Day 20

We woke up for the last time in our little Hollywood Hills apartment, had a shower and finished packing our suitcases. Before leaving we went to the back of the house and had a last look at the Hollywood sign and reservoir, we hadn’t really had time to do this before and checking them out today made us realise the prime spot we were in, we hadn’t really appreciated it until now, I don’t think.

We loaded up the car, found our host Jackie who we hadn’t seen since checking in. We had a nice chat, she kept saying about us being from Australia, every time I reminded her we were from England she laughed and told us we seem more chilled out than her usual British guests, although she never said British, always people from London so I reckon that’s why we seemed chilled, obviously Londoners are uptight and poncy! It turns out her husband was away for two weeks and she was missing him, this led to a conversation about what they actual do for a living in LA. Her husband has a company which has something to do with concerts, he’s also a producer of some sort, they’re also buying a second house to rent out, it’s just under the Hollywood sign, next to the big white Spanish house which used to be Madonna’s! These people are loaded!

We left the apartment and drove down to Venice Beach, it still looked overcast but we had nothing else to do so we thought we’d at least have a walk around. It was lunch time by the time we got there so we stopped for a burger at a place called Larry’s, again it was quite yummy. We had a bowl of sweet potato fries between us, these are my new favourite food.

By the time we’d finished eating there was a bit of blue sky and it was quite warm so we went to the beach and set up near the shore so we could hear the waves. Both of us fell asleep quite quickly. When we woke up there was no clouds left in the sky, the sun was directly above us and my legs were definitely feeling a bit tingly. Natalie went to the ‘restroom’ and came back with an ice cream, we both realised we were getting sunburnt so eventually decided to leave the beach.

We had a stroll down to the canals, checked out some of the nice houses and decided we quite liked this area. Maybe not everything in LA is rubbish and ugly.

We went back to the car, sat with the air con on for a bit while we discussed whether or not to find a bar to have a drink but decided to just return the car and get to the airport. There seemed to be no point in delaying the inevitable, the holiday was almost over.

On the drive to National car return we kept our eyes peeled for the last time, trying to find the five licence plates we were yet to spot. They were all in hiding, what made this even more frustrating was that we saw so many of the other 45 that it felt like a greatest hits of states we’d seen over the road trip. As most of the required states are on the east coast we see it as a sign that we need to return and do New England in the future. Handing the keys over and saying goodbye to the Enormo-mobile made me feel sad, we’ve had some good times in that fella.

Check in at the airport went fairly smoothly, although initially we were not sitting together. We paid a £40 each to upgrade to extra legroom seats which meant we would be next to each other, we thought it was worth it. I’ll definitely be happier during take off and landing, that’s for sure!

LA airport is pretty basic compared to Heathrow, there is a tiny duty free shop, a couple of places to get food and a couple of shops. As we had three hours to wait and these places looked a bit rubbish we took advantage of Natalie’s Priority Pass which she got with her Co-op bank account. This gives Natalie (and me as her guest) access to certain VIP areas, there are comfy leather sofas, free food and drink (including alcohol), a TV and wifi connection. It helped a little bit being in the nice quite area away from the riff raff but it didn’t really stop me feeling 100% depressed about our holiday being over.

And so, we end this post with a heavy heart but with many happy memories. It’s been another amazing holiday, we can’t wait to get planning the next.