DAY 3 - 04/10/2017

October 4 - 26°

Disneyland

The day started again at 04:00 in the morning when Emil woke up and then I was also awake... Isabella also woke shortly after... an early start so it was confirmed that today we would go to Disneyland.

We were all up and out of the door at 07:00 the drive was looking like 1 ½ hours across the city - traffic at this time was still busy but we tried the carpool lane as the traffic in some parts was backed up... carpool lanes are great and we need these in Denmark!!

It was amazing to us that there were so many cars with just a single person… so many cars

We arrived at Disneyland just gone 08:30

We had to pass through security and metal detectors before being let through…

4 tickets cost $376 just to get into DisneyLand

The whole day from  08:45 to 17:30 it was a long hot and tiring day... many photos and films to show the whole day...

Traffic on the way home through Los Angeles was crazy and the satellite navigation was not helping too much… sending me from left to right lines and jumping from one side to the other it was difficult at times in solid nose to tail traffic…
But on the plus side I’m getting better at reading the traffic and joining in… I still have a few questions with speed limits, line markings, signs, turning right on red lights and understanding some words but apart from this it’s all going okay 

We were late home I went down the block and ordered an 18 inch pizza which was great…  

DAY 2 - 03/10/2017

October 3rd - 25°

Los Angeles (My Birthday)

Jetlag - the kids were awake at 3am / 4am and watching TV in our bed.
The kids and Maj-Britt had made me some last minute handmade cards for my Birthday and the kids included some sweets - Kinder bar and a lollipop.

Now at 06:00 the kids were dressed and have eaten breakfast which was “lucky charms”
Maj-Britt is in the shower and I am up and ready after eating cinnamon raisin toast in bed with the kids.

 
We have been re-thinking the day from what was planned - we had a full day in Hollywood but now after the kids have woke up early we are now rethinking that maybe we should go to the beach in Santa Monica and Venice boardwalk.

We started the day with a drive into Beverly Hills. we drove around Beverly Hills and were amazed by the size and beauty of the houses. we drove down sunset boulevard and then stopped off at the lily pond with the Beverly Hills sign - there was also a very old and strange tree right by the pond it was really nice and nothing like any tree I have seen before.

We drove out to Bel-Air from here and up into the hills the houses got bigger and bigger and were amazing - huge houses and so many different styles there was quite a number of new houses also being built. we found that the more expensive the houses the less that we could see of them…
This was a very nice drive with not so many places to stop.

We also saw a lot of gardeners who were also very typical of the stereotype – Mexican. Some of the houses also had separate driveways for the “service” I will never forget one house that was still being built.. it was a modern house - Just a white block house with walls of glass with great views and it was huge… we drove around the corner and still it was there…

From Bel-Air we headed over to Santa Monica Pier.

The weather was not great at this time in the morning it was quite cloudy and a little dark.
We parked up at the short stay carpark for just two dollars - right at the pier.

The first sight of the pier was not like the photos I had seen… much more rundown and no “lights or fun” - the original design for the pier was to make the pier to hide the sewage pipe into the sea and it was more like this…
Also the amount of homeless people is crazy groups and single people on the beach and grass just sleeping…

We made our way down the pier and it was a nice walk at the end. we stopped and watched the Fisherman fishing and there was a seal hanging around to steal the fish from the lines… there was a local fisherman who said that he was there every day to get an easy meal from the lines.

You could also see under the pier at all the support beams - this for me was very interesting and nice to see.

Also at the end of the pier there was a glass case of Route 66 things that I took a photo of to take a look at a later time.

 By the time we were heading back down the pier the Sun was coming out and it was getting hotter also the stand selling things were starting to open and the shops and other things were all waking up… there was a little life that came into the Pier and it was starting to show what it could give…

We stopped at the last burger joint on “the land” at the start of the pier to get breakfast - I thought it was funny that it was the last burger joint on Route 66 (land) as there was another burger joint further down the pier that was the last of Route 66 (not the land) We had four bacon egg and cheese sandwiches with fries and Coke and Maj-Britt had a coffee – they were actually really good – not so healthy but typical American

By the time we had eaten there where many people coming onto the pier now… stopping to get a photo of the route 66 sign

From here we drove down to Venice Beach and boardwalk - Venice Beach and boardwalk was a very strange but interesting place - the beach was great, the muscle beach area was a little old but nice to see and the kids spent some time working out at the sand pit with bars etc. at the back, the boardwalk was very tacky with the tourist souvenirs, tattoo studios and cannabis shops, the skate park was also fun to see.

Driving out of Venice beach we got to see the house and areas around the beach and we just had to stop and see as it was very beautiful and wonderful waterways and houses with humpback Bridges over the water - if possible I would love to get back here and explore more.

At this time Isabella was very tired and we needed to head back to the apartment – so the rest of the day was at and around the apartment.

I bought some T-shirts from the target shop over the road and we walked around the area and we brought a cooler box for the car that we would use for later on in the trip to fill with ice to keep drinks and snacks cold. we also bought some sunglasses for all of us except Emil… he has been spending his money on sweets that he has on his list from YouTube -  things that we have never heard of before…

My birthday dinner was to gigantic hot subs from over the road at "Jersey Mike’s" they were meatballs and chicken – nobody liked them except me. The kids were so tired at the end of the day that they fell asleep straight away.

Looking at the weather for the next four days it is getting hotter from 26 to 28 to 31 to 32

Disneyland was planned for the Friday which will be 32° so we are thinking of moving things around…

DAY 1 - 02/10/2017

October 2nd - 25°

Denmark to Los Angeles

We drove from home at 8 o’clock in the morning and the weather was very wet... the car was packed from the day before and we just had the last hand baggage to put in.

The drive to Copenhagen was slow wet and difficult to see but we got there on time and parked up.
Car park P15 was just a short bus ride to terminal two and Emil was good to help with the bags and Isabella was in her pushchair.
In terminal two we got booked in and checked in the bags, we also got a tag for Isabella’s chair so we could take it to the gate.
Through security my bag was stopped and there was talks about what was in my bag… I was asked if I had an antenna in the bag and they showed me the x-ray to see what I thought it was… it was very strange and I could not explain what it was so it went through the machine again. she opened the bag very carefully and we found it was the extension cord that I brought so we could charge all our electronic items… they said that they had not seen this before but all was ok.

The flight was a little delayed from the start as they had problems with the baggage machines and had to get a new time slot… just a 30 minute delay but this was made up in the air.
The actual flight was okay just over 10 hours the TV screens were great for the kids (and adults) and they were fixed to these screens for most of the flight.
Isabella did get to sleep and this was great as we were a little worried about her… she slept for hours.  Emil did not sleep and he was so tired at the end… he watched about four or five films on the plane.

We pre-booked meals on the flight and this was a good idea as the choice on the menu was not great. The meals were okay but nothing special. Isabella ate her food okay but Emil was being very fussy and did not eat so much.

Flying into LA in the daytime was nice as I got to see the changing landscape... it was very mountainous we came over the Rockies but the changes from kilometre to kilometre was crazy from patchy fields to mountings to sand...

When flying into LA I was filming a few short films and I got to see the Hollywood sign it was a little hazy but it was there now we were in Los Angeles.

Customs was looking like it was going to take forever the queue was so big after we had photos and fingerprints on the machine but we still had to queue in a huge line… six rows of over 100 people in each line.
After 10 minutes and looking at another one hour plus Maj-Britt could see Isabella was getting tired and she did not have her chair as it was being sent to the baggage reclaim… we could see there was a section for special assistance so we asked with Isabella’s card if we could get through… and we did – just 5 minutes later and we were talking to the police.
The policeman who checked us through was a real nice guy who was half Danish but had never been to Denmark… he was talking a little Danish and it all just took 10 minutes.. very quick and without any problems.

With a short bus ride from the airport to pick up the car (approximately 10 minutes) The car was prepaid but we paid for roadside assistance cover just to make sure as we were going to be driving a lot.
They checked us through again without any issues and we picked up our van - a huge Kia that was a seven seater and it looked good… I think that it would do the job. The car is an automatic and Maj-Britt is a little worried about driving it.

I have to say that I have only drove 20 to 30 minutes in the car today and it was a little scary but also fun at the same time – We drove straight out from the car hire into a six lane freeway (6 lanes both side so 12 lanes) with lots of traffic.

I look forward to driving more in the car - driving to the apartment at Westwood was fine and driving into Los Angeles felt so great… such a free feeling.

Getting the keys for the apartment was a little time-consuming as we had to wait for a guy to meet us but now we were in.. 

Emil and I went over the road to the shop “Target” for some basics for tonight and in the morning. Emils eyes just lit up with all the sweets, cakes and cereals that he had seen before on “YouTube” he was naming all these brands and telling me what he wanted to get and what he wanted to try…

The kids and Maj-Britt are now sleeping and I will be following them very soon - not had much time at the apartment but already Maj-Britt has already broken Emil’s bed and he has to sleep on the floor and then she moved all the things in front of the door so nobody can get in.

Rough plan of the first 5 days in LA

Day 1 (02/10)

• Pick up the car
• Drive to the Apartment
• Relax

Day 2 (03/10)

• Hollywood and Highlands
• Walk of fame
• Chinese theatre
• Hollywood forever cemetery
• Tar Pits
• The Grove
• Rainbow Bar & Grill 

Day 3 (04/10)

• Santa Monica Beach / Pier
• Venice Beach
• Drive through Bel Air
• Beverly Hill
• Rodeo Drive

Day 4 (05/10)

• Old Mexico place (cant remember the name right now)
• Union Station
• City Hall (?)
• Grand Central Market
• Angels flight
• Walt Disney Concert hall
• Griffith Observatory
• SunSet Strip

Day 5 (06/10)

• DisneyLand

Day 6 (07/10)

• Leaving LA

How to find a way around these 2 closed roads on Highway 1...

Goal is to see as much of Highway 1 as possible...
We have just a single day to see this...
We have the 2 overnight hotels / motels in place so we know our A to B...

Lets take a look:

If BOTH points are still closed on the day...

It looks to me that from the overnight in the south we can travel as much as we can up the HW1 until the land slide just south of the town of Gorda. (09:00 - 11:00)

From here we will have to back track the same way to Cambria and then take the 46 out to the 101and north to the 68 (11:00 - 15:00)

We can then book into the motel in the north and then take the afternoon and evening to drive down from Monterey to the missing or new bridge (depending if it is rebuilt in time) (16:00 - 18:00)

Then make our way back up to the motel (18:00 - 20:00)

If Just the land slide point is closed and the bridge is open on the day...

We could have the chance to take the smaller roads around the land slide and cut into the coast in the south of Big Sur. This would be ideal if the new bridge is open at the time of travel.

It looks to me that from the overnight in the south we can travel as much as we can up the HW1 until the land slide just south of the town of Gorda. (09:00 - 11:00)

From here we will have to back track the same way to the San Simon Monterey Creek road and take the back road to the south of Big Sur (11:00 - 16:00)

Then we can take the last Northern part of the HW1 up to the overnight in Monterey (16:00 - 19:00)

If time is looking a little tight in the morning or if the traffic is building then we can look at taking the road back to Cayucos and driving the larger load around saving an hour or so... We also have the option in the morning to take a direct route to the south of Big Sur and start from there...

Many options but they all depend on the situation closer to the day and what roads are open and closed.