Trip report – Los Angeles , CA  
  January 5-9, 2005

Whoever wrote “it never rains in Southern California ” lied. Big time.

I was so hoping for sunshine and warm weather for the time I spent out in the Los Angeles area. But, I had to settle for mere relativity. The temperature struggled to make 60 degrees and we had two okay days weather wise until the monsoons hit and we had to work around the rain. Thus, I had to remind myself that 55 degrees and the site of dandelions on the tarmac as we landed is a lot different that what goes on in St. Paul , MN in early January, after all.

Once again, my prayer warrior friends held off a now-obligatory storm prediction on the day of my flight and I was on my way as nasty winter weather lingered south of the Twin Cities. I met up with my two Canadian friends, Penny and her husband Glenn. These two dear folks had a birthday to celebrate (Glenn’s) and could have spent a great deal of the time out here leading up to the incentive that brought us here—Mark Lowry’s video taping—for themselves. But they so graciously and generously shared their time and themselves with me for the bulk of the trip. Instead of having my own agenda as I normally would (which would have been challenging, since the thought of driving in L.A. was much too intimidating), I put myself in their capable hands and said “okay” to whatever they suggested doing. It all worked.

As you survey the Los Angeles area, just about every building you see is done in Spanish missionary style. And everywhere you look you see one of my favorite sites: palm trees. They don’t have palm trees in Minnesota. A hallmark of warm weather, these would never survive the tundra. One interesting thing about California is watching the TV weathercasters deal with essentially three different climates in one state: the mountains, where they dealt with snow storms (up to 5 feet of snow!) and resulting mudslides, the coastal areas with flood risks, and the inland areas, where we were. If you had to be somewhere in the midst of the storms, this was the best place to be. Some streets did become lakes, and we did track progress of one of many drainage ditches. But you were well forewarned to stay away from those ditch areas as the storm intensified. I dare say perhaps that one or two who got into trouble didn’t heed that advice carefully enough.

On Wednesday, we attempted to find the Crystal Cathedral, the home of Drs. Schuller and the “Hour of Power” TV show in Garden Grove. Instead, we got lost and ended up at Seal Beach on the coast. I had to ask myself a few times if I was in California or my hometown of West Haven, CT. The pier and the housing along the shore was almost a carbon copy. But instead of Savin Rock off in the distance, there were the mountains. We also found the taping location, CerritosCenterfor the Performing Arts, not far from where we stayed in La Mirada .

Thursday, we took the grand tour of Los Angeles. We covered downtown L.A., Beverly Hills, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Rodeo Drive (and snickered at the prices. “Oh wow, I’d love to have this halter top. At $575, it’s a steal!”), the Farmers Market and Venice Beach .

Friday was the day of the main event. But first, there was shopping to do. Despite the pouring rain, we went to the Downtown Disney shopping district in Disneyland. You didn’t need to pay admission to get in, but we soon realized with most of it being outside that you did need rain gear. So we all invested in Disneyland rain ponchos (the only item frugal little me chose to buy as a souvenir. Hey, it was practical.).

Friday night came and we saw Mark’s taping of his “Mark Lowry Goes To Hollywood” video. I finally had the pleasure of meeting Mark’s mom and dad. Bev Lowry was sweet and gracious (and beautiful!), happy to put a face to a name and a batch of e-mail. She introduced me to her husband, Mark’s dad, also a kind and charming person. As for the show, it’s going to be a great video. All the guests sounded great, the spirit was in the house, and whether Mark was being funny or serious, the guy can SING. What else can I tell ya?

On Saturday, our agenda was to once again attempt to find the Crystal Cathedral and tour the Queen Mary, a cruise liner through the 40’s until 1967 and a troop transport ship during World War II. After she retired, she became a museum and hotel permanently docked in Long Beach . We did both guided and self-tours through the Queen Mary. If you go, you should take the “Behind the Scenes tour” and get James as your tour guide. This fellow alone was half of the show. Being surprised to learn afterward he was not an actor, I did my encouragement thing and informed him he was missing his calling (“well, why aren’t you an actor?”). We also toured a Russian submarine. I had my doubts about this one, but my compact frame (vertically, at least) served me well when slipping through the portholes.

After the Queen Mary tour, armed with better directions this time, we did finally find the Crystal Cathedral. We took a few pictures. The grounds are lovely (especially the ladies rooms!). The magic of television makes it look much larger inside than it is.

Throughout the four days, we ate. A lot. We tried different cuisines (at least I did. I know now, thanks to Penny, that I can order enchiladas when at a Mexican restaurant). The healthy regime went out the window. But hey, I was on vacation.

Sunday came and I had to leave. Thankfully, the rain let up enough to get me to the airport and home safely (and in time for “American Dreams” on Sunday night!). I hated to leave the climate and my friends, but real life calls after a while. I was very lucky and thankful for the time and circumstances that brought us all out here together. I am very glad it stretched into multiple days instead of a quick trip.

Off the road until spring…thanks for reading!

 Wendy V

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