A Day, A Week, Hemant, A Year

We had a few items on the agenda for Tuesday in Las Vegas. I had known about a Star Trek : The Experience attraction since it opened a few years ago and made a point to see it if I was ever in Vegas. My brother actually saw it when he was in Vegas recently and said it was pretty good. Since I am a pretty big Star Trek geek and Ryan is a closet Trekkie, we decided to go check it out. Connie claims she does not like Star Trek, so she decided to enter a poker tournament while we, “boldly went where no one had gone before.”

Star Trek : The Experience was at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel so we checked out from Treasure Island and headed over there. We had breakfast at the Hilton’s buffet which was pretty good. The selection was decent, but not spectacular. I’m not a huge fan of buffets (again, my germophobia), but when in Rome…

A poker tournament was just starting when we finished breakfast, so Connie got into that and Ryan I made our way to the Experience. There was a huge gift shop with all sorts of cool Star Trek things. I would have bought a few bottles of Klingon Blood Wine or Romulan Ale for sure, but I didn’t want to risk losing it at customs. Once we finished in there we decided to go have a drink at Quarks Bar and Restaurant. If that doesn’t make you smile, then you’re not a Trek fan. Quarks Bar is a replica of the bar by the same name from Star Trek : Deep Space Nine.

We were just planning on having a Romulan Ale (blue lager), but when we walked in there was a guy drinking this green bubbling thing which we found quite intriguing. We sat at the bar and went through the menu. We weren’t sure which one it was so we asked the bartender (she wasn’t a Ferengi, or a Dabo Girl). She told us that they were The Borg Sphere and the Warp Core Breach. When we read what they were on the menu, we had second thoughts since it was only 11:45 am.

• Warp Core Breach: (for two or more) (10 oz. of liquor) Red alert! Order this drink and prepare to separate our saucer section! Sensors indicate five different flavored Rums, Razzmatazz, and fruit juices. We add pure ice crystals from the planet Exo III. You’ll need more than one officer to handle this situation.
• Borg Sphere: (for two or more) (10 oz. of liquor) Prepare to be assimilated! Resistance is futile…when you consume this beverage consisting of Gin, Rum, Vodka, Melon Liqueur, sour mix and Sprite.

10 ounces of liquor before lunch is pushing it. Luckily they had mini version of each of these drinks with only 5 ounces of alcohol. That’s much more doable. We figured it was after noon somewhere in the galaxy. Ryan ordered the Borg Sphere and I ordered the Warp Core Breach. I could just post pictures of these drinks, but that would just not do them justice. So instead, check out the video below.

As we were sipping our drinks, a Klingon warrior came by to hassle us. He looked at us and said he could tell we were probably from California since he could smell the smog on us. He also laughed at us for getting the mini versions of the Borg Sphere and Warp Core Breach, claiming that children on his home world drink the full size versions. We managed to convince him to let me have my picture taken with him, even though we seemed to disgust him.

We finally managed to get through our drinks and we headed to buy our tickets for the two simulators the Experience offered – Borg Invasion and Klingon Encounter. We spent a little time looking at the exhibits they had featuring a running time line of major historic Star Trek universe events, as well as historical artifacts.

We got in line for the Borg Invasion 4-D experience. There was trivia questions being asked as we waited in line. I got them all correct – usually without even having to wait for the multiple choice options. Yes, I’m a geek. They finally let us in and the first encounter was underway. They use live actors as well as actual sets to make the experience more genuine. We were greeted by a lieutenant who directed our attention to a view screen. The Doctor, from Star Trek : Voyager explained to us that we were going to be part of a Federation experiment because we had a certain gene that would help fight off diseases, and more importantly, Borg nano-probes.

Midway through his briefing, the station we were on came under attack by the Borg ship. The lieutenant and another officer then proceeded to lead us through the station to a waiting transport – all while being chased by Borg drones who had transported aboard. We all eventually boarded the transport and departed the station, only to be intercepted by the Borg ship’s tractor beam.

Events continued to play out on the ships view screen until we eventually escaped and the ride came to an end. As we walked out we saw there was a box of goggles which we are pretty sure we were supposed to be wearing to get a 3-D effect of the view screen. Maybe that’s why that part of the experience didn’t seem right. Oh well.

We were running behind schedule since it was already 1:30 and we were supposed to meet Connie at 1:00. We found her and told her we still had one thing to see. She decided to go have a drink at Quarks bar while she waited. Ryan and I got in line for the Klingon Encounter.

In this one, we are transported from our present time to the future, where a group of Klingons believe that one of us is the ancestor of Jean Luc Picard. Their plan is to kill that ancestor so Picard is never born (we believe that Ryan was that ancestor). Luckily the Starship Enterprise was able to intercept the Klingons transporter beam and get us on their ship. An officer lead us from the transporter room through some corridors to a shuttle bay where we all boarded a shuttle that was to take us through a rift in the space time continuum to get us back home.

As we launched out of the Enterprise’s shuttle bay, the ride really took off. I’ve never been on these types of simulators before and I must say that they are pretty convincing. I really felt that we were flying through space and that we were in the middle of a space battle between the Federation and the Klingons. They made sure we strapped in when boarding the shuttle, and that was definitely a good idea because we were thrown around hard. They did warn people not to get on if they had back problems, heart problems, or were pregnant. One poor dude stayed back.

There were windows in the front and top of the shuttle that really made the experience realistic, especially when the Enterprise and Klingon ships flew overhead. As the battle waged on, we finally made our way through the time portal and were now flying over the strip of Las Vegas. It was pretty cool. But the Klingons managed to follow us and the battle continued for a bit. Once they were defeated, the shuttle proceeded towards the Hilton to drop us off. We all go off of the shuttle and as we walked down a hallway there was a T.V. on a local news channel. The story was how unidentified flying objects and explosions were being reported in Las Vegas.

The Klingon Encounter was quite a bit better than the Borg Invasion simulator according to me. It just seemed a lot more convincing. Maybe if we actually had the 3-D glasses for the Borg Invasion it would have been better. I’ll have to ask my brother if he wore glasses when they went through.

We went back to Quarks Bar to get Connie. She chickened out and didn’t get the Warp Core Breach or Borg Sphere. Instead she got this one.

• The Royale: A cosmic cosmopolitan, a favorite at Hotel Royale as well as in finer intergalactic establishments throughout the Quadrant. Made with Raspberry Vodka, Orange Liqueur, cranberry juice, and lime juice.

I wanted to get a souvenir so we went back to the gift shop and I took a look around. I was tempted to buy a Tribble. Connie loved them. I just decided to get a t-shirt instead.

Something we did see in the hotel that was pretty surprising was an iPod vending machine. It was an actual vending machine that you could buy a full blown iPod from. It had a pretty good selection. Here’s a picutre simulating Ryan shaking the vending machine after hypothetically putting in $300, and having the iPod get stuck on the way down.

Our next stop was Hoover Dam which was about a 30 minute drive from Vegas. Ryan and Connie had been there once before, but didn’t mind going out there again so I could see it. We didn’t take an actual tour of the dam, but just walked from one end to the other, enjoying the great structure.

After getting our fill of the dam, we decided to head back to Los Angeles. What should have been a fairly smooth drive turned into a bit of a headache once we hit an hour long traffic jam about halfway back. The highway was marked as “under construction” and traffic was backed up for miles. Once we passed the “construction” zone, it turned out to be two guys measuring a little piece of the shoulder. It was brutal.

We rolled back into Rancho Cucamonga at about 8:30 and just chilled for the rest of the night. Even though I’m not a gambler, and have never really had a drive to make a dedicated trip to Las Vegas, I’m glad I had a chance to see it. It is definitely something to behold, and I would definitely consider going back at some point to see more of the great shows they have to offer. You can see more pictures from the Las Vegas trip here.

Most people who know me are aware that I am a huge NBA fan. Since I was going to be in Los Angeles, there was no way I wasn’t going to see a basketball game. With two teams in the city, it was really a no-brainer to want to see the Lakers as opposed to the Clippers. Even though the Lakers are a playoff bound team, they would definitely not have much going for them if it wasn’t for Kobe Bryant.

Not only was I going to have the chance to see a legendary team and one of the premier players in the league – I was also going to see them play one of the best teams out there in the Phoenix Suns, featuring fellow Canadian and two-time league M.V.P., Steve Nash.

Tip-off was at 12:30 at the Staples Center. Ryan, Connie, and I were on the road by 10:00 and stopped for breakfast at a place whose portions sizes could feed a small family. Despite the restaurant being pretty busy, we were in and out of there in no time and on our way to the stadium.

It was about a 45 minute drive to downtown L.A. and traffic cooperated with us. I was not surprised to see a statue of Magic Johnson outside of the Staples Center, but I was surprised to see one of Wayne Gretzky. Ryan and I both agreed that he should have been wearing an Oilers jersey as opposed to a Kings jersey.

Prior to the game the three of us took a quick peak in the Lakers store to see if there was anything interesting that we wanted to buy. Since it was so busy we decided to go in there again after the game. We made our way to out seats in the upper 301 section. As far up as they were, the view was still pretty good. The stadium is built with the seating sections so steep that it is pretty hard to get a bad seat.

The usual celebrities were there including Jack Nicholson and Penny Marshall, as well as some other well-known stars such as Tobey Maguire and Terrence Howard sitting courtside. We were also graced by some NBA legends including Clyde Drexler and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The actual game was not a complete blowout as we expected. The Lakers did a pretty good job of hanging around for most of the game, but Phoenix’s shooting and fast-paced game were too much for them to keep pace with. Ryan was cheering for the Lakers, but Connie and I were pulling for the Suns – although I did cheer for good plays by both sides. Kobe had some pretty sweet moves that you just couldn’t help but cheer for. Steve Nash’s penetration into the Lakers’ zone was completely dismantling the Lakers defense so I pointed out some defensive plays to Phil Jackson.

Following the game we made our way back to the Lakers store which was probably more busy than it was before the game. Connie got in the huge lineup while Ryan and I went through the store looking for something to buy. We both ended up buying a Kobe t-shirt illustrating his 81 point explosion last year against the Toronto Raptors. Since I couldn’t buy any actual Raptors merchandise at this store, I figured this was the next best thing – I get a little piece of Lakers and Raptors history.

After we left the stadium we just decided to drive around downtown for a bit so I could see it. This didn’t work out too well since a bunch of the major streets were closed off. After sitting in traffic jam after traffic jam, we just decided to head back to Rancho Cucamonga. You can see more pictures from the day here.

Saturday was southern California beaches day. We were on the road by 9:00 and the plan was to visit three beaches:

1. Santa Monica
2. Venice Beach
3. Bolsa Chica (Huntington Beach)

Here is a map (click it for a full-size picture) of the route we took. We started at Rancho Cucamonga in the north east.

The weather wasn’t the greatest for going to the beach, but we weren’t planning on doing any sun bathing. Our first stop was Santa Monica. We stopped at a Farmer’s Market during our walk from the parking lot to the beach. Ryan and Connie sampled some of the fruit and vegetables, but I didn’t because I’m a germophobe.

I was really surprised at how big the beach was. Not just length, but how deep it is as well. It wasn’t really crowded, but I can only imagine how insane it gets during the summer. Santa Monica is home to the first muscle beach. It’s a place for people to show off how strong they are. This one doesn’t have any weights, but it does have lots of other old school apparatuses. Ryan attempted to demonstrate his strength on some of the exercise equipment. After his workout, we walked out to the Santa Monica Pier.

Our next stop was Venice, just south of Santa Monica. A little history lesson – Venice used to house the Pacific Ocean Park which was also known as Dogtown, the birthplace of modern day skateboarding. If you’ve never seen “Dogtown and Z-Boys” or “Lords of Dogtown”, I’d highly recommend renting them. It is also the home of the second muscle beach – the place where Arnold Schwarzenegger was discovered. Here we walked down the Venice Beach boardwalk, and checked out the “local wildlife”. We also watched a little streetball at the world famous Venice Beach basketball courts. We passed a body piercing shop so Connie decided to get her nose done. You can see a video of it below.

Once we finished off at Venice, we got back on the road and headed south-east to Bolsa Chica, a.k.a. Huntington Beach. The main reason for going here was for Ryan to get some surfing in with his new board – a 6’3″ Surftech Channel Island Flyer II. I decided not to try surfing because I’m not the strongest swimmer, and the water is extremely cold at this time of year. Connie and I just decided to pull up some beach chairs and watch from the sidelines. There was a few other surfers out, as well a bunch of dolphins. They started to congregate around Ryan making us think that they were plotting something against him.

Ryan stayed out for about an hour before coming in. The wind had really picked up and it was quite chilly so we decided to call it a day. I was really surprised to see kids out in the water in only bathing suits. I put my feet for about three seconds and almost froze them off.

On the way home Ryan decided to stop by a surf shop in the city of Orange to pick up a bag for his new board. The shop was located near the Vans Indoor Skatepark so we decided to go and check it out. There weren’t any real good riders there at the time but it was still cool to see the world-class facility.

We got back to Rancho Cucamonga around 6:00 and just took it easy for the rest of the night. You can see more pictures from the day here.

Since we had so much “fun” on Thursday night at The Magic Castle, we really didn’t think we could handle any more “fun” at a wine tasting in Temcula so we decided to just take it easy and do some shopping and see a movie. In the morning, Ryan and I went out to a nearby basketball court and played some hoops. We played some one-on-one, 21, and ran some shooting and post drills.

In the afternoon we went to a mall in the area and grabbed something to eat in the food court before going to see Grindhouse. I enjoyed it quite a bit, but it was pretty long, so be prepared. It’s almost three and a half hours long. After the movie I wanted to buy some clothes so we went to the Quicksilver store and I loaded up. I’m not sure I’ll have enough room in my suitcase to hold everything.

Since we wanted to try and see The Tonight Show again on Thursday, Ryan, Connie and I were on the road by 8:00 and hit the NBC studio by 8:30. But once again all we could get was standby tickets. We decided we would give it a try today anyway, since this would probably be our last chance to see it. We had to be back to the studio by 3:30 since taping was at 4:30.

From Studio City we made our way to Hollywood. It was pretty hazy out so you couldn’t see the sign in the mountains. We walked down the Hollywood Walk of Fame and made our way down to Mann’s Chinese Theater. We looked for some key stars and ‘hand and feet’ prints such as the cast of Star Trek, Harrison Ford, and the characters of Star Wars.

Connie needed a dress for our evening at The Magic Castle so we spent some time at a mall called The Grove. After we finished up we headed back to the car and toured around some of the more affluent areas such as Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive. There are definitely some impressive houses and properties to see in the Hills. We are pretty sure we saw at least one famous person’s house since there was a star tour bus in front of it and all of the passengers were taking pictures of it. We drove down Rodeo Drive, but didn’t have enough courage to actually go into any of the prestigious shops.

We had lunch at Canter’s, a famous L.A. deli / diner. I had a Fairfax sandwich that has a ton of corned beef and pastrami on it. It was good.

We killed some time before heading back to the NBC studio to get in line for The Tonight Show. There were a ton of people already lined up so we checked in with the other standby people. After about fifteen minutes the standby people were told to go join the lineups. There was a group that was entering the studio and we were told that they were special guests of Jay Leno’s. You’d expect there to be about ten or so guests. Nope, there were about one hundred. Jay has lots of friends.

There were pages armed with walkie-talkies walking up and down the line counting each person. But whenever they were asked how many people could fit in the studio, they would always claim that no one knew exactly how many could fit or how many would get in. So we’re not really sure what they were counting for. We just wanted to know whether we were getting in or not so we didn’t have to waste our time in line, but the pages loved their “power” and would give information to no one.

Shortly before 4:30 one of the pages informed us that no one with standby tickets would be getting in today. It was obviously disappointing that we would not get to see the show, but what really cheesed us off was that we didn’t need to wake up so early, and could have still accomplished the stuff we wanted to do. The one upside of not getting in was that we would not be rushed, or more likely late in getting to The Magic Castle.

There is a dress code for The Magic Castle and I didn’t bring a suit in my luggage. Luckily Ryan had a suit that fit me so we were in business. Since we didn’t want to be stuck in formal wear all day we ended up getting dressed in a parking lot on Hollywood Boulevard in the back of the car. The paparazzi only managed to get one shot.

We only had four blocks to drive, but it was rush-hour and it ended up taking nearly forty-five minutes to get there. It was insane, and funny at the same time, but we still arrived at the castle in time. Here’s a little description of what The Magic Castle is all about.

The Magic Castle is the private clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts, Inc, a very special organization devoted to the advancement of the ancient art of magic. The purpose of The Academy is to encourage and promote public interest in the art of magic with particular emphasis on preserving its history as an art form, entertainment medium, and hobby. Beginning with a charter membership of 150, the Academy has grown into a world-renowned fraternal organization with a membership of nearly 5,000.

You can only get into The Magic Castle if you are a member or if you are invited. At a previous visit with some co-workers, Ryan was invited back by one of the members. The castle is an old mansion with a restaurant and rooms for magic performances. There was also a haunted piano that played by itself, and took requests. We asked it to play Moonlight Sonata and the theme from Cheers.

The first show we saw after dinner was a close-up performance. In these shows there are 22 people in a small room and you are extremely close to the magician. The performer focussed heavily on coin tricks and it was real cool seeing it up close. Right after this performance we went to the main room which actually had a stage, and was a more typical magic show with lights, music, and all of that jazz. The room held about 100 people, but was still not very big. We sat right at the front.

The first magician in this room performed with his wife and was incredible. This is probably the best magic I have ever seen live, or on TV. It was so weird seeing this stuff from so close up. It really blew our minds. I participated in a card trick where the magician’s daughter picked a card I chose. She was about 2. His finale included him making his wife disappear while levitating under a sheet. He was wearing a vampire cape and wrapped himself completely up in it. When he opened it up, it was not him, but his wife wearing the cape. He was somehow at the back of the room.

The second guy in this room had a lot of humour in his act and was awesome as well, but I definitely preferred the first guy. Throughout the night we saw another close-up performance and 2 Prestidigitation performances. One of the more impressive tricks was when a magician had a person from the audience circle the page number and the headline of any story from a newspaper with a red marker. He opened up an envelope and had a xeroxed copy of that exact page – with the red marks. It was unreal.

We finished up at about midnight and headed back home. All I can say is that The Magic Castle is easily one of the greatest things I have ever seen. It’s one thing seeing these illusions on TV, but seeing them up close and personal is incredible. This may end up being the highlight of the whole trip. You can see more pictures of the day here.

I was up around 7:30 this morning and read a bit of news on the net before jumping in the shower. Ryan was gone to work by 5:30 and Connie and I watched some sports highlights while we had our morning coffee. Let me tell you, the ESPN version of Sportscenter is the way to go as opposed to TSN’s version. Here you get 25 minutes of NBA highlights followed by 5 minutes of the “other” sports – the way it should be. In the Canadian version you get 25 minutes of hockey highlights (and to be more precise, that’s 25 minutes of Leafs highlights) followed by 5 minutes of the “other” sports.

We needed to stop by the NBC studio to pick up The Tonight Show tickets so we headed out at about 9:00. The traffic was decent and we rolled into Burbank and Studio City in good time. When I went in to get the tickets all they could give me were stand-by ones. The deal was that you show up at 3:30 and you’d know if you were getting in by 4:30. Since we didn’t want to hang around this area of the city all day and then end up not getting in, we decided it was best to do some schedule shifting.

We decided to go to the Getty Center today, and try The Tonight Show another day. Since we had no idea how to get to the Getty Center we tried to call Ryan at the office to get us directions off of the internet. We needed to find a pay phone since neither of them have a cell phone. I’m serious.

We couldn’t get a hold of him so we just asked a guy at a gas station and he filled us in on where we needed to be. We were now on our way to see some art. For those who don’t know what the Getty Center is, here’s a blurb from their site.

The Getty Center presents the Getty’s collection of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present against a backdrop of dramatic architecture, tranquil gardens, and breathtaking views.

Connie and I were most interested in the photography exhibits they had. The first one we saw was Sigmar Polke: Photographs, 1968-1972. His work was known to be experimental and I honestly didn’t care for them. Below is a picture of Connie enjoying old Sigmar’s photos. Apparently I wasn’t supposed to be taking pictures in this exhibit, but I managed to sneak a few in….before I was told it was forbidden and sternly reprimanded.

Another photography exhibit was The Old Order and the New: P.H. Emerson and Photography 1885-1895. His pieces focused on images of, “the isolated region of East Anglia in England during the late 19th century, a time when traditional life and work along the Norfolk Broads were increasingly threatened by advances in modern technology.” I did like his work, but there were a lot of his pieces, and they all seemed to become very similar near the end.

The photography exhibit I enjoyed the most was A Place in the Sun: Photographs of Los Angeles by John Humble. From the Getty site.

John Humble (American, b. 1944) has lived and worked in the Los Angeles area for 30 years. During this time he has created a strong body of photographs inspired by architecture and its surrounding natural environment, often focusing on the incongruities and ironic juxtapositions of the Southern Californian landscape. This two-gallery exhibition features approximately 35 color photographs, many of which were acquired by the Getty Museum in January 2006, with the generous assistance of the Getty Museum Photographs Council, which also underwrote the accompanying publication. Both the exhibition and book celebrate Humble’s distinct view of Los Angeles. From the concrete channels of the Los Angeles River to brightly colored commercial buildings, his photographs of the built environment capture that which is instantly recognizable yet very often overlooked.

We made our way through many of the other exhibits, but you have to understand that the Getty Center is huge, and you could spend a lot of time in there. We saw a ton of paintings and sculptures, along with a really neat look at the process they used to determine whether a so-called 15th century cabinet was the real-deal. The centre also has an incredible garden to walk through.

We decided to head back home shortly after 3:00. Traffic was brutal at some places, but cleared up and let us actually go above 20 km/hour. When we got back, Ryan had also just arrived from the office. We had some dinner and watched basketball before heading to the hot-tub for a dip. Connie didn’t join us since she needed to go buy a dress for a show we are seeing tomorrow called The Magic Castle. From what I hear it is supposed to be awesome. Check back for details on Thursday.

I’ve also posted some picture from the day here. There aren’t many, and I’m a little disappointed I didn’t have my big camera with me at the time (since I thought we were going to be at The Tonight Show today), but there were still some decent shots.

We were a little delayed getting out of Calgary due to the weather. By the time the plane was de-iced we were running about 20 minutes late. The flight was packed with families heading out for Easter vacation, but everything was decent. I’m glad it was a new WestJet plane so I could pass the time watching T.V. I got to watch a documentary on perpetual motion machines on the Discovery Channel, and an episode of Star Trek : The Next Generation (“The Emissary”).

After arriving in L.A. the first thing I noticed was that LAX looks like it was pulled straight out of the 70s. That airport needs some upgrades – not was I was expecting at all. I made my way down to the luggage claim and saw Connie pull up outside. She circled around the area a couple times while I waited for my bags to come.

We rolled out of there in no time and headed for their place in Rancho Cucamonga by San Berardino. It was about an hour and fifteen minute drive back to their place. We stopped at In-n-Out Burger for some drive-thru since I hadn’t eaten in some time. Connie said I needed to try it before I left – “best burgers as far as fast food goes”, was her claim. For the record, it was quite good.

We just hung out and watched some TV when we got back. Ryan left specific instructions for me not to touch his new surf board. He also called numerous times to remind me. I took it out to the parking lot and did a dry-run. It wasn’t that great. He got back to the house around 5:00 and we just chilled and went out for dinner. Pretty low-key day.

We decided to twiddle with the schedule slightly. Tomorrow (Wednesday), Connie and I are going to go to The Tonight Show taping (guests include Jennifer Love Hewitt, Robert Rodriguez, and Brandi Carlile) while Ryan goes to work. We have to line up for the tickets in the morning since they didn’t arrive in the mail in time.

I’m just sitting at my gate in the Calgary airport to take off for L.A. I was up nice and early this morning – around 3:15. My cab arrived at about 4:15 to take me to the airport. No problems in security or customs in either departure city so that was good. There was a bit of a wait for my luggage at customs so I just decided to go grab some breakfast while they sorted it out.

The weather in Calgary is brutal – snowing and blowing. Looks like I picked a good time to get out of here. The weather in L.A. looks solid – mostly sunny and reaching about 21 degrees celsius this afternoon. Ryan is working today so Connie is picking me up at the airport. Everything is on time and I should be landing at LAX at about 12:49 pm local time.

Anyway, that’s it and I’ll check in again to let you know I made it.

On another note, it is now confirmed that Jeffrey is online 24/7. I got on the net this morning at 4:00 to check the status of my flights. I kid you not, Jeffrey instant messages me about one second later.

“Dood, you’re gonna be late.”

Granted, it is was 6:00 in Montreal, but come on!

Three days and counting. It’s been a while since I’ve had a real vacation. Probably over seven years when I went to Maui for my sister’s wedding in January of 2000. Sure I’ve taken ‘vacation’, but it was usually spent visiting my family and friends in Saskatchewan and Alberta while I was living in Ontario. I’m not trying to say those vacations weren’t anything special, but they just weren’t ‘go somewhere cool’ types of vacations.

My friends Ryan and Connie are currently living in Los Angeles, California. As Ryan put it, they are “on a global project.” A quote from their website sums it up.

Leaving Edmonton in September, our home sold, our belongings in storage we have started a new life working on a “global project”. Currently in California, not sure where we are going next (or when), we are enjoying the ride….

As an engineer, Ryan is hopping around the globe from project to project. Los Angeles is their first stop, with rumours of Europe being next. I figured I better take advantage of their journeys and try and visit them in each locale. They’ve been in L.A. for well over a year now, and I was supposed to actually visit them about a year ago. But since I had just made a big (and expensive) move from Guelph to Saskatoon, my trip needed to be postponed until now.

I leave for the city of angels early in the morning of Tuesday, April 3rd and return on Thursday, April 12th giving the three of us plenty of time to do lots of “stuff”. And let me just say, our schedule is FULL of all sorts of “stuff”. Here’s a quick look at our schedule.

• Tuesday, April 3 – Depart for L.A.
• Wednesday, April 4 – Temecula Wine Country
• Thursday, April 5 – The Getty Center
• Friday, April 6 – Hollywood, Rodeo Drive, Sunset Strip, The Tonight Show
• Saturday, April 7 – No plans – just chilling
• Sunday, April 8 – Tour downtown L.A., Lakers vs. Suns NBA game
• Monday, April 9 – Las Vegas, Cirque du Soleil (Love)
• Tuesday, April 10 – Las Vegas
• Wednesday, April 11 – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory tour
• Thursday, April 12 – Depart for Saskatoon

As you can see, I wasn’t kidding. I figured that if I’m going to be out there, I may as well see as much as possible. I’m more-or-less ready to go, and have just a few things to take care of. Today I’m going to buy some American money and shop for some summer-esque clothes. Then I just need to pack, and I’m good to go. I plan on posting everyday while I’m out there, so be sure to check back here to see how everything is going. Hang ten, bra!

It was my nephew Jayant’s third birthday on Friday, and his party was scheduled for Saturday afternoon. I thought this was a good opportunity to take an extra long weekend so I booked Friday and Monday as vacation. I drove out to Wilkie Friday morning to pick up my parents and we arrived at my brother’s place in Sherwood Park mid-afternoon.

The weekend was fun and it gave me a chance to visit with my brother and his family – I hadn’t seen them since the summer. Most of the time was filled with playing with my nephews and playing Xbox 360 (mostly Gears of War) with my brother. The party was also a good time – not a huge event, but just a few of my brother’s and sis-in-law’s friends.

My parents and I left Edmonton around 12:30 Sunday afternoon after the Raptors game, despite my father’s objections. He likes to leave early, but I was driving so I was the boss. The drive was enjoyable, and even more so since the Raptors blew out the Los Angeles Clippers (all you nay-sayers should act early, because the bandwagon will fill quickly).

I was planning on staying the night in Wilkie, but I decided to just drop my folks off and drive straight through to Saskatoon. I thought I would use my day off on Monday to take care of my passport stuff. I rolled into the passport office around 11:00 am, and finally was out of there around 2:00. It wasn’t as busy as it was a week or two ago, but three hours is still long. It was quite the setup – waiting in lines to wait in other lines. Once I actually saw the Examiner, I spent maybe three minutes with him. I do feel bad for people who waited in lines as long as I did, and then were told their forms were inaccurate, or they were missing certain documents, but I think a lot of them just didn’t read the instructions. People were showing up without a guarantor’s signature, passport photos, etc. Luckily I took the thirty seconds to read the instructions.

Anyway, I took some photos while in Edmonton and you can see them here. Enjoy.