The Savage Traveler: Out West Adventure: Part 1--Los Angeles

February 27-March 2: (Wednesday) We got up by 7:00 and closed up the trailer to head to Los Angeles for our last campground of this trip. We had told Ann Robertson that we would be at her condo by 1:00 for lunch. It took a little longer than expected to get to the city and then we had to frog around to find the campground, which is in Riverside. It turned out to be a pretty nice county park which must be really crowded in the summer. There are several camping loops, a miniature golf park, a big playground and a water play pad with a large concession area and several small “lakes” (ponds, really) all on a flat plain. The lakes attract birds and we saw a Great Blue Heron fly overhead, and the grass beside the lake had what must be hundreds of coots. The coots gather in huge groups and when one decides to walk somewhere else, the whole group will line up behind to move with the first. When I opened our door in the morning they all rushed over to me so they must be used to being fed. Our site is on the Lakeview loop which has about a half dozen sites taken and no one very near to us as we pulled in. We had time to get all set-up and then drove about an hour to get to Ann’s place in Anaheim. On our way out we drove through Riverside and past the historic Mission Inn, a sprawling complex of mostly Spanish revival architecture that has been the scene of several movies and has hosted many dignitaries. The Nixons were married there and the Reagans honeymooned there. I Googled it and read the history to Marv as he drove. Ann first lived in Long Beach for 14 years before her tax guy convinced her to buy a place. Her two bedroom condo has been totally redone and is very nice. She has lived in it for 25 years. We found it easily and she gave us “the tour” before we made sandwiches and sat in the sun on her patio to catch-up. Ann is well-settled into California having left Michigan when she was just 25 years old. Though she isn’t married she has a large and close circle of friends who look out for her and serve as her California family. After eating, Ann drove us to Huntington Beach, where we walked out on the pier to watch the surfers. It was breezy and a little cool so we stopped off at Rubie’s on the very end of the pier for coffee and to share one of their wonderful milkshakes, ours a peanut butter cup. Back at the condo Ann made a wonderful Greek chicken dish with rice and asparagus on the side for dinner. We talked and talked and ate and laughed until Marv and I made the hour trip back to the camper and bed.

Huntington Beach Pier

At Rubie's on the pier

'nuff said

(Thursday) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEN!!! We finished up our milk with cereal for breakfast and then drove back to Ann’s again, hoping to be there in time to Skype with Ana and the boys before she went down for her nap. Our GPS failed us for the first time and drove us in circles on the freeway before getting things figured out so by the time we arrived Ana was down for her nap. Eli was home with a fever (strep throat he found out later from the doctor) and not his usual rambunctious self so we talked to the boys for a while. Afterwards Ann drove us all to downtown Los Angeles. First we went to the Farmers Market, which has been in the same spot since the 1030s. (Everywhere we drove she took different and meandering routes so we got to see a lot of the area, including the famous HOLLYWOOD sign on the hillside.) We walked all around the market before Ann and I got the vegetarian plate at Moishe’s while Marv found a bacon, Swiss, and avocado omelet for his lunch. Then we drove to the Le Brea Tar Pits and Page Museum, which I have always wanted to see. There is an amazing exhibit of some of the millions of bones that have been excavated from the tar pits and two places where you can observe volunteers and staff members working on removing and sifting through the specimens. I found it particularly fascinating. We tore ourselves away to go to Ann’s Assistance League headquarters for a program for which she had signed us all up about Medicare. While we waited for 4:00 she showed us their extensive collection of Chinese and Japanese articles bequeathed to the society with the stipulation that they be appropriately cared for and used to educate. She also showed us the display showing the six areas of philanthropic work they do. By then we thought people should be gathering so she checked with the front desk and found out that the Medicare workshop was yesterday. L Oh well… We went back to the condo and finally Skyped with Ana as Craig was getting the kids ready for bed. Then Ann chauffeured us one more time, this time to Long Beach, where she used to live. We went to the Belmont Brewing Company for dinner at an outdoor table on the patio next to the water, where Ann told us about the lights we were seeing, including the rigging on the Queen Mary which is in dry dock north of Long Beach. We had a good dinner with more laughs and talk, more talk back at her condo, and then Marv and I had to say our thanks and our good-byes. As we left I got an email from John Rogers concerned that we were in a fire zone. Sure enough, when we got back to the camper we found that a large fire was being fought about 100 yards away. The air was full of copters and planes and there were many emergency vehicles. But the slight breeze was blowing from us to the fire area and no one at the campground seemed concerned. The smell of smoke was heavy on the air but we didn’t see what choice we had but to go to sleep and see what our options were in the morning. And we had a new neighbor RIGHT next to us, with no one else to either side of the two of us. Sigh….

Camping in the 21st century: recharging, and it doesn't include the laptop!

Mastodon skeleton at Le Brea Tar Pits

Le Brea Tar Pits

(Friday) We spent a restless night, aware every time we awoke of the smell of smoke. Several large trucks went by the camper, which when I looked out, were always fire trucks. But the air was much clearer by morning. We could still see several vehicles on the other side of the fence, including a helicopter on the ground, and lots of smoke was rising but we could no longer see the leaping flames. The helicopters in the air started up again about 7:30 and were low and incessant so we were happy we had already gotten up when they started. As we drove to John and Barbara Rogers’ in Claremont we heard coverage on NPR national news of what we learned was a 200 acre wild fire that was 30% contained. Apparently that 30% included the area where we were camped. We got to Claremont in about 45 minutes and the GPS took us to their old house, which is empty and being rewired and insulated. Luckily as we drove through the gate we asked a man (Paul) where we would find the Rogers and he took us to their two bedroom apartment in a new building that has a few independent living apartments upstairs and assisted living downstairs. After seeing their building they took us all around Pilgrim Manor, showing us all this little community has to offer. It was started 75 years ago as a place for Congregational Missionaries to retire and live out their lives. It has expanded to include anyone who has worked for at least 15 years in a church related capacity and has become more ecumenical as well; they have a lesbian Tibetan Buddhist couple living across from them. It is a really interesting place and they have a museum made up of items donated by the residents that come from all over the world. There is a big Pilgrim Festival the second weekend in November that includes interpretive skits, everyone in costumes, and items for sale made by the residents. With that and other sales through the year they raise over $200,000 annually which is used to help residents whose money has run out. We ended out walking tour at the dining hall where John and Barbara treated us to lunch, seated with old friends from Michigan, Ann Marie and Don Coleman and John and Shirley Washington. It was so nice to catch up on what had brought them to California and all the years between. After lunch John, Marv and I walked through the campus of Pomona University and into the charming village of Claremont, including the Old Town and the New Town. When we returned their Seattle friends who were visiting for a night, Jim and Carolyn, had arrived so we visited for a while and then all went out for dinner at “Walter’s”, a world foods restaurant owned by an Afghan. Four of us had pasta, Jim had crab tacos and Carolyn had a sampler plate and all was delicious. We gathered up our things at their apartment and left after making plans for Saturday. It was a quick and easy drive back, but first we went through our first-ever Sobriety Checkpoint. They can’t do those in Michigan! The campground had many more campers and many had lined up right next to us on the “lake”. So much for our private area. The smoke was pretty heavy again this evening but we couldn’t see any fire fighting vehicles as we drove to our site to get ready for tomorrow.

That's how close the fire was!

Peggy & Marv with Shirley and John Washington

(Saturday) This was a perfectly wonderful day that couldn’t have been any better. Once again the smoke had dissipated overnight and there was hardly any smell in the morning. There were still at least four fire fighting vehicles parked and one driving slowly back and forth along the edge of the park, spraying what we assumed was some sort of fire retardant onto the ground behind the truck. We made good time back to the Rogers, taking with us leftover food for them to use and a load of laundry so we could leave towels and some clothes clean in the camper. We started the laundry and then John drove us all to the station where we took the train into Union Station in downtown LA, which took about an hour. We walked to Olvera Street, where Los Angeles began as a Spanish city in 1789. After walking through the Mexican market area we continued up to China Town where we went to the Imperial City to share giant platters of food with egg drop soup and hot tea, all for $4.95 per person!! That’s got to be one of the best deals in Los Angeles. Right across the street the gas was $5.19 a gallon. We walked through China Town and crossed Route 66 before climbing the hill up to the new, very modern Cathedral with its beautiful computer generated tapestries depicting saints. After spending time there we walked to Grant Street and the heart of the Performing Arts District and the Municipal Buildings like City Hall, the Supreme Court, etc. An usher outside the Disney Music Center told us to go up the outside stairs to the gardens and then to continue up some more stairs to the outside catwalk that gives one a great view out over the city. The Rogers chose not to do the extra stairs but Marv and I went up and enjoyed the view and took some pictures before going back down and into the lobby area where we could hear the end of the Philharmonic Symphony concert taking place inside. Barbara thought we could catch a bus across Grant Street back to Union Street. But then we found out the bus didn’t run on Saturdays. We started walking back and cut through the new Grant Street Park with its interactive fountain full of kids cooling off in the 82° sunshine and the grassy areas full of families and booths. On the other side we found a subway line that took us right to Union Station. Everyone got a drink from the Starbucks there and then caught the 4:00 train back to Claremont. We were all pretty tired by then and cold beers tasted great along with lots of cheese and crackers, pickles and guacamole for a light supper. The clothes dried as we ate and exchanged travel suggestions from us for them when they are in Brevort, MI with their family members this summer and from them for our time in the northwest when we come back in May. Around 8:30 we bid these dear friends good-bye and went back to the no longer smoky campground for showers and to begin packing to close up the camper for two months.