Our van had had the front passenger seat removed for some reason. You cannot have a scooter in place of the front seat in CA. So we had room for all the luggage. Remember. we had enough luggage to outfit the first 2 days at Normandy. I didn't know 6 people wore that many clothes. I packed in a gym bag and a camera case. The van was chock full with Caro stuffed into the rear seat. We had to shout to hear each other

In all the hustle and bustle I still had not had a chance to break out the digital camera so I have no evidence. Actually the camera would not have done any good because of the subsequent wild ride.

The van guy gave us instructions out of the airport which I vaguely understood. Turned out that getting out of LAX was a piece of cake. Obviously they handle a lot of traffic. We went roaring out with me trying to follow Wayne. Somehow I got ahead of him. Leigh had her emailer as did I so we kept in touch using electronic pagers based in Houston. Driving 80 MPH on Los Angeles freeways keeping in touch by pagers. Love the modern life!!! Caro was being thrown from side to side in the back because the shoulder belt wouldn't fit her. She was screaming at me to slow down and I was going faster trying to catch Wayne. We finally realized I was ahead of him. We agreed to pull off and get some food.

We took the Van Nuys exit and all of a sudden the names began to make sense to me. Memories of family visits from 50 plus years ago began to flood my memory. Stopped at a MacDonalds and felt right at home. Same ethnic mix and same slow confused service. After relaxing and getting our selves calmed we headed back the freeway (Hwy 105). I studied a map so I had a fix in my mind about where we were headed. We were staying in the Doubletree in Pasadena.

Wayne took the lead and drove at a moderate speed (70 mph). The native would whip around us and welcome us to their highway system with the jaunty middle finger. I though we were going to drive through downtown LA. In fact the freeway goes right by downtown. The blue trace on the map shows our route from the airport to the hotel. The red trace is the route of our sight seeing tour in a limosine. More about that latter.

For most of my life I had heard scary stories about driving on the California (Los Angeles) freeways. They are in slightly worse physical condition compared to Houston freeways. The main difference is that the LA freeways are built in hilly country and curve around the hills. In Houston, being flat, most of the roads are razor straight. The roads were grooved which made them very noisy.

Somehow or other we got to the hotel without the slightest bit of wondering around. Hotels like the Doubletree intimidate me. I love them but am not used to that level of service or attentiveness. Mind you I could and do adapt easily. We watched the bellhops unload the vehicles and carry the mountain of luggage to our rooms.

Caro and I were bushed and overwhelmed so we decided to rest in our room. We had planned on going to a restaurant for dinner but the adults decided to have dinner in one of the fine Hotel restaurants. We had Mexican food. Their version of Mexican food is different from the Texan version. The hotel and restaurant were full of Nebraskans getting ready for the Rose Bowl game.