Los Angeles
Party in the USA!
Well I feel like a teenager who has been putting off their homework and enjoying their social life too much! I have fallen so far behind in writing this.. I am going to try to recall everything as best I can and hope nobody notices. Although this may be a shorter ‘chapter’ than the others, that is absolutely no reflection on how this trip was - we absolutely LOVED Los Angeles.
To start, I have to confess - LA wasn't exactly on the top of my list to visit. Us, a bunch of country bumpkins, in the land of celebrities, traffic and crowds? No thank you! If you know us, you'd know that's just not our cup of tea. The most recent film we watched was Drop Dead Fred and the latest series we binge-watched was The Vicar of Dibley - definitely not up to date with the latest blockbusters or Netflix trends! Who needs Hollywood when you've got absolute classics like these?! I was just totally unsure what LA would have in store and had my doubts if the city would suit us. But oh my goodness, I couldn't have been more wrong, what an absolute VIBE!
We had our usual chaotic travel day. Waking up at the crack of dawn, leaving our Airbnb in Costa Rica at 5.30am and finally putting the key through our new front door in LA at 9pm, making it a near whopping sixteen hour journey door to door. The queues at LAX airport were painful - a mind-numbing two and a half hours just to navigate through customs and baggage claim. I'm sure you can picture what the kids were like at that point after two long flights. Pops had well and truly lost her sense of humour, Fin reverted to feral mode, and Pheebs and Floss went into full blown delirium, actually making the never-ending queue hilarious and entertaining (though definitely not for Poppy, and possibly not for other queueing travellers!).
Stumbling into our Airbnb, briefly stopping to admire the incredible Halloween effort of the next door neighbours house, feeling completely exhausted, what's the first thing we do? Of course we order a McDonald's delivery (surprise, surprise!) through Uber Eats, complete with milk for our sacred morning cup of tea. We all swiftly head to bed - completely done for the day!
After downing our morning cups of tea, we had to set off first thing on a mission to conquer the food shop. And what an absolute blast that was, like an outing in itself! Everyone loving all the different and fun items on the shelves. After getting home, unloading and stuffing our faces with brunch, we decide to hit up Santa Monica beach and, oh my goodness! Such a cool place! We sauntered down the boardwalk, made our way to the pier and sipped on beers while checking out the crowds - talk about a spectacle! Amidst all the funfair rides, there were street performers, Hare Krishnas, and street vendors all mingling in the chaos of colourful people. It was a show all in itself.
Fin had spotted a bike hire place and a particularly cool, 80s style three-wheeler bike that he was insistent on hiring. I hired another bike so that we could mosey along together. As for the girls, they were all about the electric bikes, so Dan works his magic and hires two bikes for the afternoon for the four of them to fight over and share between them. Together, we are all just breezing along Santa Monica boardwalk, soaking in the good vibes and honestly living our Californian dream lives... and we're not alone! There are so many other people out there, all different walks of life, loads of colourful people, music blaring from various sound systems, old, young and everything in between. Like I said, it's an absolute VIBE! At this point I’m wondering if Dan and I might retire here..
I had a smile on my face all day long - I mean, who wouldn’t, trailing behind Fin as he cruised carefree on his little bike, like the ultimate king of chill. As we head back, we can’t help but wonder how we are going to top this day.
On our second day of exploring, we decided to tackle the iconic Hollywood Sign. Off we went to the Griffith Observatory, thinking it would be a leisurely stroll up to the sign. Little did we know, it was a Sunday - the day when the whole of LA decides to visit! After circling round for ages, we finally found a parking spot. As we stepped out of the car to assess the trek ahead, we realise that half of our crew had mistakenly chosen to wear crocs over trainers! Crocs for what was going to be a near 5-mile hike, oh dear!
Giving up on that idea, we opt for the Hollywood Walk of Fame instead. We make it our quest to track down John Wayne for my Dad and Frank Sinatra for Dan's Grandad. We end up trekking nearly 6km of the Hollywood "sidewalks", tirelessly scanning for those iconic names. We enjoyed exploring all the different stars and signs, soaking in the sights and sounds, with a very small history lesson looking at how it all began. We also enjoyed our first trip to Madame Tussauds and meeting our all time family hero - Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock! Although this area of Hollywood definitely isn't all glitz and glam like you would imagine!
Turning down the offers from touters organising the trips of the celebrity home tours as we walked along the strip, we decided to end the day doing our own tour in our rental car. From Beverly Hills to Sunset Strip, Bel Air to Rodeo Drive, we navigate the streets like the newest paparazzi, singing the Fresh Prince on loop, frantically googling the whereabouts of the rich and famous in each neighbourhood. At one point terrified we were having to pull off a three-point turn right outside Adele's mansion. It was a hilarious way to wrap up the day.
The next day, this time fully equipped with the correct footwear, we decided to head back to the Hollywood sign. It was a different scene today, quiet everywhere with everyone back to work and, to our dismay, the actual observatory was closed. But we weren't discouraged. The trails in the Hollywood Hills are so well-marked, making it a really easy and pleasant walk. Before we knew it, we caught our first glimpse of the sign, giving us the perfect photo moment. We convinced the whole team to bust out a Tiktok routine at the summit to Party in the USA - showing the Hollywood sign, it had to be done (again, only on our Instagram page)! With our mission accomplished, we made our way back down the trail, happy we have our iconic photo opportunity successfully checked off our list.
The kids are all itching to go to all the iconic American stores - Target, Walmart, 7-Eleven, Trader Joe's etc etc. We did a bit of a drive around, checking them off the list one by one. The gang were all happy, soaking in the sights of the places they've only seen in the American movies and dreaded YouTube! Then, to finish off the day, we unanimously agree to give the nearby bowling alley a go. Cue the laughter and good times, we had loads of fun. And I emerged happily, and surprisingly, as the bowling champ! Happy days!
On our final day in LA, we had our sights set on Malibu, with the girls growing up as big Barbie fans, it was a must-visit spot! Who wouldn't be curious to see Malibu Barbie's dreamhouse, right?! Phoebe had her call with her tutor, also giving the rest of the kids an opportunity to hit their books too with a bit of quiet study time. When everyone was finished and ready we set off. The only downside was that the weather was not exactly cooperating - California seeming to be the opposite to Costa Rica, with the afternoons tending to be better after the sun has a chance to burn through. But anyway, we parked the car and strolled along Malibu surf beach, watching the surfers eagerly waiting for that perfect wave. It didn’t seem much compared to the waves of the Atlantic in Ipanema! Making our way to the pier for a caffeine fix and to find a good spot to carry on watching them all, chaos ensued in true family fashion - something kicked off a heated argument with the kids, Fin ended up in trouble with lots of loud tears shed at the end of the pier. We decided to call it a day there, retreated to the car (in silence) and opted for a Starbucks pit stop instead. Oh the joys of family life!
Wanting to wrap things up on a high note, we decided to head back to the one and only Santa Monica beach! It was like love at first sight all over again. This time, we all hopped on electric scooters and managed to find a couple of electric motorbikes for the younger two and all zipped our way to Venice Beach, visiting the spots we missed on our first day. As we reached the legendary Muscle Beach, a pumped-up bodybuilder started flexing his muscles, giving us a free show whether we asked for it or not! Further along we stop for another quick drink in the sun (that had now decided to come out), soaking in every last bit of the scene. Staying until sunset at the skate park was the cherry on the top of our LA adventure. The vibe is just too good to leave.
The morning after, Phoebe hops on another call with her tutor and Floss finally decides to join the fun too! They both rock their lessons, with Floss bursting with enthusiasm and excitement after her session, grinning from ear to ear, thrilled to be back in the groove of it and having a bit of structure with a teacher again. Meanwhile, Dan and I are playing our usual game of Tetris with all our bags in the Airbnb, racing against the clock to check out by 11am and dash to pick up our RV.
We have absolutely LOVED our little life for our few days in LA. Fin has taken it upon himself to become the chief cyber truck spotter - can you believe I'd never heard of them before? They are everywhere in LA! It has felt good to be back in civilisation with a familiar western vibe and, with everyone speaking the same language, we've all felt a sense of comfort we hadn't realised we'd been missing. Admittedly it took us a couple of days to adjust, finding ourselves responding in our limited Spanish for the first couple of days! Let me just say, Katy Perry was spot on - nothing compares to the magic of the golden coast! LA and the Californian sun have set us up perfectly for the rest of our USA adventure in the RV...
That's right, time for the RV adventures (and chaos) to commence! I hope the roads are kind to us...