The trip started off on Thursday, February 8 in the very cold, 10 degree Michigan climate. Melissa and I picked up Erin at her house, drove down to Zeeland to pick up Randy, and headed to Chicago. We spent a night in Chicago at Melissa's parent's house, and headed to the airport early Friday morning.
The flight to LA was a little aggravating. Supposedly there was ice in the water, and it couldn't be drained properly. So we sat in the plane on the tarmac for 3 hours while they fixed the problem. We expected to get into LA about lunchtime. Instead we got very hungry on the plane and bought one of the over-priced American Airline sandwiches.
When we finally got to LA we picked up our Red Jeep Liberty rental, and headed to Venice beach to meet Randy's uncle Hal. Hal showed us around and explained the Venice beach sub-culture, and we found a little burger joint called 'The Sidewalk Cafe' for dinner.
After dinner we started to Malibu, but the traffic was too bad so we went to Santa Monica beach instead. 
We had some drinks at a little Mexican place on the end of the pier, and a singing trio came and played their guitars and sang us a Mexican love song. 
I touched the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life. 
On the pier we made a Calvin connection. Melissa was wearing her Calvin sweat-shirt, and an old Dutch guy introduced himself as a Calvin grad. He was a world traveler with plenty of advice on Thailand. He was drawn to Calvin because it is "one of the few Christian Colleges with a strong liberal bent."After Santa Monica Hal took us to IO (Improv Olympics) to see his friends Josh and Nyima perform improv comedy in the group 'Opening Night.' They did a completely improvised musical based on a topic chosen at random from audience suggestion. It actually turned out pretty funny.
We also walked around and saw all the Hollywood "land-marks" on Hollywood Boulevard.
Saturday morning we had breakfast at one of Hal's favorite little places, 'Cafe du Village.' We took a drive to Griffith Park which is basically a very big hill that has been left as wilderness with many paths, trails, and dirt roads to hike on. We took a hike to a high point overlooking the city, but unfortunately the city was not visible because of the poor air quality. We did, however, get a good look at the famous Hollywood sign. 
Saturday afternoon we saw the La Brea tar pits. The pits, and the fossils they contain are quite interesting. They were a little different than I expected. They are completely surrounded by buildings, and I didn't realize they would be so closely integrated with the city. They are also about the size of a pond, which is smaller than I expected. LA was once an oil city, and the pits are some of the last remnants. Methane gas bubbles up through the heaviest elements of crude-oil. The surrounding dirt is black and pliable as it is mixed with the tar. 
Saturday afternoon we went to Beverly Hills and checked out the ritzy Rodeo Drive shopping district. This wealthy, exclusive area made even this DINK feel underprivileged. Melissa couldn't believe all the big stores: Valentino, Versache, Coach, BCBG, Cartier, Armani, etc. What really struck me was the cars. Upper-end Mercedes and BMWs started to look like Volkswagen's and Chevy's. I saw several Bentley's, Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, and even a Rolls Royce. In the parking garage we came across a V-12 Mercedes SL600 driven by a little old Japanese woman. Waste not, want not. 
Saturday evening we met up with Erin's friend Bernice, and had dinner at a Caribbean place.Saturday night we went back to IO to watch Josh and Nyima do more improv in '313'. The previous night's topic was "Inter-galactic Love Triangle." Tonight the only audience suggestion offered was "Why Do Asians Always Get Bowl Haircuts?" The group had a little more trouble with this topic, but still performed well. After '313' we stayed for 'Beer Shark Mice.' This group was very good and drew a standing-room-only crowd. The group had several TV personalities, including Neil Flynn who plays the janitor on 'Scrubs.'
Sunday we packed up our stuff, dropped off the rental car, and went to the airport for our trip to Bangkok.
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