Snow White and the City of Angels... and Pictures!

What does a day look like when you go to the City of Angels? Looks like Val and I took a run around the neighborhood, saw a breath-taking view of the mountains and ocean from the top of a hill, met some cool old tortoises at her neighbor's house, and Steve cooked us pancakes for breakfast! That's a pretty good start to the day if you ask me!
And then we were off to Los Angeles! Traffic wasn't that bad, since we left Val's house at 10:30, and we made it to town in just under an hour! First stop: Hollywood Boulevard! We definitely got stars in our eyes heading down the Walk of Fame. Namely Snow White, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astair, Humphrey Bogart, Kermit the Frog, and many, many more! Pictures to follow!
We found our way to the famous Chinese Theatre, the one with all the hand prints in the concrete. We found a few of our favorites, but one question remained... Who is Sid? All these famous people wrote to Sid when they left their marks, but who was he? Sidney Grauman, The owner! He built several theaters all over California, but the Chinese was his last, completed in 1927. It's been a prime place for film premiers ever since! And stars of these movies left their mark, which we still see today! We continued down Hollywood Blvd taking pictures with our favorite stars, but I hadn't seen my favorite... Shirley Temple! We decided to look it up over lunch and find it afterward.
So where did we do lunch? At Musso and Frank's Grill, Hollywood's oldest restaurant! It's been around since 1919, and it's still decorated the way it was then! We decided to split the Flannel Cakes (flannel, not funnel!), which are like crepes. We also wanted a full meal at a Thai place, so we split something small. And it was like having dessert first! We googles where to  find Shirley, and it turns out, she's not just a star on the sidewalk, she's got her mark at the Chinese, and we missed it! Got to go back!
Next up: Val wanted to stop in an old theatre/film bookstore, which was actually pretty neat! There were actors' biographies, books about movies, books about being a screenwriter, movie posters, etc. We stopped in a dress shop where all the clothes are inspired by Bettie Page. For a reformed pinup girl, she sure had cute and modest taste in real life!
Now, back to the Chinese! I needed to see Shirley! And there she was! I don't know how we missed her the first go around, but now we got her! Her imprints were left there in 1935. :)
We hopped back in the car and drove to the Thai place because Shirley's star was closer to there than where we had been. The food was a little hot for me, but it's fun to say I had Thai frog and beef liver for lunch today!
Next up, the search for Shirley's Star! We started out in the direction we thought was correct. We saw Cary Grant and others we like, we even met a nutty earth-hugger who wanted us to sign a petition for something, but there was no Shirley to be found! Oh well. At least I got to see her imprints at the Chinese!
And for our next tourist event, up into the hills we went to see the Hollywood sign! This was the one thing I asked Val if we could do while I was here--get our pictures with Hollywood! The best place to see it is from Griffith Observatory in Griffith Park--in Beverly Hills! Check that one off the list, too! The drive was a steep one, but Val's Mazda SUV (named Memphis, because she's blue!) took us up, up, up the mountain with fervor. We were apparently not the only folks who wanted to get a glimpse of the iconic sign. There were runners, bikers, hikers, walkers, and other drivers, all headed up and down the mountain and hills. How the bikers and runners got to the top is beyond me! It's steep! We found a parking spot and set out in search of a good photo-op. We could see the sign clearly, but it looks very far away in pictures. Oh well! You can still see it in most of the pictures!
The Griffith Observatory itself is quite impressive! You can see all of L.A. proper, Hollywood, etc., even through the fog. There's also a museum inside, including a pendulum that knocks down a pin at the top of every hour. Picture below:

Down, down, down the mountain we go! We saw some beautiful homes not he way down, and that's how we knew we were in the Hills of Beverly! We could tell which ones were the stars' homes... They were the ones with big gates and over grown bushes and trees for privacy. =) 

Next and final stop in L.A.: Rodeo Drive! Neither Val nor I had any interest in shopping, but it was cool to see! We drove up Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, and not only is that a good way to avoid L.A. traffic, it was a beautiful seaside drive at sunset! It also goes straight through Malibu! It was a bit cloudy, but as the clouds cleared while we headed north, the sunset made the remaining clouds a beautiful pink, yellow, and orange. It was gorgeous! 

And then we were home! Steve cooked again--I'm becoming spoiled--and we watched the movie "Jobs." I stayed up till 10:00pm, which was quite the feat for me! 

And for our next trip: Ojai and Santa Barbara! Please join us! 

Tuesday's Adventure: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100203066101228.1073741842.52700845&type=1&l=164051a9e5

Wednesday's Adventure: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100203803917638.1073741845.52700845&type=1&l=014792d512

The Blowhole!

Hello one! Hello all! Quick Whit is back for a whirlwind 2014. For our first trip: Southern California with my Gal Val! Valarie was the first friend I made in DC, and she just moved to Camarillo, CA, a few months ago. Hence the need for a little Bachelorette trip! 

Monday morning came early at about 5:00am. The temperature was a warm 34 degrees--the warmest morning in weeks! The windchill was 23 degrees. Brrr. Off we go to warmer lands! I packed my last-minute items, took out my trash and the house recycling, ran an errand, and drove out to Steve's by 7:45. A quick drive to the airport and a few goodbye smooches later, the cold temps and threats of ice and snow were behind me! Just under 6 hours on the plane and I was in San Francisco, and another short plan ride later, I was being picked up at the Burbank airport by Val and her fiancé, Steve! (I know, so cute, we're both marrying Steves this year!) Burbank was sunny and 72! It was like a little taste of bliss!

Monday evening was spent catching up and seeing their property, including orchards (more on those later!), and a good night's sleep was had by all! 

Tuesday morning dawned beautifully. Steve made us breakfast, Val and I packed our lunches and a change of clothes, and off we went to board a boat bound for the Channel Islands National Park! 

The boat ride to the islands was chilly--though I shan't complain of weather here!--but quite lovely! The water is teal, and you can see very far down. We saw a stellar sea lion, who is quite a ways south of his Alaskan homeland, lying on a sunny buoy. The boat company said they don't see stellar sea lions terribly often, so that was a real treat! Next we saw harbor seals and California seal lions popping up to say hello and to warm themselves, and dolphins raced us! Some people were fortunate enough to see whales, but they seemed shy today, so not many came out to show off. 

And then the islands came into view! We docked and departed onto Scorpion Island and headed straight to the kayak headquarters--we had much to see! Val and I were joined by another couple, Lee and Lindsey, who had just gotten married on Saturday! We all opted for wetsuits and kayak jackets to help us stay warm, and we donned the mandatory helmets and PFDs (personal flotation devices). 

Our guide, Laird, was fantastic! We received instruction on how to carry and row in a kayak, how not to tip over, how not to flip out if we do tip over, how to get into the kayak on land and in the ocean (in case we tip over), how to row, how to do basic maneuvers, and loads of other details! Val and I decided to do a two-person (or tandem) kayak, and we were warned that this could cause a huge rift in our friendship without proper communication! Since Val has loads more on-water experience than I, I told her she was in charge! I'll respect her orders! 

And we were off! Laird helped us all into the water before getting in himself, and we set out to find some sea caves and wildlife! The Channel Islands National Park is home to 15 of the top 20 largest sea caves in the world, including the second largest! The tide was too low and the water too choppy to go into all the caves we saw, but we did get to go inside one! 

Aside from caves, we saw coral, sea urchins, anemones and starfish in all colors of the neon rainbow! We learned about a type of kelp that grows here that's like an underwater tree, and Laird even made a digeridoo from a similar, but much larger, type of the kelp! We glided over these things as if we were zip lining over the rainforest. They waved at us from below and just brushed the surface with their "air bladders," which allow the plant to stay close to the surface so the leaves can get sunlight! We use the slimy stuff in which they're covered for many things, including toothpaste! 

Onward we go! While making our way around, Laird spoke with us about the history of the island (which of course I was very excited about! And I actually was the one asking him to talk about it!). The chain of islands has been called the American Galapagos because there are so many endemic (unique to the island) species! For instance, there are island foxes on each of the islands, but they all have slight variations because of the way they've evolved and adapted to their immediate surroundings, and they've not been able to move from island to island to keep things mixed up! There used to be pygmy wooly mammoths on the islands, and some of the very oldest human fossils have been found there! 

Next we came to the namesake of this post... THE BLOWHOLE! We had just started toward the east side of the island, and ... Thar she blew! The conditions were just right today to create blowholes in the sea caves! Water rushes in, pushes out the air, which creates a vacuum. Then it explodes like the blowhole of a whale! Laird said those were the biggest ones he'd seen in his years of doing this, and we sat watching it happen again and again for at least 15 minutes! It was fascinating, and I'd even call it majestic! It also looked like a water ride at Disney World. ;) 

Val and I have a long history of getting ourselves into very precariously interesting situations. And this day was no different! We got swept onto a rock and ended up at a 45-degree angle before another wave came to sweep us free! Teamwork prevailed, however, and I'm happy to report that we did NOT tip the boat or fall out! I'll freely admit I thought we'd fall out and go under, but Laird's expert training and Val's water mastery got us through on top! =) 

Onward ho! We saw lion's mane jellyfish, which look like plastic grocery bags floating around in the water, and Val got stung by a teal and purple anemone! We got out of our kayaks when we came to a sandbar and explored a part of the island called shipwreck beach--oh dear! Apparently there was a shipwreck there several years ago, and some of the pieces are still scattered about! 

Back into the kayaks and back to the beach! We had been out on the water for over 2 1/2 hours, and it was such fun! I can highly recommend the experience! We got back to the boat in plenty of time and headed back to the mainland a few minutes early. The boat stopped at the blowhole that we kayakers had discovered so everyone could see! People ooohed and ahhhed, and then a big one came a drenched the onlookers on the boat! And then it happened again!  

More dolphins came out to play on our ride back to the mainland, and some folks even saw a whale! I'm so bad at sighting anything, but I'll sure take people's word for it! Now we're back at Val and Steve's house, and Steve is making us supper! Today's adventure may be complete, but tomorrow's adventure is coming! 

Tomorrow… L.A.! I already told Val I feel like a foreigner coming to America for the first time! I'm going to L.A.!