San Fernando Valley or Bust!

Bust!

So, two weekends ago (sorry for the delay in blogging, but I just have not had time!) I decided to drive to "The Valley", the mystical land of such fabled creatures as Encino Man and Valley girls. As I passed the exit for Mulholland Drive, I got a little excited chill. I had never been to the Valley before--I had only seen it from Mulholland Drive.

Having heard that there wasn't much to do in the Valley besides eat and shop, I looked it up online before I left the house. I found a mission and an old adobe house that I could visit in Mission Hills and set off. Unfortunately, once I reached the mission, it turned out there were two weddings going on! One had just ended and the other was about to begin. Not only could I not go inside, but I was also way too embarassed to get out of the car in my touristy t-shirt and shorts with camera when everyone else was dressed in tuxes and dresses. So then, I thought I would walk around the pretty garden just across the street. But lo and behold -- there were literally 4 other wedding parties there taking photos! (A friend told me later that on that day, 7/7/07, there were a record number of weddings!)

Well, I wasn't too perturbed and figured I would go the 5-minute drive to the old adobe house, in a place called "Andres Pico Adobe Park". But when I drove by, it was a trailer park! As I drove by a second time, I did see what looked like the house in the back behind a park. But I knew they didn't give tours or anything, so I figured I would just go on my way. So I didn't gain much from that trip other than a strong desire to insert "like" as every other word in my sentences. :-)

On my way back into LA I drove through Griffith Park. I didn't want to go to the Observatory since I didn't have that much time, but I did find myself entering the park at the Travel Town museum, which was basically a bunch of trains (see below). There were quite a few birthday parties going on, which seemed to be the theme in all the places I stopped (well, birthday parties and weddings).

This was one of the old circus cars they used to transport animals in.

After looking at the trains, I continued to drive through the park. I had grabbed a map at the museum and saw a place called "Shane's Inspiration". I figured that anything with "inspiration" in the name must have a great view. However, as I drove by, I saw that it was a park equipped for handicapped kids and was of course overrun with an abundance of birthday parties. This was becoming the weekend of non-realization! :-)

I continued through the park and passed the LA Zoo and Museum of the American West which both looked cool, but unfortunately I did not have time to stop that day. I was trying to make my way to see Rataouille at Disney's El Capitan theatre. I had been wanting to see the movie, but also wanted to take advantage of seeing it at the Disney theatre while I'm here in LA. I had heard that before the show, an organist played Disney tunes and then there was a show before the movie with lots of Disney characters. It definitely lived up to the hype!

There was a sign in front saying any recording equipment would be confiscated, so I did not bring my camera. But after seeing numerous people taking pictures with cameras and phones, I felt brazen enough to take some photos and videos with my phone. The organist had been playing tunes for a while, but the party really got started when he began to play "Bare Necessities"! In one of the videos, you can hear a famous song from a popular Disney movie! I had to smile when all the kids cheered with glee and amazement when their favorite characters hit the stage. Most notably loved were Winnie the Pooh and Woody from Toy Story. Apologies for the bad quality, but you can get a feel for the theatre and the atmosphere. I took a video of the show with the characters, but you can't see anything so I'm not posting it here.