USA Day 8 (Los Angeles)

hollywood_wofThis morning I woke up in the hotel feeling pretty good. I was definitely on the mend, and with Vegas only a day away I really needed to shape up. Mat and I had decided to splash out and order room service, so I lazed around the room in my pyjamas until it arrived. I opened the door to a massive trolley and the happiest Asian man I’ve ever met. I was still relatively new to the whole tipping thing, so I grabbed some change but he refused to take it. He wished me well, then left, leaving in his wake he had left us an amazing hotel breakfast. On the mend from the flu, and with a full and satisfied belly, I was ready to tackle the day.

After showering and dressing we met everyone downstairs for our first full day in LA. We had decided to go straight to Hollywood and get on a jump on/jump off bus so that we could cover the basics of the city, and yet have the freedom to jump off where we saw fit. After buying our tickets and boarding the bus (it was a double decker but with an open roof – yes, THAT kind of bus), like cool kids we headed straight upstairs, and for the back seat. Back seat rebels!!

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USA Day 7 (Pismo Beach to LA)

This morning I awoke a little bit groggy, but there was a huge improvement over the previous two days. I had a cough, and my throat was still burning but there was no desire to blow my nose every 5 minutes. My energy was coming back, my head was clearing, and I was on holidays. Things were definitely on the up.

After checking out of the hotel, the first car containing Amy, Pauline, Aunty Sue and Fiona made their way to Pismo Beach while our group (Madonna, Mum, Mat and I) attempted to find a post office. We had bought stamps back in Big Sur but hadn’t yet found anywhere to actually mail the post cards we had written to family and friends back home. We entered America Post into the GPS and within minutes we arrived at our destination. Mat dropped the post cards in the mailbox and we made our way to Pismo Beach to join the others.

WoodyWhen we arrived, Mat got a kick out of looking at the massive trucks in the car park while I got a kick out of looking at the lifeguard stations along the beach. It was exactly like Baywatch! If there are any americans reading this blog they’re probably shaking their heads, but it was still pretty cool for me. As we walked along the pier, I also enjoyed seeing a little shack with “rod rental” on it. Maybe I haven’t visited enough places in Australia, but as far as I know we don’t have shacks on piers, with big cool signs on it. I gazed at the people on the beach and the children playing beach, then turned back. I’ve seen the other side of the Pacific Ocean, so the water didn’t impress me.

Once I reached the carpark I was stoked to see a woody! I’ve only ever seen these cars in photos and movies (or on a t-shirt I had purchased for my dad back in Carmel – coincidentally my sister had bought Dad a nearly identical shirt from the same store the first time she had been to Carmel, I didn’t know that when I bought it). Seeing it in real life, I was in awe of the amount of love and care that had gone into keeping that car in such pristine condition. It definitely exceeded the amount of attention my Suzuki Swift received! I made sure Mat video taped it, then we were back in the car and on our way.

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