We left the aquarium in Monterey and got underway for Los Angeles. We hadn't seen my relatives for seven years, since we drove out to Wisconsin when Rebecca was a baby. We found our way to my aunts without getting lost so, considering how large Los Angeles is, we were happy. It was Halloween night but as my aunt lives in a locked row of houses the few children from the area had already finished with Trick or Treating. Our kids were a bit disappointed to not go out with their cousin to get candy but he was at a friends house. Saturday had been planned as a 'Girls Day' for myself, Aunt and Cousin. I was looking forward to all the possibilities that this could bring! Well, I was a bit optimistic considering how many kids there were. Dominik had Rebecca and Jonathan doing math and my cousins husband and son came over around noon. The guys agreed to take the kids to a playground and my cousin Julie, treated Aunt Martha and I to an English-style afternoon tea. It was my aunt's birthday so we had a reason to celebrate! After choosing tea from a HUGE selction, we had our sandwiches, scone and little dessert.
The boys, meanwhile, were having their own sort of adventure. They had been at the playground twice as they had to avoid a little downpour, and when they were back at my aunt's house an older woman from the complex came out and started questioning Dominik and Jamie about who they were why were they there and NO, children are NOT allowed to play there. Apparently this woman and one other had approached Aunt Martha when she first moved into the complex, wanting her to join forces with them in driving out the young families and anyone who would make noise! This was then a bit stressful as the children had to sit in the house until we were all ready to leave. Some times I let the kids tip-toe up and down in front of the houses, but it was really a restrictive environment! Anyway I guess the boys refused to speak with her as she was so rude. We, meanwhile, went shopping at Trader Joe's, and went home to make Schnitzel for my aunt's birthday dinner!
The next day was our big day out. We had been given tickets to go to the Six Flags Amusement Park and we decided to take my relatives too and to use the Tickets in L.A. We arrived shortly after opening and stayed until closing. We did ride after ride after ride! We walked through and went on everythng that looked interesting as we went. Dominik happily sent Julie and I on a big one neither of us knowing exactly what it would do. Well, it did loop after loop after loop! Maybe seven in total, plus the corkscrew turns. It was fun but really rattly. Rebecca was our big daredevil, taking Auntie Julie or myself on proper roller coasters. Although neither Jonathan nor Rebecca were tall enough for the really, big roller coasters there were still enough to keep everyone happy. There was even an area for Jeremiah and Elena to go on. This was great because there are so many places where Jeremiah is just too small for the rides. When he heard this he is just SO sad. In his mind he is a BIG BOY!!!!
Monday was laundry and errand day....project book day. Dominik is helping Jonathan and Rebecca to make a scrapbook of our trip, for themselves as well as to show their classmates and teachers. Now Elena wants to do one too, to show her Kindergarten teachers and her class, the Regenbogengruppe :-)
What else have we done in the big city? We ate Thai, saw Hollywood Blvd and the walk of fame (the kids only recognised the names of Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny!), we drove through Beverly Hills and Bel Air to look at all of the lovely and large houses there- all surrounded by gates and hedges, of course! We ate some fantastic homemade Mexican food which, once you eat it, you realise how unauthentic the cheap taco chains really are. We drove to Griffith Park and the observatory and looked at the great view of the City, all the way to the ocean, and took some photos with the Hollywood sign. That was a great day. But the best, really, was our day at the Beach.
We started out to look for a Walmart because, when you're travelling and don't know the shops, it's just easier to make Kind stop when you need cotton swabs, toddler food and running shoes all at once! We have to say that it is much easier to find your local Walmart in Brockville or even somewhere-Montana than it is in L.A.. Plus you have to deal with a huge volume of traffic everywhere you go. It is a huge waste of time which, a transplanted Canadian in San Diego told me, you just have to embrace. Sorry, we prefer rural life the only thing slowimg us down in our travels being a blizzard!
Anyway, shopping FINALLY accomplished we made our way to Venice Beach, on the border of Santa Monica Beach. There is seemingly a large number of homeless people there along the boardwalk, as well as a few who left the better part of themselves behind when they started doing drugs, randomly swearing at nothing, but the beach was free and clean. The kids ran and jumped and splashed in the waves and it was oh SO relaxing! Anywhere on the water is wonderful. My Aunt, cousin and her son came down to meet us and then, as the sun was setting we had a short walk along the boardwalk. Unfortunately most of the stalls were packing up then, but we still saw signs for some sort of karmic-healing (if you can say that) but the man was busy raising his hands (in worship???) to the sun as it set.
Friday morning we waited to leave to avoid the traffic and then, after fond goodbyes, we drive on to San Diego. This city provided us with the challenge of finding a motel, it almost rivalled difficulty we had in Winnipeg! The first place was run down and possibly a bit dodgy, but run buy a sweet old lady. The next was too expensive, then we couldn't get to the other side of the road to check out the other motels! We tried to drive out and then back into the road but we couldn't as the police had the park cordoned off because it was a crime scene! Apparently a woman who had been arrested for a hit-and-run had managed to get her hands in front of her, climbed into the front of the police car, and drove it away with the policeman's shotgun beside her! She led them on a grand chase, ending in this park, multiple shots were fired. The "attractive red-head" survived, as did the police who were no doubt annoyed with themselves.
Anyway, back to us and our search. We had a major tour of the city suburbs whilst looking and finally asked a woman for advice when we were stopped at the grocery store for a bathroom break. Ahhh.....Motel 6 only five minutes away! How wonderful. Again, no one asked about how many children we have, and we were in a separate building from reception so that was fine. Once in the motel we realised that there were other families with lots of kids there too, mainly Hispanic and Black. Amazingly, as I stood at reception with my Austrian driver's license in my hand, I heard a voice behind me say "schöner Reisepass". Amazed I turner and started chatting with a Romanian couple who now lived in Southern California. The man had lived 15 years in Austria and his German was better than his English. Not only had he lived there but he had lived in Vöcklabruck, where my in-laws live! Also, his son was now living in Timelkam, where my sister-in-law comes from! What a small world it sometimes is! I would have chatted longer but Dominik and the kids were waiting. We ate ravioli in the parking lot (yeah for the camp stove) and bathed everyone and went to bed.
For an exciting day. We got downtown early, after Cheerios in the Walgreen's parking lot, and parked near the USS Midway. We had been really looking forward to this. This aircraft carrier, which had been comissioned 8 days after the end of the Second World War, and which was very involved in the evacuation of Saigon, had been decommissioned in 1992 and was turned into a museum and towed to the San Diego harbour.
Traffic was good, parking easy, and the day was beautiful. Really the weather in California has been lovely. The volunteers at the Midway were genuinely friendly and helpful. They have a lot of school classes which come and there is an educational program for children to follow as they see the museum. When they complete the questions then they receive their pilots wings! Apparently it should only take a few hours to see everything onboard, but with five kids we found that we were actually pushed for time. We saw a retirement ceremony on the flight deck, looked at various types of airplanes, toured 'the Island' where the ship is navigated, steered and commanded. We saw where the enlisted men, chiefs, and officers all lived and had their meals- three separate areas. The medical areas were interesting to me, thinking of working all the time without windows. I saw a WW2 veteran and spoke with his son. The man had been taken prisoner in 1944 when he was 24 years old and had been in three Prisoner of War camps in Germany, including the one where 'The Great Escape' had taken place. He arrived there a month or so after that escape.
As the afternoon wore on there were fewer and fewer families on board but a group of Marines and others had come to set up for a function that night. Watching them practice marching around was interesting for the kids.
Our last stop was the flight simulator. First Dominik and Jonathan and then Rebecca and I. It was great to try to fly around and to shooting down the enemy planes- some times flying in a loop in the process!
We left as the sun went down over the pacific and walked along to find a cheapish supper. When we went back to the car there were many marines arriving with their glittering dates for the ball/party on the ship. Wouldn't it be great to have a reason to dress up like that? It reminds me of University!!! ;-)
Well, that was California! We had fun but we're not sorry to leave for places with less traffic and less pushy drivers and all that PC nonsense. On to Arizona...
1 comment:
I am so glad that we avoided Los Angeles on our trip. I hope Arizona is good for you all.
Post a Comment