2995 miles

Well, we made it....for real this time. The last time we posted a blog we were 30 minutes from our destination in Downey, CA. My good 'ole Nissan really made it 2995 miles across the United States! We knew that we had reached L.A. when the mountains disappeared behind a thick cloud of smog. I finally got to introduce Gene to my great Aunt Annie (whose house we're staying at) today. We'll hopefully get to see my Uncle Bob, too, who is presently in the hospital after having recent surgery. Aunt Annie, Gene and I went to lunch immediately after arriving here (Gene and I are still getting used to the time change and therefore still get hungry three hours before we're supposed to eat). My hubby was sooooo excited to get to eat at Carl's Jr. (a hamburger place that we don't have at home). He's been bugging me to stop at one ever since we started passing them a few states back. He bragged about how good it was and that I had to experience it myself. Let's just say that you guys shouldn't be jealous. haha After lunch Gene and I drove into Hollywood and did the "Hollywood Walk of Fame" and got to see all the stars' stars on the sidewalk. I got excited to see Alex Trebek, Nicolas Cage, Harrison Ford and Bill Cosby. Gene, of course, got excited to see Jim Davis (creator of Garfield), Bob Barker, Mister Rogers and (most of all) Godzilla. We saw the famous "HOLLYWOOD" sign from a distance. We couldn't get too upclose, so it looks like a small white blob in our pictures. (We do have lots of great pictures to show you all, but I'm not on my computer right now so they'll have to wait for a later post.) We then came home and met up with Aunt Annie who took us out to eat at Granata's, a wonderful family-owned Italian restaurant. Eating at this restaurant was a MUST because my dad always bragged about it growing up. All I heard was, "Oh, Renee, you've got to eat sometime at this great restaurant in L.A. called Granata's..." Well, Dad, after 26 years I finally ate at it and just to let you know...it was as good as you hyped it up to be!

Now we're back at Aunt Annie's ready to crash again for the night. It's a wonderful feeling knowing that we actually get to stay put in the same place for more than one night!