I stayed to see sunset and the bridge lit up at night. I got some great photos of the bridge and one of my favorite self-timer photos of the entire trip.
Then I searched for hotels and dinner. And the cheapest hotels I found in San Francisco were triple what I had been paying. So I scrapped the idea of staying there and headed South to Santa Cruz. I hated to leave San Fran, but at the time I was out of options. Santa Cruz was the closest place with a cheap place to stay.
Santa Cruz appeared to be an old gambling city with worn down hotels. Not somewhere I would ever recommend anyone visiting or staying. In fact, I highly recommend that you avoid that whole area if possible.
But I got a cheap place to stay for the night and headed to bed, since the wireless Internet didn't seem to work there either. Something that seemed to be a common frustration on my trip.
I left quickly in the morning to head to Los Angeles. When I asked my friend Maggie if her couch was available for the night, she said 'of course!'
I got to the LA area around 5 o'clock, which I thought would get me stuck in traffic forever. But I was able to make it to the Hollywood area with ease. I set out for the Walk of Fame and the Mann's Theatre, to complete another goal of my trip. Other than that, I was sorely unimpressed.
I felt very comfortable staying with Maggie and her roommates. Their place in Burbank was great. I loved hanging out with them and their friends. It took me back to my early college years (not that that was too terribly long ago). We had a great time going to this little bar called The Snug. It was their hangout, so it was guaranteed to be a fun night from the start.
My plan was to only stay that one night...
The next day I went back to the Hollywood area to scout out a good location to get a shot of the Hollywood sign, since I forgot that part the day before. Once I got my photos, it was time for the beach.
I had all intentions of hitting the beach at Santa Monica and then taking off down the Pacific Coast Highway, South to San Diego. But I spent a little more time at the Santa Monica beach than I planned.
But at the time, that's all I wanted: to sit at the beach. After all, the beach is one of my favorite places to be. It's always so relaxing. I just got caught up in it all.
After that I attempted to drive down the coast, but I only got a few beaches South before I pulled over to get some IN-N-OUT for dinner. I ended up by the LAX airport and it was sort of calming to sit outside watching the planes come and go.
Then I learned that my friends were making their way to Santa Monica beach, and I weighed my options. Either head South as far as I could get before dark or head back to meet them at the beach. I chose to meet back up with them of course, and I stayed another night in LA/Burbank.
Getting to chat with them about moving out to LA and going to school or getting jobs, I realized that it was actually possible. I had pretty much written LA off of my list of moving possibilities before I really gave it the chance it deserved. Even though I'd been there 2 or 3 times in the past. But seeing that they were able to do it, made it seem reachable again. Now that I feel it is possible to make it out there myself, it's back on my list. It also didn't hurt that I had such a great time with them, either.
Media jobs are competitive and hard to find, anywhere. Hell, it's difficult to find any job these days. I know that.
But I feel so motivated now after my visit to LA, that I'm certain that I should at least give LA a fair chance. I'll just see what happens after doing some research and scouting out the job and living situation.
And of course, LA is on the list to re-visit.
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