March 2
We spent today at Boomer's with Kristen and Johnathon, riding go-carts, playing miniature golf and arcade games. Kristen's knees were bothering her, so I did some healing as we waited for the boys to emerge from the arcade. We said our goodbyes and went off to the RV camp, a lovely county park near the bay (Photos at Boomers).
March 3
We were off to the south, after a few attempts at photographing the amazing monarch butterflies (Photos of Monarchs).
We spent a little while in San Luis Obispo, where, after another call (my 5th or 6th) to Comcast, I was finally able to send off the first two-weeks of travelog with photos, in the field of the Starbuck's hotspot. Then we were off to Lake Chacuma County Park, about 14 miles north of Santa Barbara.
A HUGE scunk scurried across in front of us as we walked with Lucky just before sunset. Also, there are holes about 3-4 inches across all over the place. Lucky started to pee into one of them as we conjectured on the potential reception of the residents. Luckily, he was short on ammo. Later, another camper told us the holes were the homes of ground squirrels.
March 4
The "sunny California" weather is starting to dry and thaw us out a bit. We are still using the plug-in heater at night, but nature is waking up and it is warm and sunny in the daytime. (The warden told me that the lake is about 26 feet lower than normal.)
We drove towards Santa Barbara, or so I thought, as it turned out we were on a bit of a wild goose chase which took us through a variety of not-very-interesting terrain and then back to the highway several miles north! Ah well. We really did go to Santa Barbara, but just drove by the beach and found a place to stop and eat. Hollywood was definitely calling us.
The one RV park we could find, near the beach and also not too far from Hollywood was in Malibu. After looking all around and reading about Hollywood in our "Hidden" book, we decided to try it for a night. It was a couple of hundred feet up and overlooked both a very busy Rt 1 and a panoramic view of the Pacific. (We are storing up "ocean" for the journey east across the desert.)
March 5
In the morning, I suggested we read the Hidden book on Hollywood. The section was many pages long and had so many possible things to see that our heads were spinning.
In our process of rising and getting ready for the day and week, Robin mentioned that he'd really like an orange to eat. (This is not a normal request for him, after 10 years of fresh OJ in the inn, but this is Southern California, afterall!) While I was walking Lucky, an orange rolled down the hill and landed at my feet. It was the most perfect navel. I looked up the hill and asked the only people I saw if they had lost an orange. It wasn't theirs, but their Howard Dean sticker was good for at least a half-hour discussion. "Curt" and "Mandy" are also going around the country. Who knows, we might just meet up again.
After the arrival of the orange, some sort of magic was in the air and we decided to stay here for a week.
I rented a car from the Budget office down the street. Robin wanted to try out the snazzier machines-all Fords-two T-birds and various sized sedans. Both T-birds were already rented(and expensive!), so we settled on a mid-sized sedan while we waited for a Mustang to return-which it did the next day.
Once we got going to Hollywood, a lot of the day was about just getting there and back. It appeared on the map that the only direct road was Santa Monica Boulevard, which was loaded with traffic and clutter and seemed endless.
On the way there, we broused the shops along Rodeo Drive. Most of the people on the streets were speaking other languages and taking lots of photos of each other. There were shops with original art, including that of Picasso (priced in the five digits) and immense statues of jade and rose quartz. Few people were out shopping.
Finally we were drawn towards a new shop with an amazing facade. It looked like it might be a trendy new restaurant, or something. An Asian gentleman was wisking people into the place which was swankly done in purples and deep blues with accents of silver and gold. Everyone there was Chinese. It turned out to be a very upscale facial and skin-care shop. We were given tea with medicinal herbs and stevia and then our faces were rubbed with their "Gold" level essential oils-all for free. Next came "Wind", a spray mist and "Holy Water" an air freshener. You could practically see the blemishes and wrinkles dissolve. A lovely statue of Quan Yin oversaw the grand experience, as we gathered up the beginner set for a hefty fee-no replacements by mail, because they might be damaged in transit. Their other 6-8 shops are in such exclusive spots as Paris, Taipei and Tokyo. All the products are packaged in dark blue glass. We'll see how they work..
We finally got to walk along Hollywood Blvd and read the sidewalk stars with their famous people and to see some of the shops which included an elaborate costume shop and Frederick's, complete with its antique display of stars' undergarments. Robin was a bit uncomfortable, so we didn't linger to brouse the goods. (Photo of Hollywood)
Hollywood has me going through my paces. It is bringing to the fore all my sense of self doubt as a performer and my New Englander's self-effacing distrust of pampering. Part of me wants to go quickly "back to the earth" and part of me wants to expand my sense of glamour. Our planned pilgrimage to Venice Beach should be a great cultural contrast.
We were both interested in visiting the film studios-not just Universal, which the Hidden book describes as "a Hollywood version of Hollywood", but WB, Paramount, etc, all of which have stopped having tours due to security concerns.
March 6
We went to Venice Beach and were not disappointed by the wonderfully diverse and quirky street characters, artists and performers we saw. See Photos of Venice including the Limbo man, the dragon sculptor, the snake man and the junk percussionist. ALSO, there was a guy giving away tickets to TV shows-most of which are not available to a 13 year old, but we got a pass to the Wayne Brady Show for later in the week.
For whatever reason, Robin decided to buy a candied apple. It was a huge apple and then a ridiculous amount of caramel (see photos of "The Apple from Hell").
Also, Robin decided it was time to gain possession of a skate board. I insisted on the protective pads. He had been fantasizing about it for weeks. We were assured it was a good beginner board. (GULP!)
March 7
It was time for a Sunday trip to the beach. The day was sunny and unseasonally warm. Finding a dog-friendly place was a challenge. With some advise from some locals on how to avoid the authorities, we settled on a little stretch accessible between two buildings.
Robin went right into the ocean. I was going to go in, but my feet hurt so much in the freezing cold water that I really didn't want to submerge the rest of me. Sitting right there on the beach with his two small kids was Dr. Thomas McPhilip, originally from Hungary. An anesthesiologist at several local hospitals, he was interested in hearing about homeschooling and told me of the magnet school his kids go to which specializes in marine biology. Thomas' son and daughter (6,7) share their school with the kids of Pierce Bronson, whom he pointed out under a distant umbrella. I motioned to Robin and he came out of the surf to have a discrete look. I also motioned to him that there were dolphins jumping out to sea.
While we were standing there, "Mr. Bond" and wife and puppy strolled by. Later Robin joked that he would have said to the "star": "Ah yes, I know you from the Simpsons". What do you say to a Star?
2004 Tour Home
