SUNDAY

Two days in LA, and still no celebrity sighting.  Well, we were already planning on taking a trip up to Malibu to show Savannah and Jared campus, so we swung by the Malibu farmers market on the way to see if anybody famous might be lurking around.

 

 

No celebs, but Savannah found some homemade BBQ sauce that would make a great souvenir for her Pops.

And then a flower merchant gave the girls some roses.  For free!

Seeing this, a competing flower tent came by to give Jared and me a couple of free daisies.  Friendly folks up here!

Just up the road, I got to show these guys why Pepperdine is arguably the most beautiful campus in the country.  This is a 9/11 memorial, Hero’s Garden, overlooking campus and the ocean beyond.

As gorgeous a day as it was, we had the itch to get down to that beach.

Apparently there was a storm that washed a bunch of kelp onto the beach a couple weeks ago, and JP, the workaholic that he is, got busy raking up a clean spot for us.

But we didn’t sit long.  Instead, we walked down the beach to check out the houses.  After talking with the lifeguard, we think this may be Larry Ellison’s house (CEO of Oracle Corp, and the 6th richest person in the world).

This was a different home down the way, and they look like my kind of people.

On the way home, I dropped the kids off at Venice Beach to rent some Beach Cruisers and then went to look for parking.  I didn’t find any. 🙁  Oh well, sounds like they had fun!  I’m told that Savannah stopped dead in her tracks in front of Muscle Beach and just drooled (j/k).  Dinner that night included Beer Can Chicken and a corn salad.  And our entertainment included a few rounds of Catch Phrase and a marathon of CMT’s reality show Gone Country.

MONDAY

Lea and I had hardly had a chance to get settled after our move-in before our weekend guests arrived, let alone pack for the next week’s 2,000 mile road trip.  So, we were in a bit of a scramble Monday morning getting everything in order before heading to the airport with Savannah to fly back home together.  Our friend, Margaux, recently told us about a new airline, Allegiant, that flies direct from LAX to DSM, and cheap.  The only catch is, there are a bunch of hidden fees to watch out for, and they do things a bit differently than other airlines.  Ergo, we did not have a positive experience.  Here’s the play-by-play.  Or, more accurately, blow-by-blow.

1:45PM – Taxi picks us up from apartment to take us to LAX – 15 minute drive, 70 min before plane departs

2:10 – Arrive at LAX – 25 minutes later, 45 min before plane departs (I should’ve told that taxi driver woman to SPEED UP!)

2:15 – Reach front of line at Allegiant ticketing counter

2:16 – Counter agent tells us that we must be 45 minutes early, which now makes us 5 min late, no refunds – erupt into fit of rage

2:45 – Buy 3 one-way tickets to MSP (not DSM) departing from Burbank (not LAX)

2:55 – Panting (having hauled mine and Savannah’s 48 lb bag over my shoulder – she added 22 lbs in souvenirs, including Malibu and Venice Beach sand), jump in cab to Burbank

3:45 – Arrive at Burbank airport

3:50 – Reach US Airways ticketing counter 5 minutes before cut-off

4:25 – Boarded flight, pulling back from gate

4:30 – First announcement – mechanical difficulties

4:45 – Second announcement – we are deplaning, must return to ticket counter to re-book

4:55 – Lea dashes to front of line to find next available flight to MSP – 12:30AM out of LAX – thank goodness Savannah is there to keep the mood light.  She’s so cute.

5:50 – Shuttle hauls our sorry butts back to LAX – safety concerns grow after watching driver use Sherlock Holmes-style magnifying glass to read text messages on his antique cell phone, while driving

6:50 – Check in at ticket counter in LAX (same time we would’ve arrived in DSM) – 5.5 hrs before departure

7:10 – Walk to Encounters restaurant (we’ve got time to kill)

7:30 – Encounters is…CLOSED

9:20 – Walk thru insane asylum-style tunnel to gate 63 – 3 hours before departure

12:30AM – Plane finally departs for MSP – nearly 10 hours after this whole fiasco began

TUESDAY

6:00AM – Plane arrives in MSP and we are greeted by Don and Judi who left their house at 4AM to come get us

10:30 – Arrive home in DSM, at last!  Phew!  We made it.  I’ll consider this the official start of our road trip vaycay.

Savannah Rae, thanks for coming out to see us.  We wish you the best of luck as you start your college career, but by the sound of things, you won’t need it.  Keep in touch, and go kick some ass!

Cheers!