California Dreamin'

The Bickleys (Jim and I) headed to L.A. for part of our Spring Break. I had never been to CA before, so we decided to do the typical sightseeing "stuff". Bick was jazzed when we picked up our rental car and it wasn't a minivan (those of you that know that Bick rec'd a minivan for our anniversary know he would have preferred a more "manly car" (LOL!), but that the van was more practical with the kids getting older and carting them and their friends here and there). He's already talking about his "next car" being a 300.


Saturday we headed to San Pedro Bay (in CA they pronounce that San Pee-dro...I didn't know that) to go on a whale watching excursion. I also didn't realize that we had planned our trip perfectly for whale watching, because the grey whales are on their migratory sail and will only be in the Pacific Ocean near CA for another few days.

The whale watching was exciting and educational...we were able to locate a pack of three, grey whales that were traveling together and we followed them for a while. Their "cycles" were about 3-5 minutes under water and then they would come up for a "blow". Sometimes, they can stay under water for up to 15 minutes if necessary...that's amazing if you think about it! Each of their lungs are about the size of a Volkswagen!


"There she blows!"

The sea lions were pretty cool to watch too...they found their way to a buoy that they decided to sun bathe on. You'll notice in the one picture that there is a sea lion on the second rung; apparently the sea lions are decent climbers too. Who would've thunk it?


After a visit to San Pedro Bay and the Pacific Ocean, we decided to venture over to Hollywood and the walk of stars. Bickley found one of our favorite, funny men, John Belushi.

We thought Greg might appreciate this one...THE THREE STOOGES!


We also had some fun at the Hollywood Park Casino. The rules here were a lot different than we were use to when we visited casinos in Vegas, Missouri, Arizona, Indiana, etc... Here, for example, you had to put down a $1 chip on top of your bet for each hand...for us working-middle class educators, that adds up after two people playing 20-30 hands of Blackjack. I fared okay, Bick not so well. Fortunately, we spotted horse racing on the way out and took my winnings and took a chance...I won $80 on the first race. I managed to win back all but $7.50 that we had bet, so we figured that wasn't too shabby for a night out...beats the cost of a movie and popcorn these days!
Sunday we found our way to Beverly Hills. A trip to California wouldn't be completed without a trip to the legendary Rodeo Drive. We browsed through a couple of the stores and found a few things we liked at Niketown and Coach. Versace and Cartier were a little out of our league, but they were fun to check out.

That's Versace in the center, straight back.
Monday we headed to Universal Studios. The weather was chilly, but with our "Front of the Line Passes" we managed to check out every show and ride.
One of the stars of the "Animal's Actor Studio" shows...isn't she a cutie?
We went on the "Studio Tour", where several hit TV shows were currently taping...straight back is the set of Crossing Jordan.



One of my top favorite TV shows was also taping on Monday...yep, this is the set of Desperate Housewives!

This wreckage is from the set of War of the Worlds, starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning. Spielberg actually purchased a real Boeing to destroy, and then be used on the set.
This is a view of the lower lot of Universal Studios...many of the stages were being used the day we were there.
From one of my all-time, favorite movies, Notting Hill, starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, this is the storefront of the Travel Book Co., where Julia said to Hugh, "I'm just a girl, standing in front of a guy, asking him to lover her." ...so romantic! Our wedding song, a version of "When You Say Nothing At All" was from Notting Hill.

"Watch out, Bickley!"
This is a pic. from Waterworld, where some great stunt work was seen...including a tidal wave and thrilling plan crash! On the jet ski is a former Desperate Housewives' actor...had a short stint as a high school boy, I think. Anyway, it was a great show ~ a lot of action!

We also enjoyed a strong through the Universal City Walk, which I think is Universal's answer to "Downtown Disney".

Tuesday, as of some you know, we were supposed to be on The Price Is Right. Unfortunately, THE PRICE WAS WRONG! We found out that having tickets means nothing. The word from the page and others in line were that they give out around 1,100 tickets for 350 seats! Pure craziness if you ask me. We got up around 4 A.M., so we could be in line at the CBS studios by 6ish...fortunately, they were kind enough to let us know at 6:45 A.M. that we did not get the admittance passes that you needed ALONG WITH your ticket to get in. What a crock! So, we went back to the hotel and napped for a little while. We were back in line around 2 P.M., but this time at the NBC studios, where we went to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. No, we weren't going to win a new car here, but with Jeff Foxworthy as one of the guests we did get a bag of his signature beef jerky! Talk about a parting gift! It was a great experience (even though his other guests were three guys who walked across the Sahara Desert [no names] and the band Dierks Bentley) just being there. We'd definitely do it again. We wrapped up Tuesday with a dinner out and then we caught the red eye to Columbus. We were back in good ol' Buckeye Country Wednesday morning, and we're still a little out of sorts with the time change...but, we're still on Spring Break, so nap time is definitely on the agenda!

*I have pictures from the Tonight Show and NBC on my phone, as soon as Josh hooks me up with the cord I need to get those pics on my computer, I'll post them.

Hope everyone is doing well! Enjoy this beautiful spring weather! Finally, it's here [I think!]!!!