Road Trip

We spent yesterday driving our new friends around. Since they were all fairly new, (E had been here the longest, and even then, mostly working, so he still wasn't very familiar with the town. Also, most of them are new drivers; they really had no way to go around.) and since it was a pretty slow day for us anyway, we decided to take them sightseeing. It was OK, the girls had fun. The drive was tiring, what with the sun shining too brightly (and us driving towards the west), but we are still hooked on joy rides and long drives to let that small inconvenience ruin the trip for us. Of course, another inconvenience, at least for me, was that they still needed some "breaking-in" to the pace of life here. I was a bit annoyed that they only started getting ready when we arrived to pick them up when we gave them a heads-up two hours, and again, half an hour of us arriving to their place. Of course, we meant that they have to be ready when we came, so it was kind of incomprehensible for me that we were waiting for almost another half-hour before we saw them ready to go. But, yeah...I have to just understand that they're new, and that hopefully, after they adjust, they'd be more prompt.

First stop: Hollywood sign. We found this dog park atop Lake Hollywood Estates, which is pretty much the closest one can get to the Hollywood sign, and since then, this has been a main stopover when we have friends visiting. The girls love it for the play area they have. We love it because it is seldom crowded. Our friends love it for the picturesque view of the sign. We stayed for a couple of minutes before driving down the other side of the mountain on our way to Hollywood Blvd.

We cruised down Hollywood Blvd, passing by the Kodak and Chinese Theaters. I was telling the hubby we should do a walking tour sometime, but as usual, the reply was, "Sige, pag walang masyadong tao." (Sure, when there's not too many people [around].) Maybe if I bug him long enough, we'd be doing that walking tour one of these days. Haha!

On we went along Santa Monica Blvd, going all the way past Rodeo Dr. in Beverly Hills until we reached the coastline. We merged onto Highway 1, which we intended to take north to Malibu. But upon seeing the beach, we (at least hubby and I) were awed at the sight, we just had to stop, if only for a few minutes. The girls were screaming for the beach as we were at the parking lot. After taking pictures and dipping our feet in the water, we continued on our way.


After passing Malibu, we detoured at Malibu Canyon Rd to get to Highway 101 to get home. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that the road across the mountains was very scenic. It was very relaxing to be detached from the bustling city even if for a short while. It was a good 20-30 minutes of curvy roads, but it was definitely worth it.

We ended the day tired and hungry; I am still somehow a bit sore all over. No regrets, though, that we took the trip. It is always good to know you don't have to go very far for a change of scenery, and right where I am, it is quite easy to do just that.