I'm just about recovered from our whirlwind weekend out on the Left Coast. The miserable rain back east isn't helping, and I think I still need an extra 12-hours sleep for this weekend, but I'm just about at 100%. Hydro and I took off before sunrise back here in Newark, and landed in La-La right after breakfast. It was a fantastic weekend, thanks to our many Californian amigos.
Friday was spent with Warning at the weird and wonderfilled Warner Bros. lot, taking in all the "showbiz" (& Studio 60). Then, Duck swept me up from the girls and took me to my very first H-wood audition, and a quick peep of the land before meeting up with the rest of the gang (Hydro, Warning, Ms. Rabbit, Spermy, Ding & Steph) at Red Sox Nation west, Sonny McLean's in Santa Monica. After some food, terrible Sox play, a blathering exhaustion-enduced rant about the Bills, and many beers -- it was time to go home and pass out.
Saturday was rise-n-shine & see the land day. Hydro and I went around with Dubs to see the sights, not limited to Santa Monica, the Hills, a nice overlook on Mulholland, and, of course, the Strip and the Chinese theatre. After our action-packed afternoon, we headed over to Sperm and Nelson's pad for a wicked awesome BBQ. More western-friends came to hang out (the Weeelsons, Big China, Mel & Haro, Travis & Courtney), more food (great burgers by Spermy), and more drinks were enjoyed. Perhaps a little too enjoyed, since I neglected to take many pictures that night -- until it was time to go (which was around 5am, east coast time).
Our final day in the Angels was started with an early morning brunch, after which the Ding & Steph tag-team took me off the girls hands (so they could prepare for the Emmys). We hit Will Rogers Beach and met up with the Ducks again, this time to conquor mother ocean. I'd call it a tie. After an hour or so, the snot was nocked out of me pretty damn well (one biggun in particular flipped me upside down and carried me in halfway). But it was much fun. Mucho. We dried out, kicked back, and then ended up heading home. We rolled in Dingess' fat ride to their place for a change, and then over to watch the pre-Emmys (tape delay) with some of the old "Ed" crew. We then sped down the freeway with reckless abandon, "Transporter"-style, so that I would make my meeting w/ Hydro at the airport for the red-eye home. And he didn't even need to use the nitro. We flew home, we slept (a little), and were zombie-fied for the next day.
So, if you want to come along on a picture-reliving of the trip, head over to the Photo Gallery on Flickr. (And, if you're feeling frisky, you can peep the new "geotagging" feature they have by checking out a map laying out where various pictures were taken. I enjoyed that feature so much, I even layed out our Kauai Trip on the map. Ah, memories. If you don't want to look at the whole thing, or are having it run slowwww for you since it's a new feature, you can just hit the little link next to any photo that has a location in the lower right details.)
And lastly, I'd like to thank the awesome blossoms on the West Coast for their hospitality, humor, and huge huevos. They wined me, they dined me, and it was much appreciated. It has only made me miss them more -- so, while the West still might not be the place for me to live, it's a fine, fine place to visit.
