This is LA!
Backing up just a bit, before hitting LA we stayed at a place between Yosemite and LA for a week in a town called Paso Robles which is kind of by Bakersfield. It was a nice RV park and we really planned on just catching up with work and getting our ultrasound at a nearby hospital. After we found out the gender of our baby coming in Feb, we started brainstorming for announcements.
Luckily, there was a fun little pumpkin patch about 10 minutes away so we did a little photoshoot there.
There were actually some high school girls there who volunteered to take our picture. It worked out perfectly.
Ok, onto our LA experience. We headed to our next RV park which was about 50 minutes north of LA in a town called Acton. As we pulled in the lobby area, the park looked nice but as we found our site we realized this RV park was on its last leg.
Our RV park was really out of the way and we knew it didn’t have great reviews going into it. However, it was a free place to stay for 2 weeks through Thousand Trails. Once we parked, we knew automatically we didn’t want to stay very long. They didn’t get internet around the park except for two of the lobbies, and my phone didn’t get reception at all. Luckily, Bens’s phone plan is with Verison and he got some reception where we were parked so we could at least do some emails and planning inside the RV.
To make matters a little worse, the RV water and sewage next to use seemed to be shared with the RV that was supposed to leave the next day (according to their sign in the window) but never left.
Getting The Full LA Experience
Something I personally didn’t expect from California was how brown and yellow everything is this time of year. Someone said during our visit “it is the golden state!” which makes more sense now. From memory, California was always really green!
Somehow made it to Friday and headed to downtown LA only to find out there were multiple fires in the surrounding mountains and the main highway to LA was totally blocked off… ugh! The traffic was terrible. It was a huge cluster and so many cars and people trying to figure out what to do. We stopped at a Starbucks for an hour or so of work to hopefully let the traffic and fires die down but no such luck. It felt like no matter what we did all the roads were cut off!
Eventually, we found a little side road through the mountains which could potentially get us there. After an hour of switchbacks, I had to get out of the car to barf. I hate throwing up with a passion. So far LA had not been my favorite.
We finally made it to the city and had planned to go to the Griffith museum but since our arrival was a few hours later than expected, we just headed to The Getty which is a famous art museum.
The Getty
I personally enjoy art. I like reading the stories behind the illustrations and how the artist interpreted ideas or events in history through different mediums. Ben on the other hand just really has a hard time getting into it. He is such a good sport at these things but I could tell he was dying inside. It’s about 30 minutes and he is done.
Venice Beach
We had a bit of time before meeting up with friends so we made a stop by Venice beach! Also known as muscle beach. It wasn’t a long time we spent there but enough to enjoy people watching. Always great to be by the ocean.
Bens High School Friends
A big part of why we wanted to go to LA was to visit Bens highschool friends named Jordan and Blake. These guys have lived in LA for a while so it was fun to see them connect and tell stories about the “good ole days.” Jordan’s wife and Blakes’s girlfriend were lovely and really easy to be around. The kids watched a movie while we all sat around and chatted for a few hours. Meeting new people on the road is one of my favorite things to do.
We decided to stay the night at Blakes as they had a spare bedroom and had a few things planned for that Saturday. We had so much fun, we ended up staying a second night!
Mermaid Linden
Many of you know I work on an affiliate marketing website around the topic of mermaids. It does really well and I enjoy researching the topic and doing reviews on mermaid products. Being in the “industry” you get to know some bigger names and THE mermaid that I have always wanted to meet lives near LA and we went to lunch.
Mermaid Linden is one of the most genuine, sweetest people on the planet. I am so happy about the success she has had in the industry and only wants the absolute best things for her. She is one of the original mermaids who paved the way for so many others. She also really focuses on ocean conservation and education which is what I love. How cool… I was a little star-struck. Thanks so much for hanging out with us Linden!!! You’re a beautiful mermaid inside and out!
L.A Art District
That Saturday night we went downtown and had some Sonoratown tacos which have probably been the best tacos we’ve had on the road since Austin! We walked around and visited the last bookstore, as well as General Market.
We even got to see a set being filmed at night. Not a bad night out on the town!
The Magic Castle
I had never heard of this place before visiting LA. But Ben’s highschool friend, who is an inspiring actor, had a connection to a member and we were able to go. Let me start from the beginning so you actually know what this place is.
The Magic Castle is an old hotel close to the LA Chinese theatre that hosts magicians. It’s this crazy nice old hotel with multiple rooms where magicians perform all throughout the night. You can only get in by being a member or being invited by a member. We were fortunate enough to go and it, for lack of a better word, was magical.
Photography wasn’t allowed so the only pictures we got were outside. There is a dress code and it’s like a black-tie affair so everyone was really dressed up. It gave us a good excuse to get out some of our fancy wear we have been carting around in the RV this whole time and unable to use! You can’t see it but my baby bump looked amazing in this dress.
There is even a secret door that opens with a secret password! Anyway, as you enter the decorations seemed old and fit in well with the holiday theme. There was a “ghost” playing piano all night. I am sure it was connected to a guy in another room but you would ask it to play anything and it did! I requested Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash and he played it!
The place seemed to go on forever with an upstairs and downstairs. There were multiple rooms/stages where professional magicians would perform and THESE GUYS WERE GOOD!
The first room we went to was an up close and personal card magician from Spain. He was super entertaining and did some tricks I had never seen before. I kept trying to figure out how he did it but the talent and skills of these guys really blew me away.
The second room we went to was probably my favorite. It was two different magicians and I could go on and on about the tricks they did but I will save you the time and just tell you my favorite.
One magician took two chicken eggs in his hands and was put into a straight jacket. The trick was supposed to be getting out of the straight jacket and not crack the eggs. He was able to get out but there were no eggs in sight. He proceeded to take out two fully grown chickens out of the straight jacket!!!! I was totally blown away!
The last act was a magician that had music and told lots of stories as he performed. We were sitting in the front row and Ben and I got to help out with a trick. There was some really cool stuff and was fun to see the different styles of performing.
It was about midnight but Sam (the member who helped us get in) had a few tricks of his own! He had been a member for a number of years and was working on some card tricks that were really good! He plans to perform next year but I think he could do it sooner than that!
Ben and I walked away really grateful for the experience. It was so unique to the area. We had never been to a magic show before but really respect the art and would do it again!
Thanks for the good times LA!
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