Time in L.A.

I've decided to go back and go into a little more detail about what I did while I was in L.A last week. So, let's see, I got there on Saturday, July 29. I left San Diego around 9AM. I was a little nervous about driving in/around LA (and San Diego for that matter) because the rush hour traffic in these cities are epically terrible. But really, if you pay attention, and don't do anything stupid, it's really not that bad. Now, if you're like me, it's hard to not get distracted when you have the pacific ocean on your left side that is within spitting distance. But if you ignore that, and pay attention to the road it's really not that bad. Well, until I got off the 5 in L.A. I think it was the 405. It turned into stop and go traffic for about 20 minutes. There was a really bad car wreck on the left hand side. As soon as I got past that traffic was alright again.  I finally got to Cindy's (my cousin) around 12:15. It only took me a extra 30 minutes or so to get there. For lunch Cindy took me to this place in Redondo Beach called Tony's on the Pier. It was an awesome restaurant. One of the best meals I've ever had. Then we went down to the water and walked around for a bit. The ocean was gorgeous. I can't even explain how seeing the ocean and being on the beach made me felt.
Sunday Cindy took me Hollywood and Highland. This is where the Kodak theater is, The Roosevelt Hotel (Which looks really awesome inside, BTW), Graumen's Chinese Theater. Oh, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was pretty cool. We also went on a tour to see some famous people's homes and the Hollywood sign.
Monday I went to Venice Beach and Santa Monica Pier by myself. I don't really know what I was thinking. I do not recommend going there by yourself, especially if you are a girl, and especially if you are a short girl who looks like she's maybe 16. When I first got there I went to the beach. It was quiet, about 9am, and hardly anyone on the beach. Amazing! I staying there for a bit then started walking down the beach. There was a pier really close by so I took a stroll down that. Then I decided to walk down Venice Beach. (Which is a bunch of little shops and stuff. I emphasize stuff.) It was interesting. I basically walked through it as fast as I could, then went to the beach again. I hung our there for a while, looked for some seashells, then decided to try to find a Starbucks. There was one a few miles away (which is the norm. in L.A. I think they believe if you go more than 2 miles without a Starbucks, a coffee tree in South America dies) I decided to walk most of it on the beach, then went into town. I ate lunch and sat for a bit. I knew I wasn't too far from the Santa Monica Pier so I decided to walk to that. It was really pretty, but really busy. I walked around the pier and got some pictures. Then, I looked up on my phone how far away my car was parked: 4 miles. Which really would not have been that bad if I hadn't been wearing flipflops. I walked back and I was almost to my car when this lady out of no where came up to me and grabbed my arm. She stares at me for a moment before speaking, and I'm staring at her like "Wow, lady, you managed to pop my personal bubble faster than anyone in my entire life!" Finally she says "You, you don't have to be looking down all the time." I had been looking down, but only because I had just walked 8 miles and I just wanted to get back to my car. Then she proceeded to tell me that my positive aura drew her to me, and that I just hold so much tension in shoulders (doesn't everyone in America do that?) and then when I was looking at her like she was completely nuts, she laughs and says that she had just gotten back from Mexico, and had had a few beers and was a little tipsy. The entire time this conversation was going on, she had not let go of my arm. She finally did let go of my arm, and I pretty much ran back to my car. Then I went back to Cindy's and passed out. I was tired!
Tuesday I really didn't do anything during the day. I just hung out and was lazy. Tuesday night Cindy took me to Pasadena and we had dinner with Hannah Kelley. It was so good seeing her. We ate at a place called Tender Greens (really, really good!) and then went to a place to get some Fro-yo, and walked around Pasadena for a bit.
Wednesday or Thursday I went to the Natural History Museum in L.A. It was really cool. I loved to Dinosaur exhibit. I had never seen Dino Skeletons in person before. After the NHM I drove around for about an hour trying to find a Starbucks. It's not that I couldn't find one, it's just that the roads in LA are kinda confusing and it took me a while to get unlost. But I found one eventually, don't worry ;)
Friday Cindy took me to the beach at Marina Del Ray. We had lunch there and then went to a place called the Venice Canals. It's really close to Venice beach and it's basically a play on Venice, Italy. It was really prettying. You can just walk around and look at the water and houses (which are really nice).
Saturday morning I left to come back to San Diego. I tried taking the 1 after Long Beach, and I did till Huntington Beach. I got out there and walked around for a bit. But the 1 is a road that runs right next to the coast and runs through all the little cities along the coast. It's nice, but something must have been going on (plus it was a saturday in the middle of the summer) because it was packed with tourists. So I just found my way back to the 5 and went home. It was a pretty cool week altogether ;)