LA and the West Coast

We had a 7-hour wait at the airport before our flight to Los Angeles, so we found a coffee shop with a wifi code and set up camp. It was strange to catch up with the world again after a week without any wifi. We finally touched down in LA at 9pm.

Because of the long day and sleepless night, we were in no hurry to get up early the next morning. By mid-morning we ventured into LA’s notoriously busy traffic. It was slow going, but we did not have any plans for our two days in town so we enjoyed the ride and the LA vibe. Our only job was to find a doctor as my ears have still not cleared up properly.

Finding a walk-in doctor in LA is significantly harder than finding one in the UK. So by the time we finally walked out of a pharmacy with a bag full of drugs it was 3pm. What does one do in LA at 3pm on a random Thursday? Go to the beach of course.

We took a stroll down Santa Monica beach taking cheesy photos of people playing volleyball, exercising, cycling and just laying about. And of course we also had to take pictures of the obligatory Baywatch-style lifesaver huts… welcome to California! 

On our second day we booked a studio tour at Warner Bros Studios, famous for its TV work like Friends, Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men. As it was only 20km away, we took a detour via Rodeo Drive (made famous by Pretty Woman) but underestimated the LA traffic. After a crazy two hours on the road we parked and ran up the steps. We made our tour with a minute to spare.

 

 

The tour was much better than either of us expected. We toured the back lot of the studio that has various different filming locations on site, such as a Chicago street scene and a jungle. They take things down or dress things up as needed. But perhaps the most interesting was the sound studio of the Big Bang Theory. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed, but it was very cool to see the set I have watched a thousand times on TV. Only a small screen separated me from “Sheldon’s Spot” on the couch. But the couch we did get to sit on was the original Friends couch. The have saved the whole set with all the bits and pieces and this now forms part of the studio tour. 

They also shoot short Friends scenes every half an hour or so in which visitors get to be the famous stars. Adrie was cast as Gunther and had to serve coffee. My face is clearly not made for TV so I was only background coffee drinker in Central Perk. It was a lot of fun.

Along with a lot of original memorabilia like Dirty Harry’s Magnum 45, Superman outfits and Batman cars and Bat Tools to see, we also got to hold a real Oscar. We had a lot of fun taking photos of one of the sets from The Hobbit where director Peter Jackson created the illusion of Gandalf appearing larger than his dwarf and hobbit friends.  We really enjoyed glimpsing a little bit of Hollywood make-believe magic.

We took the obligatory picture of the Hollywood sign and walked down the Walk of Fame before driving through the streets of Beverly Hills. I was less interested on who lives where exactly, but the drive was quite interesting and some of the houses enormous. When Adrie suggested we drive to the Playboy Mansion I suddenly had renewed purpose. Unfortunately (and rather obviously) you can’t see much from the street passing by so I settled for a picture of the Playboy Mansions neighbour’s house. Sadly no bunnies were out and about on the streets. 

The next morning we headed to Cambria, a seaside village about two thirds of the way to Monterey, which we decided on to make the drive to Pebble Beach the following day much easier. In hindsight, this was a superb decisions as the traffic was sometimes horrendous and coastal roads just generally take more time.

We stayed in a lovely B&B that was rated one of the best in the state. The owners go above and beyond and every evening there is a “happy hour” where guests can sample some of the regional wines to go with their homemade snacks. Before long the wine was flowing and the laughs were abundant. Adrie tried pretty much all the wines they had on offer so needless to say, we didn’t really make it out for dinner that evening! 

The following morning we decided to take a short detour on our way to Pebble Beach. Due to landslides we couldn’t drive all the way along the famous Highway 1, but we travelled a few miles north to visit an Elephant Seal rookery. Elephant Seals have been inhabiting the coast of Highway 1 for years, and they continue to be a famous stop while visitors are in the Cambria area. These ocean going mammals spend eight to ten months a year in the open ocean, migrating thousands of miles, twice a year, to their land based rookery for birthing, breeding, molting and rest. This specific rookery is home to about 17,000 animals. 

It was a bit chilly watching the seals from the bluff above the beach but it was also very enjoyable. The ones we could see were sub-adults and had come ashore to molt. They were huge! Apparently the big bulls can get to over 5m long and weigh almost 3 tons. They smell quite a bit too.

We stayed and watched the characters flop about on the beach which was funnier than it sounds. Most of them were simply relaxing on the beach – who wouldn’t on a Sunday morning – but some were engaging in mock fighting. Although it looked a bit violent, this was only practise. Later in life, some of these males will have to use these skills to compete for territory and females and sometime even their life, so this was still serious business.

We pushed onto Pebble Beach – our last stop on our 6-month tour. This meant we were excited and sad in equal measure that this day has arrived. But our hotel was beautiful and we loved having cocktails on the porch watching the sun go down. Let’s hope my game of golf does the course justice tomorrow!