Texas to Cali

Howdy Friends!!!

Give yourself about 10-15 minutes to read this….I’m usually not this long winded, but I wanted to write down everything I remembered from our journey to get here….I hope you find it entertaining….and get a chance to read it.

I am so glad I got to see almost all of you before I left town. It still hasn’t hit me yet that living out here is permanent (until I marry Jeremy Piven and demand he moves back to Texas with me)….right now things feel like a summer vacation with a full time job. My mom and I finally made it to Malibu on Thursday evening about 7:30pm after three and a half days of driving.

For those of you who will hopefully delight me with your presence out here in the near future, I highly recommend flying the three hours directly into LAX instead of driving the 24. I can’t believe my little Corolla made it with all the stuff I had weighing it down inside.

We left Sugar Land at about 12:45pm on Monday and drove about six hours and stopped in Ozona (right outside of Junction) to stay the night. On the way there we stopped at the James Avery factory in Kerrville, after eating some not so great BBQ. It was about 20 minutes to closing time at James Avery so we took a quick look in the store, then watched their 10 minute video about the grounds. They do not give walking tours due to the potential distractions tourists could have on their workers. It’s neat to say I have been there but it is not on par with the Celestial Seasonings factory tour in Boulder, CO or Ethel M’s chocolate factory tour in Las Vegas (which, sadly I think is closed now).

The hotel we stayed at in Ozona was called Travel America or something of that sort. Let me tell you, this place was the nicest, cheapest motel I have ever stayed in. The room was decent size, clean, and the bathroom was all tile…they provided HBO, and free breakfast in the morning (no hot food-just muffins, donuts, coffee) but I was really impressed for $50 a night.

The next morning we drove from Ozona through El Paso and then finally stopped in Tucson. We managed to find the least clean Motel-6 in probably the continental United States. I was very disappointed to say the least-especially since we had such a great experience at the other motel the night before.

There was no Kleenex in the room, only one roll of toilet paper, you could hear the traffic from the interstate right outside out door and there was no shower head in the shower, just a pipe that stuck out of the wall. We arrived extremely late at night, were tired and didn’t want keep looking for something that would have cost us about $40 bucks more just so we could sleep for about 6-7 hours.

We decided that we were only going to drive about two more hours the next day and then stay the night in Phoenix to rest and relax a little bit after two days of hard driving. A good friend of mine who knows the hotel business very well, tried to get us a cheap room in Phoenix but everything was coming back at $130 or higher….after talking to my dad, we found out that the Sun’s were in the playoffs against the Lakers and that’s why most of the hotels were booked and the rates were sky high. My mom suggested we stay at a Harrah’s Casino/Resort she had read about in her triple-A book. We called and got a good rate on the last non- smoking room they had. We then loaded back up in the little Corolla and were on our way to Maricopa, AZ (to an Indian reservation).

**Side note**We stopped at a great Mexican food dive called Andele’s en route to Maricopa and my mom ordered the new Miller Light Chill (which is Miller Light with lime). I only had one sip since I was driving but if you are a beer drinker, and can find it there in Texas-get your hands on some immediately…..its really refreshing….I am sure the rest of the beer companies will come up with their own version soon but Miller is the only one I have seen up to this point.

Back to the casino….This place was amazing! Our room was huge and bright, as was the bathroom. It reminded me a lot of the room I stayed in at the Intercontinental hotel in the Middle East-but with cactus pictures, etc on the wall instead of camels.

Man, it was really nice. Luckily, I had some Harrah’s credit from the time I stayed there in Reno a couple years back and they were able to comp a couple of my meals. This all happened on Wednesday night. Thursday morning we left about 11:45am and headed straight to LA, only to stop in a town not too far past the California border at a Carl’s Jr. for a burger. It was OK, but I am still dying to go to In & Out Burger which I have heard is delicious.

LA traffic is almost unbearable. Driving through LA to get to Malibu was probably the most congested two hours of the whole trip. Granted, we arrived during 5 o'clock traffic, but I’ve heard and now believe that all major freeways and highways are bumper to bumper unless its Sunday morning; however that does not guarantee that you will get somewhere in the time you think you should. I also want to note that $3.45 for a gallon of gas is considered “cheap” here.

So we take the Pacific Coast Highway (also called PCH or the 1) to Malibu. I had seen the campus a month earlier on my interview trip-but my mom had only seen pictures.

We were hungry so we go to this little shopping center right across the street and eat at a place called “Coogie’s Beach Grill”. They have sandwiches, salads, etc. with reasonable prices. We both ordered Santa Fe salads that were comparable to something at Chili’s or On the Border. We then walked to Ralph’s (right next door) which is a partner to Kroger's in Texas.

About two weeks earlier I had ordered a Ralph’s card online and I had received it before I got here and I was so excited for some strange reason-I guess it kind of made me feel like I was a local or something. No celebrity sightings that night, unfortunately.

Saturday we woke up and ran to Target off the 101. By ran, I mean drove 30 minutes through a windy canyon to get my mom a duffle bag in order to properly re-pack her clothes for her flight home on Sunday. She and I had pretty much threw what we thought we would need for the week getting here in trash bags because suitcases would not fit with all of my stuff in the car. We also bought some plastic drawers for me to organize clothes and random stuff in since I couldn’t fit any furniture in my car. I also got a box fan because the one I had from home again, would not fit.

After Target we went to LAX to pick up my friend Andrea who was flying in from Dallas to help me get settled. My mom, Andrea and I went down to Venice Beach to eat some good burgers and people watch. Venice beach encompasses a strip of shops and eateries along the Pacific Coast just south of LA. Venice Beach is also home to Muscle Beach, made popular by our Governator.

The next morning we headed to a shopping mecca called the Grove. There was a farmer’s market that includes food from all over the world: fresh fish, fruits and vegetables, baked goods, nuts and candies, little knickknacks and LA souvenirs….the list could go on and on. The Grove also has a lot of posh stores like Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, etc but you enter and exit the stores through the outdoor/open air walkway that has a trolley running through the middle.

If you ever come visit, I will definitely take you there, because it's really neat! After walking around, riding the trolley and taking tons pictures like a tourist, we had dinner at this little Greek place that was delicious.

Sunday morning my mom and I drove from Malibu to the LAX airport, but before I dropped her off we stopped for breakfast and thought we saw William Shatner and his wife at Burger King, but I verified with Google that his wife is younger than the woman we saw with him, and he is not as tall as the man dining at BK.

I also thought I saw Jennifer Aniston at the Grove but it was just a really pretty girl that looked a lot like her. I will probably go through this stage where I think everyone is a celebrity but then realize they aren’t. I promise to only report legitimate sightings to you all. Andrea and I cruised down to Santa Monica beach, and around the LA area (Sunset Blvd, Wilshire, etc.) It was really cool seeing the different sights that you always see on the E! channel. I love reading about celebrities so I feel like I am in the right place. We also stopped by some lookout point and took pictures of the Hollywood sign and downtown LA.

On Monday I started my work at Pepperdine. I am truly grateful for having university experience before coming here and I hope to implement some of the things I have learned into my new job. The ten students I am working with and director I am working for are the nicest people I have ever met and have welcomed me with open hearts and arms.

I eat lunch outside where they have tons of tables while getting a great tan on mostly my face and lower arms. The last two days were “hot” (85 degrees) but today there was a cool breeze with clear and sunny skies. Yesterday was rough-I woke up really missing home and teared up while eating lunch outside. Good thing I had my big sunglasses on so no one could tell. Today was much better and I know that feeling homesick is normal, just something I haven’t really experienced on this level.

I have made friends at the local Wells Fargo, and the local bookstore called Diesel where Jane Seymour is going to be Wednesday May 16th for a book signing. She might be my first celebrity sighting if I decide to go. I’m wondering if I have to buy the book or just ask her to take a picture with me. Since it’s a book signing, I don’t feel as weird asking for a picture-but we’ll see.

Everyone that I have met is VERY nice…it reminds me of Texas. People smile when I tell them I just moved from there and usually say “oh I have a friend/family member that lives there” and we develop an instant connection. I just met someone from A&M today; it's a small world.

Hopefully you haven’t fallen asleep while reading this.

This weekend I am planning on using the outdoor track on campus and go into Thousand Oaks to look around at what they have (check out the mall, Target, and Best Buy for a universal remote because I surprisingly lost my tv remote in the move). Imagine that!

Thank you for your emails, text messages and warm wishes- please keep them coming. Miss y’all =)

Love,
Rochelle