February 25, 2020 - Los Angeles - Griffth Park
I headed to Griffith Park with the idea I'd do the Observatory. I knew Griffith Park was a little more than an observatory but I didn't really do much research. I knew there were a lot of hiking trails. That's about as far as I got.
I arrived at the Park fairly early. It was extremely intimidating. It was huge. The drive from the park entrance to the Observatory was easily a couple of miles and I passed the Greek Theater and Bird Sanctuary 
on my way there. I had checked parking and learned that the Observatory was free but parking around the Observatory was expensive. But there was plenty of other places to park in the area. I parked at the bottom of the hill and sat in my car for probably too long. That hill was intimidating and my knees were feeling queasy. But after a couple of episodes of Criminal Minds I finally put on my big girl pants and walked down the road. I ran into the bird sanctuary first and I used the time to walk the path. It was basically just a fenced off part of land. There was a nice path and I expect in late March or Early Spring, the flora would be blooming. But at the end of winter, it was scraggily and dull. I had a nice walk on flat ground and got a handful of photos of birds and lizards.
On my way out of the bird sanctuary walk
, I noticed a bus stop across from the parking lot. I decided to walk back there and read the signs. If there was a shuttle to the top of the hill, that would make me a super happy camper. I'd be able to walk down much easier, but the steepness of the hill will really hurt going down. Honestly, the steepness going down would hurt to too, but it would be more attainable. The shuttle was $.50 and it did go to the top of the hill. It also went to other sections of the park that I haven't seen yet: Merry-Go-Round, Travel Town etc. I jumped on the shuttle and headed up the hill.
The observatory was beautifully designed. Unlike Lowell Observatory, this observatory had less live person lectures and more computerized interactive exhibits. It is very very fancy and very big. There are some really nice exhibits. My favorite was a film hosted by Leonard Nimoy in the Leonard Nimoy theater. It was more about the creation and history of the observatory than about science and stars, but I'm a history dork so I loved it.
The observatory has multiple viewing platforms and a great view of the city. You can get great photos of the famous Hollywood sign. At night, you can see the stars.
After the observatory, I decided to jump back on the shuttle to save time. I could have walked down the hill, but it was getting later in the day and I wanted to see more of the park. Even though I was up early, it takes roughly two hours to drive 25 miles in the morning and also in the evening. I didn't get to Griffith very early. Then spent too much time just chilling out in the car and eating breakfast avoiding the hill. Now that I had some momentum, I wanted to keep it up. When the bus stopped at the parking lot, I decided to do the full loop. I wanted to see other parts of the park. A few minutes later, we were out of the park and downtown Hollywood. Turns out, the Shuttle only runs on the weekends and I was on the city bus, which also runs part of the park. I wasted a lot of time on the bus and by the time I got back to the park, there was only a little bit of daylight left. I decided to head out. Perhaps miss some of the horrible traffic.
I'd been heading north to find places to crash, but today I went east. I knew that Restaurant Impossible was filming close by and I wanted to be nosey and check it out. I also thought if they were doing a "New Grand Opening" the following day, I might be able to catch a nice meal. Off to Glendora, CA. Glendora is a cute little town on the outskirts of LA and I realized after I got there that I'd already driven through it. Route 66 goes right through town. I decided to grab a meal and beer across the street from the restaurant impossible project. I could see a bunch of tents up and people were working hard into the night. I asked the waitress about the other restaurant and apparently its not very good. Very expensive and very pretentious and mediocre food. One of the managers at the restaurant I was in was also doing partime work at the restaurant that was getting a makeover and apparently she wasn't getting paid for the last few months because the restaurant was loosing so much money. Some of the local volunteers that were doing the construction were in the back of the restaurant I was in and they were all angry and grouchy. Apparently Robert Irvine was being a dick. It doesn't surprise me, he seems like a dick. But being verbally abusive to volunteers seems below even him. I took a couple of photos from the street and moved on to find somewhere to sleep.
on my way there. I had checked parking and learned that the Observatory was free but parking around the Observatory was expensive. But there was plenty of other places to park in the area. I parked at the bottom of the hill and sat in my car for probably too long. That hill was intimidating and my knees were feeling queasy. But after a couple of episodes of Criminal Minds I finally put on my big girl pants and walked down the road. I ran into the bird sanctuary first and I used the time to walk the path. It was basically just a fenced off part of land. There was a nice path and I expect in late March or Early Spring, the flora would be blooming. But at the end of winter, it was scraggily and dull. I had a nice walk on flat ground and got a handful of photos of birds and lizards. On my way out of the bird sanctuary walk
The observatory has multiple viewing platforms and a great view of the city. You can get great photos of the famous Hollywood sign. At night, you can see the stars.
After the observatory, I decided to jump back on the shuttle to save time. I could have walked down the hill, but it was getting later in the day and I wanted to see more of the park. Even though I was up early, it takes roughly two hours to drive 25 miles in the morning and also in the evening. I didn't get to Griffith very early. Then spent too much time just chilling out in the car and eating breakfast avoiding the hill. Now that I had some momentum, I wanted to keep it up. When the bus stopped at the parking lot, I decided to do the full loop. I wanted to see other parts of the park. A few minutes later, we were out of the park and downtown Hollywood. Turns out, the Shuttle only runs on the weekends and I was on the city bus, which also runs part of the park. I wasted a lot of time on the bus and by the time I got back to the park, there was only a little bit of daylight left. I decided to head out. Perhaps miss some of the horrible traffic. 
I'd been heading north to find places to crash, but today I went east. I knew that Restaurant Impossible was filming close by and I wanted to be nosey and check it out. I also thought if they were doing a "New Grand Opening" the following day, I might be able to catch a nice meal. Off to Glendora, CA. Glendora is a cute little town on the outskirts of LA and I realized after I got there that I'd already driven through it. Route 66 goes right through town. I decided to grab a meal and beer across the street from the restaurant impossible project. I could see a bunch of tents up and people were working hard into the night. I asked the waitress about the other restaurant and apparently its not very good. Very expensive and very pretentious and mediocre food. One of the managers at the restaurant I was in was also doing partime work at the restaurant that was getting a makeover and apparently she wasn't getting paid for the last few months because the restaurant was loosing so much money. Some of the local volunteers that were doing the construction were in the back of the restaurant I was in and they were all angry and grouchy. Apparently Robert Irvine was being a dick. It doesn't surprise me, he seems like a dick. But being verbally abusive to volunteers seems below even him. I took a couple of photos from the street and moved on to find somewhere to sleep.
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