Escape from L.A.! - Day Five, Arrowhead and last days in LA

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April 22nd

This morning Dad and I woke up at a decent hour to get some last minute shopping of mine done. I needed to get some batteries for the trip, as well as an external hard drive. Nothing too exciting, until lunch time.

We went down the street from the apartment and ate what Dad called “Hospital Thai”. This is the nickname he gave the restaurant because it is right by the hospital, as well it is only open for lunch and lots of the Kaiser Permanente employees eat there. After a delicious lunch I made my way to Union Station to get the Metrolink to San Bernardino.
That’s where Lerina picked me up before we made the drive “up the mountain” to Lake Arrowhead. That’s how awesome she is, she’ll come down the mountain for me! 😊

After getting to the lake I walked around the town a bit before popping in for a couple beers at the Royal Oak, where Lerina and her best friend Lauren work. Since they were both working I got the royal treatment, so to speak. Let’s just say that they made me feel like I was back at the Recovery Room in Sioux Falls, I was comfortable and meeting all sorts of nice people. But the nicest of all was Lerina, and her friend Lauren, who kept putting shots of who-knows-what in front of me. I didn’t complain (too much!) though, and I had a blast there.

April 23rd

The next day she took my backpackin’ ass down to Riverside so I could visit my buddy Aaron one more time before I jetted off to freakin’ AFRICA. Lerina and I had lunch down at the place he works at and since he had the chance to take his break while we were there we were able to chat a bit before I got on the train to San Bernardino. Awww goodbye’s are probably the hardest thing in life for me, ironic since I have to do a lot of them with the appetite of traveling I have. <3

After getting back to LA I met up with my father at Union Station. He was in search of some authentic Mexican grub so we went to historic LA and a place called Olvera Street. After walkin around a bit down there we found a hole in the wall place that he fancied. He ate and I watched, my appetite was gone for the rest of the day. We headed back to his apartment and chilled the rest of the night. I had to prepare my bags for the trip and make sure I had everything ready to go. We watched a movie to get my mind off of things, I was stressing out a bit.

April 24th

The next day we had a great psuedo-Eurobreakfast (meats and cheeses and bread with some fruit, it reminded me of a great breakfast I had in Denmark in 2006 with Morty’s family). After that I packed my bags in the car and we set out for the airport….in a round about way. Dad had to get to an audition to get a part as a crazy guy and so we went to Santa Monica for that. I was able to walk around a bit and send some postcards while he auditioned.

Afterwards we drove around Beverly Hills for a bit and did the tourist thing. We checked out Rodeo Dr as well as Sunset and all the ridiculous houses around the area. Yeah, they really are quite ridiculous, extremely expensive and in places that I think an earthquake would just completely demolish them, oh well they’ve got nice views until then I guess! We headed down to Santa Monica and drove along the coast until we came to my final destination in the US of A, a place called L A X. Los Angeles International Airport.

Yet again I had to say another difficult good bye, but with this one at least I knew it was the last one I would have to do for a while, so that almost made it easier, but not quite.

I have to say the last two weeks have been incredible. I came out here really only knowing three people, and now I am leaving having seen some amazing places and met some excellent people. I can honestly say that I’ve left a piece of myself in the Inland Empire too, and I’ll have to go back there for it at some point after this trip.

So now, into the unknown (for me anyways) that is Africa. At the moment that I am writing this, I am going over 600 miles per hour somewhere over Wisconsin (we flew over South Dakota earlier and I shed a tear!). The plane is kinda shaky and the turbulence kinda freaks me out, but the flight is 1/3 over and Amsterdam is about 7 hours away (or 4000 miles if that puts it into perspective). I’m looking forward to my 9 hour layover and to getting this blog entry posted online whilst somewhere in the confines of a Dutch coffee shop…(but actually NOW I am posting it today the 29th and I'm in Kenya!)

So until next time..Pura Vida my family and friends.

-Brendan

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Comments

[Julia]

fog or smog?
haha i really cant tell from the pics but they reminded me of the smog you would see driving down from the mountains! looks like a great few days in la. i am w/ you 100% on the turbulence! Logically I know its like just driving on a bumpy road but still doesnt make it feel better! You are braver than me for flying over the Atlantic! Hope you have a great time! Cant wait for pics of the island!

[Avila]

ahha probably a mixture of fog and smog....island was really cool, will upload pics soon