Viva Las Vegas!

I drug Julia out of bed super early so that we could get on the road to Las Vegas!!  We got on the road around 7:30am and headed out of the city of Angels.  Julia fell asleep almost as soon as we got to the highway.  When she finally woke up, she spent the entire trip texting and listening to her iPod.  Kids these days!

When we left the smog and haze of LA and hit the open road, the sky opened up and the sun peaked out lighting our way to Sin City.  Kerry's friend Karen told me about a place called "Calico Ghost Town".  I made it so much fun!

Right away we went on a train tour of the town.  The fine specimen of a man, picture below, gave us the tour.  Although there was a voice track on the train, he felt the need to yell the same information over the voice track, making it impossible to hear either one.  All I could do was chuckle.

Our Train Conductor

 Jule and Me on the Train

Calico Ghost Town, formerly Calico mining town was a large settlement in the Mojave region of California during the late 1800's.  After the discovery of silver occurred in the nearby mines, people flocked to the town.  It once boasted more than 1,200 people and more than 500 silver mines.  In the mid 1890's, the price of silver dropped from $1.31/ounce to $.63/ounce making silver completely uneconomical.  By 1907, the town was completely abandoned.  In 1951, Walter Knott (of Knott's Berry Farm fame) bought the town and restored it.  He donated it to San Bernadino County in 1966.  

We learned a lot about the life of a miner.  In it's hayday, Calico had a main street, Chinatown (there were 40 Chinese men who were miners), and a red light district.  We saw all and took pictures too!

The Entry Sign

One of the last original structures

Town Hall

Julia decided to take a Chinese bath

Cool Building/Weeds

Julia was arrested for not "mining" her own business!  Haha!

We argued over who would be the girl, and in the end, my boobs won!

From Calico, we drove back out into the desert and drove straight to Las Vegas.  We arrived around 3, and I was exhausted, so I made the executive decision to take a nap before we headed out.  The hotel is amazing though.  We aren't right on the strip, but we are so close.  Julia and I can see the strip from our window.  It's beautiful all lit up.  My mother did well!!!

We took the monorail to Harrah's and decided to eat at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar And Grille.  I didn't have a fried bologna sandwich, but did have a awesome fajitas.  When the song, "I Love this Bar" comes on, they give you free shots, however I don't drink much, didn't really want the bartender pouring it down my throat from the bottle, and don't like pineapple which is what the shot was, so I declined.  Julia had no idea who Toby Keith was, but I was excited to meet him!!  She did get excited about the fried bologna shirt though!

Toby and Me

A shirt Julia would "totally wear"

From I Love This Bar and Grille, we went to the Venetian.  It was so romantic with the water and the singing gondoliers, but Julia wouldn't let me hold her hand.  

After the Venetian, we went to check out the show at Treasure Island.  It's called "The Sirens of TI" and I personally don't think it was so family friendly.  There were women, dressed in stripper garb, gyrating against ropes on a ship...I made Julia cover her eyes.

We walked down the strip a little more, goofing around, but decided to go back to the hotel because tomorrow is going to be a big day.  Julia fell asleep almost immediately, and I'm watching the news and updating the blog.  See you tomorrow!

Publish Post

Say Goodbye to Hollywood

I was furious, devastated and confused when I lost my job at National Cinemedia.  I knew I would have to get a job right away, so I applied at catering companies and Target.  I started considering my options.  A good buddy of mine took me to see improv in Hollywood and one of the acts didn't show up, so we had a half an hour to talk.  He asked me what I was going to do and I laid out all of my options.  He turned to me and said "look, the way I see it, you can work your ass off to make your rent at a job where you aren't going to get anywhere and then move in October.  2. You can sell all of your stuff and move in with 5 roommates.  3. You can go back home, take some time to figure out what you want, but not have to pay rent while you're doing it.  Which sounds most reasonable?"  The next day, I told my apartment I would be moving out early.  I hated LA while I was here.  I was miserable almost immediately.  So why am I sad?

I was putting it off....I didn't want to admit defeat.  I waited to pack until the last week and have made most of my arrangements in the last week.  I will conclude this blog with the end, the final trip back to my childhood.  It might be sad to read for some because I am going to talk a little bit about my emotions as I travel.  Everyone keeps asking me if I'm excited to go back.  Well, truth is, not really.  I'm leaving the independence of living alone which I've done for 3 years to dive right back in to having to answer to someone else.  I'm not moving to a new city to pursue an awesome job.  I'm moving back to my old bedroom down the hall from mom and dad, on my old street, to work as a waitress.  It is only temporary though.  I'm looking to be out by January, so we'll see where the road goes next!

Unfortunately, I don't feel that happy optimism yet.  I'll get there, but for tonight, I need to feel sad about leaving Los Angeles.  "But Diana!  You hated LA.  What could possibly make you sad?"  Well, the weather for one.  Perfect almost year round.  Seeing snow capped mountains, desert, ocean, all within a 1 hour radius.  Anticipating the next earthquake.  The few friends that I made out here.  The opportunities.  It's like gambling....I lose one job and maybe the next will come in the form of working for Disney, or Paramount, or...secretly getting excited when I see a celebrity, or get invited to a movie premiere or when the road is closed because of a movie shooting.  Getting to the point where that doesn't phase you anymore.  

Julia got here yesterday and I set her up right away.  We went to Santee Alley in the Fashion District downtown.  She got some sunglasses and I just looked for shoes, but didn't buy any.  From there, we went to the Farmer's Market and the Grove and had a late lunch/early dinner.  At this point, Julia was falling asleep, but I made her stay up longer.  

She was plum tuckered out!

I was getting a headache, so we ran back to my apartment so I could grab some advil.  From there, I wanted to take her to the Griffith Observatory to see the sunset.  Unfortunately, by the time we got up there, the parking lot was closed and it's a steep climb so we didn't go.  Instead, we took a drive through Hollywood where Julia saw a movie premiere.  On our way home, we stopped at Home Depot to get 1 more box and I told Julia exactly what I would do with her if she didn't behave!

Send her home!

We then saw a sign for Yogurtland!  We stopped and had a late dinner/snack.  Got home and Julia was out like a light at 9:30.  I stayed up to pack a little more and get some laundry done.

This morning, we woke up and spent most of the day doing moving stuff.  

My Poor Empty Apartment

Tonight was a last hurrah with my friend Angelus.  We picked him up at work and got pizza to eat outside at his house.  Last minute, we decided to go up to the Hollywood Sign so Julia could get some pictures.  We were goofing around, just being silly…

 Me, A, Jule with the sign in the background

A and Jule Being Ghetto

A and Me

From there, we booked it to Griffith Observatory where we discussed the nuances of being from Los Angeles.  Angelus and I were both freezing in long sleeves and pants and apparently Julia was warm.  We saw an amazing sunset:

Did some more goofing around:

And some deep thinking: 

And showed Julia LA wildlife:

She seriously locked her door, as if the fox would come to her side of the car, 

open the door, and pull her out of the car to kidnap her.

Funny story about the fox.  We saw it while we were driving.  I pulled over to get a picture.  Angelus thought he knew what the fox wanted and pulled a powdered sugar donut from a bag in the back and tried to throw it from his location in the back passenger seat out the driver's side window.  It landed between my shoulder and the seat, and the powdered sugar got everywhere!

We capped out the night by going to Yogurtland again.  Yum!  Although it was a fun night, it was bittersweet.  But it was definitely the perfect ending to my LA experience and I'm so happy that I had super fun people to share it with.

PS.  I haven't blogged about my trip to San Diego yet.  Been too busy!  It might be out of order, but I will soon!