Despite flying to CA almost annually for 15 years, and living in LA for two years from 2002 - 2003, I still get lost every single time I visit. Well, maybe not lost, but I seem to have lots of trouble with the GPS. Maybe it's because the Los Angeles and surrounding areas is in a constant state of road repair? This last trip at the end of January found me clinching the wheel as the GPS stated in it's most alarmed voice "driving into oncoming traffic on a one way street". It was not a one way street, it was re-routed traffic and others were clearly going the same way. Still, it's un-nerving!
This past trip I decided to rent a truck, because I like driving trucks, but all they had was a F-150. I had to literally hop to get into the truck! The guy next to me at the rental place was like, "wow, you look really small in there". It was a big truck. I felt like I was driving a battering ram. The biggest stress factor was that small cars literally disappeared into a blind spot and drove me into wild waves of panic. On the plus side though, I found more than one car in my rear view mirror having second thoughts about cutting me off as I puttered down an off-ramp hoping I was taking the correct exit. That was empowering.
California parking spots are very small so parking also very stressful. Fortunately I was early for my meeting had had time to circle the block before street parking at my destination and had the great fortune to find a spot that didn't require parallel parking!
My trips to CA are like a Navy Seals mission, I'm in and out in 20 hours. I get up at 4am to leave for the airport at 4:45. The airport drive is 1.5 hours. My flight usually leaves at 7 or 8am. A flight takes 6-7 hours depending on stops and then time goes backwards 3 hours for PS time zone so I get in around 11 or noon. Hopefully I've managed to eat somewhere along the way because when I get to Burbank all I want to do is rent a car and get the drive to Pasadena over with! My meetings are always the same day around 3pm so I have about 3 hours to get myself to Pasadena without dying in a car wreak along the way. After a 2 hour meeting, I head back to Burbank and drop off the rental same day. My flight the following day is usually 8am and gets in at 6pm local time.
When dropping off a vehicle at the Burbank airport rental car zone, there is no transport to the Marriott hotel which is located across a very busy 6 lane wide street. It's very annoying to have to walk across a street with luggage but even stranger to consider asking an Uber or Taxi to pick me up and drive me the quarter mile distance! It's probably not a big deal in normal circumstances but after being up at 4am and getting to car rental zone at 6pm, which is 9pm EST, my brain is fried!
The best part for me is always the return. One very long day of travel with nothing to do but READ! On this particular return, my favorite author, Alex Berenson, had just released a new book giving me one glorious day to read with no interruptions! And by interruptions I mean of the "mommy mommy help me" type.
Here's the link if you want to check it out: https://www.amazon.com/Prisoner-John-Wells-Novel/dp/0399176152/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486684814&sr=8-1&keywords=alex+berenson
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