OOH LA LA!

We dropped Steve off at the airport the next day and headed back to Hoppy Brewing Company where we proceeded to spend the next 7 hours updating the blog and writing postcards. They were very nice about our loitering and let us sit in a side room so that we weren't bothered by anyone and were left alone to write. We ate both lunch and dinner there and left after dark in intending to travel as much distance as we could during the night toward LA. We were making our way slowly there to spend a few days with my Dad's cousin Sherry and her family before heading south to San Diego for the Breast Cancer Walk. The next morning we again spent writing and just poking around northern LA, trying to waste some time until we could meet up with Sherry. Around mid afternoon we pulled into their Woodland Hills home where we were greeted like family and shown to their guesthouse where we would be lodging while staying with them. The rest of the day we spent talking and getting to know one another until dinner time when Sherry and Jon took us along for their son Will's birthday dinner. We went to an excellent seafood restaurant then finished the evening back at the house eating liquor-filled chocolates to celebrate. Throughout dinner and desert Katie and I discussed our plans for the next day taking in everyones suggestions along the way. Wednesday morning Sherry and Jon again treated us to an excellent meal, this time breakfast at a favorite local deli of theirs. After our meal we were ready to take on our jammed packed day of tourism in LA. We headed first to Hollywood where we drove right by the Chinese Theater and the Walk of Fame and headed down the Sunset Strip. One of our travel books had the Sunset Strip detailed out with the

history of almost every building. Katie was my mini tour guide as we drove up and down the strip, try feverishly to read as we passed by landmark after landmark. Along the way we passed La Brea road and a light bulb wen off in my head. I was reminded of the La Brea tar pits, a stop that was originally not on our radar at all. We followed the road south until we found the tar pits where we parked the car for free and then walked around for about an hour. We never entered the museum but we still got to see all of the excavation sights, even one that was currently being excavated. After my little side trip we decided to get back on track and headed north again to Hollywood Blvd. This time we parked CJ, got out and walked around, again spending about an

hours time at this location. We walked down the sidewalks staring at the ground reading every name that we passed. More often than not we found ourselves bumping into other people who were either doing the same thing we were or else

trying to sell us maps to the stars or tour bus trips. The Walk of Fame wasn't to impressive but when we got to The Chinese Theater where everyone's hand and footprints are pressed into the cement, we began to have a lot more fun. Though we definitely had the urge to size up our hands and feet with every celebrity immortalized there, Katie and I resisted the temptation in all but a few places. Most of the people there were

before our time, but we did see the stars of Harry Potter front and center in the courtyard. Actually, we heard on the radio the next day that Cher was set to put her hands and feet in the cement that very night. Too bad we were one day too early and missed all the festivities. After this star studded stop we began to take a more serious approach to culture and headed for the Museum of Tolerance. Along the way, we drove down Rodeo Drive keeping our eyes peeled for some celebrities that never showed their faces. Katie had read about the Museum of Tolerance from one of our books and thought that it sounded like a very real, intense experience. The museum is half a tolerance museum and half a Holocaust museum. The only reason I knew of the museum was from a South Park episode in which the intolerant school boys are forced to visit the museum. Needless to say, I was more excited to visit the parts of the museum I had seen recreated there which focused on not bullying people and acceptance rather than the Holocaust. When we got to the museum, we were immediately surprised at the serious atmosphere that greeted us. We had to pass through a metal detector and go through a quick orientation about our behavior inside the museum before we could even enter. The tolerance part turned out to be pretty hokey as expected and was literally designed for school children, many of whom were in the museum on field trips. After one quick exhibit here we skipped out on the rest to avoid the masses of children and went into the Holocaust section. The 45 minute walk through exhibit was put on extremely well and really put us in grave, serious mood as we left the museum. All of a sudden the beach and boardwalk had somewhat of a lesser appeal than it did hours before. Regardless, we still went, hoping that the light hearted atmosphere of beach life would help to

raise our spirits again. We got to Venice Beach about 4p.m. which is about 1 hour before the sun sets. We walked up and down the boardwalk, watching people play basketball or body builders lift weights, while people along the street tried to rope us in to see a doctor that would give us a medical marijuana prescription. Once the sun set we turned around and left Venice and headed back through Malibu to Sherry

and Jon's. Here we got some directions to BJ's Brewery where we spent a few hours eating and talking about our emotional roller-coaster of a day in the city. The next morning we packed up the van, said goodbye to our gracious hosts who woke up early just to see us off, and made our way down to San Diego to pick up Russ from the airport. Along the way we made a stop in Inglewood at the famous Randy's Donuts for a healthy breakfast, then continued on down the highway through the morning traffic.