My trip to California
Feb 10 '09 (Updated Feb 15 '09)
The Bottom Line After not seeing the sunny beaches of California in 20 years and having time off, I decided to go back.
I had the last week off from my classes (we have a weird schedule) and had all my work assignments done (that I get paid for), so I decided to spend my week off in California to visit some friends. I've not been to California since I was a kid (20 years ago already!), which was in Monterey; San Francisco, summer 1983; San Diego, summer 1987; Los Angeles/Hollywood; summer 1988. Most of my trips have been to the East Coast (which I love for the history), like NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago (well that's more Midwest), KC, Washington D.C., and the only other West Coast state I've been to is Seattle, Washington way back in summer of 1995. It was nice to have sunny weather and see beaches for a change.
I went to LA for a day and went to a pier located at Ocean Blvd and Colorado in Santa Monica. When my friends and I got out of the car and walked up to the beach, I was suddenly at peace and relaxed. I jokingly said to my friends, "Hey, I think I'll just sit on the beach for the rest of the afternoon with a margarita" My friends also joked that I was being a 'big kid' as I was letting the waves come up to my knee caps. Hey, what can I say? I'm originally from the Midwest where we have nothing but farmlands, cornfields, wheatfields, and such. I picked up some sea shells and I tipped some of the people playing instruments on the pier and I bought a sea shell necklace from a vendor on the pier. Plus, I rode the Ferris Wheel and it was nice to see the ocean and the mountains at the same time. We drove to Hollywood, but we only ate there as it was getting late and we had a two hour drive back home to the small mountain town in Cailfornia where my friends live in. I have to say, I've never seen such aggressive and bumper to bumper traffic as I saw in California.
We were planning to go to San Diego and to Mexico, but there wasn't enough time. Plus, San Diego was 3 hours from where my friends lived, whereas LA was not as far away. My friends said next time we can go to San Diego and spend more time in LA. I would have loved to have done more California stuff, especially go to Hollywood as I love movie stuff, go Malibu, Beverly Hills, and spend more time on the beach. Maybe someday I'll take a packaged tour (or one by myself) all up and down the California Coast. Beautfiul state, though expensive I must say. A extra value Chicken McNugget meal at the McDonalds at LA Airport cost almost $10.
Here was the bad of my trip: My plane was schedule to fly out at 1:40 pm on Sunday. The taxi service got me there too late (20 minutes before the plane took off), because the weather in the mountains was bad and the fog going down the mountains to Ontario, California was longer than they'd anticipated. The lady at the desk tells me my options are to take the plane to Denver the next day or take a shuttle/cab to LA Airport (about an hour away from Ontario) and fly out at 6:30. I had classes the next day, I was really tired, wanted to be at home sleeping in my own bed, and didn't feel like spending money for a hotel, cab, and just sitting in a hotel for another 18 hours or so.
Coincidentally, there was another guy that was in the same predicament as me. He got bumped off his planned flight from Ontario California Airport and was on his way to Denver. We talked it over, agreed to split a shuttle fee to LA International Airport, and each paid an optional $75 to have our tickets confirmed. I didn't want to be on "standby" and possibly not fly the hell out of LA until the wee hours of the night, so it was worth the Confirmation fee. Another option was to rent a car and drive ourselves to LA Airport, but that would have been just as much for the shuttle (if not more), plus I didn't feel like driving in LA traffic and then dealing with the hassle of returning the car (especially at LA Airport). The plane flew out of LA and landed in Denver at close to 10 pm. I got my luggage and jumped in my car and left the terminal at 10:45 and got home close to 11:30. I was tired as heck.
I made it back in one piece and I felt rejuvenated when I got back to classes and work. Plus, I had lots of energy when I went to go workout Monday evening. I think I was on a California high :)
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matthewn
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