This trip served three purposes:

• Visit two of the very few remaining major U.S. cities to which I have never been -- Los Angeles and San Diego.
• Two, visit with a first cousin who has lived in southern California for many years
• Three, visit two more library/homes of the 42 U.S. Presidents that exist today (Cleveland's counted as two, Obama's not exist yet).
• And I got the bonus of visiting yet another national monument towards my goal of 100 parks/monuments/battlefields.

LOS ANGELES: This city had the main places I really wanted to see. In fact, I had to really narrow down the list
given that I only had a few days in the area. I mostly wanted to see the observatories because I have loved
astronomy and outer space stuff since age six or so. But Mt. Wilson was closed for the winter and JPL needs a
long-pre-approved security-checked visitor's pass.
I first joined Toastmasters ten years ago. So I had to visit the Toastmasters International Headquarters.
I also needed to visit two libraries/museums of the remaining U.S. Presidents in my goal of visiting all of them.
And since I had to miss a couple of places, I added tours of the Rose Bowl and Wax Museum of Stars which is near
the sidewalk with the embedded stars of famous people. Last, I had to see at least one beach.

SAN DIEGO: I have heard so much about how great the weather is in this city. Sunny and 72 every day.
I came to check it out myself. Otherwise, few real tourist-type places in the area to visit.
I really did not have anything specific in the area I wanted to see so my cousin that lives there told
me that I needed to see the aircraft carrier Midway and the adjacent naval base. She also convinved me to
take the Amtrak from LAX to SAN instead of the traffic-laden drive which would take nearly twice as long.

MISSED VISITING:
-- Mt. Wilson -- in the mountains so closed for the winter
-- Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) -- pre-approved security check needed in advance
-- Campuses of USC, California Institute of Technology, California Irvine
-- LA Symphony (I hope to see them someday with Gustavo Dudamel conducting)
-- Universal Studios (drove right by the entrance) and Paramount Studios (Star Trek)
-- Beaches

OBSERVATIONS: Some observations made while traveling in this area:

• Along the interstates around LAX, the posted speed limit signs are mere suggestions
• Drivers signal when changing lanes or turning, totally unlike MO and KS
• Drivers drive in the rightmost lane of multi-lane highways, totally unlike MO and KS
• About 90% of drivers here actually know how to drive compared to less than 20% in KC metro area
• So fun to see mountains while driving around town but they are the dirt-looking type instead of tree covered
• The area is pretty, I was pleasantly surprised, and impressed. I could live here except for too many people already
• Bushes and flowers were in colorful bloom, unexpected sight for me in mid-February
• Shopping areas here look very similar to ones back in Johnson County KS
• I always thought that the highway stretch between KC and St. Louis had countless semi=trucks but that is nothing compared to LA area
• Like Phoenix (where I first saw them many years ago), LA has the Diamond lane, cars there seem to drive 10 - 15 MPH faster than the other lanes

The Bests:

1. Things in bloom in February
2. Morning temperatures, some locals said that the day highs were beyond normal for February
3. Rose Bowl tour
4. Pasadena area around the Rose Bowl. If one could afford it, live about two miles away from the Rose Bowl.
5. Griffith Observatory, beautiful building and grounds, incredible views of LA, and great display to give the basics of astronomy. Highly recommended. Parking was a bit tricky because of the large crowd.
6. Although I have a very low opinion of both Ronald and Nancy Reagan, their Library in Simi Valley is impressive. Fantastic views, very nice buildings and a pleasant restaurant.
7. Getting the AmTrack experience
8. The Midway tour
9. Visiting my cousin and hearing her tell all about the area in which she has lived for decades

The Worsts:

1. The traffic, everywhere, even in suburban non-interstates, simply too many people
2. Traffic jams even on a Saturday
3. A block in each direction of the intersection of Hollywood Drive and Highland Avenue -- waaaayyyy too many cars and people walking
4. JPL requiring pre-arranged security access even for a simple museum
5. The ongoing drought, there were electronic highways signs everywhere asking citizens to save water
6. Santa Monica -- the traffic was the only bad traffic I encountered. And it went over the top for being bad.
7. Marriott LAX Hotel -- and all downtown hotels of large cities. I MUST remember to quit staying at them. Expensive, crowded, and charge extra for Internet
8. Alamo car rental. Bunch of sneaky people. Never again will I rent from Alamo.
9. Discovering that the LAX Amtrak is NOT within the LAX airport area but many miles away in Union Station. Scheduling nightmare.

The Totals:

• Miles Driven: 333
• Flying: 8 hours
• Driving: 8.5 hours
• Amtrak (and shuttles): 11 hours
• States: 1 -- California
• National Monument: 1 -- Cabrillo (San Diego)
• U.S. Presidential Homes/Museums: 2 (Reagan and Nixon)
• Pictures Taken: 387 (and deleted 13 of them)