Tuesday, August 25, 2009

LA (rhymes with Valet)

I'm just back from a short (i.e., intense!) road trip with Juliet Blackwell, Sophie Littlefield, and Ann Parker. We drove from the Bay Area to Burbank, then on to San Diego, then back up to Thousand Oaks, Westwood, and Pasadena.
Here's what we saw most of the time:




One evening I went to dinner with an old friend who owns and operates an art gallery in Malibu. When we arrived at the busy restaurant, I mentioned how difficult it was going to be to park. But what did I know? Before I finished the sentence, my friend had handed her keys to a valet. I looked around. Valets were everywhere, at least 6 of them moving cars around for the three or four restaurants on the block. I also learned about the prevailing custom of hiring valets for private parties, even small ones. "Anyone who's anyone," as they say.
Where have I been? Guests arriving at my Castro Valley home have to fend for themselves. Sorry, friends! I'll see what I can do for the next gathering!

During the whole trip we were treated to most welcoming booksellers and readers, old friends and new.



The sweets on the tray are compliments of a local cafe a few yards from Mysteries to Die For in Thousand Oaks.




Who doesn't love Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego? Our only problem was not having enough time to shop there.



We had a great time at The Mystery Bookstore where I picked up a wonderful body outline pen holder. Strange, huh?

Sadly, I have no photographic evidence that we were at Book 'Em in South Pasedena on Sunday, but we do have great memories of the afternoon!



One more thing for my scrapbook: me and Dean Martin (well, his booth anyway) at a diner en route.


I'll bet I'm not the only one with memories of great road trip ...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Travel memories can take on a life of their own, once they are just that - a memory. They are always there to enhance later conversations and to improve on later planning. However, they are sure to have their pitfalls, and isn't that what we talk about most?xoxoxoxo

Camille Minichino said...

You mean like that one hotel bathroom that was the size of the ones on airplanes??

Julie said...

Sometimes serendipity happens. Driving from Indy to Las Vegas, we were forced to detour out of Denver, as I-70 was closed by a rockfall. Went southwest out of Denver to Fairplay and then up through Breckenridge to return to 70, and continue on to Utah, and Nevada. The scenery on that detour was some of the most spectactular I've seen, with vistas and forests and ranches that are the real thing, not Hollywood fakes. I've always been glad that rockfall happened.

Ann Parker said...

Fairplay! ... That's close to Leadville. :-) That would probably be "South Park" that you traveled through, Julie. Definitely beautiful scenery...
-- ann (remembering road trips of her own)

Ann Parker said...

Oh! I meant to add before I was derailed by the Colorado comment:
Great pics, Camille! But you left out the one of Marilyn Monroe at the diner...

Camille Minichino said...

Didn't you know? Marilyn ran off with the Blues Bros. statues.

Betty Hechtman said...

How neat to go on a road trip with a bunch of mystery authors. I love road trips. Well, I just love trips of all kinds.