Earthquake!

We finally experienced our first LA earthquake.  It woke us up just after midnight.  We felt it as a gentle shaking of the bed, looked at each other and said "Earthquake!" then promptly fell back asleep!

It was a magnitude 3.3 quake, almost directly under our feet (or backsides, since we were laying down).  Here's some info.  Literally, almost right under us, but about 10 miles down.

The site also lists all earthquakes within the last week (see here). When I looked at it, there were 34 earthquakes listed in the last week in Southern California within about 150 miles from here.

Hollywood and Baseball

For their last day here, we took Jim, Jo, AJ and Zach on the Warner Brothers Studio tour.  It was very similar to the one Lou and I did a few weeks ago (even got the same tour guide).  She covered some slightly different territory, but I didn't hear her repeat any of the same jokes!



Our guide explained how they shoot a scene using Jo and Zach as actors.  She had them recite a simple couple of lines, then pretended to move the camera, and say the lines again, and again.  Each time they move the camera it takes about 45 minutes to set up.  During that time stand-ins stand in place for the actors who go off to their rooms to practice and get ready.  Apparently it can take hours to get one short scene taped.

The famous Warner Brothers water tower.  Apparently it's empty now, but it's a historic landmark.

 Some of the "city" sets:

 This little store is in the TV show Shameless:

This fake movie theater was in a lot of films.  Currently it can be seen in the introduction to films at AMC theaters.

 The prop shop - acres and acres of props.

 The telephone room:

The put plaques up at each stage listing when it was build and what major shows were recorded there.  Here's one.  We walked onto the set of the Ellen Degeneres Show.

Bugs and friends:

Next:  La Brea Tar Pits. (we've written about them before - so look further down for more details)

Grauman's Chinese Theater:


 
The courtyard has hundreds of blocks with actors names, hand prints and foot prints.  You can see everybody milling around looking at them in the picture above.  Here are a few.  Click on them to enlarge.
 


 
 
 
The Hollywood Walk of Fame!  Jo's first pic:

Some of the local "color" on the walk.  Who knows what sights you might see?  There are a lot of people dressed up as characters, apparently shilling for tours or for tips once we tourists take pictures.

If anybody is curious, I DID NOT take this picture!

Rodeo Drive!  It was a little after hours, and everything had shutdown. 

Jo, Jim and the boys are notching their belts every time they go to a new ball park.  On the 6th, they all went to a game at Angels stadium.

 Then drove back north to our house

Another random sight in LA

 Picked me up at home, and we drove into LA to go to a Dodger's game!

 The view of LA from Dodger's Field:

July 4th

Happy Birthday America!  Happy July 4th!

We had a lazy morning around the house, playing games, watching TV.  We had planned to head to Redondo Beach around noon, but we didn't get out till about 5:00.  We've been told it will be mobbed, and it was.  First order of business:  Find a place to park.  The first couple of lots were full, but we eventually found on with a short line waiting so we got in line.  Lou walked up to ask and found they were letting about 20 cars in at a time as people left.  Within about 15 minutes, we were in.  There were actually quite a few spaces in the garage - it seems like they could have let in a lot more people.


The boys wanted to hit the water while Lou went to check on the boat.  We're scheduled for n 8:30 boat ride to be near the fireworks dock.  The boat usually gives short sightseeing rides and longer whale watching rides into the Pacific.  Follow the link for a description.

So Lou went off while the remaining 5 of us looked for open beach.  We had to walk through the dock and pier areas to find this:

View of the beach from the strand

It was really mobbed and chaotic.  I waited on the strand while the 4 of 'em went down to the water, picking their way through bodies, blankets and beach umbrellas.  You can't see it here, but the water was blocked off with "Hazardous Material" tape because (Jo later learned) the reported levels of bacteria were over the limit.

The strand, just south of the pier

View of the pier from the same spot

Some time was spent finding and changing in bathrooms, while Lou settled into the line for the boat.  She wanted to be the first to get on.  The rest of us wandered around and "spelled" Lou occasionally.  They got a few hand-seafood platters like popcorn shrimp, fried shrimp, fried clams and fries (sensing a theme?).

Jo, AJ and Zach found the pedal boats.

From this picture, looking across a short span of water at the boat shake selling tickets.  You can see the line of people waiting to buy tickets.  Lou was behind them, first in line to board.  If you play "Where's Waldo" you can see Lou with Jim (arms crossed) waiting.  Click on the picture to get a larger version.

Jo and the boys, about to board the pedal boats

  

A bit before 8:00 we all congregated back with Lou at the front of the line.  We had picked a spot at the back of the boat and got there as the crowd of about 150 surged on.

A rare picture including Jay

From the boat towards the pier.  Just a little crowded.

We motored out a short way past the barge the city was using to launch fireworks.  We passed close enough that people were talking to the workers on the barge.  Another interesting point - once we got underway we could quickly smell marijuana.  The captain came on and warned that it was illegal to smoke marijuana on federal waters, even if you hold "a card".  He had to give us the warning a few times.

We docked about 1 hundred yards off the barge, blocking the view of several smaller boats, who all swarmed around.  Police boats patrolled the area, keeping boats back from the barge.  As we sat there, sea lions swam around the boat, watching us as we watched them.  Sadly those pictures didn't have enough light to see anything.  

At 9:00  the fireworks started.  The boat played a local radio station that had music timed to the show.  One thing unique about this display, the shapes displayed were pretty cool and clear.  We saw "U" then "S" then "A" a few times and smiley faces.  It was a nice show with the lights reflecting off the water, the city in the background and the beatiful temperature.  Lou thought it sitting in our seats on the boat, with a small crowd around us felt a lot more private and personal then sitting in a large field.  The only negative was a man on a date right next to us who kept yelling pointlessly. 

After the first show, the boat motored south for a few minutes and caught another show just north of Palos Verdes, then returned to port.  By the time we got back, the traffic had mostly cleared, and our ride home wasn't too bad.

Here's a map of the area we were in:
A - Where they had the fireworks barge.  We were docked to a small floating pier about 100 yards north west of there
B - I took pictures of the beach, strand and pier from B
C - Where the tour boat docked.  We (mostly Lou) spent 2 hours in line just north of the round building
D - Where Jo, Zach and AJ picked up the pedal boats


Interestingly, this was all right next to the apartment where we stayed for a few months before we bought our house.  The apartment was immediately east of the "D" location, just north of the pool.

 

Catalina Island

This was our day to visit Catalina.  Since the earliest ferry reservations we were able to get one day in advance didn't leave Long Beach until about 3:00, we began the day with a leisurely breakfast on the strand & a walk along Hermosa Beach Pier.   

The island of Catalina is 22 miles long and 8 miles across at its greatest width. The island is located about 22 miles (35 km) south-southwest of LA. The highest point on the island is 2,097 feet, at the top of Mt. Orizaba.

Catalina was developed into a popular resort destination after it was purchased by the Wrigley family, in 1919.  From 1927 until 1937, pottery and tile were made on the island at the Catalina Clay Products company, and these items are now sought-after collectibles^.  The Chicago Cubs, also owned by Wrigley, used the island for the team's spring training from 1921-1951, except for the war years of 1942-45.

We finally made our catamaran trip across the bay, docking in Catalina's main town of Avalon (where most of the island's 3600+ residents live).  Note the art-deco landmark in the background, the famous Casino, a  circular structure with art deco styling, built in the late 1920's of all-local materials.  "Casino", in Italian, means "gathering place", & has nothing to do with gambling.  The upper floor is a large ballroom, the venue for famous big bands in the 30's & 40's.  The lower floor houses a movie theater & the Catalina Museum.

 

We explored the streets of Avalon a bit.

 

The strand.

Golf carts are the island's main form of transportation, and can be rented for $40 / hr.  Few cars on the island - no rentals.  ... Uh, we'll take the tour bus, thanks.  : )

 

 

 Ah, yes.  The bus!  Co-pilot Zach for the trip out.  Co-pilot AJ for the trip back.

The tour bus takes you up some remarkably steep and twisting, narrow roads, leading up, above the town.  Gorgeous views.  Rocky cliffs.  Dramatic drops (especially straight down from the bus window).

 

Nearing the top of the first 'mountain', the tour passes through a gate into a restricted area (the vast majority of the island is a nature conservancy).  Off to the right of this photo is the beginning of the zip line, a drop of 500 feet to 60 feet above sea level, close to three quarters of a mile long, over five consecutive zip lines at heights of 300 feet above the canyon floor at speeds pushing 45mph.  Whew!  Uh, back to the bus ...



The interior of the island is mostly wilderness, protected by the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy.

Catalina has served as the landscape in more than 500 Hollywood productions, from The Ten Commandments & Ben Hur (1920's), to Apollo 13 (1995) and beyond.  

 

In December 1924, 14 buffalo were shipped to Catalina island for use in filming the motion picture, "The Vanishing American," early the following spring. After the picture was completed they were turned loose to live off the land.  Now they number around 400.  They're a little camera shy.

The turning point for our tour was the Catalina airport.

The airport is a sleepy little building with a tourist shop and cafe.  They were just setting up live music on the back deck overlooking the valley below.  Later in the evening they bus people up for dinner under the stars.

On our trip back down the 'mountain', an apparently notorious raven kept swooping from tree to tree, to within a few feet of the bus windows.  Very dramatic.  Could have something to do with the leftover goodies from the airport cafe with which he is generally rewarded.

Clouds were settling in as we, once again, neared Avalon.

The Chimes Tower was presented as a gift to the town of Avalon by Mrs. Ada Wrigley.  The chimes have been tolling on the quarter of the hour between 8:00am and 8:00pm since 1925

An example of some of the famous painted porcelain tiles made on the island.

A quick dinner on the town pier.

As the sun set, we made our way back to the ferry pier, and on to home.