the wrong direction, but only for a short period of time. Matt would call that an adventure, I would call it annoying and irritating, probably because I am not a very patient person. On second thought, Matt might actually think it is starting to get annoying now too. I should ask him.
We continued on and successfully made it to my sisters house in this busy, but adorable little bungalow neighborhood. She gave us the grand tour and we got to meet her sweet, but naughty “children” Duke and Lilly. Duke took it upon himself to eat the rest of the granola bars, granola packs, and beef jerky that was left over from the Grand Canyon portion of the trip. He graciously came in our room, carried the bag out to the backyard and quietly ate these items, hoping no one would find him. I suppose he has had enough fiber for one day. As everyone has dogs here, and not very big yards, all dogs have to be walked a zillion times a day. So, as we were waiting on my sister to wrangle the rest of the troops (her husband, my cousin Jesse, and one of his friends), Matt and I went with my sister to walk the dogs. She took us up past the community gardens. They were just amazing. Matt and I are so jealous of all the wonderful things they were growing here, and could do so year round. The grapes, pomegranates, limes, lemons, avocados, oranges, and whatever else you could imagine. Makes our garden seem amateur.
Once everyone arrived, we headed just a few streets up in the Hollywood Hills, for the Thursday evening Yamashiro Farmers Market. It was a true farmers market, so we sampled all the local fruits and veggies, so good! There were food trucks with a great variety of dinner options. After some wine and beer, Lasagna “Cupcakes” and a bratwurst, we were happy campers. This location provides an amazing view of the city at night. I, the “I’m always having hot flashes, probably menopausal, at least cranky like I am self,” had to put on a jacket because it was chilly. I would move here for the weather alone.
This leads me to the weather portion of my post. A fierce 66 degrees right now as I am typing with a high today of only 72 degrees. We stayed the night in my sisters guest room with only a fan and two windows open. Matt is still sleeping at 10:00 am local time, so apparently he quite comfortable.
We don’t really have any expectations for today’s adventure. Matt and I traveled to LA almost 10 years ago and did all the usual tourist stuff then (Disney, Universal, Hollywood Hills, Santa Monica/Venice/Laguna Beach), so this trip is much shorter and different in nature. My sister and I will probably mosey around and do this or that, maybe even a trip to the Korean spa this afternoon. Matt has an interest in some local museums and something or another to do with cars (go figure). So it will probably just be a low-key kind a day. I think my sister and her husband have something planned for tonight and brunch tomorrow before we head up the Pacific Coast Highway towards San Francisco.
On a side note, my sister lives right across the street from the elementary school Michael Jackson attended. At least that’s what I have heard from the tour buses coming by every hour.
Happy Friday!
