Triduum: Los Angeles

I don't think that I've ever gone into detail about my great mini-vacation in Los Angeles this year, February 9-12.

The 9th was really an afterthought and not orginially part of my trip to LA. It just so happened that a work function coincided with my trip and that I could easily change my flight without cost to me. I left work at 3:00 pm for a 4:30 flight and I was getting into LAX by 7:30. I would make it to Westwood to see most of the event. (Quizzo started at 7:30 and it's only 30 minutes from LAX to the bar.) However, I had a hell of a time with Thrifty rental car and those bastards screwed me over. (Oh, for the first time in a long time, I wrote a harsh complaining letter to customer service and CCed the VP of customer support. The 3 dollars a day you might save with Thrify is not worth the hell, frustration and bullshit that I was going through -- not really worth the 4 $25 coupons they sent me. Rent from Budget!)

I eventually got to the event, ran into friends, did some business and afterwards got in some good karaoke watching. I got into Denise's just after midnight. We hugged and were excited to see each other, but it was late, she showed me to my room and we both went to bed.

Orginally, I wouldn't have even come in until Friday afternoon, so I was very excited to wake up and be in Los Angeles. I got my act together and headed out to Beverly Hills to surprise Denise during her lunch break. Not following the directions I was given, I get off the Hollywood Freeway at Santa Monica Boulevard and head west. As I enter West Hollywood, I pick up my mobile and call Rosie, the reason I was able to fly out to California and, since I get her voice mail, I belt "Until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard!" to thank her for her gift from almost 3 years ago. I met up with Denise and we walked around Rodeo Drive. Prada. Oh! how we were going in! There was more atmosphere of a club than a store. Entering we stepped over glass ovals covering diaramas with maniquinns clothed in Prada casual wear. The grand, stern staircase was like a dramatic waterfall in the center of the store to lead patrons down to accessories or up to clothing. I was very curious to learn how everything was ridiculously priced. Of course, there were items without price tags, to which Denise quipped "If you have to ask the price, then you can't afford it."

I returned to my car after my brief visit with Denise and headed toward the Getty. On the 101, a substantial route on my personal songline, I head north. My mobile rings and it's Lisa. We make plans to go to lunch and I guess that it will take me 45 minutes to get to her hotel. I see signs that say Coldwater Canyon Road and I think, Oh, this should get me close to WeHo. I get off the freeway and head southward. I pass Harvard-Westlake and think, Oh, so this is Harvard-Westlake -- Impressive. About 20 minutes later, I see signs for Mulholland Road and I continue on Coldwater Canyon. I see signs for Beverly Hills and see that Coldwater Canyon has become Beverly Road. I'm cool. I call to say I'm near by and find out that my co-workers are staying at the Le Montrose Suite Hotel. We relax at the pool and make plans to go for Mexican food, shopping on Robertson and hit the Loemann's in the Beverly Center. Trying to find the right block of Robertson and the Beverly Center with the directions we were given would have made Moses dizzy for how far off they were. It was so bad that we joked that even though all of us were from Jersey, we couldn't find the enterance into the mall!

After our adventure, I leave to return to Denise. We have a nice homecooked meal made by Andrew and settle in to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. At the end of the evening, we all retire to our beds and I plan for my big day. Saturday, I wake up at 8:30am to leave by 9:00 to get to Carson by 10:00. I rush down to the Home Depot Center to get my tickets for the IRB International Sevens Tournament. USA Rugby had petitioned the IRB (International Rugby Board) to get a stop on the circuit. Finally the IRB awarded the US a stop on the tour for 5 years, about 3 years ago. I thought that I could get buy tickets that day without a hassle, but was I wrong. I waited in line for a full hour before I got up to a window to purchase a ticket. While in line, though, I ran into friends of mine from San Francisco, mainly ruggers from the San Francisco Fog. It ended up that one friend had to wait in line as well to pick up his will-call tickets. Next year, I am ordering in advance and playing any convenience fees to make sure that I don't have to wait. I finally get to a seat and I learned that I missed about 4 matches including Canada beating South Africa. However, I got there in enough time to see the beginning of Australia's first match. Had I known that I would have such a great time and that I would have known people there, I would have made plans to go to both days of play. However I didn't and I had plans to meet my Uncle later in the day. I did stay to watch all the 16 teams play at least one match.

I watched South Africa WHOLLOP Mexico. It's Sevens rugby which means there are 7 players on a side, playing 7 minute halves. Tries (like a touchdown in a football game) is worth 5 points and a conversion (like a field goal) is worth 2 points. At the end of the match, South Africa won 84 to 0 -- this was the second largest shut out in IRB Seven's history. (That's roughly a successful try and a conversion every 70 seconds.) After watching Australia's second match, I say good bye to my friends and call my uncle.

He's still free to catch up. I askl him to suggest where we should go, and I can figure it out. He told me that there's the Universal Studios City Walk, which he described as an artifical area that functions as a downtown for gathering and socializing. In the eyes of this Jerseyite, it's an outdoor mall. I guessed that it would take an hour for me to get from Carson to Universal Studios. So, I would call when I get off the 101 at the Universal offramp. I do, but I have to leave a voice mail. I park and my uncle calls as I get my bearings. I tell him there's a bank of elevators at the enterance to the City Walk from the parking lot and I will meet him there. It's a good spot to meet and he had to go since he was just about to get on the train to get there. Time passes, and in a set up out of a Sorkin script, my uncle calls and he says that there's no elevator bank by the parking lot. A mall map catches my eye, and I see that I'm at the "Curious George" parking lot. I ask him if he sees "Jurassic Park" or "Frankenstein" signs on the parking lot in front of him. He says "Jurassic Park." He's on the far side from me. I tell him to walk into the center of the City Walk. There's a fountain where it will be easy for us to meet up. We had a good late lunch together -- chatting and just hanging out. I ask him about his new volunteering project as a docent for the Ronald Reagan Library, and he loves it. We had a nice time.

Finally, I head back to Echo Park after really getting lost in a bad neighborhood in LA. I locked the car doors and I just kept driving until I could get back on the 101 and figure out where the hell I was. I surmised that if I keep on moving I should be fine. I was. The theme of my visit to Los Angeles was eating Mexican food: my meal with co-workers, my lunch with my uncle. I had different levels of Mexican food during my stay and for Saturday night, we went to a cool joint in Echo Park where Denise has spotted Joaquim Phoenix getting a burrito. There we hatched a plan to go to Joshua Tree on Sunday. It was ambitious, but doable, so we dined and went to bed for an early start.

We didn't start as early as we had hoped but by 10:00 am, we were on the road. I was dressed in shorts and a sweatshirt and Denise and Andrew had jeans. We had seen the tempature and it was posted as 80. They were cold. Armed with The Best of Johnny Cash as the first soundtrack for the trip, we took the 10 out east toward Palm Springs to the wind farm at the pass in the mountains.

The desert was beautiful, but, on the east coast, a major blizzard was headed for Philadelphia. We tried to get the status of my flight. If it were cancelled, we could have stayed for a longer time in Joshua Tree. So we called USAirways to find out more. Denise made the call from my mobile and she said that she was transfered a few times, but someone would answer. However the waittime was 30 minutes. I asked if she minded being on the phone, but since there was nothing really else to do she would do it. At the wind farm, we turned on California Route 62 and this will take us to the town of Joshua Tree and the entrance to the park. We hurry down 62 and Denise sees some mountains up ahead. "We're gonna lose the call in these hills," she foretells. Lo! and Behold! as soon as we drive into the hills, the call is dropped and it terminated after 28 minutes. We couldn't worry about the flight. We would just assume that it was still on.

We updated our music to, of course, U2's The Joshua Tree and we went to the Park with the plans to leave by 3:00pm. We found a nice trail to hike on -- the trail on Ryan Mountain. Next time, I'm doing the Boy Scouts Trail! Driving through parts of Joshua Tree listening to U2 was just a cool expereince for Denise and me. We bet that thousands of visitors do this and that it is really corny, but it didn't matter, we loved the idea. I learned alot about the two different types of desert that meet together at Joshua Tree and it's truly an intereststing ecosystem. Yet, it's the natural beauty that strikes you and makes you want to stay.

After our hike, we eat at a cafe in Joshua Tree and we prepare for our retun to Los Angeles. On the 10 headed back, we all had to pee and I realized that I didn't have my obligatory In and Out Burger yet. Though, I was stuffed from our late lunch, we stopped at an In and Out to use the facilities and to get my treats of french fries and chocolate shake. While driving back, we call my parents to see if they can get through to USAirways about the status of my flight. They do and it is reported to be on time. Denise and I also call our friend, Nicole, whose birthday it was and we send her our love and well-wishes.

We arrive back at Denise and Andrew's and I get my belongs together. I haven't seen the Cathedral, the Getty or the Walt Disney Hall like I wanted to. (Though, I read on the Cathedral's website that you can get your packing validated for the parking lot if you attend mass -- how effing LA is that!?) None-the-less, I had a wonderful time. I get to LAX in plenty of time to make my flight.

It's Sunday night and I'm red-eying back. I take a 5 hour nap on the plane and when I get into Philadelphia, I shoot over to the gym. I work out and take a shower to wash off the plane funk. I call my folks to let them know that I am safely home and I miss the 80 degree weather since I've returned to the aftermath of a blizzard on Monday morning.

I lived an epic those three days in LA.