SoCal- VENICE BEACH

FLAGSTAFF-TO-VENICE

Roadtrip Day 3: June 7th

We didn't arrive to Venice Beach until 8:30 at night.  It takes approximately 8 hours to get there from the Grand Canyon, but we were able to keep ourselves entertained

When we finally got to our rental house we were tired, cranky, and had some issues with our location...
1.) We shared a wall with a bar: It was incredibly loud & there were people and bums hanging outside our house.  2). The fence surrounding our patio {which faced a busy street} was only 4.5 feet tall so when Diesel stood on the hot tub deck his chest was over the fence {ya, I freaked out}.

After expressing my concerns to the owner {who is awesome} we came up with some simple solutions.  He was going to come by the next day with bamboo fencing to raise the fence for us which would fix problem 2 and by 9:30 pm Problem 1 solved itself.  Apparently after 9 o’clock our entire street becomes a ghost town, actually Venice Beach entirely does.  Our house was only 0.3 miles from the Beach and we were only a few blocks from Abbot Kinney street which is “the happen spot,” so the fact it became dead silent seemed like a miracle.  We would definitely rent this house again! {Click here to check it out}

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Venice Beach

Roadtrip Day 4: June 8th

We started our first day by Cody going to Home Depot and spending $7 on 15 square feet of grass {I’ll get to why in a second}.  On the way home from Home Depot he saw four people running behind a van that had its back doors open revealing a professional film camera.  After closer inspection Cody realized that one of these three people were actually carrying the Olympic torch!! -->

*Puppy Tip: Buy grass for an outdoor patio - it gives your dogs a sense of normalcy 

So why did Cody have to go to Home Depot for grass?  
It was for the patio so Diesel could poop… seriously, we’re not making this up… Diesel refused to go anywhere but on grass.  Once he saw the grass laid out, his booty shook, he started jumping with excitement and he attended to his business, it was hilarious!!

Still waiting for the owner to get there with the fencing we decided to enjoy the weather out on our newly sodded patio and we noticed a looong line of cars piling up & people crowded around the taco truck parked across the street; we took this as a sign, walked over, and placed an order.  While waiting a HUGE gust of wind caused my dress to blow up "Marilyn Style," and I flashed anyone that was looking in my direction {thank goodness I was wearing boy-shorts}!  Shortly after the embarrassing “wind up the dress,” fiasco our order was ready.  We set up shop on the table outside and devoured our tacos, they were delicious!  It was a great way to start the day.

Around noon the manager of the property, John, came over and applied the bamboo fencing so we could finally leave the house.  We started it by walking down to Venice Beach where I got my nose re-pierced, checked out the skate park, Cody got a "work out" in, shopped at American Apparel where I bought Cody these amazing green jeans, matching Venice Beach T-shirts, & 2 amazing tops just for yours truly, watched funny street performers put on a show, & toooons of people watching!

For dinner we met up with Clyde at Cha Cha Chicken {so good!  If you go there, order the jerk chicken}. The line was to the street & parking can be difficult, but it's well worth it.

After visiting with Clyde we came back to the house where Matt, Cody’s longest friend who now lives in LA {and I mean longest knowing, not like Stretch Armstrong} came over.  We drank a few beers, caught up on what was new, then made our way to find an open bar/restaurant on Abbot Kinney Street {which was hard believe it or not!}.

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Los Angeles Adventure

Roadtrip Day 5: June 9th

When Cody & I travel we pack as much site seeing in as possible {vacations are not for relaxing; they're for experiencing} and day 9 was no exception.

Cody ordered a Patty Melt {fontina cheese, carmelized onions, dijon sauce on rye toast}, while I opted for a burger, the Lowrider {Ano chilis, pepperjack cheese, red onions, lettuce, tomatoes} which also comes with freshly cut onion rings {and we all know that I’m a sucker for onion rings, and if you didn't know, you do now.}  

FIRST STOP~Nickel Diner

Okay, this place is AMAZING!  The tables are extremely close together, so it’s like you’re eating lunch with the strangers next to you, but lucky for us, the people next to us were super nice.  We talked to them for the entire duration of our meal.  Speaking of our meal, we started it off by ordering a few Bellinis...

We ended our meal by eating a Maple Bacon Donut {which sounds better than how it taste}.  They have MUCH more impressive and tastier desserts on their menu that I suggest you get instead. 

Second~Griffith Observatory

With full bellies we proceeded to meet up with our amazing friend Clyde who grew up in LA so he became our tour guide for the remainder of the day

Third~Hollywood Sign

This is the closet point to snap photos with the Hollywood Sign.  You drive up a very tiny windy road, it's next to the city's reservoir, Madonna's house is on one side of you, and the house in the distance has been in countless music videos AND is the one Drew Barrymoore hung out of in Charles Angels II

Last~ All These Places

Heavenly Couture, Grauman's Chinese Theater, Rodeo Drive, Hollywood Stars, and In & Out Burger

After the Hollywood sign we decided to explored Larchmont Village where I ended up finding a store called Heavenly Couture where nothing is over $15!  When I asked an employee if this was really true, she pointed to a wall behind her and painted in huge bold words were, "REALLY, NOTHING IS OVER $15!"  It's a MUST visit

After 9 hours of exploring, our day came to an end.  Clyde, thank you so much for taking time out of your life to spend an entire day with us, we LOVE YOU!

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Going Coastal

Roadtrip Day 6: June 10th

Since we were gone so long the previous day we wanted to do something with the puppies, so we packed the truck with beach essentials, loaded the dogs, and headed down The PCH to explored Malibu and the insanely gorgeous landscapes & even more insane houses

We also drove through Pepperdine University {I can’t believe people get to learn there}.  The views those students get to see every day are incredible and the grass reminded me of Dr. Seuss books!

All that walking around made us hungry so we drove down the coast until we found a place called Giovanni Ristorante Italiano.  The owner is originally from Brooklyn, NY so we took our former Austin, TX waiter's advice and order some pizzas, which were amazing.

*Originally we were going to go to a beach in Malibu that I was told was a dog friendly beach, but I was lied to, it wasn’t- very disappointing}.

After taking a quick nap & spruce up we headed out to Santa Monica Blvd.

Cody & I went into a photo booth that takes 5 different photos: The 1st photo- horrible, we were trying to figure out where to look, etc… the 2nd photo- Normal & cute, the 3rd & 4th photos were us being silly and the 5th photo we kissed… WELL, while we were kissing we hear what sounded like a heard of people say, “AWWWWWWWWWWWWE!” 
so Cody opened the curtain to reveal at least 13 people standing outside the booth watching a TV screen of us inside the booth; It was hilarious! 

I was laughing so hard and focusing to Cody & the group’s conversation that I just hit “enter” not knowing you only get 1 photo, not a sheet of all 5, and of course I accidentally picked the 1st one which was THE WORST!

After being thoroughly embarrassed we took a ride on the iconic Ferris Wheel: It took me a while to calm my nerves {I’m super afraid of heights} but I found looking through a camera lens helps!

Once we enjoyed all the entertainment the pier had to offer we headed down to the beach to get a few shots of us with the Pier behind us.  It was a perfect way to end the day & our last night in Los Angeles...

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Farewell Los Angeles

Roadtrip Day 7: June 11th

To celebrate our last day in Los Angeles/Venice Beach we went and had brunch with Clyde at Larchmont Bungalow {a must visit}

Los Angeles was an amazing adventure; our house was perfect, the weather gorgeous, and our dogs had a blast starting their day walking to a dog park.  Thanks LA for a great time!

Santa Fe Quesadilla - Santa Fe seasoned chicken breast, eggs, roasted bell peppers, caramelized onions, sharp cheddar and jalapeno jack cheese, topped with avocado. Served with fresh seasonal fruit, salsa and sour cream

Bison Chilli Burger- All natural bison grass feed beef which is topped with our homemade bison chilli and pepperjack cheese. Nutritionally higher in protein with fewer calories. 97% fat free bison beef