We figured this would be close enough to go into downtown LA and explore, and commute back here for two days. But we learned yesterday that Los Angeles traffic makes that somewhat difficult to do.
Despite the three hour drive home (!!), we had a good day!
We left the campground at 9:30am and stopped along the way at Dick's Sporting Goods and REI, looking for hiking boots for Tony. No deals, and not much cheaper than in England, so he decided to hold off.
Then, we stopped at Verizon and put another 5 GB on our hotspot to do us until we get back to Canada. That cost $60 USD ($78 CAD). We probably could have bought the smaller package of 2 GB for $35 USD and made it last. But, this way we don't have to be so careful with our usage. Plus, we wouldn't want to run out of data and not have your blog post ready for you on time, would we?!!
It was almost 12:30pm by the time we got close to downtown.
A little known downtown attraction is the viewing deck from the 27th floor of Los Angeles City Hall building. Plus...it's totally free! So, that was our first stop, but we had to find some parking. I had researched this ahead of time and found a nearby lot at a great price using www.parkopedia.com
Sure enough, we found a spot right near the city hall that ended up costing us $5 USD ($6.50 CAD) for 2 hours. Not bad!
Walking in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles City Hall.
We're heading up to the top!
Made it through security, and into the elevator. It's all self serve, and there was no signs to show the way to the observation deck. And hardly anybody around. Took an express elevator to the 22nd floor and then another one to the 26th floor. Then, walked up some stairs to the 27th floor observation deck. Maybe 5 other people there in total.
View of downtown LA.
Looking the other way.
The LA Times building.
You'll notice in the pics above that there is very little traffic on the downtown streets. That's because the cars are all on the freeways around the greater Los Angeles area!
From the roof, we spotted the arch that goes to the Chinatown area that is walking distance from City Hall. I looked up a restaurant that does Pho...a typical Asian soup that is filling, and usually inexpensive. So we walked over there for lunch.
Downtown seemed nice enough, except for this area that the "homeless" seem to have taken over.
Tony, taking a picture of the Chinatown entry arch.
Fancy restaurant entrance.
Tony and Helen. Tony opted for a plate meal instead of Pho.
Ruth and Kevin.
After lunch, and with full stomachs...we drove over to the ritzy area of Beverly Hills and the famous Rodeo Drive, with it's expensive shops and high fashion.
Beverly Hills. Swimming Pools. Movie Stars.
Rolls Royce convertible on Rodeo Drive.
Rodeo Drive.
Rodeo Drive.
Can I take it for a spin? Just around the block. Please??
I probably can't afford to buy the nameplate.
I guess one buys a yellow Rolls Royce just because they can!
These two models were being followed by photographers. No idea who they were.
High fashion?
The Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
We probably saw some famous people today. But I wouldn't know most of them if I bumped right into them! We certainly saw some rich people.
So, that was fun.
Then, we decided to head over to the Hollywood walk of fame, about 5 miles (8 kms) away. By this time, it was getting on to about 4:30pm, and there was a fair bit of trafffic. By the time we actually made it to Hollywood, traffic was bumper to bumper.
Sunset Blvd was closed off at one point because there was a special episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live being done. Lineups of people trying to get in. We couldn't even find a parking spot, and so we just decided to start heading home.
This was about 5:15pm. By 6:15pm, we had made it about 4 miles (6.5 kms)!
From the time we started heading back, it was almost three hours later that we pulled into the campground at 8:07pm! Yikes. Not fun, but you just grin and bear it. However, it has changed our plans for today. Glad we saw some of Los Angeles, but no need to do any more of that. I think we might head for the beach today.
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I miss doing my workouts, and although we get a fair bit of aerobic exercise, we don't get enough muscle exercise. Obviously you can't carry around weights in the motorhome, so yesterday I bought one of these kits. A good deal, and it's lightweight and easy to use. Gotta keep in shape!
And in Canada, these motion sensing security spotlights are on at half price today...
Thanks for the tour, was more than we would have done.
ReplyDeleteVenice beach is a fun place that we enjoyed.
Have fun !
Never made it to Venice Beach unfortunately, we wanted to but we ran out of time. It will have to wait until we return back to this area, just not sure when that will be!
DeleteNow perhaps you understand why Mike and I grimaced every time you made reference to Orange County as being 'Greater LA.' There is a world of difference between the two! :-)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the beach today!
True, they definitely are very different but to us all the cities here run from one into another so it still seems like "Greater LA". Having said that we love the area you live in as well as where O'Neill Regional Park is. Lots of hiking in the area without having to drive a huge distance. If we came back again I think we would stay in the outlying area and just concentrate on the hiking. We would love to have had more time for that.
DeleteThat's for showing us some of your favourite places here, we had a wonderful time with you and hope that we will meet up again in the future.
I can't even imagine driving to downtown LA. It was hard enough to get to downtown Phoenix. Good pictures gor those of ys who will never go there.
ReplyDeleteDriving in the downtown area wasn't too bad but sitting in the traffic on the way home certainly wasn't fun! ;-)
DeleteOh what fun! My daughter worked at Louis Vuitton on Rodeo Drive for several years. Too bad she's not still there. You could have gotten a tour. She could tell some pretty interesting stories about the folks who shop there. She recently transferred down to the one in San Diego.
ReplyDeleteI hope you make it to Venice Beach today. I think you would all enjoy that if you can find a place to park! LOL!
Ruth, I made your quiche again today. It came out perfect!
I'm really enjoying your LA tour. It would be a bad place to live if it weren't for all the people!
I remember you telling us about your daughter living here and then having just moved to San Diego, too bad it would have been wonderful to have had a tour with her. To be honest we loved San Diego much more than Los Angeles.
DeleteWe unfortunately never made it to Venice Beach! We really wanted to go there but after our day in downtown LA and the long, long drive home we really didn't have much ambition to head that way again. It looks like it will have to wait for another visit.
Glad to hear that the quiche turned out. I have always liked that recipe.
Walking the stars is fun activity. You want to Google them on the spot. So many and from way before our time or memory. They've been making movies for over 100 years. When I lived in Los Angeles I looked up Mae West in the phone book and gave her a call. I could only reach her secretary. I had the opportunity to meet many people. It was fun but not my kind of people.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately we didn't make it there to see the stars. :-( I am glad to say that we did see them in Durango though and it was a a much more leisurely pace and far less crowded. If we ever make it to LA again then maybe we will give it another shot.
DeleteSounds like you had a great time when when you here and we can definitely see you calling up Mae West, actually it sounds like something Kevin would do! ;-)
Hi Kevin, enjoy reading your blog. Noticed your comment about exercise. We travel through the winter so I follow Lauren's Fitness exercising without equipment and Sworkit(http://m.sworkit.com/) which are both free. Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteWhen we have some free internet wr will have a look at the app but our problem is usually we aren't somewhere that has free internet. :-(
DeleteThanks for the suggestion!
I've only been to LA once and they can keep their traffic - I don't know how anyone could commute to work daily there. We paid $9 a drink at the Beverly Hills Hotel in their Polo Lounge (15 years ago) and did some star spotting there. A neat place but once was enough for me.
ReplyDeleteThose were our thoughts too! There is no way we could ever put up with that traffic day in and day, it is a total zoo here.
DeleteWe only saw the Beverly Hills Hotel as we were leaving Beverly Hills on our way back to the campground and never even thought to stop in there. Having said that I don't think they would have let us in, our clothing probably wouldn't have passed their inspection. ;-)