On April 15th Friday in the evening, I was pretty busy in Incheon International Airport with my wife for preparing a check-in process for a flight to Los Angeles, the first trip to the city since late March 2002.
After a long and tedious 11-hour-flight, we were able to arrive at LAX late in the afternoon local time on the same day. It's sunny and breezy day in the city of angels as usual, and the terminals were standing in the same manner as in 1990's when I worked there. As we came out of the terminal gate, we got into a Dollar rent a car shuttle to their counter located nearby La Cienega Blvd to rent a mid-size Ford Fusion. Half an hour later, we took the famous 405 Long Beach Freeway southbound to exit at Hawthorn Blvd., exactly the same way of my commuter route to and from my place when I lived and worked there with my wife Rosa, my sons Kenny and Andrew and my young daughter Cathleen for five years in 1990's.
After making a right turn at the exit, we proceeded to Days Inn Torrance/Redondo Beach to check in. The photo shown on the top was taken from the patio of the room number 402 as soon as we completed dismantling of our luggages and washing hands. Then I made a phone call to my old friend 'BC' living a nearby townhouse to make an appointment for dinner.
In the morning of April 16th, Saturday, the second day of our trip, we headed to one of the biggest recycling center in greater Los Angeles area, located in Harbor City near Long Beach, to meet Mr. Park, one of my senior officers in the past, who owns and operates the center for more than 15 years to say hello. The center was pretty well organized and the business was booming.
Early in the afternoon, my wife and I were walking through a pier at Redondo Beach under the calm, peaceful and warm southern California sunshine. We could find many swimmers at the beach quite ahead of time from my standard. The photo, second from the top, shows my wife with many people enjoying sunbathing and swimming in the background.
After enjoying some seafoods at a restaurant along the pier, we moved to Torrance to meet my friend 'BC' and his wife at his 3-story townhouse located near Torrance YMCA. (My wife and BC are talking in front of his built-in garrage in a photo, third from the top. He has bought this townhouse at the price of $500,000 several years ago.)
Sunday morning, April 17th, my wife and I went to a nearby Catholic church to attend a mass and to say hello to some acquaintances afterward.
We checked out from the motel on Monday, April 18th, as scheduled to leave for Las Vegas, driving through Anza Avenue north and Sepulveda Blvd. east, turn left to Hawthorn 107 north to Artesia to proceed to 91 FW East to meet Freeway 15 to Las Vegas. It was a long and arduous trip from Torrance, California, to Las Vegas, 480 KM to be exact. Actually it took 6 hours, including 2 stops for lunch and fueling en route, for us to arrive at our destination Las Vegas Hilton, mostly through stony and mountainous desert areas. The photo, 4th from the top, shows a view of the Las Vegas Strip.
Las Vegas is still evolving from the city of gambling into the giant amusement park primarily through the Las Vegas Strip. The first thing we did after checking in our hotel, therefore, was to buy monorail tickets for two-days at the Hilton Station ($12 per person). Besides several famous night shows, there were some educational programs or exhibitions like those learning human bodies, provided by the giant pyramid of the Luxor Hotel, as well.
On Wednesday, April 20th, around 9:30 in the morning we were driving through Las Vegas Strip southbound into the Interstate Freeway 15 to San Diego. It took almost all day long for us to arrive at downtown San Diego from Las Vegas. My wife and I were able to talk a lot about our future, thanks to the time. Around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we changed our mind to go to Sea World Amusement Park and then return to Los Angeles, instead of staying in the city for the night. The photo, 5th from the top, shows the most famous attraction in the Sea World - killer whales "Shamu Show". After the amusement part closed at 6:30 in the evening, we started to drive to Los Angeles.
