Nick and Ryan's Summer Adventure!: Los Angeles: Being California Tourists With a Side of Oprah Stalking

Hey everyone,

Our next stop was Los Angeles, the great sprawling metropolis of California. Basically there is not a single person I know in both Georgia and Missouri who at all likes Los Angeles. None, everyone I talked to said to stay away! But, Ryan and I were curious about the city, because we had never been before and we wanted to try something new and different, that's the whole point of the trip right?

Well, traffic was bad (surprise, surprise) but we made the long drive from the hotel to our first stop, which was Warner Brothers Studios. Yes, we took the incredibly touristy studio tour, but I have to admit, it was a lot of fun! We got to ride around in a golf cart touring the studio and seeing all of the set designs. I was amazed at how detailed their exterior design really is, they put a lot of effort into each piece. And it was really cool being on the set of 2 Broke Girls and the Big Bang Theory.

But probably the coolest part of the tour is that Warner Brother's had preserved the entire set design of Central Perk, the coffee shop from the amazing TV show Friends. Since the show is over, they let people look at it and we even got to sit on the famous couch that all of the cast-mates sat on during filming! Afterward, we got to see a truck full of props they use for the show Pretty Little Liars, and also got to tour a room that had all of the famous cars seen in Warner Brothers movies and TV shows like the Batmobile and the "Shag Mobile" from Austin Powers. They even took your picture on a green screen that had the Hogwarts Express train from Harry Potter in it. As you can see below in the picture, Ryan wasn't very nice to me at all! The studio tour ended with a little museum they have set up showing off artifacts from movies and TV shows, which was a fun little bit of pop culture. Afterward, we went to the gift shop and bought some stuff, I got an Ellen T-shirt which I thought was fun and Ryan got a bunch of different stuff.

Afterwards, we left the studio and went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Chinese Theater. This part was probably the worst part of the trip! First of all, its insanely crowded. Then there are all of these grimy looking street performers trying to pose as your favorite actors and characters and they practically shout at you for attention, and then we couldn't even see the Chinese Theater because they were doing a major renovation. Then we tried to go inside this mall to get a good view of the Hollywood sign, but the view is from so far away that it looks like a tiny speck on the hills. Not exactly awe-inspiring.
Personally, I just felt the whole area was way too overblown, congested and touristy.

It's funny, because I think that was what people who've been to L.A. characterize the whole city as. But I found that that was really the only part of the city that I felt was awful! Afterward, we drove an hour and a half northwest of the city...why? Because we wanted to see where the biggest stars truly lived!

And because Ryan may be obsessed with Oprah...just a little bit. It was a beautiful highway that wound along the coast and it felt relatively untouched except for a city here and there. Well, we finally made it to Montecito where Oprah and Ellen live. It's a beautiful little town with a LOT of mansions! It was dark by the time we got there, but Ryan was determined to find Oprah's house. So we drove around trying to find it, pausing each time we thought it was it. Finally, we found a gate that appeared to be the main entrance. We could tell because I could spot at least 3 security cameras surrounding the outside of the place. For me, that was good enough, but for Ryan, he had to have a picture in front of her gate.

So, he got out and we took a picture of him from the car. Of course the whole time, I'm thinking, the gate's going to open and we are going to be busted for snooping around Oprah's property, I was freaking out a little. And then to my horror, the gate started opening up behind Ryan! We flipped out because we thought we were going to be confronted or worse, arrested, and we got in the car and sped away! We were laughing so hard, but we were worried! Thankfully nothing happened, Ryan got his picture, and we were off. But now with the memory of the time Ryan almost got arrested for trespassing on Oprah's property.

The next day, we woke up and went to Disneyland. Ryan and his family love Disney, so we wanted to stop by and go to the big Disney store on the property. We had fun walking around and looking at stuff, even though we didn't go into the park. Also, the Disney store was massive! I had never seen a novelty store that big before and they had everything! Ryan and I bought these adorable graduation caps with Mickey ears on them that said Class of 2013. And that was a lot of fun! Also, we ate at Goofy's Kitchen which was a big buffet style place that had Disney characters walking around. So we took a picture with a few characters and had a good meal before driving back to Phoenix.

And that was pretty much it, the next post will feature Arizona. Until then! (Pictures Below)

Nick