When I last left off, I was in Ukiah, California for the night heading towards San Francisco. Well, guess where I ended up the next day? You got it. San Francisco. I drove straight there, didn't really stop for many pictures. I was just freaking out because I wanted to find a hotel before the Oscars started because on the West Coast they start at 5. I attempted to go to the same hotel I went to last time, but the dude was rude so I went 2 blocks down, and got a better room from nice people. Since I had an hour and a half to kill before the room was ready, I walked down to the San Francisco Bay area and snapped some pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. Beautiful afternoon. No fog. No rain.
I then proceeded to lock myself in my hotel room and watched the Oscars ceremony. One of my favorite days of the year! If only I had been in L.A. for it....The next morning, I hoofed it down to Fisherman's Wharf and purchased my ticket for the boat to Alcatraz. I've become obsessed with the new TV series "Alcatraz" and was really excited to get to "the rock". Definitely would recommend the tour. Loved all the history and getting to see all the cells. Did you know that Whitey Bulger spent some time there? The only thing I didn't like was that it was CROWDED. Couldn't take a decent picture without some foreigner jumping in your frame to snap a picture of their own. But I did manage to take a few good ones.
I didn't quite make it to Southern California that night so I spent the night in San Simeon which ended up being a good thing. The lady at the hotel had a brother with a hotel right on the outskirts of Los Angeles and gave me all the info. It wasn't the usual hotel I've been staying at (It was a Rodeway Inn) but it ended up being great. It was in the town of Rosemead, which was about 10-15 from downtown Hollywood - a little bit more for Beverly Hills. But it was cheap and the room was really nice. I stayed there for 5 nights. I had bought a ticket for the "Once Upon A Time" panel at PaleyFest for Sunday but ended up splurging and buying a ticket for the "Community" panel Saturday night as well. Meanwhile, I still had 3 other days to explore the city before doing those things.
I couldn't contain my excitement when I finally pulled into the L.A. area. I basically got so amped up that I quit doing the coast tour and just booked it on the highway. Plus, I heard all sorts of horror stories about the city traffic and just wanted to get checked into my hotel. I think I might have audibly squealed when I saw the Hollywood sign. I got there just as the sun was starting to set. I typed in "best place to see the Hollywood sign" and this is where I ended up. Not too shabby, eh?
Of course that night I went straight to downtown Hollywood to check out the sights. And lo and behold, Jimmy Kimmel was taping some pre-taped bits for his show. So, I got to see his assistant, Guillermo, do a little segment and then on the way back from dinner, I watched Richard Simmons get locked in the trunk of a car. Yep. Hollyweird all right. Plus, it was great to see such iconic places like the Kodak Theater, the Chinese Theater and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The next day was my studio tour day! I first went to Paramount Studios and it was official business. Had to hand the keys to my car to security, get all signed in, and after the tour, I had a escort back to the beginning. Because who knows, I could have been some star-hungry fan, I guess. There were only about 12 of us on the tour which made things nice and intimate. Got to see the whole studio and backlot. The best part was that we got to see the ENTIRE set for one of my favorite shows on TV right now - "Happy Endings". It was AH-MAZING. Kind of freaked out a bit. Of course, the tour was cool because the guide told us all the shows and movies that had been shot there and some secrets - but of course now I've forgotten most of them. All I remember is that there were 2 annoying "Glee" fans on my tour. Sadly, didn't see anyone famous, but it's all good. It was pricey but well worth it.
I then scooted over to Warner Bros. for their tour which was the same kind of deal - pricey but only about 12 of us on the tour. I liked this tour a lot. We got to see the working set for the TV show "The Mentalist" and got to visit the old set of the Central Perk from the show "Friends". Also, really enjoyed seeing the big prop house and getting to go inside a couple of the houses that have been used for shows like, "Gilmore Girls", "Shameless", "Hart of Dixie" and "The Waltons".
I ended up back at downtown Hollywood, and of course, there was something completely random going on. Apparently it was some concert for Caesars Palace or something. I'm still not entirely what happened. Anywho, I was given free access to it somehow. My favorite reality TV show host - the gorgeous Cat Deeley was hosting and Lil' Wayne and Cee-Lo performed a few songs. Really random, but it was tons of fun.
Yikes, this is really long so far. Sorry for that. On to the next day....Universal Studios. I really only wanted to go there so I could go on the Studio Tour and see Wisteria Lane from "Desperate Housewives". Yes, the tour was basically a ride too, but I loved it. I did a few rides but no roller coasters or anything crazy. Wasn't feeling it. After Universal Studios, I went over to Santa Monica for the night and enjoyed the boardwalk for a few hours. There, however, I did do the rollercoaster and the ferris wheel. Also, totally forgot that this was where I was going to start my Route 66 journey back home home.
The next two days were spent in Beverly Hills doing the PaleyFest thing. Its basically a 2 week long celebration of TV with featured shows and their cast and crew. Usually you get to see the newest episode before it airs too. I do love my TV shows so this was quite a thrill for me. First up was "Community". One of the best shows on TV and NO ONE watches it! I really hope it makes it to another season, because its brilliant and hilarious. It's back from hiatus on March 15th, but we got to see the newest episode. Can't tell you how awesome it felt to be in a theater filled with people who shared my enthusiasm and passion for TV. Actually before the show, I had an in-depth conversation with a couple guys about the show. Ahhhh...in another life, I would be a TV critic. The cast was frickin' hilarious. Oh yeah, and Jim Rash had just won an Oscar the week before! Non-stop laughs, and got to learn a lot about the process of the show and some upcoming spoilers.
On Sunday was the panel for "Once Upon A Time", which no one really knows is my secret obsession right now. I mean, it's cheesy, but I frickin' love it. I love the actors. I love the writers. And the people who produce it brought us "LOST". C'MON. Though the fan-base is a little rabid and somewhat embarrassing at times, that was really the only thing I worried about. That someone would ask a stupid question and make things all awkward. It was so great to watch the newest episode in a room full of fans. Everyone clapped at the right places, "awwwed" at the right places. It was great. And then the panel came out and it was just great. Very insightful and makes me so anxious to see what will happen the rest of the season! Isn't the cast pretty?
I thought it would be a smart idea to go to Las Vegas for a couple days. Everyone told me I would love it, so since it was only a few hours away, why not, right? I got a hotel room for 2 nights at Circus Circus for less then $60. The ride was nice. I went to a ghost town called Calico and just generally enjoyed the ride through the desert. Gonna keep this short: Not a fan of Vegas. My hotel room was great, but the hotel was not my favorite. It was a maze to get around, way too many kids, and I hated the smoke. And then it wasn't really located near anything. I took a cab downtown, but quickly learned that I wouldn't enjoy it. I don't like gambling, shopping and didn't want to be drunk by 2 in the afternoon. Plus it was so friggin' windy, it made walking around unbearable. I think the only thing I liked was getting to go to The Heart Attack Grille and being served by the owner - the guy you see all over TV. But really that was it. I ended up back at my hotel room before the end of the afternoon. And then I just got angry that I wasted 2 nights in Vegas when I could have just stayed in L.A. and had a good time.
The next day, I went back to L.A. for 2 more nights! Though I did stay at a different hotel - this one closer to Beverly Hills - and near the LAX. Oh, I should mention that I found a hangout right near the theater for PaleyFest. Great bar, "good people". Hope to keep in contact with some of the people I met there! Who knows? I could be back! Anyways, since I decided to wash the bad taste of Vegas out of my mouth with a couple more nights in L.A., I ended up buying a ticket for the "Bones" PaleyFest panel. Another great show. I swear to god, Emily Deschanel and David Borenaz are really Booth and Brennan. They banter back and forth like crazy. When I left, my sides actually hurt from laughing so hard. I also did the tour of Sony Pictures Studio. Wasn't impressed. Couldn't take a lot of pictures and the tour guide wasn't very engaging. Though I did see Christian Slater riding a bike.
I know I left some things out, but I just want to stress how much I loved Los Angeles and it's surrounding areas. I could live there. I really could. Add it to the list. I met some great people, saw some amazing sights and got to take part in PaleyFest - which was just a dream come true. I actually felt really sad when I had to leave yesterday. I could have easily spent a few more days there, but it was time to start pressing on.
Which brings us to my most recent journey - Route 66. I'm going to leave that for the next blog entry because this is long enough. If you made it this far, I'm sorry. It was poorly written and long. But just gotta stress, I'm loving this trip! Feel lucky every day and can't wait to see where tomorrow will bring me!
