Glitz and Glamour

Malibu Beach and Hollywood - as usual this post is outdated since I typed it a week ago and am only now actually posting it. . . but anyway, here's where we've been. . .

Days 74-76  3/14-3/16
Once again I’ve persuaded Scott to extend our stay in our current location.  I’m in heaven here (Los Angeles).  Blue skies and low 80’s, gentle breezes, waves crashing not far away, flowers and chirping birds all around – why would I want to leave?  Okay so gas is $3.19/gal., milk is $4.30/half gal and a bundle of 5 sticks of firewood is $5.00 . . . . the Starbucks still costs the same.

We did the Hollywood thing yesterday.  Seeing as how we couldn’t make it 5 paces without being approached by a Hollywood Tours representative shoving fliers at us, we stalled for a good deal and hopped aboard an open-top “bus” along with 6 other people for a 2 hour ride.  Zipping around in and out of traffic we briefly stopped at many of the rich and famous stars’ homes (Tom Cruise, Hallie Barry, Keanu Reeves, the late Michael Jackson, and Bob Barker to name a few) to get a glimpse through the gates, trees and shrubbery of the mansions in which these stars occasionally live.  We even saw a few paparazzi waiting in anticipation near some homes and we passed the condos where Brad Pitt stayed for a reported 4 months after his break with Jennifer.  A slow ride down Rodeo Dr. allowed us to get as close to some of the world’s best known designer shops as my wallet will ever allow and a drive going nearly straight up gave us a close up viewing of the famous HOLLYWOOD mountainside sign (which we were told is about to become surrounded by houses and condos if the city is unable to secure the property which was recently sold by the private owner for a mere 3.5 million to a private buyer who is now generously offering it to the city for only 20 million).  And of course we walked the star-lined sidewalks in search of our favorite names.  Kerby and Joelle enjoyed the bus ride but got little from the names being thrown around since none of them related to Miley Cyrus, Daniel Radcliff, or the Jonas Brothers.

As I write this I’m being frequently distracted . . . lizards running by my feet and doing push-ups on a nearby wall (not sure what that’s about), a hawk raiding a gold finch nest while being attacked by two crows, and a crow flying overhead with a large white tissue (or is that a flag of surrender?) in its beak. . . very distracting but I'm still loving it here in this Malibu campground.

Anyway, we finished the day off by heading out to Pasadena to join some friends, Jennifer and Josh, at their place where we enjoyed a big bowl of yummy “taco soup” - a family recipe - and caught up on the details of their young careers and upcoming wedding May 1st.  Josh, who currently works at Dream Works as an animator, but previously worked for the creators of Veggie Tales gave us an on screen demo of how he creates the magic.  It was quite cool.  He’s recently worked on the upcoming film “How to Train Your Dragon” and is currently working on a sequel series that sounds exciting (which I’d tell you about but, then I’d have to kill you so I won’t).  Jennifer, after graduating from Seminary and becoming ordained is working in a local church and anticipating future possibilities.  We had a great time with them.