June 12, 2019 - Rome, GA

We had a nice day today riding about a 200 mile loop to the Lake Weiss area in Alabama, then to the Cathedral Caverns also in AL then back to Rome.  Weather was in low to mid 70s and overcast most of the day.  We felt a little cool for some of the time.  Very little traffic and we saw maybe 6 other motorcycles all day.

The geography of the area reminds us of North Carolina without the larger population. Lots of small towns with distinct identities, some economically depressed and some looking healthy with vibrant downtowns.  It was really fun to check them out.

We saw some really impressive yard art that looked a lot like things they put out in their yards with the intent to sell and kept adding to it.  Old cars, old lawn mowers, cribs, clothing with long un-mowed grass ringing the items.  They put to shame the areas along 441 south of Gainesville.

For my planner friends I had to post the picture of the sign at the Lake Weiss Motel stating that it had passed the health dept inspections with a score of 100 (not sure out of how many) for 6 years.  This could be a new form of economic development, promoting businesses that have not been tagged by the health dept.

June 11, 2019 - Rome, GA

Day one on our Rally Trip we started rolling around 7:15 am from Gainesville, FL. We started north on I-75 then hit secondary roads from Valdosta to Rome.  The weather was great and the traffic was almost nonexistent except for a couple of towns in the afternoon.  We did not hit one drop of rain and temps were in low to mid 80s and overcast. Great riding weather.

Mid-morning we stopped for coffee in Albany, GA at a place called The Bread House and Grainary.  Really nice bakery in a refurbished old home. They support a women's recovery center in Albany for women with drug problems including having them work in the bakery to help them re-enter the real world.  Check it out if you're in Albany - thebreadhouse.com

We decided to stay 2 nights in Rome and check out the local sights.  Staying at Hawthorn Suites at Wyndham located right at the confluence of the Oostanaula and Etowah rivers forming the Coosa River.

Nice little downtown area in Rome. We ordered take out 2 blocks away.  I walked down to the Oostanaula River and saw a really nice water park with kids splashing around.

Can't seem to be able to post pictures right now.

Intro to Trip

Susie and I will be leaving on Tuesday, June 11, 2019 to head north from Gainesville, FL to the 2019 BMWMOA Rally in Lebanon, TN and returning Saturday, June 22, 2019.  We'll be riding our 2018 BMW R 1200 GS Rallye that we picked up last October.  After the rally ends on Sunday, June 16, 2019 we're going to head west to check out Arkansas.  We have never ridden there and hear it's beautiful.  I will try and post on this blog at the end of every day of our trip so come back to this site to see how we're doing.

I will be using a GPS tracker that will show our progress in real time.  So if you are interested in following us on a map click HERE.

February 26, 2019 - Los Angeles

Our last day with Sam was another busy one.  Starting with an early lunch at Langer's Deli near downtown LA.  It is regularly ranked as the #1 deli in LA and we had seen it on an episode of the Netflix show "Please Feed Phil".  It really lived up to its reputation.  A picture below shows the #19 pastrami, swiss cheese, 1,000 island dressing on rye that Sooz and I split.  It was delicious.

After a little break we drove to Salt & Straw for some great ice cream.  No pictures, too busy eating.  Our niece CD in Portland, where S&S started, highly recommended this place for ice cream as well as Sam and no disappointments.  We walked around a little in the Larchmont area which is upscale with nice shops and restaurants.

We were then off to an improv show at the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Theatre on Franklin Avenue.  It was a blast.  There were 7 performers on stage.  It started with them asking the audience for one word which started a 30 minute completely improvised performance.  Sam said we saw the cream of the crop in performers and it was hard to believe it was all improvised.  It flowed, was funny and they all participated fairly evenly.  They did 2, 30 minute performances and it want by very quickly.  Amy Poehler performed here while she was coming up.  Sam has taken two improv classes here.

I really wanted to see the lights of LA before we left so Sam drove us up to Fryman Canyon Park on Mulholland Drive in Studio City.  That's where the rich people live and have views of the LA valley.  It was impressive, especially at night.

We fly back to Gainesville tomorrow.  Hard to believe our visit is over and it was great to see Sam.

View of the LA Valley from Mulholland Drive

The UCB Theatre on Franklin Avenue

The #19

Langer's Deli Counter

February 25, 2019 - Los Angeles

Another quiet boring day yesterday, not really.  Sooz and I walked down to the Republic of Pie for breakfast and coffee yesterday, Sunday, morning.  Nice walk and good food again.  We came back to our place, met Sam and off we went to Warner Brothers for a studio tour.  A person Sam works with gave him free tickets for the tour and it was great.  Our tour guide was like a walking encyclopedia of Hollywood history answering every question without hesitation.  There were only 12 people in our group and we all road around in a single, big, electric cart.  Because it was Sunday and pretty quiet on "the lot" we got to see a lot more than during the week when it is busy with productions.  I took a ton of pictures only a few of which are below.  We toured through sets that were used in movies going back to Edward G. Robinson through the current Ellen daily show.  We went through the massive storage area where thousands and thousand of props are kept and still being used today in productions.  It was a several hour tour and we covered a lot of ground.  Very cool.

We then had lunch at an In & Out burger joint that was packed.  It's a local thing and we ate too much again.  Next up was a little shut eye back at our place and then we took an Uber to see Sam play softball on a coed team.  It was fun and we were the only fans in the stands for their team so we had to be pretty loud and obnoxious.

Next up was going to see Sam perform stand-up and inprov at the Lyric Hyperion Theater and Cafe in Los Angeles.  We had a really good time and met a lot of people.  It is an intimate setting with maybe 75 seats very close to the stage so it felt like we were on stage with them.  In fact, as part of the improv set they had Sooz and me get on stage during which they made pick up lines to us, which was kind of fun.  We were impressed with how much Sam has improved his stage presence during his stand-up routine and during the improv sets.  I don't know how they do it, but they all did great and were very welcoming to Sooz and me.  I took a few pictures but the lighting was very low so they are pretty blurry.

We took an Uber back to our place and crashed.  It was 10:00 pm local or 1:00 am Eastern so we were pretty worn out but we had a wonderful time.

Sam On Stage at the Lyric Hyperion Theater

Sam On Stage at the Lyric Hyperion Theater

Sam On Stage at the Lyric Hyperion Theater

The Infamous In & Out Double Burger and Fries "Animal Style"

Ellen's Stage on the WB Studio Tour

Harry Potter's Magic Broom

The Two-wheeler From the Batman Movie

The Massive WB Prop Storage Area

Big HP Fans

February 23, 2019 - Los Angeles

Another beautiful day in sunny southern California.  Low 60s and sunny all day.  Cool in the shade and warm in the sun with low humidity.  Sam picked us up around 10am and we took off towards Santa Monica at the ocean.  On the way we stopped and grabbed a bite at the Republic of Pie in North Hollywood.  Nice bohemian bakery, breakfast, healthy food place with rough cut tables and plastic chairs, our kind of place.

We drove to Santa Monica on side roads and saw some beautiful mountains and very expensive looking homes perched on the sides of mountains that don't look very stable, but what do I know.  We parked in a garage and walked down to the Santa Monica Pier all the way to the end where lots of fishermen were trying to catch some fish.  We saw no action while we were there but lots and lots of people enjoying the nice weather.  According to Sam, the last couple of weeks have been rainy, overcast and cold so everyone was cooped up and waiting to get out, and we saw them.

We decided to walk to Venice Beach a couple of miles along the strip and boardwalk.  It was really fun watching  vendors, musicians, con artists (magicians and card players), skaters, artists, bicyclists, skateboarders, homeless, electric boarders, walkers and dogs.  I was amazed at how wide the beaches are with nice sand.  But nobody was in the water, the air and the water are too cold.  The mountains were just inland with impressive looking homes and condos all along the main drag.

We took an Uber back to Santa Monica and had lunch/dinner at Huckleberry Cafe.  Sooz and I had seen Huckleberry's on a Netflix program called "I'll Have What Phil's Having" a food show hosted by Phil Rosenthal.  It was fun seeing it in person and the food was really good, not fancy but really good solid food.

Tomorrow we are going on a tour of MGM Studios, watching Sam's softball team play a game and then going to a club where Sam is doing a standup act and also acting in an improv performance.  Another full day.

Venice Muscle Beach

Venice Beach Skateboard Park

Venice Beach

Venice Beach

Santa Monica beach

Our AirBnB in North Hollywood

February 22, 2019 - Los Angeles

Having a great time visiting our son Sam in LA.  We arrived yesterday and have been going full bore ever since.

Yesterday we had a great Thai lunch we walked to from our AirBnB.  Sam came and picked us up and we all went to a fantastic Peruvian restaurant called Pablito's in Burbank. Sam then drove us around for awhile.  Sooz picked out our AirBnB which is close to where Sam lives which works out well.

Today Sam picked us up around 9:30am and off we went.  First stop this morning was Grand Central Market.  It is a very nice and big market of food, restaurants, and shops all in a big open building. From the outside you could drive right by and not know it is a market.  But once you walk in it opens up into a wild mix of local  food businesses.

Sam then drove us to the oldest street and building in LA. The street is Olivera Street where there is a very nice open market area of Mexican clothing a products. It is a part of LA that surprised us with its history, tree cover and a local feel, not what we were expecting.

Next up was the Original Market Place and The Grove in a very upscale area of Beverly Hills

. We had more excellent food and walked around a 3-story massive Nike store.  Sooz found a really nice food store and picked up a few things for the home kitchen.

We then went to the Milk Bar bakery based on Christina Tosi.  Very tasty ice cream, cookies and cake had to be sampled.

That wrapped up the day. We got back to our place and crashed.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous, 60s and sunny.  Yesterday it snowed all around the mountains and hills which was very unusual and was all over the news.  The Oscars are Sunday and we found some closed roads including Hollywood Boulevard due to the big event in just 2 days.