Manhatten Beach

We had a quintessential Californian experience today.  We walked along The Strand from Manhatten Beach to Hermosa Beach, where we hired bicycles and rode 6 miles along the beachfront between the ocean and magnificent beach homes.  Turned the bikes around very close to LA airport and cycled back, click "Location" to view. Such a wonderful day spent with our boys having fun in the sun.
Our afternoon ended with a delicious lunch at The Kettle and an evening bbq at the hotel;  wonderful.

Laguna Beach

Today we picked up our hire car and drove down to some of the beaches. We had a glorious sun bake (with sunblock Mum) at Laguna Beach. The afternoon was spent driving along the picturesque seaside along Pacific Highway, with wide open views of Newport Beach, Sunset Beach and Long Beach, just to name a few. After asking a passer-by where a local KFC was, she instead, directed us to a "local gem" as she called it: Roscoe's. We had the unique experience of Southern Fried chicken with waffles, cream and maple syrup for lunch, in Long Beach - strange combo and oddly good.
Another awesome day with my family in L.A.

Hollywood

Today was tour day, starting at Santa Monica Pier with it's beautiful stretch of beach, which Baywatch was filmed at. Next stop, Rodeo Drive! No shopping, just looking - Julia Roberts had to cancel our appointment due to a family issue, maybe next time...
Delicious lunch at Beverly Hills Farmers Market and onwards to the highlight of the day: Hollywood! The Walk of Fame has 2 500 stars, so we took as many photo's as we could, one of which I have posted here. The Kodak Theatre is impressive with it's Oscar winners glitz and glamour, as is the Chinese Theatre. Finishing off our tour in style was the famous Hollywood sign on the hill.
A thoroughly satisfying day amongst the rich and famous.

Los Angeles

Well we've arrived and got our hotel transfer, had a second brekky and are ready to paint LA red!! All this before the time we left Sydney!? We took off at 10.25am Tuesday and arrived at the Hyatt at 9.30am Tuesday -

Quick shopping for essentials, you know, like beer and wine. Then we all fell into exhausted sleep for the arvo - okay, we'll paint LA red tonight then!

Let the Celebrations Begin

One of the many reasons for our trip is to celebrate Al's 50th Birthday and here we are celebrating at home with friends before we leave.  Boa and bow-tie bringing a little "class" to the occasion of course.

1 Week to Go

Just 1 week to go now - our countdown is almost over!

Everything is booked and waiting for our arrival! Tours, shows, accommodation, hire car and of course the quintessential campervan;  all that's left to do is pack our bags and be on our way!

I can barely contain my exuberance for all the fun and discovery just waiting for us.

2 Weeks to Go

Well, it's just two weeks to go now and we're overjoyed to be having our sons fly out with us to LA and stay with us in Las Vegas.  Our flights are all booked and our airport transfer is organised - let's go already!!

3 Weeks to Go!

We're setting up our travel blog ahead of time so that it's all running smoothly by the time we leave.
Our excitement is mounting as we prepare for our massive adventure abroad.