· Our plane arrived on time and we were in our rental car at 2:34 PST. According to Mapquest, it’s 13.57 miles from LAX to the house we’re renting in Hollywood. Mapquest estimated travel time of 33 minutes. Sure enough, a full 1 hour and 14 minutes later, we arrived at our destination. Welcome to Los Angeles, where it’s pretty darn important that you like the inside of your car.
· We’ve had some interesting final approaches to homes we’ve rented. This one was no different.
o In Akumal, we had to cross several speed bumps in the final mile. Those speed bumps were more like boulders. Each time we crossed one, I waited for the rental car’s undercarriage to meet its demise.
o In Santa Maria del Castellabate, the last half-mile was on a one-lane road that went seemingly straight uphill, with a series of blind 180-degree turns. Every time you approached one of those turns, you said a quick “Hail Mary” in hopes that no one was coming in the other direction.
o The approach to our house on Glencoe Way here in LA was another doozy. It seemed designed to stress you out. Parked cars lined the right side all the way up the hill. That left room for one car to make its way up or down the street. Luckily (I thought), we had a designated parking spot in the garage at our rental house. It turns out that the garage really was no bigger than my shed back in Dayton. There were 2 inches of clearance on either side of the car. Even after pulling in as far as I could, the full car didn’t fit. And, there was absolutely no way that I could pull in or back out in one fell swoop. Each time I needed to do that, I had to position my co-pilots at strategic locations outside the car to help guide me. Nick got the short straw. He was responsible for being the “cushion” between my right front bumper and the right front entrance to the garage. So far, he doesn’t have a scratch on him. Wish him luck the rest of the trip.
· News flash – some pretty weird people live in Los Angeles. So far, the guy in first place is the hiker we saw at the trails off of Mulholland Drive. Between his stretching routine (trust me, men shouldn’t be that flexible), his shaved legs, his painted nails, and his dancing (really, he was dancing while hiking), he’s actually pretty far ahead. Next time you see me, ask me to give you an imitation. I’ll do my best.
· What’s up with the people who let their dogs run loose on hiking trails out here and don’t make any attempt to pick up their dog’s poop? I thought we’d left the dog poop problem behind when we left Wally in Dayton. Nope. The entire hike, you had to have one eye on the trail to make certain you didn’t step in the dozens of piles of poop that littered the trail. Miraculously, we all made it through unscathed.
· One thing California does right is sell alcohol in its food stores. Maryland, pay attention.
· For all you occupiers, I think I found quite a few of the 1%. They seem to live in a place called Beverly Hills. There’s even a park in the center of town (right across from the Beverly Hills Hotel) just waiting to be occupied. Have at it.
