Hollywood Babe

So...I had some bad luck in getting to the airport. First, Patti O was going to take me...but then Greg had to schedule unexpected heart surgery (I hope all went well with this). So..Laura Strickland (student)was going to take me....but she got sick that day...so thankfully, April Stevens was available on that very day to take me to RDU. Thanks, April.

I cashed in my frequent flier miles on Delta to fly to LA. Well..I had no way of knowing that I was placed in Business Class. Oh yeah. So..that was cool. This in only the 2nd time in my travel that I've had the luxury (once before to London). Big seats, great food, free beer and wine...life is good. So..when i got on the plane, the girl in  my seat asked if I would change seats with her. Why not...across from the aisle, still first row. So...I sat down beside this guy and heard him talking on his cellphone. Voice sounded familiar. Looked at the guy...looked kinda of famaliar but with sunglasses and hat...hard to tell. So..plane took off and guy took off his hand and sunglasses. I looked and looked...can it be? I glanced down at his plane ticket which happened to be sitting on the armrest between us and yes...it was confirmed. I wax sitting next to....or you ready for this?.....CLAY AIKEN! Oh my gosh. I don't really follow American Idol..but I do like ole Clay. Not a claymaniac or anything. So...I begin to chat with me. Told him I was from Mount Olive where his mom just served as the emcee for the NC Pickle Princess Pageant. He just laughed. So..we talked off and on during the flight to LA. He pretty much listened to his IPOD most of the way. At the end of the flight, I did get brave and ask if we could have a photo taken of us together. I'll try to remember to attach it. So..there you are...upgraded to Business class and sitting next to Clay..hopefully, this is a sign of my good luck for the summer.

Arrived in LA...bid farewell to Clay..who is wearing his hat and sunglasses throught the airport. I haven't been to LA in 20 years...I barely remember anything about it. Took shuttle to my hostel. It's an ok hostel. I was put in a room with 5 guys. I know I hvae short hair and all but with a name like Julie and boobs that do stick out....oh well. 5 guys and me it is. Dropped off luggage and inquired about a LA tour for the next day. Walked 10 minutes to nearby hostel to book that tour. Back to hostel to read a bit then go to bed. Couludn't sleep...then one by one the guys came into room. They all stripped down toboxers...not a bad first night show of entertainment...and all for free.  They were somewhat loud...but not too bad. Took me to about 2:00 a.m (5 a.m. our time) to finally fall asleeep.

I thought I was in the USA...but everybody spoke Spanish. I had forgotten how ecelectric and diverse LA was. I'm not much of a big city gal, as you know, but I prefer big cities like Beantown (Boston), San Fran, or NYC.

Woke up at 7:00 a.m. and decided to get up and get a shower. Shower was in our room. I hoped one of the guys didn't walk in..but if they did, oh well...the enterainment would continue. Hee. Packed my backpack and left it in storage in the hostel. At 8:00 a.m., I went wandering down Melrose Avenue..where my hostel was located. Ecelectric stores and restaurants. Wandered till 9:30 just exploring. Back to hostel #2 to meet tour group. 11 people..mainly Aussies, Brits and Kiwi's (NZ). Tour leader was so full of himself and not very good...but we didn get to see lots of sights during our 7 hour tour. Posed in front of Hollywood sign, saw Hollywood Blvd with walk of fame stars on sidewalk (couldn't find my man Pierce Bronson's star..but I'm sure he has one), went to Gruman's chinese theatre with stars hand and feet prints, then to Sunset Blvd, saw Kodak Theater, courthouse where OJ simpons was found "innocent", downtown LA, then to Bel Air and Beverly Hills. Went by tons and tons of movie stars homes including TomKat, Nicholas Cage, Lucille Ball, Diane Keaton, Ronald Reagan, Michael Keaton, Donald Trump, Alfred Hitchcock, Madonna,Brittney Spears, Mel Gibson, etc. Huge elaborate homes with high fences and secruity systems. Then to Rodeo Drive and Witlshire Hotel. Coudn't afford anything in Gucci, Tiffany's, and other high dollar stores. Took photos of lots of rolls royce, porches, posed by a Bentley, etc. Tben to Venice Beach to see rollerbladers, bicycliest, shops, ocean. Fianally, to Santa Monica Pier and port and Hotel California.

Tour ended at 5;30 p.m. and then back to Melrose Avenue. Went to Pink's, a famous hotdog stand and waited in line wiht many others to try a hotdog. It was good and not too expensive...$2.30. Sat in a local pub and tried a couple of local brews. Back to hostel to collect my backpack and wait for my shuttle at 8:05 p.m. By 9:30 p.m., I had called the shuttle service 4 times...each time getting madder...to see why they had not picked me up. Well...long story short...something went awry and now they could not pick me up. I insiisted that they pay for a taxi...and they agreed that I could send them my receipt and they would reimburse me...so they called a taxi for me and told me to wait 6 minutes for it. here is was almost 10 p.m. and still no taxi. My flight left at 11:50 p.m. So...I flagged down a taxi and took it to LAX. $40 later...and the $15 that I'm out of my shuttle that I had already paid for. YOu can cool believe I'm sending this all into the shuttle service. At this stage...I was just trying to get my flight.

Checked in with Quantas airline and went through so many security checks...one after the other. Boarded plane at 11:30 p.m. I was not in Business Class..but a middle seat toward the front of plane at least. Sat between Bill from New York and Rischelle from Australia. We all had a great time.

14 hour flight...ugh..so slept for first 5-6 hours. Then watched movie...can't recall the name of it..then the 3 of us sat and talked off and on. Unfortunately, the inflight entertainment system wasn't working properly so nornally one could watch many movies...but Qantas could only play a few movies off and on. Long, long 14 hours. But...I survived....even crossign the International Dateline so I lost Wednesday. Left LA on a Tuesday and arrived on a Thursday.

Ok..so I will sign off for now and write a new journal entry per my arrival in Australia.

Adventure on, freinds and stay in touch,

Julie