Blogs from Malibu, California, United States, North America
June 28th 2011
Today is the first day that I have to myself, done with school, back from a trip and ready to start to take action. I need to finalize some school and financial information in the next few days so I can make sure that once I leave, these things will be settled. I leave to Australia in 1 week and 3 days. The plan is to start in Sydney by staying in a hostel.. possibly Wakeup for a week or so. Orientation for the University of Syd is 10 days after I arrive, and school begins another week later. In that time I want to mingle and go see the land around me. I have to start learning the bus/ train systems in the area and meet as many people as possible! I have to go ... read more
Day 7 Hurry up so we can relax! Or accidently driving by a legend's accident
Published: May 24th 2011North America » United States » California » Malibu
May 27th 2011
Kevin's Entry: We both woke up very, very early around 5-ish eager to get out of Jenner and down to Malibu. Nancy was done with the country! We straightened up and packed up and were on the road before the fog could burn off. Most everything was still closed as drove from the coast inland to get on the expressway. Even the town of Petaluma was still just waking up so we got on the 101 and headed south for the beach. We went back through San Fran and caught the I-5 for a fast drive down. Yes, it’s fast but it is boring as can be. It is a very dry area that they grow lot’s of fruits and nuts with heaving irrigation. We both agreed to get off and head over to the 101 ... read more
Day 10 This is Jim Rockford. At the tone, please leave your name and number and I’ll get back to you…
Published: May 26th 2011North America » United States » California » Malibu
May 23rd 2011
Kevin's Entry: Today, Monday was just the best vacation day. We didn’t really DO anything. Which is kinda the point but hard to actually do. I got up early and hung out and made some coffee for us while watching the ocean. We both read and relaxed and finally got going around eleven. We headed into Malibu and went to Paradise Cove. Some of you may remember that opening tag above from the weekly TV show Rockford Files from the mid to late 70’s. That was a staple of television viewing in the Burkhart household each week when I was a kid. I still love to catch a rerun if I come across it on MeTV or something. I loved James Garner’s relaxed southern attitude and homey style as he played a cool ex-con private detective ... read more
Day 9 - It's All About ME today!
Published: May 26th 2011North America » United States » California » Malibu
May 22nd 2011
Nancy's Entry -Today was definitely the highlight of my vacation! We got up and my nephew Damon took us to the "Malibu Country Mart" Starbucks where all the paparazzi hang out and all the celebs go. We didn't see any celebs today, but we had a great time people watching. After that we walked around and looked at the fancy Malibu shops in the shopping center there, and then piled in Kev's car and headed to Beverly Hills to eat lunch at my favorite place, Pink's. It's a tiny chili dog shack that has been featured on the Food Network and History channel many times because it has been around for so long. We sat outside and enjoyed every minute of eating food that's bad for us. After that my nephew guided us to the Robertson/Rodeo ... read more
May 21st 2011
Kevin's Entry: We needed the alarm to get up at 4:15. We coordinated with Nancy’s nephew Damon who lives out here to meet up in LA and then drive down to Irvine to the place where each weekend people cruise in to this large parking lot in the Mazda corporate offices for an amazing, informal show (http://www.cncpics.com/). It’s unusual to see even one ‘real’ Shelby Cobra driving around, let alone 3 or 4, not to mention more early 70’s Porsches than you can count sprinkled in with Lambos, Ferraris, 60’s muscle, Maybachs, hot rods, Lotus, Woodies, race cars, bikes, tons of Alphas—just mind blowing!! You have to get there early because it ends at around 9-ish. Most of these people won’t drive their cars any later than that because they say all of the regular drivers ... read more
October 3rd 2010
Time to head out on another cruise but this one is very special since it's our Honeymoon. We had a wonderful wedding day yesterday and are relaxing in Malibu before flying to Venice (via Amsterdam) tomorrow. On Wed morning we'll be boarding the Nieuw Amsterdam for a 12 day cruise from Venice to Barcelona. John has been to several of the cities we'll be visiting but it's Sharon's first trip to this part of Europe. Our ports will include 5 ports in Italy, 1 in Croatia, 3 in Greece and finally Barcelona. We'll update this blog when we can from the ship to let you all know where we've been and the sights we've seen. We'll probably also inlcude how we're doing at Bingo and the Casino as well as our dining experiences and our comments ... read more
California Dreaming....Aug 2010
Published: September 18th 2010North America » United States » California » Malibu
September 16th 2010
On the way to China I only had a quick stop-over in California, but on the way back I stayed about 3 weeks. It was great to spend some time with my Dad, especially since he'd been having some health challenges. He had a persistent cough with a nasty wheeze and difficulty breathing. After a battery of tests, he was finally diagnosed with Whooping Cough - an illness that usually presents itself in small children. There's been a recent outbreak of Whooping Cough among the elderly in the US and one theory is that vaccines that were created 70 years ago didn't take into account that people might be living into their 80's and 90's; basically they've oultived the effectivity of the vaccine! As I write this, my Dad is still on medication and under physicians' ... read more
Day 1 Sydney, Los Angeles, Ventura
Published: August 1st 2010North America » United States » California » Malibu
July 31st 2010
OK folks, we're here in USA. The first night we spent in Ventura in a motel right on the beach. I can't recommend it, but the position was great. The first night we celebrated by going to a fabulous Italian Restaurant next door and I has a marinara dish cooked in a bread dough, it was delicious. John had the best Italian sausage he's ever had with polenta. The Escape Campervan is a "Tree Hugger" design, (perfect for John) I thought and has everything we need. We're suffering from jet lag because our world has been turned upside down. It is now day where it would be night in Sydney, so we have a lot of adjusting to do. ... read more
L.A. (or just outside of it)
Published: July 16th 2010North America » United States » California » MalibuJuly 5th 2010
I arrived in Downtown L.A. at about 10pm after the bus arrived 2 hours late (and I have no idea how that happened, we were never stuck in traffic or anything - I guess the bus driver just took the wrong route or something?). Got a cab to Santa Monica where Peta (my aunt on my father's side, for anyone who doesn't know) picked me up and we drove back to her place near Malibu. Overall I think she lives roughly 90 minutes outside of Downtown L.A. and Santa Monica is about halfway. Although the weather was actually not fantastic while I was there (very cloudy, what the locals call "June Gloom"), when the sun did break through then the beaches were glorious. We walked down Venice Beach just as the sun was shining, and it ... read more
May 5th 2010
(** for some reason, the photos are all over the place in this entry - sorry about that! not sure there's much I can do about it, so please bear with it***) Getty was an oligarch-turned-philanthropist, who invested an art trust fund with hugely valuable shares in his own company, for the establishment of an art museum and upon the condition that the art was free. Two centres were set up: the Getty Villa in Malibu, which I saw on Wed 5 May and the Getty Centre in Los Angeles, which I actually saw on Tues 4 May. THE GETTY VILLA The Getty Villa was the first establishment. It's in the form of a Roman villa buried in Herculeneum, and stands on a hill in Malibu, with commanding views over the ocean and the surrounding land. ... read more
