A Trip West

Photos

I’m aware that I’m very behind on posting photos to this blog.  According to the pictures, I’m still stuck somewhere in Oklahoma City, which of course is inaccurate.

If you’re interested in seeing more photos feel free to scoot on over to Facebook and check out Jess and Laura’s pictures from the trip.

Home Again, Home Again

In case you were wondering, we made it home safely.

Sorry if I’m over a week late with this.  If it weren’t for the eeriely empty bedroom at the end of the hall and the souvenirs, I could fool myself into thinking that the whole trip was one long dream.

But I won’t.

Two Thursdays ago, on the 13th, Mom and Dad met up with my sisters, Shaun, and myself at Shaun’s UC Irvine apartment.  Jess and Shaun hopped into Shaun’s car while the rest of us took to the rented mini van and trekked out to L.A. on the Pacific Coast Highway.  From my car window, I saw flashes of Huntington Beach and other such American surfer pilgrimage sites.  The four of us in the van felt incredibly exhausted, knowing that at the end of the day there was a red eye flight back east waiting for us.  The weight of the trip seemed to hang itself upon our shoulders like the luggage we prayed would not exceed Delta Airline’s 50 lb. weight limit that incurs a fine.  Tempers began to fray as we realized that the traffic we were experiencing would only get worse as we came closer to downtown L.A.

We dropped off Shaun’s car at a parking lot in Venice Beach and the couple boarded the van.  We’d loop back later and say our goodbyes at the beach, after sight-seeing around Los Angeles.

Dad got turned around a time or two, but we soon found ourselves on Sunset Blvd., and before I knew it, Mom was leaning out the open passenger’s side window, snapping photos of the stars’ homes.  We hadn’t bought one of those “Star Maps,” but we had somehow fallen behind an open-air bus showing stars’ homes to tourists.  Laura shouted the question of whose house we were at to the driver every now and then.  We drove past Bel Air (Don’t make me sing the song!) and into Beverly Hills, where we caught a glimpse of the famous hotel of the same name.  At this point we looked at the dashboard clock and realized that with all the traffic, there was now only enough time to go back to Venice Beach and spend a little while there before hurrying off to LAX.  We rode down Rodeo Drive and all the glitzy shops there, floored by the extravagance, yet a little bummed over missing out on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  We blamed it all on the traffic, and my discomfort of being crammed in the car for so long while moving over so little distance spurred a train of thought of all the reasons why New York is infinitely better than Los Angeles, the most glaring reason being that New York has public transit and trains and subways, while Los Angeles only has a bus system, which again adds to traffic.

We finally reached Venice Beach and parked in the same lot where we had left Shaun’s car.  We walked down the shops along the waterfront.  I’ve always seen this part of Venice Beach as sort of a place of homage, being that one of my favorite albums, Jack’s Mannequin’s “Everything in Transit”, bears the image of the location on its cover.  Dad had described the place to us as an eclectic mix, body builders alongside beach bums and hipsters and hippies, all along the sunny strip of the Pacific Ocean.  Dad had been here once back in one of the winter months when activity was at a calm during the off-season.  We had arrived at the height of tourist season, and to the disappoint of most of my family, we suffered a bit for it.  To make a long story short, the scene on the walk in front of us was a bit like Nashville’s nightlife, except in full daylight and with more hobos wandering around.

Somewhat disheartened, we turned around and let the sidewalk turn us beachward away from the mess for the return trip.  We were soon back at our cars.

All of a sudden, it was time to say goodbye.

Well, maybe not goodbye, but see you later, as Jess put it.

Of course, there were tears.  Of course, there was hugging.  Most of all, there was the feeling that when one tries hard enough, distance becomes irrelevant.

Last Days in Cali-forn-i-a

Today, Shaun took us on a tour of the UCI campus.  We walked around the student center, and had a very successful shopping outing at the campus bookstore.  Afterwards, we took a walk to the park and then walked past the building holding the philosophy department. 

Following the campus tour, we went back to Mom and Dad’s hotel to hang out by the pool.  This hotel also had a really sweet pool area, with a bar (This one was open!), padded lounge chairs, and swanky cabanas.  And you didn’t have to reserve these!

Once we had our fill of the pool, Dad drove us down to Newport Beach for dinner.  We stopped in at a place called the Crab Cooker, a local fish market and restaurant right around the corner from the oceanfront.  Shaun had the swordfish, Jess had soft-shelled crab, Mom had shrimp and scallops on a skewer, and Dad had a combo plate with shrimp, scallops, and fish on a skewer.  Jess, Shaun, Mom, Dad, and I ordered their famous clam chowder, and the majority of us were disappointed to find out that the chowder was Manhattan, and not New England like we had assumed.  Shaun, however, was happy, since he likes Manhattan clam chowder better than our preferred type.  I had the Dungeness cracked crab for dinner, and I had to work at getting my food by cracking and pulling and digging.  After I was finished with my meal, I felt as though I had won a battle.

We left the restaurant full of seafood and walked up and onto Newport pier, where there were dozens of people casting lines and fishing.  We were able to spot a sea lion diving for fish as they were caught and a pair of dolphins leaping through the water.  We walked back down to the start of the pier and Jess, Dad, Shaun, and I witnessed the epic saga of the seagulls and bag of Cheetos.

We walked down the strip of shops and bought some ice cream for ourselves and found ourselves a spot on the wall between the boardwalk and the beach and settled down to watch the sun dip into the ocean to end the day.  That brings us back here, to Shaun and Jess’ apartment once again, where us four kids are hanging out and watching television again.

Tomorrow, all six of us will be visiting the sites in L.A.  Then, we’ll say our goodbyes to Jess and Shaun before heading to the airport for our red-eye flight home.

It seems crazy how fast this trip went, but at the same time I feel like we’ve been traveling all summer.  As of now, this will probably be my last post until we get home to New Jersey.  Once there, I’ll still be posting photos of the trip and telling crazy stories from our adventures to the west coast.  Thanks to everyone who has been following all along.  I hope you’ve had fun coming along with us on our journey.