Ready to Fly

I have about 2 1/2 hours left before I need to be at the LAX airport before my flight to NZ leaves around 11:30pm. I can’t believe that my time in LA is already up and I am about to hop a plane to the other side of the world.

Yesterday was the first gorgeous day since I arrived, so I made the most of it by catching brunch with a family friend, then walking along the marina before hanging out on the marina beach for an hour and a half.  

After that my cousin took me to Abalone Beach, which is a beach that has a lot of tide pools. Unfortunately it was high tide when we went, so no tide pools, but seeing the giant waves was very cool. I did managed to find a starfish andsome sea urchins so the trip wasn’t just about the waves. We stayed to watch a beautiful sunset, though next timhen we are going to check if the tide is coming in or out.

Sunset @ Abalone Cove

Sunset @ Abalone Cove

When we got home, we went out to the Cheesecake Factory with my cousin’s roommate. I was suprised to find that they have valet parking for it, along with many other restaurants along the marina. The food was delicious and we came home soon afterward and hung out for a bit before we went to sleep.

Today was another sunny day and I got lunch with my cousin and another family friend on Abbot Kinney street, which is a bohemian street that has a lot of interesting shops in downtown Venice Beach that. After lunch, we came back to my cousin’s apartment and packed my bags in preparation of the flight. Now I only have a few more things to throw in my backpack before I am ready to go.

I am definitely not looking forward to the 14 hour flight. Luckily, I changed my seat so that instead of a window seat I have an aisle seat and will be able to get up an stretch my legs whenever I want (unless the “fasten seatbelt” sign is on). I hate having a window seat when you are sitting next to strangers because then I feel like it’s a hassle for them when I ask them to get up and move.

I wish that one of my family members or friends could have come to NZ with me, but I know that I should make a fair amount of friends on the tour group I am going with.

Next time I write, I will be either 14hours (NZ) or 16 (hours) ahead of everyone on east coast time!

15 reasons why I love LA

1. The beach. I love the ocean and the sand.

2. Palm Trees, Birds of Paradise, Cacti

3. Murals

4. Houses with interesting architecture, covered in bright paint..

5. In-n-Out Burger, Foster Freeze and Rae’s Restaurant (Cafe).

6. How close everything is to each other.

7. The friendly, laid-back people.

8. The Car Chases they show on TV, because where else would someone drive for two hours while 1o + police cars and helicopters follow them.

9. The Parks.

10. The Billboards. Some people might think it’s trashy, but I think they’re fun.

11. Open Air Courtyards with lots of plants.

12. How Diverse LA is.

13. The weather (for the most part) and lack of gnats and other annoying insects!

14. Disneyland and other assorted Theme Parks.

15. The Sun!

California time

Today, I left Virginia for LA. I had to wake up fairly early, 6:30 am, after going to bed at 4am because I was doing last minute cleaning and packing.

After my dad dropped me off at the airport, I found out that not only does cost $20 to check a bag on United (outrageous!), but that they finally rearranged security at Dulles, in preparation for when the new trains start running. It took some time to get through security because there was a lot of people. Luckily, after I got through security to my gate (which was suprisingly close to the shuttles loading place for a change)  I only had to wait about thirty minutes to board my flight. I got a window seat in the economy class and was right behind the wing of the plane.

The seats seemed smaller than I remember, especially when a rather large guy sat next to me and the woman in front of me put her seat back. I slept on and off the flight, so in a way the six hour flight went by fairly fast, but sleeping in such a cramped condition is never that restful.

It was raining when my plane landed, so the descent down was a little bumpy at times, but it was cool to see the rain whoosh over the wing. Once we landed, I tried turning on my phone to see if my cousin had left me a message about how I was getting into her apartment because she was in class when I landed.

But, my phone wouldn’t turn on and I started worrying that it was “tostitos toast”, because lately it has been shutting off randomly and I had just charged my phone last night. As soon as I got off the plane, I ran over to an outlet and tried plugging my phone in to see if just the battery was dead. Thankfully it turned on, because I didn’t have a written copy of my cousin’s apartment address or her phone number, and without that, I wasn’t sure what I would do.

After retrieving my suitcase from baggage claim, I used an outlet in the women’s bathroom to charge my phone for a bit so it wouldn’t die when I got to my cousin’s apartment and needed to call her roommate to let me in.

The taxi drive was short; Marina del Ray isn’t far away from the airport. It was still raining, but there was a hint of sun behind the clouds and even when it’s raining California is beautiful. I love seeing all the palm trees and love not having to wear a heavy coat in January! My cousin’s roommate let me in the apartment, (the building is so swanky, I want to live here) and we’ve spent the afternoon just relaxing and getting to know each other.

Not sure what we are going to do tonight, but whatever we do it should be fun.

Packing….

Today, I finally tried fitting everything I want to bring with me to New Zeland and Australia in the Giant Backpacker backpack I have. It didn’t all fit, so I went through my clothes, cut out a bunch, tried repacking. Yep, it still doesn’t fit. I think I might have to ship a small box of clothes to Australia.

If only I had a shrink ray, my life would be perfect.