2015 October LA, MSPA Conferences and Skyler Visit

The MSPA Conference this year was in LA area, as well as the Shoppers Conference.  An opportunity for nicer weather, relaxation, fun in the sun and a chance to see Skyler, our 8 year old grandson.   

We flew into Burbank on Sunday, Oct 11th, and drove to our hotel in Sherman Oaks where we were staying for a couple days before checking in for the conference in Universal City.  After checking in at the Hampton Inn, we drove to Santa Clarita to go to the Saugus Café, which was where Doug’s grandmother had worked for many years.  It has a lot of history in the area.  It originally opened in 1897 and is still in business today.  We had a great lunch, and it was fun to look at the old pictures on the wall and read about the history of the café.   After lunch we took a drive and stopped at Glen Haven Cemetery where Doug’s mom was buried.  We also saw other family headstones while we were there.  It was very hot (102) so the drive was nice, but walking around was a little uncomfortable.

This year The MSPA Conference this year was in LA area, as well as the Shoppers Conference.  An opportunity for nicer weather, relaxation, fun in the sun and a chance to see Skyler, our 8 year old grandson. On Monday we headed to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.  We both enjoyed spending time reading the history of Reagan’s presidency, and his personal life.  He is buried on the grounds also, just a few yards outside the building.  The Republican Debates had been held there the previous month so it was interesting to see and hear how they set that up on the upper level of the Library.    

Monday evening we went to Bob’s Big Boy, always a must when we are in town. 

Tuesday morning we checked out of our hotel and headed to Universal City where the first conference was to be held.  We checked into the Universal Hilton.  Doug had a meeting early afternoon so I had time to myself.   Of course I headed to the pool.   Later, I went over to the Universal CityWalk to check it out.   It is located next to Universal Studios, and has shops and restaurants, live entertainment, etc.   It's a fun place to check out.

On Wednesday I took a drive to Hollywood and walked around the Walk of Fame and the Grauman's Chinese Theatre.  There was an IMAX showing the movie “The Wire” in 3d so I stayed for that.  I loved the film, and seeing it in 3D was awesome.    That evening Doug and I went back to Universal CityWalk for dinner at Tony Roma's (another fav which is no longer in Washington).

Thursday I drove up to Griffith Park Observatory.  It is located in Griffith Park, on beautiful grounds, with beautiful views of  a hills all around.  You can see the famed "Hollywood" sign while there. The only thing making it better would be to come in the evening or during a special astronomical event.  That evening the conference social event was a Universal Backstage tour with dinner. They took us on the tram around the lot and through several of the special effects areas including  "Fast and Furious Super Charged" and "Jurassic Park".  Then we ended up at one of the private party rooms on the site for a catered dinner and their annual awards ceremony.

Friday morning we checked out of the hotel and started our drive to Anaheim for the second conference.  We met up with Bev Thornton at a Denny’s for breakfast that was along the way.  We checked into the Embassy Suites in Anaheim and I left to go pick up Skyler at his house in Trabuco Canyon.  Once we got back to the hotel Skyler and I went swimming, rested a little, then we went to Downtown Disney.  There were a lot of people, but it was fun to walk through the area. Skyler made his own remote control race car at Ridemakerz , then we ate dinner at the Rain Forest Café which Skyler had never been to.  We had a lot of fun and both were tired once we made it back to the hotel.  

Saturday Skyler and I went to the Discovery Cube ScienceCenter.  What a great place for an 8 year old!  There were lots of interactive things to do, including the dinosaur fossil find area, a wind tunnel, the Nascar race car section, and because it was close to Halloween there was a spook house.

That evening the conference social event was Pirate's DinnerAdventure.  We had a lot of fun watching the interactive show which included dinner.  

Sunday was time to go home.   After checking out we took Skyler to Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour, then headed to the airport.  We met up with Heather at a Starbucks close to the airport, and were able to meet Patrick for the first time.    Hugs and kisses goodbye, and we were on our way home.