Ca., Day 4: As Randy would say, "You're going to Hollywood, Baby!"

Day 4:  Before we announced the trip to the kids, Molly had been asking to go to Hollywood.  One of the Eloise books we read to her at night, has Eloise going to Hollywood and she becomes a movie star.  Very fancy!  So Molly wanted to go to Hollywood.  I, being a HUGE fan of American Idol  (Danny Gokey and Kris Allen will be this years' co-winners:)), wanted to see the Kodak Theatre.  So as Randy would say, "Dog, you're going to Hollywood".

We rolled up the 405 to Sunset Blvd. Winding through the hills of Bel Air, we came across UCLA.  We decided to stop to honor Grandpa George.  The sky was blue, the sun was bright, the wind was whipping and the parking rates were outrageous.  You would think on a Sunday morning, parking would be free on campus.  But no, it was some ridiculous amount like $6.00 an hour.  After parking, we wandered down to Royce Hall.  The blue ants near the bottom in the middle are me, Keenan and Molly.  

These two pictures are for you, dad. Who knows, maybe Keenan and Molly will follow in your footsteps some day.

Back on Sunset Blvd. we headed into Hollywood.  You know you are in Tinseltown, when all of the billboards are 50 feet tall and are advertising the newest movies.  We snaked our way up to Hollywood Blvd. and rolled past the throngs of people looking at the walk of fame, Mann's Chinese Theater (with the hand prints) and the Kodak Theater.  We decided that it probably wasn't the best place to take the kids, so we kept going in search of the Hollywood sign.  We caught a few glimpses of it  from Hollywood Blvd.  But we wanted a better view of it, so we turned up into the hills.  The narrow, winding streets had us lost.  We kept going up until we finally turned a corner and there it was in all it's glory. We parked in the middle of the road, which was next to the curb, and shot a few pictures of the sign. Finally a car rolled up be hind us, a local I'm sure thinking stupid tourist from Oregon, so I jumped back in the car and we weaved our way out of the Hollywood Hills and headed to L.A.'s Farmer market for lunch.

For a early Sunday afternoon, the hustle and bustle of the market was impressive.  So many stalls, with food from all over the world.  It was very crowded as we maneuvered the stroller, with Keenan sleeping in it, around all the people. Molly had spaghetti, Kevin had a panini sandwich, I had a falafel and Keenan just kept on sleeping.   

Next door to the farmers market is The Grove.  A high end, outdoor "lifestyle center".  As we walked down the street, into the piazza, we saw our first and only movie star.  Kevin and I both recognized him.  He was wearing sunglasses and listening to an i-pod.  We brushed shoulders with a star, but didn't know the person's name.  Oh well.  

Our final stop of our tour of Los Angeles was the La Brea tar pits/LA County Museum of Art.  We wandered around the grounds looking at tar pits,  

sculptures 

riding giant sloths 

and enjoying cool installments.  

It was a full day, with lots to see.  But the best part for the kids came at the end.  Molly and Keenan had a great time rolling down the grassy hill at the tar pits.

After we left the tar pits, it was back on the LA Freeway system to head back to the OC.  On our drive back we got to "enjoy" a full fledge traffic jam.  We sat in stop and go traffic for a long time.  Luckily, Kevin remembered his way around the mass sprawl and got us out of the traffic and on to open freeway.  Next stop, the Magic Kingdom.