One spring afternoon, I sent an email to my friend Greg. I wanted to catch up some without interfering in his schedule. His reply surprised me. He said that he'd be in L.A. for a thing in April and to cruise out. I had to.

I'd had a lot of time to burn, so I chose to head out in the afternoon on Thursday and take a bit of a longer weekend. I was in Burbank for the night and the ride was very pleasant. Traffic was light, podcasts were playing, and life was good. I took my time with the drive and made a few stops along the way for food and shopping. I got into Burbank around 8 and wanted to call it an early night. I got the car washed quickly, gassed up, bought a few beers, and headed to the hotel. I was surprised when they welcomed me back. It turns out that I had stayed there the last time I was in town and forgot about it. I got settled into the room, drank a few beers, watched a movie, and just relaxed.

I was up fairly early the next morning. I got some breakfast, got the car loaded up, and headed to the large mall down the street. There were a few stores that I wanted to check out and had plenty of time to do some shopping. Around noon, I headed to where Greg and the gang were. I missed him by a few minutes. I had not realized the restrictions that were in place and I was going to need a Covid test to be able to pop by. I found a rapid test facility, booked the appointment, dropped everything at the new hotel, and did some shopping to kill time. I got the test and the tech finished by saying something about the results being ready in 3 days. I questioned that and he explained that the CVS site was wrong and I was out 160 dollars. I was bummed.

The rest of the day was eventful. I got some Astro Burger and headed to the Hollywood Sign mountain. I wanted to watch the sun set over LA. I had packed a backpack already and began the 3.5 mile climb after parking at the Greek Theater. I got up there and bided my time. That said, people are fucking idiots. There was 1 group that got to the top and had to play music aloud for everyone else to hear. They eventually left and I watched the sun set and the LA lights come on. I started back down the mountain in the dark, guided by my flashlight.

There are multiple ways up. I got a little turned around and there is basically 0 cell service. I was on paths the entire time, but it is still a mountainous area. I confirmed with a couple of hikers that were coming up that I was on the path to the parking lot. They were fucking liars. I eventually wound up in a very rich neighborhood. I couldn't get an Uber as each driver cancelled. Ronnie called and discussed the possibility of me going to Keanu Reeves' house to bum a ride from him. Time was short as my car was soon to be locked in the park for the night. A very kind delivery driver gave me a ride and I got there 15 minutes ahead of the gate closing. I was done for the day. I talked to Ron a little longer, drank a beer, and watched a movie in the hotel.

Saturday was much more fun. I got up and walked around the hotel for a bit. I checked out the walk of starts, some of the shops, and enjoyed the weather. I then headed out to meet my friend Greg Hetson for lunch. We hit up Hugo's and it was fantastic. The food was great and I got to hang with him for a few hours. I had not seen him in a few years and was very happy that our paths crossed again. When lunch was over, I headed to Beverly Hills and looked around a bit. I then made the trek over to Santa Monica. I hot the Santa Monica pier, got dinner, did some comic book shopping, and took in the area. After a few hours down there, I headed back over toward the hotel. I was late to the party but got to check out Amoeba for 10 mins, gassed up the car, got supplies, and called it a night. I headed back to the hotel to get everything packed up and relax.

Sunday came and I needed to head back to Phoenix. I swung by The Roxy and said hi to Ron for a few minutes. I also got to say hi to Shakes and Tess. It felt so good to see friends after so much time apart. I knew that I had a long drive ahead so I fueled up with some Astro Burger and got moving. The ride back was mostly uneventful. 35 mins from my house, I stopped at a rest stop. When I came out of the bathroom, the firemen whom drove in front of me, were yelling for everyone to leave quickly. A tanker truck of liquid methane called in electrical issues and was in the end of the parking lot, smoking. I got back on the road and completed the drive without exploding.

The trip was a blast. I wish I had been able to see more friends but am incredibly thankful for the time I got with the ones that I did. I rested, slept well, and got back to Phoenix much more relaxed than I had been in a while.