28th January - LA

Arrived about a half hour earlier than scheduled, so 4ish. It was damned early! And cold! And not particularly nice! I had rough directions to get to the hostel, but first had to get to the point at which I'd been told to go to get there from. So I waited across the road from the Greyhound Station with a heap of homeless people fast asleep around me, for the bus to take me downtown I suppose. Very disoriented. The guard from the station seemed a bit concerned for me being there so stood and watched til the bus arrived. So downtown I headed, on a fairly busy bus. I was watching for where to get off and soon enough was at the end of the line! The driver told me that I should've got off at an earlier stop, duhh, but when he told me where it was, it didn't agree with the instructions I had. He was lovely though and gave me an all day bus ticket to use to get back to where I needed to be and on from there. Very nice of him. Big saving for the day in such an expansive city. Eventually I was in Venice. The sun was slowly rising. It was lovely. Palm trees all around, that twilight zone, active people, busy tired commuters. Again, in Venice, I didnt' get off the bus at the point I'd been told to get off at. The big post office. Definitely hadn't gone past a big post office! So I walked around the entire suburb getting my orientation with the crap directions, until I was at the roundabout that had a small big post office and over from that to the left slightly, the hostel! What a relief!! Went in, asked nicely if they had a room for me. Indeed they did. Checked in and went to room, deposited bags then returned to the kitchen to make some breakfast. Had a shower then headed off to Hollywood! Found the bus to take me up there, very easy indeed. Just took a (typically LA I'm told) long long time to get to where I needed to be. Lucky it was an entertaining journey. Some lady having a full on conversation with multiple personalities and barbie dolls. Had most of the bus not really too sure where to look!! Eventually was down the bottom of the hill in West Hollywood. Walked up, to Melrose Avenue. Wandered around, had some lunch, window shopped. Up through suburbia, lush and lovely, and parks, until I was at Hollywood Boulevard. Tacky, but it was something I wanted/had to do - Kodak Theatre, look through to the sign, the stars on the ground. So I did. Not extensively though. Did some shopping, some great bargains to be had! Gifts for the parents, gifts for myself...


(must go now, will finish later)

27th January 2009 - Phoenix and Scottsdale

Today was kind of a bizarre day.

Breakfast was interrupted, not in a rude way though, by the arrival of Brooke. How she fitted into the picture, I wasn't sure. However, she took us over to her mother's property, in one of the gated estates, the BEST gated estate I'm told, of Paradise Valley. (Clarification here, this area is obsessed with money. Every house has a celebrity, politician or just plain rich socialite attached - and well known to locals. They also oppose anything that brings scum into view!) So we went to see the goats. Then we met Mum. A busy socialite. She was frantic trying to sort her bookwork out. Also her printer wasn't working. Had a crack at fixing the printer - she needed new ink. Then advised her to give up on Quickbooks, as it is crap, and give MYOB a go. Then realised that MYOB is Australian. Not much help to her, but at least made her feel better about the Quickbooks difficulties she was having!

From there, we went to another gated estate to see Jennifer's house. Again, not sure how she fits into the picture! Lovely house, in lovely area. She wasn't home and access had to the estate had been (forgotten) to be given to the gatekeeper. So, "say something Australian" to me... "Chuck another shrimp on the barbie, maaaaate" and we had access! By this point, it was second nature to say that horrid sentence! The things we must do. Collected lemons and oranges from the tree, some were too high up, so up I scaled. The things I do on holidays. I don't climb trees. I gave that up when I was 5 and realised that being a rough and tumble tomboy was best left to the sister!! A drive through this estate, check out a few more flash and grossly overdone houses. Far too much money. Pulled into Dan Quayle's driveway. For those who that means nothing to, he was George Bush Senior's Vice President, and famous for a few things. One, he corrected a kid on the spelling of potato in a spelling bee. Two, and this is possibly his largest gaffe, is his criticism of Murphy Brown - yes, Candice Bergen's CHARACTER - for having a baby without a father. Not necessarily bad, but to many, it was!! Bad for him to criticise I mean!

So after that, we called in to see another house, not a gorgeous house, but a lovely view. Looked at a few more. It was at this point that the importance of the aforementioned Brooke became apparent. Her father had owned all the land that is now Paradise Valley, and had run a school on it. The school shut down, the land was sold off. The credit for vision for Paradise Valley is apparently all his.

We spent some more time in Scottsdale, wandered some shops in the Old Town. Also went to a ridiculously lavish shopping mall in Paradise Valley. The names of each escapes me and my notes don't include them. Absolutely ridiculous. I could never even dream of being rich enough to purchase anything in either area!

Also ate lunch in a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet house. Complete with msg. Yick!! lol. Cheap and nasty, contrasted with the rest!

Day drew to a close soon enough and we had some dinner. I can't remember now what we had. Oh yes I do, chicken and vegetables. Then it was time for me to pack my bags and head to the Greyhound station for my overnight bus to Los Angeles.

Time spent in Phoenix was wonderful. My hosts, Gloria and Gordon, faultless. The things I saw were not necessarily what every tourist would see, but they were an experience, one I'm ever so grateful for.

Overnight bus to LA, due to arrive 4am.

26th January 2009 - Old Tucson Studios

Early start today, again! Lucky I'm adaptable!

Headed off with the morning school and work traffic to the outskirts of the city. Past the Indian Reservation with the new big whizz bang casino. On the highway to Tucson. Lovely, leisurely drive. Countryside, desert and cactus, but good. Beyond the highway of course.

Through Tucson, exit 3million and 29 or something, and then we were up and down hills through the Saguaro National Park. These amazing cacti had been observed everywhere, but the massive amounts in the national park - simply astonishing! http://www.nps.gov/sagu/ We emerged out the other side of the national park, after a few photo stops for me, to be nearly at Old Tucson Studios. These studios are used for filming many western movies, and were used for many western movies well known to all the old farts out there! http://www.oldtucson.com/ It's a bit of a theme park. Was a cool day. Saw some good skits, and as it was Australia Day, we enjoyed a few beers. It was lovely and warm, so they were needed. Thoroughly enjoyable - albeit exhausting! So much to see and do. As you go in, they give you a timetable of the shows, shootouts, etc etc. So we had a schedule to get through! Some laughs though! That's for sure!

Trip back to Tucson, it's about 2 hours each way, was broken with a driver swap and in time to see a nice enough sunset. Lovely. Return to Paradise Valley was marked with dinner at a new little Italian restaurant, with yummy pizzas. It was early, but it was late thanks to the early start and full day.

Gloria and I parked ourselves in front of our computers for facebook and skype lessons, before realising how the night had got away from us and retreating to bed!!

25th January 2009 - Alice Cooper'stown! Yeehah!

25th January 2009

21st May 2009 - Note...
So, I'm finally finishing my blog. I've been requested to finish by a few who have been reading my new regular blog, but want to know how this one finished!! They said even though it's ages on, they would love to know how the trip up the west coast went, so here I am! Nearly 4 months later, drawing on my notes, scribbles, photos and memories! I apologise for not finishing earlier. I was too busy enjoying the trip! Even my written journal was neglected!


So 25th January was spent in Phoenix, staying in Paradise Valley. Beautiful part of the area! Absolutely stunning It was an early start to the day, as the wonderful hosts I was staying with attend church on Sunday mornings. Up and out to breakfast, and sunshine, my oh my, sunshine! I went in with Gloria, who helps with Sunday School before the service. At this point, I should add, I was still unaware of what religion exactly they were. On the way, she pointed out lots of significant points and places she loves. Soon we were at the North Phoenix Baptist Church. The church I'm later to discover is John McCain's church. Small point of interest for you there. Sunday School and the service was interesting. Very different to the style, format and content of mass I'm used to. Following the morning at the Church, it was on to Alice Cooper's bar, Cooperstown!

Cooperstown was the reason for going to Phoenix. The only reason! Kind of. Stretching the story a bit. I saw a piece on one of our travel shows a few years ago about Phoenix, and it featured both his bar and his golf club. I thought then, I want to go to Phoenix one day, it looks stunning. The show did show it well. So to his bar for lunch we went. It was an experience, in two ways. So exciting to be there. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, just like a Hog's Breath Cafe in Australia. It was where I'd wanted to go, it was what I'd wanted to do, so I was happy!

Gordon and I then went for a drive around Phoenix city and over to Scottsdale for a look around, before returning to Paradise Valley for a bit of a rest and recover from the early start. Scottsdale very much the rather artsy little city they say it is. Very different vibe to the glitz and shine of Phoenix. It was off to a concert that evening, so a rest was needed. So concert. Just to add to interesting experiences. Willy Nelson. WTF! So we went to Dodge Theatre and were glad for our good seats, and back we sat to enjoy. Before some total bogan fans rocked up and sat in front. Absolute bogans. Anyway, concert was rather boring! So not for me! But the most of the crowd seemed to enjoy it. Though tell me, what's with young girls seriously, sickeningly so, in total lust for the old man? Eww! Found this review, it tells me it was a good show.... http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/2009/01/luke_holwerdawillie_nelson_on.php ... lol!

That was the day, and the night. The concert was loooooooooooong. The next day was set to be a big day, so home, cup of tea with Gloria and that was that!