After Mexico...Modified Travel Plans

We returned from San Jose del Cabo joyfully rested and relaxed on Sunday evening, October 23. While in Mexico we had to call all our RV pre-booked reservations and cancel our planned trip for Southern California, Nevada and Utah. It was a disappointment, but given our trailer situation and the need to get it repaired before any further extensive traveling, it was a no brainer. Semper Gumby time!

I had purchased tickets to the USC/Cal football game for November 5 at the LA Memorial Coliseum anticipating our trip to SoCal. Our friends, Jeff and Dana Guidi, Cal alumni were going to fly down to meet us. We had planned to pick them up at LAX and go to the game together. With our rig out of commission we had to make alternative plans.

Karen and I had Jeff purchase tickets for the same Alaska Airlines flight out of Santa Rosa airport to LAX, He also booked two nights reservation at the LAX Embassy Suites so we could all travel down together for a great long weekend adventure.

We left at zero dark thirty on November 4, Friday morning. We arrived at the hotel just in time for the complimentary breakfast, checked into our rooms and planned our first day. We rented a car across the street from the hotel and I took them on "a tour". I drove towards Santa Monica via Venice Beach to the western-most end of Route 66 at the Santa Monica Pier. From there it was on to Beverley Hills (Rodeo Drive) and Hollywood Blvd. (Walk of the Stars, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Paramount Studios). After a very long day, full of travel and sightseeing, it was back to the hotel for cocktails, snacks and early to bed.

On Saturday, November 5 "Game Day" we left the hotel early enough to fit in more sightseeing and took the "Angels Flight" to the Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California. Angels Flight Railway was built in 1901 as the "Los Angeles Incline Railway". Angels Flight began at the west corner of Hill Street at Third and ran for two blocks uphill (northwestward) to its Olive Street terminus. Angels Flight consisted of two vermillion "boarding stations" and two cars, named Sinai and Olivet, pulled up the steep incline by metal cables powered by engines at the upper Olive Street station. As one car ascended, the other descended, carried down by gravity.

Angels Flight is said to be the world's shortest incorporated railway. The counter-balanced cars, controlled by cables, travel a 33 percent grade for 315 feet. It is estimated that Angels Flight has carried more passengers per mile than any other railway in the world, over a hundred million in its first fifty years. This incline railway is a public utility operating under a franchise granted by the City of Los Angeles.

The highlight of the day for me was attending the USC/Cal football game at the LA Memorial Coliseum. It was bittersweet being back during "Homecoming" for the Trojan family. I couldn't help but think about my dad's shared memories and his love for this school.

The atmosphere with both school's marching bands, school mascots, the colors and energy added so much to the experience. Prior to the game, we walked through the USC campus down to Exhibition Park to the historic LA Memorial Coliseum venue. It was a memorable trip spending time and exploring with our great friends, Jeff and Dana Guidi.