Driving: My Anti-Drug Part 2
So LA once again was fun.
Connie was sick the days before the trip, so it was questionable whether she was still going. But it all worked out and I picked her up then we left. The drive down was pretty nice, 85-100 almost all the way. 31MPG too, not bad. Going over Grapevine, didn't even have to downshift, that amazed me. There was some snow/ice at Flying J near the summit but it wasn't too bad, none of it was on the 5. We ended up stopping in LA Chinatown to eat at Sam Woo and look around. It wasn't very busy, which was interesting. After dropping Connie off in Irvine, I went to The Block at Orange, then over to CSU Long Beach for Cha and dinner since Cha at Irvine was CLOSED. Cha is pretty good, I think they're going to become a chain. Then I drove along the coast and went to the Queen Mary, The Pike, all the beautiful bridges, the port, and just drove down the 1 and then went west to Robert's house. His parents are really nice, and turns out they used to live in SF too. Then went to sleep.
Second day, planned to go down the coast. Went through Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Fashion Island, Three Arch Bay, Badlands Park, over to San Juan Capistrano. It was kind of weird that everywhere you go, you have to pay for parking...$10 for the beach, the parks, etc. And that there are offshore drilling rigs and chemical plants right across the street from the beach. It was just so weird. But Mission San Juan Capistrano was amazingly beautiful. Spent a few hours there, had lunch, then went over to Lake Elsinore. The road was beautiful but the Lake was a joke...there's nothing there, it's not even pretty. So I just decided to go back to Long Beach to go look around The Pike. Then Rob called me just as I got to Long Beach and said let's have dinner and go to watch Children of Men with his friend Cameron, so I had to go back. The movie was great, made me think a lot about the future, you guys should go watch it. After, we went to Guppy's to get some tap - they actually use Red Tea, never seen anyone use that before. Very very good tea and tap though, and it was really busy. I'll be back next time. Then went home and went to sleep.
The next day I left Westminster for UCLA. I left early to pick up Connie at UCI, then we went to LAX to pick up Amanda. We went to UCLA to move in and hung out, went to Westwood for lunch at Gushi's with Hugh, then went to the Getty. That place isn't all that it's hyped up to be. We had the most fun in the kids room haha. Went back to UCLA, checked out the parking situation and then went to Tomodachi for dinner with a big group. They a nice group of folks, real nice...Leslie and Sharon and Franklin and Cliff and Michelle. For dessert, Diddy Riese and Pink Berry - Diddy Riese was better, by far. Then we went to watch Over the Hedge, great movie for the second time :)
Next day had to wake up early to pay for parking before 7, then went back to sleep. Slept til 10, got up, hung around and talked, then went to lunch with Leslie. UCLA food is soooo great, their pizza taste like Domino's. We left for Lucerne Valley around 2:30. The drive up was pretty nice, we got there kind of early and we had to drive around for an hour or two before Pei Hua got out of the dentist. We even got to see the Mitsubishi Cement Plant that Connie got all excited over. Overall not too bad. Pei Hua's family is amazingly nice. I wish that all family's could be like that. Her cousins are really cool. Their restaurant was pretty cool and busy and after we ate, we went back to Apple Valley. Wagon (their dog) barked at me, for the first time ever. On the way, we stopped by Christina's house to pick up games and DVD's, then Christina came with us afterwards to sleep over.
Then we woke up early and went to Big Bear. We went to Snow Play and had fun on the hills with inner tubes all day. We had a blast, probably the best $22 I ever spent. Took a lot of videos and pictures too. Then we left and went to eat at IHOP, then we went to visit Pei Hua's principle Mr. Hunter. They're a nice couple, real nice. Took us in and all, had a nice big red shiny Silverado. Then we went to Barstow outlets, where Connie had lots of fun and I just had nose bleeds haha. All in all a good day...then we found out Wagon passed away :(
We had to leave the day after. Packed up, went to visit Pei Hua's high school, then ate at the restaurant and left. The drive back up was nice, took 58 and 46, then 152. Pretty smooth drive for the most part, them two slept a lot of the way. Pei Hua cried a lot, made me sad. It felt like a long time but we made good time. Then after I dropped Connie off, we went to Treasure Island, then Berkeley Hills. Pei Hua took a lot of pics, but overall I think she had fun so it was worth the extra time to bring her around.
Had a good time but I didn't get to do a lot of things I wanted to. I would have liked to go to Magic Mountain, Santa Monica Pier, Carey and Dave's house, Santa Barbara, Rim of the World Byway, Lake Arrowhead, Route 66, Rainbow Basin, Calico Early Man, Kelso-Baker, Needles, Lake Havasu, Phoenix, so many other places. Maybe the next time I'm there...if there is a next time.
Connie was sick the days before the trip, so it was questionable whether she was still going. But it all worked out and I picked her up then we left. The drive down was pretty nice, 85-100 almost all the way. 31MPG too, not bad. Going over Grapevine, didn't even have to downshift, that amazed me. There was some snow/ice at Flying J near the summit but it wasn't too bad, none of it was on the 5. We ended up stopping in LA Chinatown to eat at Sam Woo and look around. It wasn't very busy, which was interesting. After dropping Connie off in Irvine, I went to The Block at Orange, then over to CSU Long Beach for Cha and dinner since Cha at Irvine was CLOSED. Cha is pretty good, I think they're going to become a chain. Then I drove along the coast and went to the Queen Mary, The Pike, all the beautiful bridges, the port, and just drove down the 1 and then went west to Robert's house. His parents are really nice, and turns out they used to live in SF too. Then went to sleep.
Second day, planned to go down the coast. Went through Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Fashion Island, Three Arch Bay, Badlands Park, over to San Juan Capistrano. It was kind of weird that everywhere you go, you have to pay for parking...$10 for the beach, the parks, etc. And that there are offshore drilling rigs and chemical plants right across the street from the beach. It was just so weird. But Mission San Juan Capistrano was amazingly beautiful. Spent a few hours there, had lunch, then went over to Lake Elsinore. The road was beautiful but the Lake was a joke...there's nothing there, it's not even pretty. So I just decided to go back to Long Beach to go look around The Pike. Then Rob called me just as I got to Long Beach and said let's have dinner and go to watch Children of Men with his friend Cameron, so I had to go back. The movie was great, made me think a lot about the future, you guys should go watch it. After, we went to Guppy's to get some tap - they actually use Red Tea, never seen anyone use that before. Very very good tea and tap though, and it was really busy. I'll be back next time. Then went home and went to sleep.
The next day I left Westminster for UCLA. I left early to pick up Connie at UCI, then we went to LAX to pick up Amanda. We went to UCLA to move in and hung out, went to Westwood for lunch at Gushi's with Hugh, then went to the Getty. That place isn't all that it's hyped up to be. We had the most fun in the kids room haha. Went back to UCLA, checked out the parking situation and then went to Tomodachi for dinner with a big group. They a nice group of folks, real nice...Leslie and Sharon and Franklin and Cliff and Michelle. For dessert, Diddy Riese and Pink Berry - Diddy Riese was better, by far. Then we went to watch Over the Hedge, great movie for the second time :)
Next day had to wake up early to pay for parking before 7, then went back to sleep. Slept til 10, got up, hung around and talked, then went to lunch with Leslie. UCLA food is soooo great, their pizza taste like Domino's. We left for Lucerne Valley around 2:30. The drive up was pretty nice, we got there kind of early and we had to drive around for an hour or two before Pei Hua got out of the dentist. We even got to see the Mitsubishi Cement Plant that Connie got all excited over. Overall not too bad. Pei Hua's family is amazingly nice. I wish that all family's could be like that. Her cousins are really cool. Their restaurant was pretty cool and busy and after we ate, we went back to Apple Valley. Wagon (their dog) barked at me, for the first time ever. On the way, we stopped by Christina's house to pick up games and DVD's, then Christina came with us afterwards to sleep over.
Then we woke up early and went to Big Bear. We went to Snow Play and had fun on the hills with inner tubes all day. We had a blast, probably the best $22 I ever spent. Took a lot of videos and pictures too. Then we left and went to eat at IHOP, then we went to visit Pei Hua's principle Mr. Hunter. They're a nice couple, real nice. Took us in and all, had a nice big red shiny Silverado. Then we went to Barstow outlets, where Connie had lots of fun and I just had nose bleeds haha. All in all a good day...then we found out Wagon passed away :(
We had to leave the day after. Packed up, went to visit Pei Hua's high school, then ate at the restaurant and left. The drive back up was nice, took 58 and 46, then 152. Pretty smooth drive for the most part, them two slept a lot of the way. Pei Hua cried a lot, made me sad. It felt like a long time but we made good time. Then after I dropped Connie off, we went to Treasure Island, then Berkeley Hills. Pei Hua took a lot of pics, but overall I think she had fun so it was worth the extra time to bring her around.
Had a good time but I didn't get to do a lot of things I wanted to. I would have liked to go to Magic Mountain, Santa Monica Pier, Carey and Dave's house, Santa Barbara, Rim of the World Byway, Lake Arrowhead, Route 66, Rainbow Basin, Calico Early Man, Kelso-Baker, Needles, Lake Havasu, Phoenix, so many other places. Maybe the next time I'm there...if there is a next time.
posted by ben at 23:25
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home