As in my previous blog, my day on Saturday started at 2:00 am. I was on the road by 2:45 and I was in Burlington by 4:00. The one thing I never remember, though, is that TSA doesn’t open until 4:30, so I sat on the floor waiting for security to open up. My flight left right on time (6:00) and the flight was pretty nice. I managed to take a short nap. I woke up just a bit before JFK and the other guy in my row started talking to me. Normally, I hate talking to people on the plane, but he was really nice and I had just woken up from a nap, so I dealt with it. He asked me to take a few pictures, including one of Statue of Liberty for him. Of course, I obliged. We had to circle around JFK twice because the navigational equipment wasn’t turned on in JFK yet, but other than that, everything was seamless.
My flight from JFK to Long Beach was quite uneventful, which made me happy. It took about 6 hours and I slept for about 1.5 of it. I know, I know… Once we landed, I realized how weird that airport is. 90% of it is outside. It reminds me of the old Burlington setup. You get off the plane outside, you walk outside to the terminal, you go back outside and you get your luggage outside. Odd. Anyway, I headed to Hertz to pick up my rental car and there was a long line. An hour later, my compact car somehow became a Rav4, which I didn’t mind, and I was off to LA.
Now, the one thing I hate about LA is the traffic. It took me 1.5 hours for a trip that should have only taken about 20 minutes. AHHH!!! I was tired, I had a headache and I just wanted to lie down. Finally, I made it to the Crowne Plaza at LAX.
After navigating the parking garage, I went inside just to find out that they stick to the 3:00 check in time like it’s the Bible. So, I had to sit around for 45 minutes until a room was ready. Once I got my room key I had all I could to not run to my room. I was thrilled to find out that my room is in the quiet zone, which means no loud noises from the hotel staff or neighbors. They actually ban kids from this floor (he he). I loved it!! That was, until I realized that the bastards gave me a room on the side facing the airport. AHHHHHHHH!!! Did I mention that LAX is a 24 hour a day airport? Yup! Planes taking off and landing all day and night. Luckily, I was able to turn on the A/C unit and it drowned out the noise. My room isn’t the cleanest, but that’s why I bring Lysol wipes anyway.
It didn’t take me long to realize that I wasn’t going anywhere for the night. I had a migraine, so I went down to the gift shop to buy a $9 mini bottle of Tylenol. Once that kicked in, I ordered a $35 room service dinner and I ate dinner in bed. By 9:00, I was in la la land.
I woke up at 5:30, which is 8:30 east coast time. I had no idea what I was going to do today, with the exception of going to Downtown Dinsey in Ananheim to get Kasey a couple of replacement Tiggers (he loves his one from Disney World and I am scared to death that he is going to lose it and panic). Anyway, so I turned on the local entertainment channel and they were talking about neat things to do in LA. One thing that jumped out at me was the Los Angeles Zoo. How could I forget that there was a zoo here? I knew I wanted to do that, so I mapped it out. It was only going to take me about 15 minutes, so that was a go. I also promised Keith that I would try to find the Scrubs set to take a picture for him. Finally, I wanted to see the Hollywood sign and I found out that you could see it from Griffith Park Observatory. Add that to the list!!
So, after a blueberry muffin and a cappuccino, I was on the road by 8:30. First up, the Scrubs set. The address didn’t actually exist in my Garmin, so I just picked the closest address. Unfortunately, I had to do a couple of U turns before I could get in the right area. I parked the car and walked about three blocks and there it was. This place looked like crap. It was an old rundown hospital, but there wasn’t any doubting that it was the right building. Though there weren’t any building numbers on it, it was the only hospital in the area. So, I took a picture, sent it to Keith and hiked back to the car.
Next destination: Los Angeles Zoo: I got the zoo around 9:40 and it doesn’t open until 10:00. Regardless, I got in line behind about 40 people and I quickly realized that I was the only person there that wasn’t Hispanic. I had to laugh. Once the zoo opened, I charged like a rhino. :) I forgot just how big zoos are. It took me about 2 hours to see everything and to take a bunch of pictures. I bought Kasey this cute alligator shirt and a toy alligator to go with it. Oh yeah, this zoo has 6 giraffes and 3 of them are babies. I was wondering about that until I was something I’ve never seen before. That’s right, two giraffes mating. I now understand why there are so many babies… I think I’m scarred.
Next up: Griffith Park Observatory/Hollywood Sign: Now Griffith Park Observatory is only 5 miles from the zoo, so I figured it would be a quick in out and done trip. Boy was I wrong!! Luckily, I had done my research and I knew that there was very little parking and everyone and their brother likes to come here. So, on my way up this massive hill, I found some parking on the street and I quickly took it. I was sure to leave plenty of room between the car in front of me and I headed out. Now the walk up this hill was hell and I had on flip flops. Granted it wasn’t my brightest move, but there were so many dumb broads dressed to the nines with 4 in stiletto heels on. HELLO?! So, I made it to the top of the hill and there it was: the Hollywood sign. I think my mouth may have dropped open. I took some pictures and I kept going to the observatory. Now I’m sure all of you have see this building before (I think it was in one of the Charlie’s Angels movies), but it nonetheless, it is beautiful. I walked around a little bit, took some pictures and headed back down the hill. I finally found my car and I hopped in. Once I got it started, I put it in reverse and apparently the car behind me wasn’t as nice as I was and I bumped into it. That’s right, I hit a car. Luckily it didn’t do any damage to either cars, as far as I can tell. You see, my car has a lot of previous scratches and dings, so they all blend in (lucky for me).
Finally: Downtown Disney, Anaheim, CA: My last stop for the day was Downtown Disney. As I said before, my entire purpose was to go there to get replacement Tiggers. I can’t bear the thought of Kasey not having a Tigger. It took me about an hour to get there and the parking lot was a long way away, so, yet again, more walking. I walked in and I headed into the ESPN store to see what they have that’s new. I didn’t see anything I couldn’t live without, but they did have a new basketball t-shirt for Keith, so that was purchase #1. As for the rest of the shopping, I was pretty good. I bought 2 Tiggers for Kasey, 3 lollipops for Kasey, a shot glass for me (they call it a toothpick holder), a pin for each of us (we collect Disney pins), a tie-dye t-shirt for Kasey from Rainforest Café, and a cute frog fork & spoon set for Kasey from Rainforest Café. See? I was a good girl. By the end though, my feet were killing me, so I headed to ESPNzone for dinner. Now this is a place any sports lover should go to at least one (kind of like a pilgrimage). I walked in and stated that I wanted a table for one in the restaurant. The hostess asked me if I wanted a table or a recliner. I was stunned. Out of fear, I said a table. She brought me in and all of a sudden, I understood. There was a whole front row of recliners in front of 12 televisions and one giant screen. What was I thinking??? I should have gone with the recliner. Anyway, after a great dinner, I headed back out to the car. About 40 minutes later, I was back at the hotel. I headed upstairs, called Keith and headed to the gym. Now, I am sitting here whining about my sunburn and dreading work tomorrow. Let’s see what comes from the rest of the week!
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