Trip To Southern California

The view from Dad's ninth floor room at La Quinta Inn.
LAX is getting a bit of a makeover. In fact, part of the famous structure around one of the control towers (not the one shown at right), is covered in scaffolding. Waiting for a shuttle is also a lot of fun, as you hope your hotel shuttle slows enough for you to jump into its path and flag it down.

Since Julia (and some of the other girls) appreciate seeing pictures from the plane, here is a shot of us arriving at the gate in Denver.

The flight from Denver to Los Angeles was a little nerve-racking. Many people could be heard sharing their stories of fright at the baggage pick-up area. Dad compares it to a thrill ride. Sitting over the wing, he was able to watch one of the engines rattle up and down as violent turbulence shook the plane up and down. In an attempt to avoid the bumpiness, the pilot tried descending and ascending to different altitudes. It didn't help - for at least the first 30 minutes of the flight, at least.


So this is the new standard in keys. Gone are actual keys. Also out: credit-card type keys. No, this is like a little memory stick. When you stick it in the lock, a green light goes on and a (loud) buzzer sounds. Nothing like waking up the rest of the people sleeping in nearby rooms.

A couple of Dad's notable observations:

- Disneyland runs advertisements with Christmas themes (one features snowmen riding bobsleds)

- Shakey's Pizza still exists! There was one just down the street from his hotel. Wow.

- When young children get tired, they cry. They stamp their feet. They wish they were asleep. But they're not smart enough to just close their eyes. And most of the time, their parents are oblivious to the cause of their children's turmoil. In one case, a little boy was practically dragged through the Denver terminal (with his eyes barely open). The second case of child abuse, err, utter fatigue, was in the hotel around 10:15 p.m. This time, the two victims were clearly up way past their bedtime.

The decor at La Quinta was nice, but somewhat 70s.