Leaving LA and Arriving in San Diego

We left LA early Sunday morning on June 17. Elena drove us to the bus stop near her house. After a quick 10 minute ride, we got off near Olvera Street, and we didn’t know which way to go to get to Union Station. Luckily, there was a sheriff nearby who offered us his help. He said he would take us over to the station but he was unable to. Instead, he gave us directions to the station, which ended up being about 5 minutes away while walking. Once we arrived outside the station, we noticed the sheriff driving by the entrance, making sure we had gotten there okay. We had. Thanks Mr. Sheriff! Kindness of strangers has really helped us a lot on this trip. Once we got to the station, we had plenty of time to wait until our train left so we ordered Starbucks and Lauren called her dad to wish him a happy father’s day, because that’s the kind of daughter she is (not that Lynea isn’t, she did try to call her parents several times that day; sadly, no one answered…)

The ride to San Diego was one of the most gorgeous train rides we have taken so far on this trip (and the quickest since it was only 3 hours). We rode along the Pacific Coast Highway, which ran alongside the beach and ocean. We saw several people hanging out on the beach and couldn’t wait to join them later.

Our view from the train window

After we arrived in San Diego, we waited for the trolley to get to our hotel. We sat near a guy close to our age who told us we probably wouldn’t have to pay for the trolley because no one ever comes out to check the tickets. We found this to be very true throughout our time in San Diego. He also told us that we’d never be bored in the city because there is always something to do. We took the trolley one stop down and walked the rest of the way to the hotel. Once we got to the hotel, we were so excited at the prospect of the beach, that we dropped our luggage in the room, changed into our bathing suits, and started walking towards the water. It was then that we noticed our first sunburn from our time on Santa Monica Beach. Ouch. But, we were ready to soldier on and get even more sun! You can never have too much Vitamin D, right?

Sad about our sunburns (Lynea is not actually naked, she is wearing her bathing suit)

We walked along the harbor on our quest to find a beach, which passed by many boats, yachts, cruiseships, etc. After walking about a half hour one way (in our unsuccessful attempt to find the nearest beach), we decided to turn around and try the other way. This also ended up being unsuccessful. However, it was fun to explore San Diego. We passed by street vendors and gift shops along the harbor. This is where Lynea met her next love affair, a nice, tall, stone statue, that may have been slightly less interested in her than she was in him. Oh well. This didn’t stop her. We eventually walked into the city area, stopping to get frozen yogurt. SO delicious! On our walk back to the hotel, we passed by a Martin Luther King Jr. memorial, which had several of his quotes on the sidewalk area and stone hands spelling out “DREAM” in sign language. Once we got back to the hotel, we figured out that we had walked approximately 4 miles on our quest to find a beach. Even though we didn’t find a beach, we were glad to get some solid physical exercise in.

Ships on the harbor

Lynea gazing longingly into boyfriend #3's eyes

Love triangle... we like to keep it complicated

Once we got back to the hotel, we took much-needed showers and put on dresses and left to find the nearest In-n-Out Burger. Gotta look extra classy for that place! ;) We took the trolley for a few stops, and then walked the rest of the way. We found In-n-Out Burger relatively easily, only turning the wrong direction once. The burgers were well worth the journey and getting dressed up. We were highly upset at the prospect of coming back home in a couple weeks, where there are no In-n-Out Burgers anywhere near us. Oh well. When we finished eating, we tried to head back towards the trolley. Unfortunately, while Lauren’s iPhone has always pointed us in the right direction, it does not have the ability to point out which neighborhoods are dangerous and which are not. We started walking down the wrong road at first, passing by some angry drunks and homeless people once again. We also passed by a strip club (one of many, we’re sure) that was supposedly the “biggest strip show in San Diego”, or so they advertise. We eventually figured out we were going the wrong way and turned around, quickly finding our way back to the trolley. We saw fireworks going off in the distance when we turned around, which we later found out happens every night around this time due to a special occasion (of which we can’t remember). We were very relieved to finally get back to the hotel and settled in to our beds. Lynea attempted to call her parents one last time (unsuccessfully) and then we turned on the television. We watched a movie called “All About Steve” with Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper. While this movie may not be Oscar-worthy, it was VERY entertaining and fun to watch. We especially enjoyed the part where Sandra Bullock’s character gets super excited to see Bradley Cooper’s character and flaps her arms in excitement and runs across a bridge where she basically tackles him. Lauren ended up falling asleep in the middle of the movie, but of course Lynea enjoyed it until the very end. We both slept very well that night, after another day full of many adventures. 

Keepin it classy with the pinky up

VERY excited about my first In-n-Out Burger

We applied for jobs here but for some reason got rejected...

Los Angeles: Day 4

The morning of Saturday, June 16, we were very excited at the prospect of finally going to the beaches. After packing all our stuff, we went with Elena to get some coffee and breakfast at Coffee Bean. Sorry Starbucks, but we have a new love affair with Coffee Bean. Lynea ordered an iced chai latte with a parfait while Lauren ordered an iced dark chocolate latte with a parfait. We were VERY impressed with the drinks and decided we had to go to more Coffee Beans while we were in California.

Our new love

Lynea's iced chai latte in the back and Lauren's iced dark chocolate latte up front

After, we began another long journey to get to Santa Monica Beach using LA’s public bus system. On the first bus we took, we met a nice lady who was very interested in our educations, especially Lauren’s Gerontology experience. She discussed the potential idea of Lauren starting a non-profit organization that she thought would make millions. We told her we wanted to go to Santa Monica Beach, and she tried to help us figure out which bus stop to get off at. Unfortunately, so did 2 other people. When we reached the stop we were supposed to get off at, all 3 of these ladies began arguing about where we needed to get off, therefore causing us to become thoroughly confused.  We got off at the next bus stop, which then changed our entire travel route that we were following on Lauren’s iPhone. On the next bus, we sat across from a homeless man who was ranting about the dangers of texting and driving. The bus driver told him several times to calm down, warning him he would be kicked off the bus if he didn’t calm down. We finally made it to the beach around 1pm. We walked by the pier and set ourselves up on the beach in front of a pavilion that was playing club music. We laid out for a couple hours before exploring the pier. We came across a guy who had several parrots with him that he had trained to fly on to people and “talk”. We also passed by people who were doing demonstrations for a trapeze school. After exploring the rest of the pier, we walked to the bus stop and met an older lady from Malaysia. She told us she had been traveling around the U.S. since early May, attending families’ weddings. She was very sweet and wished us a good journey as we got onto the bus.

Waiting for the bus... story of our lives

Beach babes

You might notice Lauren's awkward tan lines beginning in this picture...

A view of the Santa Monica pier

Elena had mentioned a good place to get food called Bay Cities Italian Deli. After we left Santa Monica Beach, we took the bus and walked to the deli. There was a long line of people waiting and we had to take a number to order our food. Lynea ordered the “Godmother” with the works (Italian meats, tomato, onion, lettuce, etc) and Lauren ordered a turkey and cheese sandwich. We got some drinks and took our sandwiches outside where a bunch of tables were set up. After finishing our sandwiches, we were standing up and about to leave when Lauren noticed Joshua Jackson walking towards a table with a group of friends. She made awkward eye contact with him as he walked by. After she noticed her mouth hanging open, she quickly turned back to Lynea and said we had to stay. Lynea did not immediately recognize him but she also made awkward eye contact with him as he passed by because he has pretty eyes. Lauren then explained to her that Joshua Jackson was Charlie Conway in the Mighty Ducks trilogy, and was also in Dawson’s Creek and Fringe. After staring him down (very discreetly of course), Lauren decided it was her chance to become the paparazzi. She made Lynea pretend to pose for a picture while she actually took a picture of Joshua. Only after she took the picture did Lynea inform her that the flash was indeed still on. Oops! We waited until he left with his friends (like the stalkers we are) and then finally were on our way to the next adventure waiting for us. We deemed this trip to LA successful due to our celebrity sighting.

The beginning of Lauren's paparazzi career

We had heard that Venice Beach was a fun place to go to see interesting people. However, immediately after getting off the bus on Venice Beach, we were scared for our lives. We walked towards the boardwalk and did not feel comfortable with the people around us. There were many places to get a medical marijuana prescription in between your typical boardwalk shops. We’re sure the people who suggested visiting Venice Beach meant to visit it during the day and not in the late hours that we were there. After walking down the boardwalk for just 5 minutes, we turned around and headed towards civilization. Along the way, we got yelled at by a homeless man who wanted us to count his money and was angry when we did not stop. Woops, sorry buddy! After walking over a mile, we found another Coffee Bean. Lauren desperately needed to charge her phone since this was the only way we had to get around LA without getting lost. After ordering our drinks, we noticed that all the outlets were taken and sat outside keeping an eye out for people leaving. After a few minutes, someone finally left and we pounced (yes, pounced) on the table that had the outlet. Lauren let out a sigh of relief as she plugged in her phone to be charged. The guy sitting next to us noticed how we quickly grabbed the table and introduced himself as Ellis. We told him about our trip and this blog. Ellis and his friend (who’s name we still don’t know) asked if they would be in our blog, to which the answer is obviously yes. To Ellis and friend, here’s your shout out! ;)  Ellis asked us about what we each studied in college. He asked us about fun facts from our majors and Lynea told him how some turtles breathe cloacaly** (AKA they breathe through their butts). Lauren told him stories about old people she had previously worked with. He and his friend told us about their jobs and XMAP, which is an app that gives you hints about where to get “treasures” that are hidden in different cities around the country. We figured this to be similar to geocaching (which neither of us has ever done).

After talking to them for a couple hours, we decided it would be in our best interests to start heading to Elena’s parents house since it was already late. This adventure started around 10pm and was our longest (and most dangerous) bus ride yet. The first bus we took did not take the normal route and we somehow ended up at the LA Union Station. We re-routed the GPS on Lauren’s iPhone, which told us to take the metro to yet another bus stop. Once we got to this alleged bus stop, we waited several minutes before finally deciding to call a cab. By this time, it was already close to 1am and we really just wanted to go to sleep. The cab took just a few minutes to arrive and we got back to Elena’s house by 1am. This was the longest 3 hours of the entire trip thus far. Elena and her family had kindly set up the pull-out couch for us and Lynea chatted with Elena briefly before we got ready and finally fell asleep after a long night. 

Los Angeles: Day 3

We woke up early on Friday June 15 so Lynea could prepare for her meeting with Dr. Stanford from USC. She had planned out her outfit “to the T”… literally (yeah, she’s a nerd, but we love her for it). She felt quite empowered with the outfit she chose. After reading articles that Dr. Stanford had written, we started walking over to the closest Panera Bread (Dr. Stanford’s place of choice to meet). Lauren was a little upset about this, but she didn’t blame Lynea. After walking a little over 30 minutes to get there (and surprisingly not getting lost), Lauren ordered food and set up her computer while Lynea kept a lookout for Dr. Stanford. Since she had only seen his picture online, she was nervous she wouldn’t recognize him immediately. After awkwardly staring down every customer that walked into the store, he finally arrived. They ordered drinks and sat down and talked for about an hour. They discussed their research experiences and potential opportunities at USC. Lynea is excited about the possibility of attending graduate school in the future at USC.

Afterwards, we left Panera and began the LONG journey to the USC campus where Lauren had a meeting scheduled with a faculty member of the Gerontology school. This journey began our love/hate relationship with the LA public transportation system. After taking a bus to the LA Union Station, we found the stop for the free shuttle to USC campus. Not knowing the exact schedule for this shuttle, we waited several minutes before one arrived. Once we FINALLY arrived on campus, we found the Gerontology school pretty easily. Lauren met the faculty member she was supposed to meet with, who informed her that the assistant dean of the school was going to give her a personal tour of the school. The assistant dean showed her around the building and introduced her to several professors and faculty of the school. She discussed all the research being done in the field at the school. After the tour, Lauren met with the student advisor who gave her general information about graduate school. Meanwhile, Lynea wandered around campus by herself (no friends) and was impressed by the architecture and found it to be a beautiful campus. After Lauren was done with her meeting, we explored the campus bookstore, but didn’t buy anything. After grabbing a quick bite to eat on campus, we took some more public transportation to get to Olvera Street.

Olvera Street is a marketplace in LA with several street vendors and restaurants with a Mexican vibe. We explored the shops and enjoyed the live music. Lauren especially enjoyed all the masks that the vendors were selling while Lynea enjoyed her newfound (wooden) boyfriend (sorry Will). We walked to a gazebo area right next to Olvera Street that had even more live music and watched some couples dancing. 

Lauren was excited about the masks

Lynea with boyfriend #2

Sadly, we did not purchase any of these

A view of Olvera Street

Street/restaurant performers on Olvera Street

Couples dancing

The gazebo

We wanted to fulfill every tourist's dream of going to Hollywood Boulevard and strolling down the Walk of Fame. We walked down the boulevard for a while, looking at the names of all the celebrities who have received stars. This is not necessarily a good idea because you cannot pay attention to other pedestrians AND look at the names of stars at the same time. We had several almost-collisions. We also briefly stopped by Universal Studios, but decided we were too tired to climb up the giant hill and take the shuttle. After visiting Hollywood Boulevard and Universal Studios, we got a quick dinner and then started walking back to Elena’s aunt and uncle’s house. On the way back, we stopped at CVS to fulfill Lynea’s chocolate craving (PMS much?). We got some Dove dark chocolate with almonds and obviously needed some milk. Then, to complete our girly needs, we got the latest Cosmo magazine. After leaving the store, we were walking across the street, and got quite confused with the walk signal. We stepped on and off the street several times before staying back to wait for the next walk signal. We made ourselves look like idiots in front of everyone. We almost died. Yes, it was this dramatic. After this near-death experience, we continued on our way. The walk back to the house was much more difficult since we had to go uphill almost the whole way. We did not enjoy this physical exercise. We hoped (dreamed) that a celebrity would see us and offer us a ride. Sadly, no one came to our rescue. Not even any non-celebrities.

For John and Romelia :) 

Lookin good walking down Hollywood Boulevard ;)

Once we got back to the house, we hung out with Elena and watched “Good Luck Chuck”. It was just the movie we needed to unwind after a high-pressure day. We enjoyed our chocolate very much and fell asleep content. Goodnight. 

Los Angeles: Day 2

Early Thursday morning, we left our luxurious La Quinta Inn & Suites and took a shuttle to Van Nuys Airport where Elena picked us up. She then drove us to Grant High School where she works. She explained that it is a typical public school in LA. We got to sit in on a chorus class and hear a couple of the students perform songs. The kids were energetic and entertaining, no doubt excited about summer break. Afterwards, we sat in the courtyard while Elena got some things together and we waited to do yoga. 

Sitting in the courtyard before yoga

A yoga instructor comes in once a week at Grant High School for teachers and students. It was a beginner's yoga class and had many typical yoga poses, such as the warrior pose and downward dog, etc... It also featured a core workout, which had some very unflattering poses, making both of us glad that there were only females in the class besides the instructor. Lauren had taken a few yoga classes at her gym before, but it had been several months since she had taken a class. She suffered. But we both agreed that it felt good after being on the train so much. 

Elena then took us back to her aunt and uncle's house in North Hollywood to drop off our luggage. Their house is gorgeous and they have the sweetest and most relaxed dog ever. Jenna is a husky, one of Lynea's favorite breed of dogs. After we got settled in at the house, we went shopping. Lynea was on the search for a cardigan. Because who doesn't search for a cardigan in the middle of the summer in California? 

Typical

Lynea's "hulk" hand

After we found everything we needed, Elena went to a fundraiser for her school and we went to Starbucks to work on the blog. We had fun with the Photo Booth on Lauren's Macbook. A photoshoot in Starbucks ensued. 

The beginning of many...

Double trouble!

Lynea's Jay Leno impression

A normal picture! 

The LA sun made it hard for us to work on the blog

After working on our blog/goofing around for a while, we then had to decide what we wanted to do for dinner. Anyone who knows either one of us knows that we both are very indecisive. We wanted go somewhere unique to LA, and somehow decided to go to California Pizza Kitchen. That's unique, right? We ordered the barbecue chicken pizza and spinach and artichoke dip. Lauren ordered an apple martini while Lynea ordered an Asian plum martini. They were divine. 

Double fisting!

Barbecue chicken pizza at CPK

Elena picked us up from the restaurant after we finished dinner and we went back to the house and prepared for our meetings with USC professors for the next day before going to bed.