By Shelby
Monday, we worked from a library in North Hills, California. It was away from the crazy downtown area of LA, but it was still very crowded. The Planet Fitness we stayed at was just a couple minutes away from the library. The parking lot at Planet Fitness was very small, and we saw many people circling around waiting for a spot to open up. The nights were warm enough to not run the car, which was nice.
Tuesday, we worked from the same library. We were able to easily get a table in the morning, but when we went back in after lunch, almost all the tables were taken. We were getting sick of eating leftover spaghetti, so after work we went to Applebee’s for dinner.
We worked from the same library again on Wednesday. It was nice that they had plenty of parking. Parking seems to be in short supply in LA. Space in general seems to be in short supply. The weather was great though.
Thursday morning, we planned on driving down to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On Google Maps, it looked like there was a lot of traffic so we stopped at Walmart to get some groceries. It was pretty weird. It had two floors and there were escalators. Traffic was a little better after that. We were actually able to find free street parking on a residential street a couple blocks away from the Walk of Fame.
The Walk of Fame was kind of in a sketchy area. As we walked further toward the Ovation Center, it became more touristy. A lot of names on the stars we didn’t recognize. Eventually, the names became more familiar. We were surprised to see names like Big Bird and Snoopy, right alongside famous actors and actresses.
In the Ovation Center, we saw the famous Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars are held every year. On our way back to the car, we stopped to take a picture of the Capitol Records Building, known as a famous record company with groups such as the Beatles and the Beach Boys.
When we finished with the Walk of Fame, we drove another 50 minutes to the Santa Monica Pier. Parking for the whole day was $7, which was pretty good. The parking lot was right next to the beach. We walked along the beach past the pier. The water was very cold, but there were some people swimming and surfing.
We eventually turned around and walked to the pier. There were a lot of people there for a weekday. We decided to ride the iconic Ferris Wheel. We thought it was well worth the fee. We got great views of the ocean, the beach, and the city in the distance. After the ride ended, we got ice cream and funnel cake before returning to the car.
We waited in the car for a while until the sun started to set. It was a little hazy, but the sunset was still amazing. We returned to the car and drove an hour to the closest Planet Fitness. Traffic was awful. It was stop and go for almost the whole way.
Friday morning, we drove out to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to go for a three mile hike in the mountains. The area was really beautiful. The road curved through tall green mountains. We could see the ocean in the distance. We made a quick stop at the visitors center to refill our water bottles and pick up the park brochure.
The trail was great. We saw old ruins of houses, flowering banana trees, a waterfall, and lemon trees. I think the banana flowers look kind of creepy. Once we passed the waterfall, the trail became steep with many switchbacks.
When we reached the top of the trail on a ridge along the side of a mountain, we could see the ocean ahead of us. It was sparkling in the sunlight. The temperature was perfect. It was nice and warm, but not too hot.
After the hike, we went to a viewpoint of the ocean in Malibu. We spent the rest of the day there, relaxing and enjoying the view. It was peaceful except for whenever a loud car went speeding by. The houses in Malibu were amazing. I don’t know how they were able to build them on the side of the mountains like that.
After watching the sun set over the water, we left Malibu. We drove north along the Pacific Coast Highway to Oxnard, where we spent the night at Planet Fitness. I was very glad to be out of Los Angeles. There were just too many people for me.
Saturday morning, we drove north along the Pacific Coast Highway again. Our first stop was a nature preserve where we saw a bunch of seals. They are only there a couple months a year, so we got lucky with the timing. We saw a couple babies. They were so cute!
We stopped for lunch in Morro Bay. We got the “original crabby patty” and fish n chips and ate by the water. The harbor was very pretty, but the clouds were rolling in and it looked like it could start raining at any time.
We walked out onto the pier and saw a few sea otters. They were floating on their backs together. They looked like they were posing for pictures. A few of them were doing somersaults. They were adorable. We also saw a seal swimming around the bay.
We drove a few minutes out to Morro Rock, a volcanic plug left over after a volcano eroded away. The rock seemed very out of place. We walked out to a wall of rocks meant to protect the harbor. The waves crashing against the rocks were huge and powerful. It was really cool to see. We were starting to feel raindrops, so we went back to the car.
We drove across the parking lot to the beach. The rain seemed to stop, at least temporarily, so we walked out onto the sand. Apparently, this was a good beach to find sand dollars. We found some fragments, but no pristine ones.
We got back on the Pacific Coast Highway after that. We made a few quick stops at some overlooks. The highway surprisingly went away from the coast for long segments. We drove by massive vineyards in the grassy mountains. They were very scenic.
Next, we stopped at an Elephant Seal Viewing Area. There must have been hundreds of seals on the beach. They were very noisy and smelly. A few of the males were massive. We saw a bunch of babies with their moms too.
Our last stop on the highway was a vista point. We had a pretty amazing view of the ocean and the rocky coastline. Part of the highway was closed beyond Ragged Point due to damage from the recent floods, so we had to turn back after that. We drove to our sleeping spot for the night, a turnout in the hills.
Sunday, after enjoying the view from the turnout, we drove 20 minutes to Paso Robles, went grocery shopping, did laundry, and worked on the website before heading to our airbnb in the countryside. We plan on staying in the airbnb until Thursday. It will be a nice break from sleeping in the Prius. We had a great week in California. The weather has been nice and we were able to see a lot of great things. Check out more pictures from California here!
Fun Facts from Week 42:
- For a nominee to be added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a $40,000 fee needs to be paid to create the star, install it, and maintain it.
- Male elephant seals can reach up to 20 feet in length and weigh up to 8800 pounds.
- The Pacific Coast Highway took 15 years for construction to complete. It is 1675 miles long, running from San Diego, California to Olympia, Washington.
