The City of Angels

Last week, Gavin and I packed all of our Earthly belongings into our rented Chevy Malibu and drove north to Los Angeles for the second leg of our journey. We drove north through Encinitas, Oceanside, San Juan Capistrano, The OC and then into Los Angeles. It was difficult to tell exactly where "San Diego" ended and "LA" began due to the huge amount of urban sprawl and development between the cities.

It's been awhile since I've been to Los Angeles and each time I've been here, I've had a different experience and the last week has been no different. Gavin and I have had the time of our lives exploring the different cities and neighborhoods that make up Southern California. With a kick-ass map book (thank you Donn!) and a desire to explore, we've seen as much as humanly possible in 7 days. Here are a few pics taken from Azusa to Westwood and Pasedena to West Hollywood and everywhere else in between!


I-5 North heading out of San Diego towards LA.


Our trusty map book.




UCLA campus in Westwood.


After a beer at Mahoney's, the bar where Alicia and Noah met (I'm guessing she saw him, walked over and attacked!), Gav and I explored Westwood.


US Bank building in Downtown LA. (Made famous in the movie Independance Day.)


Oh... West Hollywood businesses. Gotta love um!


LA Traffic. Sheesh.


Michi met us in Pasadena for yummy Indian food and a great dessert!


Gav and I had 3 hours to rush through the Getty. We could have easily spent an entire day there and I recommend the Getty to anyone who visits Los Angeles. Simply Amazing! (Parking is $7 and admission is FREE! Don't try to visit on the weekends, since it's almost impossible due to the sheer number of people who want to do the same.)


One of the Getty's many spectacular gardens.


On Saturday, Michi took us to have Taiwanese dumplings in Arcadia. They were amazing and I had a food-gasm!


These dumplings were like little clouds of goodness. (Rich S, this pic is for you.)


Gav looking hot near Venice Beach. (Thanks Cara for letting us crash at your house!)


The water looked cold!


Not quite as picturesque as the beaches in Hawaii, but Venice Beach sure has character...


... or is it chracters?


More of the sights.


The outdoor gym at Venice Beach wasn't quite what we expected, but it was definitely full of freaks!


LA beachfront architecture.

San Diego - Balboa Park

San Diego is home to Balboa Park which is the second largest city park in the nation. It's a beautiful gem in the middle of a great city that hosts over 85 Performing Arts and International Culture Organizations, 15 Museums, The San Diego Zoo and much more. Gavin and I spent Tuesday exploring the park and enjoying the park's "Free Tuesdays," which offers free admission to select museums. For a complete listing, check out the park's website .

Since we were there on the second Tuesday of the month, we got to see the Museum of Photographic Art or MoPa, which was absolutely fabulous. If you're in the area, I highly suggest that you check it out. You will not be dissappointed!











Gavin and I fell in love with George's inversion table. Here's Gavin, acting down-right batty!

San Diego, La Jolla, Coronado & The Padres!

Today, Gavin and I left San Diego. We picked up our rental car from Alamo and headed north to Los Angeles. We'll be in the LA area for about a week, when we pick up Gavin's car from the Port of Long Beach and drive up to San Francisco.

I really enjoyed my first trip to San Diego. The weather was great and for a city it's size (about 1 million), it had a great small town feel and each neighborhood had a diferent character.

George, our gracious host, took us to see a few of the different parts of the city on the weekend. We visited La Jolla, University Heights, Coronado Island, The Gaslamp and caught a Padre's Game at Petco Park.

San Diego was a great place to kick off our travels and I have to admit that I was sad to leave such a great city.


At the waterfront.

Since we didn't have a car everyday, we explored San Diego by using it's mass transit (how un-Southern California, I know!)


Gavin in front of the USS Midway.


Old Town, the birthplace of California.


Yummmm... beer!


Sporting my short haircut in Hillcrest.


Pelicans in La Jolla.


Gavin tried to figure out how steps could be "Out of Order".


Harbor Seals and California Sealions in La Jolla.


George and me at Petco Park.


39,000 fans watched the Padres beat the Cubbies.


Gavin enjoying Cracker Jack at his first Major League Baseball Game.


The drive out to Coronado Island was beautiful.


San Diego's skyline.


Gav and George in front of the Hotel Del Coronado (Where "Some Like It Hot" was filmed.)

Where the Wild Things Live

I've oftened wondered if all the hype over the San Diego Zoo that I've heard over the years was actually real or not. Yesterday, Gavin and I decided to check it out and boy, were we in for a treat. We spent 5 hours at the zoo and could have easily have spent more. We packed our lunch (because that's what budget travelers do), laced up our sensible shoes and went to check out America's premier zooligical park!


Gav at the entrance of the zoo.


A rather large boa (not the feather type).


Keau and the albino python. (I kept on imagining myself in a rock video with this huge snake draped over my shoulders.)


Gav and an African Elephant.


San Diego Zoo's Native Hawaiian Plant Exhibit.


Gavin wore his favorite panda shirt in honor of the Zoo's most popular resident!

San Diego, Indio & Coachella

With the packing, traveling and other things, I've been too busy to blog. Today, I'm going to bring you up to date with what's been happening in my life.


The Last Hurrah in Honolulu. Such good friends are hard to come by!


We made a quick stop on Maui and had lunch with Gavin's adoptive parents, the Gross'! We enjoyed our picnic lunch on the beach near the airport. What a way to spend the last meal in Hawaii!


Here's a picture of our Aloha Boeing 737-700 that took us from Kahului Maui to San Diego. (Notice the blended winglets at the end of the wingtip.)

Unfortunately our flight out of OGG was delayed an hour (maybe we should have flown America's #1 On-Time Airline instead of Aloha?) and by time we got our bags, it was past midnight and the Dollar Rental Desk had closed for the night. We carted our stuff over to Hertz (since they were the only ones open) and they wanted to charge us close to three times what Dollar quoted us. Forget that! We took a cab to George's house and picked up the car the next morning since we were headed out to Indio for the Coachella Valley Art and Music Festival.


Windfarms on the way from San Diego to Indio.


George, Hector and myself in the parking area for the Coachella Valley Festival.


Ice Cold Beer & Water. A must have in the desert!


Art?


James Blunt.


Paul Oakenfold.


The highlight of the festival was the five-act number that Madonna put on. She kept the crowd waiting for about 25 minutes and the crowd got pretty restless and actually booed her a few times (hey, you would too if you stood out in the hot desert sun all day long and then some bitch keeps you waiting). All was forgotten when she came out and rocked to some of her new material and then picked up an electric guitar and did "Ray of Light." Fabulous. Love Madge!


Travelodge Palm Springs.


We had the brunch buffet at the Agua Caliente Casino, located just outside of Palm Springs. Gav won $5 bucks on the slot machine!


Ever since I was a kid, I've wanted to see this giant fiberglass T-Rex located in the Southern California Desert that was featured in a few great movies.


Gav and I at Hector's Mom's house in the Temecula Hills.