Adding pictures and more commentary to Josh's post

While getting up early for our flight wasn't fine, the last minute upgrade to first class was. We had one seat locked up, but had to wait for everyone to board the plane before they cleared the other seat...but we made it. Josh's first time in first class, and breakfast was a little better than a bag of pretzels:



The other great thing about the flight was the view of the Grand Canyon, which we flew right over:



Within an hour of landing in Los Angeles, we had picked up our ride--a bright red Toyota Solara convertible--and had parked it right on Santa Monica Beach, by the Pier. We got Josh's iPod hooked up, and he played some spirited California-themed music for most of our driving, then settled on the Red Hot Chili Peppers newest album, which is fast becoming the soundtrack of choice for this trip.



Spent the next couple of hours on the beach...




...then had a late lunch/early dinner at Mariasol, a Mexican restaurant on the end of Santa Monica pier. Our table looked out over the Pacific Ocean.



Then we headed to Beverly Hills, where we walked around Rodeo Drive, Via Rodeo, and the other themes and variations of the obscenely rich.



The last excursion of the day was to Hollywood, and we were getting a little tired by then. I convinced Josh to pose in front of the Kodak Theatre of American Idol fame just so we could say "Hi Jenny! We were thinking of you!" even if he won't admit it. [This isn't the picture with him posing, but we have one somewhere.]



Jenny, we also took a picture of Paula Abdul's star on the Walk of Fame for you. But here's one from another fading memory that needs our attention...Doris Day clearly has a damaged, disfigured star, and how this unfortunate situation is allowed to persist is an outrage. I mean, Betty White's star isn't damaged. Leeza Gibbons' star isn't damaged. Well, Ethel Merman was half covered by scaffolding. But Doris Day looking like this? Everyone write their congressperson starting right now...let's get back the respect for one of our national treasures.



Guess I'm getting a little tired and punchy now too. Wake-up call is 8:00am tomorrow so we can make the buffet breakfast. USC at 12:00 noon, and the Dodgers at 7:00pm.