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Published: December 10th 2008
Me..and the hollywood sign?!
it was so foggy you couldn't see the sign!!!Welcome back bloggers!
Yes its been a while since i wrote my last entry but i have been so busy i haven't had a chance to visit the internet cafes!
The last entry described my time in San Francisco which i enjoyed, and have now added pictures to that blog. To view these just go to "previous entry" and follow it back for the two San Fran blogs.
In fact there are now more picture from Sydney, San Fran and the Napa Vally!
On the Monday i flew from SF to LA and got to the airport late! i was directed to the wrong terminal TWICE by the locals and ended up circum-navigating the entire airport before arriving at the designated check in 15 minutes before my flight was due to leave! Whilst zooming round the airport i was of course stressing out a little and repeatedly asked the powers that be to delay my flight for me. If i missed the flight i may not have been able to get another and with this part of the trip being so inflexible, it meant that missing one flight meant screwing everything up. Luckily when i arrived at the check in
Love this shot
the reflections are from the coach! desk the woman informed me that the flight had been delayed 4 hours! I then managed to get on an earlier standby flight which had just one seat available! I was being looked after that day.
I arrived in L.A and made my way to the hotel by the usual route. At each airport i tend to try and find the "door to door van" service. It takes up to 15 people and drops you off at your destination in order of preference. Now depending on where everyone is going this could take you up to 2 hours, but it cost you less than a 1/4 of the direct taxi fare!
I was staying at the Hollywood Heights Hotel which was situated just a block from the Kodak Theatre on Hollywood Blvd.
That evening i took a walk down to the Blvd to see some of the Stars in the pavement and soak up the atmosphere. That night i booked a day tour for the following day, got an early night and was collected at 9 the following morning.
We Drove past Hollywood High School where Judy Garland was a student and also where they filmed most of
the outdoor school scenes from Greece.
We then Headed past Melrose Place and other famous streets towards Marina Del Rey. Marina del Rey is an exclusive marina housing many yaughts and $million apartments. It is also the place they film CSI Miami, and yes, i am a fan!
From there we hit Venice Beach. Its worth mentioning now that as has become a trademark of my travels, the bad weather has followed me yet again! So not only was it cold, it was also very very foggy hence the bad pictures of what should have been a very healthy Venice Beach! We made our way right through "Vencie" with its canals and riverside homes which i really liked.
The beach just down from here is where they filmed Baywatch, yet you wouldn't know from the pics due to the poor weather. I took the obligatory picture of the life guard tower and truck...i hope the Hoff fans out there appreciate my efforts!
We moved on to Mulholland Drive and proceeded to drive past the stars houses. Now initially i wasn't sure i wanted to do this, i am not quite comfortable with parking up in someones driveway and taking
pictures over their wall however this was part of the tour and i had to go with it.
It wasn't as bad as i thought and we didn't stop outside anyones house which made me feel more comfortable. We just drove past and Ken the English tour guide pointed out who lived where and filled us in with any funny relevant stories which was just the right amount of un-sensationalized info to keep us smiling!
We drove on into Beverly Hills and Bel air before hitting Rodeo Drive.
Lindsey Lohan and her Girly Sam Ronson were shopping in Gucci. They had closed the shop for her and a small crowd had evolved outside the shop, a picture of which i have included here. However i just couldn't bring myself to go and snap them through the window whilst shopping so sped a hasty retreat back to the comfort of my camera and the rest of Rodeo drive!
With the shops of Rodeo Drive being slightly out of my league i took advantage of the free time to photograph and try and capture the feeling of the place. Unfortunately i have to confess, the place had absolutely no feeling whatsoever! Maybe
it feels different if you have $50k to spend!
From there we headed back to Hollywood Blvd and i spent some time walking round the Chinese Theatre entrance which is filled with the hand and foot prints of the stars dating back to the 1900's! This was one of the highlights of my trip...to see a baby Shirley Temples tiny hand and foot prints in the concrete! When you see the picture of her prints please take into consideration that her foot print was smaller than the length of my hand!!!!!!
Hollywood was not what other had told me to expect. To he honest i had no expectations of the place whatsoever so it was all great to me! i couldn't however have spent any longer there and 3 days was more than enough.
That night i chilled as i was shattered and the following day i was due to fly out of LA to Vegas.
As you may have gathered already my Dad's cousin Ruth and her family live in NJ on the east cost. Her step son Greg recently moved to LA and worked as head artist for a very well known computer game company and is
one of the most talented artists i know...boy can that guy draw!
We hadn't seen each other for 2 years and his office was on the way to the airport, so i took 3 buses and walked a little before reaching Greg's 2nd home.
He showed me round the studios that created the Harry Potter computer games and many other famous and well known computer graphic games. I am not a big computer games person but i have to say i was memorized by the place and loved watching the animation artist acting out the animations of the characters infront of a sensor computer! Greg's office looked like a kids bedroom with all the action figure and posters of his own artwork.......all for artistic inspiration he tells me?!
He then drove me to the airport and we caught up on the last 2 years in the space 30 minutes! It was a shame we didnt get to spend more time together and i didnt get to meet his wife and baby but next time we will arrange it better! Either way it was so good to see him and i am so glad i managed to drop by on
the way through.
From there i flew to Vegas.
On the plane to Vegas i met a cowboy named Skip. He was arriving in time for the world series Rodeo which started the day after i arrived and ran for 10 nights.
Skip the Cowboy was in fact from Hawaii.....go figure! Anyway he was 63 and a real sweetie...so sweet in fact that he let me share his cab from the airport and paid! There are still real gentlemen in this world...its good to know.
I arrived at the Planet Hollywood Hotel on the strip opposite the Belagio (one with the big fountains) and Cesar's Palace. The place was HUGE! After checking in i jumped into a very full elevator where i met Frankie and Mark. They were loud and over excited and were staying in the room opposite me! After showering and unpacking i knocked for them and we had a drink. It turns out they are semi-pro American Football players in town for an all stars game. Knowing NOTHING about American Football i had a million questions and......more importantly, wanted to wear all the gear! They thought i was nuts but we all got on so well,
it was an instant connection and we ended up hanging out the whole time i was there.
Frankie was an Italian from New York, and mark came from Connecticut. From the minute we met we laughed and hurled insults at each other and thats pretty much how it went on for the rest of the trip!
After a great dinner that night we got to bed early as the boys (or girls as i ended up calling them) had training in the morning and i had my big tour of the Grand Canyon.
I was collected at 9am and driven an hour to a light aircraft airport.
There i boarded a 12 seater twin engine plane and flew an hour out over the Hoover damn to the canyon.
When we landed we hopped on board a coach which drove us to two amazing viewing sites right on the edge of the canyon.
Now.........................................i cannot describe the feeling of wonder and fear when you reach the very edge of the Canyon and you see it spilling out before your eyes.........................it is bigger, deeper and more intense than you could ever have imagined. It blew me away. Left me speechless and
i couldn't even lift my camera to my eye!
After finally managing to indulge myself in photographing one of the seven wonders of the world i realised i just couldn't do it any justice and sat back for 10 minutes to do what i came here to do...and that was absorb the energy. Many people have come away from the canyon with stories of empowering or calming energies which stay with them for many years.
I would like to tell you what i felt. i walked for while and found a spot where i could be alone without noise and visual distraction.
i hid amongst the trees suspended on a rock i probably shouldn't have been on, and just relaxed.
The energy there was strong and the air was what would call "busy"!
It was a wonderfully grounding experience that cannot be matched.
I was then driven to a local heliport where myself and 2 others boarded a helicopter for a 20 minute flight into the canyon! i Sat up front next to the pilot which gave me the ultimate view through a 360 degrees glass bubble and we swung over a carpet of green trees heading for the mouth
Kodak Theatre
Home to the Oscars of the canyon.
As we flew over the trees they played "Its a wonderful world" through the headphones followed by the start trek theme tune as we crested the canyon!
As we flew over and into the canyon i swear my heart stopped beating and my mouth dropped open! It was the most awe inspiring site i had ever seen in my life.......
I have been diving on the Great Barrier Reef, jumped out of a plane and been on an African Safari but this.......this took my breath away!
As we sailed through the chiseled mountains stretching over a mile deep i felt tears rolling down my cheeks......it was uncontrollable emotion from the depth of my soul.
One of my dreams and goals in life was to visit the Grand Canyon, and here i was, sailing through the middle and i just couldn't believe i was really there..... even thinking about it now gives me goose bumps!
We then flew back to Vegas and i met the boys fresh from training. They were shattered as was i, but one of their friends had a business function in the hotel and we had free tickets for the evening so we
dressed up and headed down for free food and drink....priceless when traveling!
We came up with elaborate stories as to why we were gate crashing this do which gave us endless hours of entertainment and an excuse to act like naughty school children all night!
After that we had a drink in the casino and the guys team mates joined us for a few beers. With them they bought a girl named Tina. Tina was from Arkensaw and was nuts! We got on instantly and decided to go party together for the night. Now i really wanted to see Bette middler in Concert the following night and Tina expressed the same wish so we left the boys to be boys and headed off in search for tickets to see the Divine Miss M.
Well our hotel were selling them at $287 so we walked away from that and headed straight to Caesar's Palace (where she was playing) for the face value tickets. The Box Office was closed when we arrived so we headed a few blocks up to the New York New York Hotel to meet the boys, however.....we got a little way laid along the way.....3 clubs way laid!
So by the time we found the boys we were barely standing and ready to hit the sack!
The next morning i awoke at 12 midday! I was devastated! Well i was more than devastated i was clearly very hung over and didn't leave the hotel room till 2pm!
I made a few over due calls home and then got myself together to see Miss Middler! Nikki had told me she would buy me the ticket for my birthday (we ended up getting it at $140!!) so i hopped and skipped down to Caesar's Palace in time for the 7.30pm curtain up.
Bette was DIVINE!!!! i don't know how many of you have had the privilege of seeing her live, but my god! she if funny! Not just funny, but at 60 something she doesn't not stop commanding that stage for 90 minutes of singing, dancing, zooming around in wheelchairs (god bless Dolores!) and looks a million dollars!
After a serving of everything showgirl Tina and i headed to the House of Blues for dinner. Tina loves her blues Y'all so we had an ass kicking night with good food, good company and good music! This town just
couldn't get any better!
The following day the boys had their game and invited me along. It was an hour out of town so having got them fed and watered i hauled them into the car and we headed off to the match. I met Tina there and we sat on the bleachers yelling for the US of A....however i had no idea what i was yelling for! Tina kept me a breast of the situation but i was more interested in taking action shots on my camera! Having mastered the sporting setting on the camera i was having way too much fun catching the action to worry about them loosing miserably!
After the game Mark and i drove back in the dark to the Hotel where he bought my dinner and we put the world to rights.....
I then got a taxi to the airport and boarded the 5 hour over night fight from LA to New York.
My time in Vegas was one of the highlights of my trip. Good people, Good fun, and life dreams becoming reality. I was a little worried that i wouldn't enjoy vegas on my own, funnily enough it wasn't Vegas that made
the trip....it was the people i met.
I landed at JFK airport at 6am the following morning supporting a 3 hour time difference and big bags under my eyes! i managed to sleep on the plane thanks to the partying in Vegas and jumped on a bus from JFK to Newark where i was collected my my Uncle Paul. Paul is Dad's brother and has lived out here for around 10 years now.
He was so excited to see me he threw all his papers and coat to the ground and threw his arms round me!
We drove an hour to his place in Hackettstown NJ, where i could freshen up before driving 20 minutes to cousin Ruth's for the family birthday party. Ruth's son Bryan has a daughter Abi and it was her 1st birthday party. Now the whole cousin thing may be throwing some of you off but we have a good close family over here and my 2nd cousins are all now starting to breed......its very scary....but very exciting too!
So i managed to see lots of family members and it was so unbelievably amazing to be with Ruth and George again.....at a time where i
Route 66
Taken on a very bumpy bus! struggle to find a place to belong.....it was comforting to be here, a place i have always called home.
The party went well with babies owning the floor space and adults owning the alcohol!
I spent the entire day wearing a huge grin...which i don't think has actually left yet!
That night Ruth, George and i tidied up and then settled down with a glass of wine and i began to tell them the many stories of my travels. They have been so supportive and followed my every move saying they felt they were traveling with me all the way. well a note to those of you that comment or send messages, the feeling is reciprocated.
Yesterday i slept in. i slept and slept and slept! God knows what time my body thinks it is but either way it needed to sleep! and it did just that!
That afternoon i hung out with Ruth and George. We had lunch at an all American Diner before baby sitting Abi and then heading out for Dinner with Bryan and Allison. Today was Bryon and Allison (Abi's parents) 2 year wedding anniversary.
It should have been mine too.
Anyway they have been together
Union Sq
From the film "The Way We Were" 10 years this year (they are only 26) and with Bryan at work Allison, George and i took little Abi on a 3 mile hike into the woods . Abi was strapped to granddad George's back and we trekked through the icy wood down to a stunning frozen lake before Abi fell asleep and we headed home.
It was -2 degrees here yesterday and just below freezing here today....i go out with up to 5 layers on! God help me when i get to Canada!!!!
Yesterday i made George put the Christmas Reindeer out on the lawn...its just not Christmas till the family have the house decorated the way they do in America!
This afternoon i spent the time loading over 1500 pictures onto the computer to burn onto disc and upload onto the blog. Its now 12.52am and i am yet to load pics onto this entry!
Tonight we had dinner and Ruth and i did our usual....sat up talking for hours and hours till one of us pulls the plug!
I miss these guys so much and every moment spent with them is invaluable, so much so its hard to go bed to finish each day.
Tomorrow George
Guitars
Taken in Little Mexico.....Been this is for you and i are going into New York. I hadn't planned on going into the city having done NYC so many times already, however i have never been the owner of a decent camera till now so i am really looking forward to photographing the city the way i know it.
Tomorrow night i transfer from here to Paul's where i will spend Wed, Thurs and Fri night. I intend to hook up with my Cousins Clive and Cheryl, go to the theatre and spend quality time with my Uncle.
On Saturday i travel 8 hours by train up to Niagara Falls. I will spend two nights there before flying from Toronto to Halifax, Canada and driving 3 hours North to spend my final week with friends.
I hope you enjoy the pictures from the last 2 weeks.
Sorry its taken this long to update the blog and sorry the descriptions are therefore so brief.
I hope you are all well.
With love from a very happy and content Lucy x
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Fee and Deb
non-member comment
All praise the Divine!
Thank god you went to Bette, so pleased. By the way, weather has been fab since you left as we knew it would be. xoxoxo