April 22 - Los Angeles

We arrived in LA after a long flight with "horrible, vulgar and inedible food" according to Claire! We organised the car (hugely more expensive than the price we booked for online - thanks to extra insurances etc, but such is life), then "we went to Taco Bells - which was delicious and my first time, even though I felt a bit sick afterwards and didn't want to look at tacos again, but we have kept seeing the 'taco' sign along the streets", (Claire). 

The La Brea Tarpits were a truly amazing sight. Claire said that, "the sloths, giant masterdons, sabre tooth cats, the dire wolves, and the camel were some of the animals that got stuck in the tar and that I learned about.  I liked the movies that showed how the tarpits were formed and how the animals got stuck."

Claire doing the test to see whether the big foot or the smaller foot is easier to lift out of the tar.

We found our accommodation, previously booked via airbnb, a site we have used quite extensively in the past - only to end up at a dive.  I'll post a few photos so you can see what was purported to be a "quaint 2-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles".  It was very, very ordinary to say the least.

So after a frantic call to Tony, after we had sat in a supermarket carpark for over an hour trying to find something suitable via the iPad, Tony came to our rescue and booked a hotel in West Hollywood ... he said he Google Mapped the apartment ... "the driveway is on the left, right"? he said, "Yes", "... and it's sort of cute?" "Yes", "It's a crack house! I just saw two blokes coming out of there and they shot each other!!!"  And he laughed and laughed and laughed.

Anyway, we're now in West Hollywood and had a wonderful sleep last night, waking at 1.45 pm today.  So much for getting our body clocks right! 

We enjoyed spending some time in a park, and Claire especially loved doing "walk overs" and cartwheels in the Beverly Hills park.

We explored a bit of Hollywood this afternoon and Santa Monica, and had dinner tonight at Dukes in Malibu.  It brought back some lovely memories of lunching there about this time last year with Sandy - driving in our little convertible.  Claire, despite some protestations, tried seafood chowder and thoroughly enjoyed it and tucked into Pa's dinner bowl.  She also enjoyed trying Nana's chicken and risotto - bummer - I'll have to protect it more next time. Dukes in Waikiki, Dukes in Malibu - now she's keen to try the one in San Diego.

The American drawl is eluding Claire at the moment, much to her disgust. "When will I start to sound like an American, Nana? was her question today.  She asked each of our waiters today where they were from - which State - and tried to mimic their accents. 

Claire's Mum, Ebbony, suggested to Claire that she plays "Bingo" whilst on her trip.  So, courtesy of Melanie and Michael and their quirky humour, a "30-space Bingo card" was made and now Claire is combing the streets trying to:

1.  Find a policeman eating a Dunkin' Donut.

She's also trying to find more "sensible" things, such as:

2.  Find a NYC licence plate.
3.  Eat a packet of Milk Duds - which, as of this afternoon, she is accomplishing quite well.
4.  Feed a homeless person.
5.  Play a game in a park (I'm not sure if doing "walk overs" something she does in 'Dance' counts).
6.  Star search - find a celebrity.

We're heading off to the Space Centre tomorrow so it will hopefully be an amazing experience all round.

 

Milk Duds - crossed off the Bingo card!