Let's watch the Feud!

Today was Friday the 13th, but I can't say I had any BAD luck. Quite the opposite. But, more on that later. Little did I know that my live TV show taping would take ALL DAY! Around 9:00 am, I reported to Universal Studios to attend the taping of the game show Family Feud. While waiting to get checked in, I chatted with a couple of older ladies from Michigan and a local guy...his name is Dee Thompson...who dabbles in acting and writing. We quickly hit it off and spent the day sharing in the experience of being a game show audience member.  At the appointed time, a Universal Studios shuttle took the roughly 200 audience members to the Family Feud studio.

I must admit I haven't watched the current rendition of the popular game show much, but seeing it playing live in front of you makes it so much more special. Like other live TV show tapings, the audience was encouraged to clap, cheer and laugh at what they see on stage. Host Steve Harvey was actually quite funny, and engaged the audience during breaks in taping. I was fortunate to get seated in the second row, so I was quite close to Mr. Harvey and the rest of the goings on. They taped two episodes of the show, and I didn't leave Universal Studios till after 5:00 pm! I didn't get a chance to do my planned museum visit, but no problem...I'll do it tomorrow.  I splurged and got a mini suite at a nice hotel tonight. AND, for dinner...Brazilian grill! I made sure and got a generous portion so I would have leftovers for tomorrow's dinner. Oh, and my hotel has decent pillows...I'll get a good night's sleep!

Oh, I almost forgot. I mentioned good luck today. Yesterday, I got a disappointing email that I didn't get a ticket to a live taping of the TV show Talking Dead. It's the show that comes on after the series, The Walking Dead. Well, when I checked tonight, I found another email that said I DID have a ticket after all! I could not believe my good fortune! Of course, I will be posting all the juicy details come Sunday. I can't wait!

Classic cars and Conan

I didn't have the best sleep last night because not only was my hotel next to a busy Los Angeles freeway, my room faced it! I was lucky if I got my minimum six hours of sleep. Since I'm not feeling tired as I type this, I probably got enough rest. I had planned to visit the Martial Arts History Museum in Burbank, but it was a good thing I checked the website this morning. They had to unexpectedly close due to the curator reporting for jury duty. I quickly devised a fallback plan and drove up to Sylmar to visit the Nethercutt Collection automotive museum. The last time I checked out this museum was 2012, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to see it again.

To me, vintage cars...especially the models in the first three decades of the past century...are like works of art. And, it's amazing how HUGE cars were back then, too! Many of our roads...and parking lots...would not be able to accommodate those vehicles. Too big!

In the afternoon, I went to Warner Brothers Studios for a live taping of the Conan Show. It was the seventh time I've attended this show, and it never gets old. It's easy to get a ticket to the Conan Show compared to the other talk shows in town. But, in my opinion, Conan O'Brien is the funniest. He never hesitates to make himself look silly, and he has a genuine rapport with his audience. Oh, and there's also his sidekick Andy Richter and The Basic Cable Band! Today's guests were television personality Andy Cohen and actor Ike Barinholtz.

Tomorrow, I have another live TV taping to attend...a game show this time! Afterward, another museum visit and for dinner...my favorite Brazilian grill! I can't wait! 

A very special day in Agoura Hills

Kettleman City, CA has some weird water. I mean, nasty tasting water. I believe it's from too much chlorine...at least I hope that's the reason. The first inkling something was different was the two bottles of free water in the fridge of my budget hotel. It was when I took my nightly shower that I smelled it...and tasted it. Needless to say, I used the bottled water to brush my teeth.

It was about a three hour drive south to Agoura Hills for a badly needed car wash. As I've stated in previous blog entries, I love hand wash car washes. Those automatic car washes just can't clean every nook and cranny of your vehicle. I was happy to pay extra to have it done right! Afterward, my car looked great!

Next, I was ready for lunch, so I drove down to Malibu and got my seafood fix at Neptune's Net. As loyal Five for Fighting fans know, this restaurant was mentioned in the song California Justice. As the lyric goes, "I shot him with a gun behind Neptune's Net." Hmm...nothing going on today!

After eating my very tasty fried scallop basket, I headed across the street to check out County Line Beach. This favorite of surfers was also included in California Justice..."Early one morning at County Line. The swells four to six, approaching nine." The waves seemed about that height today, but there were only a handful of surfers trying their luck.  I also snapped a pic of a flight of brown pelicans skimming over the water.

I left Malibu and returned to Agoura Hills to meet up with a friend...a very famous friend! Last July when I flew to Texas to attend a Five for Fighting winery show, I told John Ondrasik that I had a special art piece that I wanted to give him. Back in 2004, he was asked by the Grammy and 7 Up folks to decorate a Grammy template which would be used to promote the awards on a series of soda cans. Afterward, some of those were framed along with the original signature and the associated pop can. I managed to get my hands of the Five for Fighting art piece, which has been hanging on my wall.

Fast forward to today...delivery day! When I was planning this year's spring road trip to Los Angeles, I told John I would be bringing the art piece with me. We made arrangements to meet today at Hugo's Restaurant in Agoura Hills this afternoon.  I got there about a half hour early and waited...and waited...and waited. Naturally, I assumed John got caught in traffic...and I was right! He got there about 45 minutes after the appointed time. I really wasn't sure what type of vehicle he would be driving, and I was impressed to see him arrive in a silver Range Rover.

After a hello hug, we went inside the restaurant, and chatted for about 45 minutes over non-alcoholic drinks. We talked about a lot of things...music, my road trip, his projects, hamburger joints. I told John how much his music has impacted my life...changed it for the better...and he said many people often find music and songs to be a catalyst for change. He brought me a small gift...a promotional Superman 45 single vinyl record that was produced when John was nominated back in 2001. He signed it with very kind sentiments.

Afterward, we went outside to my car...John liked my FFF FAN license plate...so I could present him with the art piece. John said the hand print was made by his son Johnny when he was little. I documented John receiving the art piece with an obligatory photo...and also got a pic of me with John! And, in a bit of fun, John...the UCLA Bruins alumnus...was happy to support the Pac-12 AND the Washington State Cougars by posing with the flag! Yes, I'm a Cougar! GO COUGS!!!

I had a wonderful time with my favorite musical artist, and we both got to know each other better today. John said he would send me a pic of the art piece when they put it up on my wall. Tomorrow, I'm planning to visit a museum and attend the first of three live TV show tapings while I'm in L.A. It will be hard to beat the fun I had today, but I'm pretty sure I'll be entertained.

Perfect day at Pinnacles

San Francisco is a noisy city. Noisy during the day AND at night. This morning, I awakened prematurely to the sound of a garbage truck doing its rounds. Slam, bang, roar! That, coupled with bed covers that were too heavy and warm, resulted in me getting up early. As I left the city going south, I got caught in some rush hour traffic. The northbound traffic was much, much worse. I wonder if people are excused when they show up late for work everyday? As I traveled down US Hwy 101, I passed through the town of Gilroy, garlic capital of the world! And, yes, I smelled garlic!

My fun destination of the day was Pinnacles National Park. I had visited this park twice in past road trips, and my plan for today was hiking a 1.5 mile loop trail to Bear Gulch Cave. The weather was perfect...sunny in the mid-70s and blue skies. It made for picture perfect scenery of the rocks and spring foliage.  Can you see the rock climbers in the third photo?

 

The cave was really cool...literally.  The temperature inside the cave was much lower than outside it. It was fun negotiating the water hazard and climbing up the rock steps to the exit. It was pretty dark for most of the cave walk, but I had brought a flashlight to see the path.

As I walked along the trail, I had my eye out for wildlife.  I was not disappointed.  Well, maybe a little.  I was hoping to see California condors, but all there were in the skies were turkey vultures.

Besides a lone lizard, the rest of my wildlife sightings were birds.  California quail, Western scrub jay and acorn woodpeckers.  It was the first time I had seen acorn woodpeckers, and they were busy working on their granary tree...where they store their acorns for future meals.

Well, tomorrow morning I'll be making the drive to Los Angeles. I'll be spending a week there, seeing the sights and having more fun. This road trip has gone pretty good so far. Who knows what surprises might be in store for me in the City of Angels.

A whole lotta driving...and ice cream!

I had an early wake up this morning...6:00 am...because I had a six hour drive ahead of me. When I left Klamath, CA this morning, it was a bit foggy among the redwoods. But, as US Hwy 101 left the trees behind and hugged the coast, it was all sun for the rest of the day. At one point, a driver coming in the opposite direction flashed his headlights in warning. As I rounded the bend, I saw why...elk crossing the road! I pulled off and snapped a few pics. A lot of them had already crossed and others decided to just stay put.

When I reached my destination of the day...San Francisco...I found the traffic in parts of the city particularly bad. There was a whole lot of street repairs going on, and I got stuck in the gridlock. After asking my GPS for alternatives, I took a roundabout way of getting to Union Square. I left my car in a parking garage and walked a few blocks to the Museum of Ice Cream. This special exhibit explores the history and fun of the sweet, frozen treat.

Tickets for this unusual museum have been hard to get, and I lucked out when they extended the San Francisco run and it fell within my road trip. I opted not to participate in all the fun, such as the sprinkles pool...as in simulated candy sprinkles. But, I DID partake in the ice cream! I had a sorbet cone, a coconut bar and mint chip mochi. If you don't know what mochi is, it's a chewy, sometimes sweet, confection made from pounded cooked rice. There were also colorful oversized displays of items that you would find on ice cream desserts...cherries, gummy bears, whipped cream. As for the unicorn, it represents things you dream about in life.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to visit a park and do a little hiking. I'll be looking forward to getting a good night's sleep...on my own pillow. My pit stop hotel has supplied me with half pillows again. They might be pretty to look at, but my head can't stay put on them!

Celebrating National Zoo Lover's Day

It continued to rain this morning when I left Eugene, OR, but the weather forecast looked promising where I was going. I left my hotel just after 7:00 am and made it to West Coast Game Park Safari in Bandon in time for their 10:00 am opening. It was fitting that I visited this zoo on National Zoo Lover's Day. I've been to this particular one several times in the past, and have always experienced something new. Even though I've seen most of the same animals, I'm always looking for great photo opportunities. I was surprised to see the wallabies eating evergreen boughs, and a female peacock...I guess it's called a peahen...wanted to join the capybaras in their warm house.

Even though many of the animals were in chain-link enclosures, I forced my camera to focus through the links and got some sweet head shots. Here are a Canadian lynx, an African leopard and a bobcat. It was easier to get pics of the African lion and white tiger. The lion was VERY interested in the deer and goats roaming freely on the zoo grounds. Not sure why it's tongue is visible...that's known as blepping. The tiger looked quite noble with crossed paws.

Shortly afterward, I got to pet the real deal...a lynx kitten and a bobcat kitten. So cute! I also petted a Patagonian mara...that's a large South American rodent...a red fox and my favorite, cuddled an opossum! The opossum is the same one I've held in the past and it never gets old.

After a wonderful morning at the zoo, I was ready for lunch. I stopped at Battle Rock Wayside Park in Port Orford, and ate in the car, enjoying the scenery. The remnants of yesterday's storm was still evident in the ocean's violent wave action. I got some great photos there and further down the road at Arch Rock.

Tomorrow, I have a long drive to San Francisco, where I'll be visiting a very special tourist attraction. It will be another early wake up. I always get a good sleep with my own pillow. By the way, last night's hotel had regular pillows and tonight's hotel actually has KING SIZE pillows! Not that it matters.