We were home one week and then headed back to California on Saturday, this time to L.A. and it was just Cindy and me. When we got to L.A. the sky was so clear. They had a major storm the day or two before and I have never recalled being able to see the mountains that rim L.A. before and there was snow on the tops of them. I decided we would get to downtown by the light rail system and so we set off on the green line which runs east and west from the airport. There were two lines that went north and south, the silver and the blue and I decided to take the silver since the blue went through Watts. When we got to the transfer point we had to take an elevator down to the next level. The elevator stunk with the smell of ...well lets say it was not pleasant. The level below was right in the middle of the freeway and it was a bus station rather than a train station. The noise of cars on the freeway on either side of us echoed off the walls and was unnerving. When the bus arrived it was crowded with little room for luggage. Needless to say it was not a good first impression.
We got to our hotel, the Biltmore. It was a beautiful hotel built in the 1920's and was the location of many of the events of the city during that time period and even later on. When we walked into the original lobby it reminded us of arriving at the Tower of Terror ride in Disneyland except there were no cobwebs. They must of used this design as the inspiration for the building.
After unpacking we then went to Pershing Park which the hotel faced to get to the subway station to go to the conference site to register. The park was occupied by homeless as well as some families which made a strange combination. Before getting to the station we walked a block to get a drink and that block walk was as if we had made it to Tijuana. Again not a great first impression. We went to the subway and then the conference center which was nice. It was next to the Staples arena and there was an afternoon basketball game going on which made the area crowded. There were also commercials being filmed on our way which was interesting as streets were closed in different areas.
That evening we went to a Dodgers baseball game which was a lot of fun. It was the 50th anniversary of the stadium and it really is in a pretty setting. We enjoyed the game and Matt Kemp of the Dodgers hit back to back home runs in his first two at bats.
The next day was Sunday so we went to church in the morning. We took a taxi and on the way I noticed we seemed to past the exit that I thought we should of taken I mentioned it to him a little later that I felt we had gone too far. The bell man that got the taxi for us gave him the wrong address and so he corrected and turned the meter off and we went back to the right location. When we arrived we found they were getting ready for a special stake conference in the building. The building was also amazing. It had stained glass art work in the chapel and even in the gym. We learned it was dedicated by Heber J. Grant in 1930 and won many architectural awards. Elder Snow was one of the speakers at the conference. We sat behind some Koren ladies and found out part of the stake had a Koren ward who provided the music for the meeting. It was a real treat that day.
On the way back from church we found that many of the downtown streets were blocked off for a bike celebration. It was amazing to see so many people on bikes and it lasted all day long. That evening we walked around and took the Angel Flight which is the smallest railroad in America as it goes some 300 yards up a hill. We saw some neat plazas and the Disney Concert Hall with its weird architecture.
Monday was spent in meetings and Cindy went shopping with one of the planning commisioner's wives. That evening we got on the subway and went to Universal City to have dinner in their City Walk area. We strolled around, had dinner and then Shannon called us and told us that the Jazz beat the Mavs in a three overtime game.
Tuesday were more meetings for me which even included a workshop in Long Beach. We went by the train that goes through Watts and even had a time where we stopped for awhile while security was looking through the cars for someone. While I did that Cindy went on a tour of the L.A. area. She had two Irish companions on the tour who watched out for her all day. She was the only American on the tour which made it fun.
That night we walked up the hill to find a place to eat. Since there seemed to be a basketball game every night there was always the Goodyear Blimp in the sky.We found a place in the business area and it had a dining area that was outdoors. We set outside and heard someone playing the piano. He was good and very enjoyable. He played the whole time we ate and never repeated a song. We asked about it and the waiter said the city had placed a piano there a couple of days ago for a fine arts promotion for anyone to play who wanted to. After dinner we walked over to the guy, told him we appreciated his talent, he had us sing a song with him and then we made a request and he just started playing it. It made for a great evening.
On Wednesday we went and had breakfast at this little diner that we saw people lined up at on Saturday. It was very simple, only a few items on the menu and very good. It has been in existence since the 1920's and had people like Humphrey Bogart as a regular back in the day. From there we went over to the Staples Center for a photo with the Jerry West statue. Since I had met him in 1971 at a basketball camp I tough I ought to have a picture with his statue.
After that we went over the L.A.Library. Cindy had gone on a tour there on Monday so she was my tour guide. It was built in the 1930 and the architecture was interesting.We then packed up and came home realizing so far this month we have been more time in California than in Utah.
Saturday was the day Maddie and I left for Alaska to get her to her summer job. We had the car packed and ready to go by 7:30 in the morning. After a tearful goodbye between Maddie and Cindy we were on our way in her PT Cruiser for a new adventure. We really did not know what to expect. We stopped at Idaho Falls to get gas and then on to Montana. We made it to the Montana boarder without much problem and we thought the drive through the mountains of Montana was pretty but we did not know that it would just keep getting better. 
We made it to Butte for lunch and got some gas. Between Butte and Great Falls we had our first trauma. We were on the freeway and as we came up over a hill there was debris on the road as we got closer it was large pieces of wood. Maddie tried to avoid it but we went over top of one of the pieces and it made a thump so we quickly stopped and then Maddie looked in her mirror and say a wrecked car in the other lane of the freeway that was heading south. We got out and ran over to the car and the driver was out of his car and Maddie checked him. He had drifted into the middle guard rail and had taken it out and that is what was thrown on our side of the highway. The front of his car was gone and he was lucky to be OK. His car was completely turned around. Once the police came we then left and continued on our trip going along the Missouri River for a portion of the drive.
