Day 93

September 9, 2017                                                                                                               Day 93

All night I tossed and turned not able to get comfortable and I was up before my alarm went off at 04:00 am.  I got dressed and ate a banana for breakfast.  Leaving the Balboa RV Park, I drove to Mulholland drive to make it to the Hollywood Bowl overlook for the sunrise; although, I anticipated not being able to really see it thru all the smog of the city.  The drive was fun to do in the dark with all the twists in the road and though everyone suggested doing the drive in the daytime to check out the views I honestly don’t think I would have seen that much in either case.   I made it to the overlook before sunrise and thankfully the gate was open so I could park.  When sunrise was supposedly occurring I climbed the stairs to the overlook.  The overlook to me felt “dirty” and the view was nothing too spectacular.  I shot off a few pictures and then headed back down to my vehicle to drive to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

On the way there I drove past Hollywood Boulevard and saw the “walk of fame” stars as I drove by but did not stop for I was not really interested in all of that.  I found free parking until 08:00 right near Rodeo drive and got out to walk around while talking to my mom.   All the stores were not open yet, which I expected, so it was quite enjoyable to be able to walk around with almost no one on the sidewalk.  As I walked by, talking with my mom, I looked into the windows at all the wonderful things I would never in a million years be able to afford.  I passed one woman’s boutique that had some really beautiful lingerie that I would have loved to have but I knew that would never happen!  From there I walked down a residential area near the garden and the homes there were very beautiful and unique.  I was back at my vehicle before 08:00, upon which I said goodbye to my mother, and headed to Santa Monica Pier.

I found parking for $6.00, for six hours, right near Venice Beach and after paying I grabbed my bag and walked to the Venice Beach boardwalk.  Upon setting foot on the boardwalk and figuring out which side of the walk I was supposed to be on I headed right in the direction of the Santa Monica Pier.  As I walked on, there were very few people out and all the volleyball nets were filled up with players.  Walking on the pier was nothing special and the rides were not yet going so to pass the time I spoke with my grandmother from Wisconsin.  There was not much to see in my opinion for it was an ocean and I have lived on one for about four years.  I did notice that there were a lot of people who were walking around talking to themselves so that was really creepy.

From the pier, I walked back the way I came and headed across the beach to the water where I set up my towel and sat down.  As I sat down, my older brother returned my phone call from earlier and we proceeded to Skype so that I could see my nieces.  We skyped, as I sat there on the beach, for a good hour and today marked the first time that I heard my youngest niece Alix say my name! Those two girls are just so darn adorable and how do I hate not seeing them growing up.  I fear that they will grow up not really knowing me and being distant which I do not want at all.  When we hung up, I tried to write in my journal but I was actually quite cold near the water for there was a constant breeze and I was also hungry.  So I packed up and walked back to my vehicle thinking that I don’t know what all the talk was about Venice Beach.

As I sat in my vehicle, eating the sandwich I made, I realized I missed the main section of Venice Beach and Muscle Beach.  Instead of going right to Santa Monica Pier I needed to go left so that is exactly what I did after I finished my sandwich.  Going left I soon came upon the real action which to me was just like a town fair with vendors selling their homemade things.  Only a few actually had art that was worth even looking at (in my opinion) and I speed walk thru almost all of it.  One vendor I really wanted to stop at but I knew that if I did I would want to buy something.  It was a father and son from Africa that were selling wood carvings of masks in the shapes of wildlife and they were currently working on one as I passed by.  They were absolutely stunning!  I had to stop by muscle beach which was basically two men that were buffed beyond belief and seemed to be doing more walking around then actually working out.  I then stopped at the skateboarding park and swung by the basketball court.  In essence I think I just got a workout walking all around and it was not really my cup of tea but I am glad that I went at least.

Back at my vehicle I drove back to my camper where I snacked, had some wine and then took a thirty minute nap.  At which I point I started getting ready for dinner tonight with someone I knew back from high school.  Once I was ready, I sat in my chair with my feet propped up on my yeti cooler and waited for him to arrive.  When he pulled in we greeted each other and then I jumped into his car and off we went.  Riding together on the way to dinner at Hugo’s we chatted and laughed effortlessly the entire time which surprised me.  We missed our turn a few times but we made it there none the less and headed in to get a table.  Oddly I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all like one usually is when they are seeing someone for the first time in a long time and there are those moments of awkward silence.  I actually felt very confident and comfortable in his presence.  Once we finally decided on what to eat we continued our conversation and kept it going throughout the meal.  

Leaving Hugo’s, he surprised me once more by actually getting the vehicle door for me which I completely was not expecting for I know no one from back home who does that!  It was really quite nice and I am not like some feminist women who find that demeaning I actually think it’s a courtesy and possibly a sign of respect.  From the restaurant we drove to the Griffith Observatory once again missing our turn…twice.  Which I think just added to the evening and was absolutely hilarious.  When we neared the observatory traffic was horrendous even at 20:00!  We slowly inched our way down the hill to find a spot to park quite the ways away.  I switched my shoes from the heels I had on to my flats and off we went, in the dark, back up the winding hill to the observatory.  Seeing the observatory all lit up at night was beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed talking with Luke as we walked.  Once we reached the observatory we proceeded inside and spent our time, until close at 22:00, going from exhibit to exhibit laughing and making fun of how the little kids would just cut right in front of us.  We also thought it interesting how none of the buttons worked and everything we looked into we couldn’t see anything!

With the closing of the observatory we proceeded back down to the vehicle talking continuously and apparently we both could not walk a straight line for we kept bumping into each other.  After we switched positions on the road we declared it was due to the one on the inside kept moving over when a vehicle approached…natural instinct! HaHa.  Back at the car we drove around and finally decided to head to The Mint to listen to some music and have a drink.  At the entrance we discovered there was  a $12.00 cover charge we didn’t want to pay so we walked away only to have the bouncer whistle at us to come back and they changed it to $5.00 instead so in we went.  We grabbed a beer each and then sat down at a high top near the wall sitting side by side so we both could see the musicians on stage.

The guy that was singing on stage was absolutely amazing and we both enjoyed the sound of his voice. We talked as we listened to the music and both had two drinks each.  We were having such a wonderful time until a drunk woman came over and started talking to us.  You know those movies where the one person who is doing all the talking is muted?  That was exactly what happened here.  Luke and I could hear nothing that she said and we just made facial expressions to match her own.  When he left to use the restroom, I stood up to wait for him and hopefully get away from her but she kept talking and that’s when things got real.  She began questioning my trip and my entire life and pretty much repeated the same exact question over and over.  She told me that what I am doing is pointless and that I pretty much do not have a life and then she went on saying that going up the coast to Oregon and Washington won’t be any different then southern California and she is right because she has two degrees…in stupidity.  First, I told her that I have a degree in Zoology and that anyone with common sense knows that as one goes north the environment and wildlife change; it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

It takes a lot to piss me off but since I started this trip one sure way to piss me off is to say that what I am doing is pointless or stupid.  I had to keep reminding myself that she is just a drunk but I still couldn’t help but getting short and quite rude with her.  I wanted to hit her so badly and when Luke reappeared I looked at him and said we need to go now and headed straight for the door.  Once we got out he informed me that is “O,shit” (which I may have gotten what radar he said wrong for I don’t quite remember but it was along those lines) radar went straight up!  Outside, I explained what went down as we walked back to his vehicle. As we approached his car he wanted to walk around the block so that is what we did and as we were walking somewhere in the conversation it came up that he lived right around the corner!  I started laughing and looked at him asking why then are we walking around; why don’t we just go to his place and have some water before getting back in the vehicle.  So we walked there which was further then just around the corner in my opinion and doing all that walking in heels is not the most comfortable thing.  

At his place we got some water and sat down and started talking away.  Before we knew it we looked at the clock and it was 03:00 am!!  We didn’t realize that we had sat there talking for hours on end.  At this point, we decided I would just stay since it was already so late…or early?  We were both so exhausted at this point that I don't even recall falling asleep and when I woke in the morning I was still quite tired and surprised my allergies to cats never kicked in since his roommate had a cat. I do have to say this whole evening was a pleasant surprise!