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. 

Palm Springs, June 2012

We had never been to Palm Springs so when Doug had the opportunity to go for business I jumped at the chance to tag along.
We flew to Palm Springs on Saturday June 9^th, arriving at about 3pm.  Since we were not actually staying in Palm Springs we headed over to our hotel which was the Hampton Inn in Banning.  For the first night we were staying there.   The next two nights we would be staying at the Morongo Resort in Cabazon, where the conference was going to be.   Cabazon is about 17 miles from Palm Springs.

Once we got to our hotel, got checked in and settled we headed out to find something to eat.  I used my phone to find suggestions for local eateries and settled on Thai food.  The place was not memorable, even though rated high.  Maybe the small town was why.  The food was good when we finally got it.  The service turned out to be very slow.

Since Doug didn’t have a lot of time that was not conference time, we decided to do a little sightseeing.  We decided to go on the Aerial Tram.  Riding the gondola through Chino Canyon to the top of the ridge was a great experience with awesome views.  The gondola is designed to turn slowly as we climb the mountain to give 360 views to everyone on the ride up.  Once we reached the top there were several observation points, a lodge, restaurant etc.  We spent about an hour checking it all out before we headed back down.  The sun was setting while we were there so we got some beautiful sky pictures. 

After we left the tram we drove into Palm Springs.  The main street was very busy with tourists so we walked around a little then decided to head back to our hotel area to eat dinner.    It was nearly 10 pm when we stopped by Ruby’s for dinner.

Sunday morning we at breakfast at the hotel and took our time checking out. We couldn’t check in at the other resort until 3 anyway so there was no rush.  I went to the pool while Doug worked for a while.  Of course it was not heated!  What’s with that?  Although the weather was in the 80s early in the morning, it still would have been nice to have a pool that had a least some warm water.  There was a hot tub which helped.   Around 1pm or so we headed over to Cabazon to the Morongo Resort and Casino.

Doug had to check in for the conference around 3pm and get his booth ready for the early morning meetings so he went to do that while I checked out the pool.  The weather was extremely hot (110) and the pool did not have a lot of shade.  That evening we ate dinner at the buffet at the casino and played a little in the casino. (Lost, what’s new?)

In the morning Doug headed to his conference and I went over to the Cabazan Outlet stores which were less than a mile from the hotel.  It was too hot to walk so I drove over.  I spent some time checking out the stores, several designer stores, but I ended up empty handed when I left.  It’s a really nice mall and I wouldn’t mind going back sometime.

Once I got back to the casino I decided to go down to the pool area with my book.  I was able to find room in a shaded area for a few hours.  Around 5pm several other sponsors for the conference met down at the pool bar for drinks, before heading to dinner.  Although the weather was hot it got windy by the pool.   After a while we headed back into the hotel and ate dinner there again, rather than leaving.

Tuesday Doug went back to his meeting and I requested a late check out.  The pool opened at 8am so I went down and found some shade by the Lazy River and spent the rest of the morning enjoying that.   It was so relaxing both in the Lazy River, and just resting on a lounge chair and reading.  The shade was nice as again it was approaching 110.

I checked out around noon, got our things to the car and waited in the area for Doug to finish up.  We were planning to leave about 2pm to head to the airport.  We wanted to drive through Palm Springs since we hadn’t spent much time there originally.   We stopped in town and walked around for a little while before we had to leave.  There is a new statue of MarilynMonroe in her famous pose with her dress flying up. Of course Doug wanted his picture with her… J

Our trip was short and sweet.  Really didn’t get much time to enjoy the city.  I would like to come back in the early spring or fall when it’s not so hot to really enjoy it.

Oprah's After Oscar Party -LA, California February 27th-28th, 2011

After trying for more than a year to get tickets to see Oprah I finally got randomly selected to go to LA to the After Oscar Party Taping on February 28th. It was taping at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, the same place the Oscars would be held the night before. The first round of selections was around the 4th of the month, then on the 14th I was sent an email that there were more tickets available. The deadline for the response was the 16th; however I didn’t see the email because I was in Puerto Vallarta. When I returned on the 22nd I saw that I had missed it. So I sent an email response on the 23rd, asking if there was any way I could still go and I got a response that we could go. So, on the 23rd we made quick airline, hotel and car reservations and started getting ready to go on Sunday the 27th, returning on Monday the 28th. We flew in on Sunday morning and got to LA about 10:30am. After getting our car we drove to Victorville to see Scott and Kattie and the kids. We got to their place about 1pm. Scott gave us a tour of their house which is new. It’s on a corner lot, has a large kitchen with island, a family room and formal living room, ½ bath and den on the main level and 4 bedrooms and two full baths upstairs. Doug’s dad had found last September and bought it with Scott. Scott will be refinancing the loan and paying him off in the next few months if possible. It’s hard to believe that they got this house for $109,000. We had a nice visit and stayed through dinner, leaving about 6:30pm to head back to LA. We watched a little of the Oscar’s while we were at Scott’s, but headed back before it was over. When we got to the hotel about 8:30pm it was already over. We expected to see some of the winners at the Oprah taping so we were anxious to hear who won. Monday morning we were at the Hollywood Bowl parking lot at 6am, waiting in line to check in. Shortly before 7am they had us get into 3 lines, based on the lead person’s last name. Once we got up to the check in table we were given yellow bracelets and directed to a particular bus. No-one knew for sure what the colors meant other than all the yellows would be seated together. But where? The Kodak Theatre holds 3400 people and has two balcony tiers as well as the main floor. After more waiting on the bus we were driven to the Kodak Theatre which was less than a mile away. We were directed into the building and there were signs directing us to the main lobby level. Several others were directed upstairs, so this was a good sign! We then formed another line in the lobby to wait for the doors to open. It was about 8:30am and the taping didn’t start until 10:00am so more waiting. Finally, about 9:10am or so the doors opened and we were allowed in. We saw immediately that we would be stage right on the main level with a good view of the stage. We ended up in Row L the 3rd and 4th seat from the middle aisle. All of the rows were elevated enough that it wasn’t a problem seeing over the person in front. The stage was magnificent with the Oscar motif from the night before. It was awesome to think that just last night this theatre held the biggest annual award ceremony for the actors and actresses. One of the Harpo Audience team members came out and warmed up the audience as they played music and several people got up on the stage to dance. Shortly before 10:00 Gayle King was escorted to a seat in the front row. She wasn’t introduced however several people called out to her and she turned and waved.
Then right at 10:00am Oprah was introduced and made her appearance onto the stage. She looked great however she announced that she had a bad cold. Immediately following her appearance, she introduced Colin Firth – Oscar Winner, Best Actor, The King’s Speech; Geoffrey Rush, Oscar Nominee, The King’s Speech; and Tom Hooper, Oscar Winner, Director, The King’s Speech. She talked to them for several minutes. She also introduced David Seidler, Oscar Winner, Writer (Original Screenplay), The King’s Speech who was sitting in the front row. Next she introduced Anne Hathaway who had co-hosted the ceremonies the night before. She was bubbly and funny and looked beautiful, even though she hadn’t gotten much sleep. Then she introduced Melissa Leo, Oscar Winner, Best Actress, The Fighter. After Melissa they cleared the stage and introduced the P.S.22 Chorus, and children’s choir from New York who had sung the night before at the Oscars. What a great opportunity for these 5th graders. As they were singing the Katy Perry song “Firework”, out walked Katy Perry singing with them! Click here to watch the performance and here to take you to their YouTube Channel. What a surprise! There were fireworks on stage and a lot of excitement. Oprah talked to her for a few minutes afterward and we were told that she had been in Vienna the day before and had flown all night to be there for the surprise. The taping stopped right at 11:00am and Oprah thanked us for coming and told us her last show would be May 25th. I’m so glad we had this opportunity to go while she was still on the air. Afterward we walked around the Hollywood area, watched as they were removing the things from the red carpet show the night before, looking at the sidewalk Stars, and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. We walked back to our car at the Hollywood Bowl then drove to Burbank and had lunch at Bob’s Big Boy. A quick trip down to the Santa Monica Pier then we were off to the airport for our ride home.

Click below to see more pictures.