At the bus station I kill a bit of time working on the blog;

I had booked us seats with ‘Megabus’ as their timing schedule suited us better than Greyhound.  I paid an extra $6 each to get a premium seat that was up near the front on the top deck.  The bus turns up on time and on we get;

Paying the little bit extra for the seats was well worth it as we had more room and not jammed up with people all around us – much better view of the road as well.

The ride to LA is really smooth and we arrive on time at the Los Angeles terminal.  All up the trip took 6 hours but that included a 30 min lunch stop and a passenger drop off at Riverside.  After our last travel experience from New York to Las Vegas this one was easy.

I pull out the mobile phone and use Uber to get us to our next Airbnb.  I must admit that when we were driving through the neighbourhood and pulled up I thought what the hell had I gotten into this time as it was pretty rough.  All Mexicans and just like out of the movies – it made Gardena (where I stayed last time) look like Disneyland.

I phone the host (Antonio) and he comes down to let us in.  He is in a bit of a fluster as he is still cleaning the apartment after the last couple left it in a mess.  He is also holding a wet paint roller and tells me he is just finishing our room (great now we have paint smells).

We get shown up the stairs and again its like a movie scene as I am stepping around kids that are not speaking anything other than Spanish.  We arrive at the front door;

Inside the apartment is not as bad as feared – the kitchen is dated but ok and the rest has been decked out in good taste.  We can even see the Hollywood sign through the kitchen window. 

What concerned me though was the erratic speech of the host.  I was in two minds whether I was losing something in translation or he had mental health issues that caused him to speak at 200 mph.  What I never picked up on (that I should have) was the unusual skin blemishes.

My concerns are for the moment put aside as Antonio gives us a welcome platter of fresh cherries and cheesecake.  We put out bags in our room which also appears to be well fitted out.  I then notice that there is a very strange dude in the lounge room talking to our host – my first impression of him was ordinary just based on his appearance.

The guy leaves and our host tells us how he is helping this fellow after he has just come out of prison after doing 15 years (I am thinking you don’t get 15 years for a parking ticket).  Not impressed but I think that all we need is a room to throw our bags and a bed at night.

After settling in we go down to the local supermarket and buy some groceries given we have access to a kitchen.  Next is our laundry before cooking dinner and calling it a day.

Next morning we are cooking ourselves breakfast when our host decides he is in for a chat and just will not shut up (not matter what we do) to the point that he continues to talk when it is very apparent  that I am not interested.  By this stage I realise he is off his face and super wired bouncing off the walls.  

We make a hasty exit and decide to head over to Hollywood Blvd to have a look around.  I order Uber and its only a 10 minute ride to being dropped off near the Chinese Theatre (outside the theatre are impressions in the concrete made by Stars).  We wander around and take a few photo’s;

 

I ran into my mate from New York but he did not seem to hold any grudges like Batman;

The next photo made me think of my mate Jack;

We go and do a tour of Ripley’s Believe it or Not – it was weird but fun;

Next I run into a dude that has 2 x pythons – last one I held was in Vietnam (which was a monster) so I thought it was time for another crack;

A few more photo’s;

By now it is very hot and hard work pushing through the crowds on the sidewalk.  We catch a ride home and just chill out for the rest of the day by watching a replay of the MotoGP.

During the night I get woken up several times as I can hear the host talking loudly to someone in his bedroom.  I don’t get any sleep after 4 so I get up and work on the blog in my room.  I didn’t say anything to him but decided that if it happened again I would.

We head off and catch a public bus that takes us all the way down to the Santa Monica Pier;

We check out the shops/stalls on the pier and have a coffee at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (Forrest Gump);

On the pier is a Santa Monica Police outpost so I go in and try and swap a patch but alas I am told the Chief has not allowed patch swapping since 911.

We  head off and walk along the boardwalk to see the site of Muscle Beach & Venice Beach;

Further along we get into the Venice Beach strip and its bloody depressing with large numbers of homeless in makeshift shelters camped right on the boardwalk – heaps also laying on the sand passed out from the night before.  The beach itself is fantastic but what comes with it is not.  After walking for over an hour we turn around and head back but move over a couple of streets.  

We have lunch and then catch the bus back.  This time though we stopped off to check out Beverley Hills;

Totally unplanned I see that we are directly outside Beverley Hills Police Station which means I can go in and say hello but there is a bit going on that makes it difficult;

The station is cordoned off and there is no public access.  I look around and see that Helen is completely unaware and has taken off along the footpath thinking the entrance is further along.  I follow her shaking my head thinking that her situational awareness is pretty ordinary (nicest way I can say it) until she finds the back entry like she knew all along.  I give up!

We go in and the counter is closed but has a phone to call upstairs where there are officers on duty.  I call and then go upstairs to meet Kevin (shift Sgt) who is more than happy to swap a patch.

There wasn’t a lot time to chat to Kevin but what I will say he is one the biggest dudes I have ever seen in a Uniform.  He must be at least 6’7 and 280 pds.  He made me look like a 14 yr old jockey!  I do find out he is bringing his wife out to Australia so I give him my card and hope that he looks us up.  He goes on to tell me there is a lot going on in Beverley Hills and they are busy.

I ask Kevin about the station being closed and he tells me that there is an ‘incident’ but not to worry.  Lucky for me they only unlocked the rear access a couple of minutes before we rolled in.  I shake his hand and bid him farewell – good lad.

Back outside we make our way back to the bus stop and run into a News crew.  They tell me that there is an unexplained package outside the entrance and the bomb squad has been called.  We continue to the bus and I see the Hazmat truck pull out and drive off – either they are running for their life or everything is good.  We are thinking should we be laughing or traumatized?  On the way home I bought some small treats;

And at least this place is honest;

We arrive home and my mate Anontio is on the couch and muttering to himself watching Spanish TV.  Finally he has shut up and I find out why when he is tells a friend on the phone that he has slept all day.  I put this all together and the only conclusion I can come up with is that he is on ICE (I can just hear my colleagues yelling WAKE UP!).

The evening is uneventful and we chill out until lights out early at 10:00.  I am asleep when I get woken up by loud conversation in the lounge room.  I can hear Antonio and at least 2 other blokes carrying on.  You guessed it I went absolutely nuts and went out and let rip (in my underpants so I was lucky it never got too ugly).  

The result was 2 ‘undesirables’ made a running retreat to the door and Antonio went and hid in his bedroom.  I can put up with a lot of crap but not getting sleep due to a bunch of druggies takes me well and truly over the top.

Going bananas must have worked as there isn’t a murmur for the rest of the night.  I get up early the next morning and cancel the final night accommodation – you are not entitled to get a refund for cancellation unless there are exceptional circumstances.  You are however entitled to request a refund from the host for whatever reason you deem appropriate.  I was confident that I would get my final night back in one way or another. 

I checked my emails and had good news that Stan was going to be delivered from the docks to the warehouse sometime between 12 and 4 this afternoon.  Knowing that I could definitely pick him up I booked a hotel near the warehouse.

The host hides in his room and that is fine with me.  I have told Helen just go about things quietly and don’t do anything that may wake him up etc.  Helen follows the request to the letter until she tries to turn the kitchen light switch on and to her horror finds out that its the in-sink-erator (garbage disposal) that sounds like she has put a cat through a blender.  So much for being quiet!

The noise wakes our Host up and he ventures out.  We have an interesting conversation about the situation and Antonio being the good gentleman that he is hands over the cash.  It is a shame it never worked out as the apartment was fine but his drug use wasn’t.  A final look out of the window to say goodbye to Hollywood and off we go.

Its only a short walk with all of our gear to catch a public bus to take us downtown.   We were not completely sure of the route but knew that if we went in a general south direction we would be fine.  By the time we arrive downtown I have spoken to the driver and he has given me advice on where to get off and what to catch next.  

We change buses and again the driver is very helpful – tells me that if we are not in a rush we just need to stay on his bus until the end of the line which will take about an hour.  We pay our 35c bus fare each and take a seat.

The bus reaches the end of the route and the driver gives us further directions.  Before we get off he tells us to be careful with our gear given the neighbourhood.  I get off the bus and immediately understand what the driver meant.  We had arrived at an interchange where there were a lot of homeless and hawkers hanging around.  Thankfully the next bus came along so we weren’t ‘exposed’ for long.

It was only a couple of more stops and then a 15 minute walk before we arrive at our Hotel – total travel time 2.5 hrs.  We check ourselves in and it’s a relief that we are staying in a recently refurbished hotel and everything is brand new.  Our room is huge and has everything you could want;

I get another email to confirm that Stan has arrived at the warehouse.  We decide to walk down as its only a short distance and a nice day.  On arrival at Schumakers I fix up the account and have a short wait before I get to see him;

The warehouse worker (Chuck) is the same guy that unpacked Fred in 2017 and he gets Stan out of the crate and takes him outside to where I can put him back together;

It takes me about 40 minutes before I can turn the key and Stan fires up first go – you couldn’t wipe the smile of my face!  I call an Uber for Helen and she takes the 2 x large bags with her back to the Hotel.  I put the saddle bags on and ride back.  I can’t describe the feeling of sheer joy to be on Stan and riding in America again;

Back at the Hotel I take all of the gear up to our room for sorting out later.  I then ride down to a Ralph’s supermarket which is only a mile away to get some supplies.  I spend the rest of the evening going through all of my gear to sort out what stays and what goes back home with Helen.  

So tomorrow Helen flies home and the adventure with Stan begins.

WP Rocket