TravelStream™ news feed for member loxias on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/loxias en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 17 Aug 2008 11:06:10 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/loxias/10/605030640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/loxias/10/605030640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/loxias/10/605030640/tpod.html Sun, 17 Aug 2008 11:06:10 -0400 Just map links

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London, England, United Kingdom

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London, England, United Kingdom

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Le Touquet, France

School trip
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Denver, Colorado, United States

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Los Angeles, California, United States

And so it arrives - the most depressing day of any trip - the final day. As I had a late flight I still had pretty much a full day to entertain myself with. I hadn't bothered setting an alarm as I'd had a late night and not being in a hotel I didn't have to check out! I woke up around 8:30am and got up to open the curtains and allow the sunshine in. I had a very small view of the freeway from my window and was amazed at how completely empty it was compared to how stationary it had been throughout the previous week. I decided to get up, have a shower and finalise my packing. I was quite pleased I managed to get everything from 3 weeks' travel into one suitcase and a duffel bag!

We all decided to head out at 11am - lots of the local shops were having 4th July sales and lots of products were actually displayed outside the stores. I decided not to buy anything else because the thought of trying to open my suitcase again filled me with dread! I was amazed by how hot it was outside, even more so than usual, so I was really glad to get in the car and put the air-conditioning on.

We decided to head to the beach for a while and got on the highway down to Santa Monica. I followed their lead, but as the roads were so empty I don't think I'd have had any problems with finding the way! It was hardly any time at all before we were pulling into the beach-front car-park. There was a two hour limit here so we put our $2 (yes, $1 per hour for prime beach-front parking!!!!) and headed off.

We wandered along the sands of Santa Monica beach, which were soft and white. After a while the sand got way too hot to walk on so I had to put my sandals back on before I burnt my poor feet. We came off the sand at the 'world famous' Santa Monica Pier and took a walk along there. The Pier has its own mini theme park with roller coaster, crazy golf and various rides. It also has little souvenir shops, a restaurant and lots of little street traders doing caricatures, sculptures and creative writing. All-in-all it was a busy pier! We walked to the end and took some photos before heading of in the direction of the town. There didn't appear to be anything here except McDonald's so we decided to head back along the beach. We passed the sign that indicated we had reached the section known as Muscle Beach. This was about right as there were plenty of guys about flexing their muscles and using the gym equipment provided. Bit tragic really.

The path along the beach was divided into a section for pedestrians and a section for cyclists. The cycle lane was full of people on both upright and flat bikes, Rollerblades, segways and other modes of transport. A very busy stretch. There were even some joggers about - would have thought it was a bit hot for that myself! We continued wandering along before sitting on a wall for a little bit whilst waiting for my parking ticket to expire. I then headed back to the car and headed out. I left my friends there as they wanted a bit more beach time. There was a long queue of cars waiting to get in the car park - everyone leaves everything so late! I decided to move down the coast a bit but this was easier said than done as the roads were labyrinthine and I kept going round in circles. I made it a couple of miles to Venice Beach but couldn't find anywhere to park there. I got stuck on some back streets but did end up finding out how it got its name - the place is full of canals! Lots of little canals with houses either side and lots of brightly coloured flowers. Very pretty.

After finally finding my way out of there I got on the main road and headed in what I thought was a southerly direction. Sadly I was wrong and ended up in Culver City - the heart of screenland and the home of Sony Pictures and various other motion picture organizations. In the end I found my way south and headed through Manhattan and Hermosa Beaches - I was unable to find parking at either as so many people were arriving ready for the big July 4th fireworks. I ended up stopping at a retail park and having a browse around Borders and Petco, where I bought one of my cats some treats for his birthday :-)

I then slowly made my way to LAX, actually finding the rental car drop off quite quickly. I dropped off the car and caught the shuttle bus to the terminal. Check-in was suspiciously quick and easy and check-in at security was even speedier. Hmmm, obviously wanted to get us out quickly! I went to find something to eat and was disappointed bu the lack of options in such a major airport. I opted for a Burger King in the end before setting off on my flight home......
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Irvine, California, United States

My last full day in California! And yet another change in accommodation - oh to be in one place for a while! Chloe had to leave at 6am for her shuttle to LAX (she was off to New York for a week) so I was able to snooze for a bit after she left. I got up, showered, finished my packing and checked out at around 11am.

I decided to have a last wander around Downtown Disney so drove over there and had a walk through the main street. I got a nice Jamba Juice (they ought to start paying me commission for all this advertising!) and sat in the sun for a little while. The music always seems to be playing a little loud for outside - wish they'd turn it down a little bit! I noticed that it was exceptionally hot again and thought I ought to get some shorts and make the most of it. After leaving Disney I headed round to Target where I was able to buy to 'July 4th' shorts for a mere $7 (well, it was hardly likely I was going to wear them again!!!

Having got my new shorts I decided the only place to go was the beach. I got in the car and headed down to Huntington Beach, where we didn't stop on yesterday's road trip. I found a good spot to park and put a hour and a half's worth of change in the meter (wasn't planning on cooking myself!). I then slipped my shorts on (an interesting manouevre in the car!) and headed on to the sand. Huntington Beach is huge - a wide, white sandy beach with a pier and lots of scantily clad teenagers making even me feel huge! I found a nice spot and wrote some journal for a while. The sun was not always fully out (bit hazy at times) but it was always hot. I managed to burn my back and one and a half legs (nice one!) without even noticing.

By the time m,y time was up I was ready to leave the hot sun. I wandered back to the car (did another change out of my shorts - they were a bit *too* short for just wandering around in!) and headed out. The drive took me through Long Beach, which still didn't appear to be all that inspiring, before turning inland. I traveled up Route 19 all the way to Highway 5, where I only had two junctions to go before arriving at Commerce, where I was meeting the friends I was staying with down in Irvine. I got to the Citadel Complex, which was the outlet mall I had previously visited and parked up. The frontage of the Citadel is a mock Assyrian Palace which was used in the backdrop to Ben Hur. Hmm, interesting.

As it was hot I met up with Diana and we had a walk around the outlets again. We stopped for some pizza at Sbarro's (nice recommendation there Chloe - was good!) and sat outside in the food court to eat, which was very pleasant indeed. We then headed back down to Irvine, which is not the most exciting place in 'The OC' but it is pleasant enough. We chatted and watched some TV before I headed to bed at around 11pm. Well, I would have done if I hadn't started watching Swordfish on my little TV which didn't finish until 1am.....

Also noticed on the news that there were now around 1400 forest fires burning. The Big Sur one was particularly bad and may take up to a month to contain. I am keeping fingers crossed.
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Anaheim, California, United States

I had agreed to take Chloe into LA today so we had decided to get up early. Ha! We were an hour late leaving, partly due to Chloe working and partly due to my getting up late. We ended up heading out around 10am and stopping at our first destination - McDonald's - for breakfast. After that we got on Highway 5 for the usual stop-start journey to Los Angeles. LA is only 20 miles from Anaheim, but it feels like about 50 on that road.

We rolled into LA where out first stop was the Disney Concert Hall. We then drove along Broadway and around Downtown (the dodgy area) before getting completely lost. We finally got back on the right road and found ourselves on Hollywood Boulevard. Unusually, we found a parking space right opposite Mann's Chinese Theater, so we stopped there. We had an hour limit but that was enough to check out the Stars, the hand/foot prints (we saw the new one with the 3 Harry Potter stars right out the front), the Kodak Theater and El Capitan (the cinema, not the rock in Yosemite!). We did a little bit of shopping fro souvenirs before returning to the car.

After a bit more getting lost we found ourselves on Sunset Boulevard and headed over to Beverly Hills. At least I knew how to get there this time! Chloe had bought a map of the stars' homes so we at least knew roughly who lived where. It was quite fun driving around but we realised we were missing out on good beach time so headed out on the 405 San Diego Freeway. We'd planned on going to Long Beach, but when we got there it wasn't quite as beachy as anticipated. Instead we headed down the coast further until we came down to Huntington Beach. Parking here was a bit pricey so we ended up stopping at Seal Point. This was a military area so it was quite deserted. It was also bloody windy so we didn't stay long.

We carried on down towards Newport Beach where we took a diversion to Balboa Island. This was truly the most perfect place in California. A small island surrounded by harbour/marina, where the cute little houses all had their own piers and boats of varying sizes. Of course, only the super-wealthy live around here - made note to win lottery soon! The main through street was equally cute, with lots of quirky independent shops and ice-creameries. Parts of The OC were filmed here so lots of teenagers apparently visit. Chloe was in her element!

We hung around here before deciding it was time to eat something. We couldn't find any nice waterfront eateries in Balboa Island so we headed down the highway to Laguna Beach. I parked in exactly the same spot as the previous day but did not have to pay this time as it was after 7pm. We got out and wandered down to the beach to catch the final moments of another amazing sunset - would have beaten the one at Lake Tahoe if we'd seen it all. The seas was a bit chilly here but we still larked about in it for a while. Great fun.

We then went to The Greeter Diner for some dinner. The staff were a bit peculiar in here but the food was okay - I had bowtie pasta with chicken and peppers. At just gone 9pm the staff started getting a bit preoccupied with clearing us all out - they were actually quite rude so I certainly didn't tip them. We decided to head off them as it was dark and Chloe hadn't even begun to pack.

Needless to say, the highway wasn't where it should have been and we ended up driving through some dark, creepy places in the middle of nowhere before finding our road. We ended up getting back at around 10:30pm. Chloe spent the next hour packing whilst I watched the baseball and sorted out her shuttle to the airport. We turned in at around midnight.
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Los Angeles, California, United States

Day trip
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La Jolla, California, United States

Stop off
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Laguna Beach, California, United States

Stop off
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