Out West - Day 42

Tuesday, October 14, Hollywood - Day 42. Another beautiful day in sunny California.

Today, we traveled into Hollywood, as the photo, above, will attest. We drove on Hollywood Boulevard, through the main part of town, past the famous "Kodak Theater", where the Oscars are awarded. We walked to the intersection of Hollywood and Vine, where we took some photos (see today's web album for all the "juicy" details!). Next, we drove up to Mulholland Drive, where we were able to get a few more great photos of the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles. In case you wondered, Mulholland Drive was built by, and named for, William Mulholland, an engineer. The road was built to take "Angelinos" from the crowded city out to the seashore. I'm not sure of the distance, but Mulholland Drive begins in North Hollywood, and continues its winding way through the Santa Monica mountains, ending, finally, at Leo Carillo Beach, at the northwestern border of Los Angeles County. We only traveled a portion of the Drive because we wanted to get back to the motor home to sit out in the sunshine, before heading out to meet the Goldsteins and Chad and Lauren for dinner in Sherman Oaks.


Above, is a picture of me wading into the Pacific Ocean for a swim. I had promised myself that I would do this while we are out here, and so, I am fulfilling that promise. I have to tell you that, no matter what they tell you, the Pacific Ocean is COLD! I now understand why all the surfers here wear wet suits. You just can't be in this water for more than a few minutes. I thought the Atlantic Ocean in New England was cold, but this water might be even colder!


This evening, we met Cindy and Neal Goldstein, Chad and Lauren, and another couple, Nikki and Bob (friends of Neal and Cindy), for dinner at El Torito in Sherman Oaks, CA. If you look on a map, Sherman Oaks is north and a bit west of LA, but still a part of LA. The city of LA is HUGE, to say the least. When you hear about places like Santa Monica, Venice, Manhattan Village, Sherman Oaks, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Marina del Rey, and on and on and on, these are all part of the city of Los Angeles! The traffic here is unbelievable!! No matter the time of day, these freeways (?) are jammed with traffic, going, who knows where.

Anyway, dinner was very nice. Chad had suggested that we get together with Nikki and Bob, because Chad really likes them, and they really like him. He had promised them that they would get to meet us while we were out here, and this was the best way to accomplish that, since we wouldn't have been able to get everyone together in the motor home last night at dinner.

I have to say that I can understand why Chad likes California. It seems that, everyone we have met, to date, really likes him for who he is, and we are very proud of that. We are thinking, now, that, instead of going further south into San Diego, we may spend more time here in LA.

Stay tuned for our decision.

Here's the link to today's web album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cbenoitiii/TheTripHollywoodDay41?authkey=u-R9qymqk_4#