LA to Orange County (Monday 27 August)

Got up earlyish (8am) so that I had enough time to get myself showered, dressed & sorted before my friend came to pick me up.  Arrived at the hotel with 3 bags mostly full, left with 4 bags completely full.  Don't know how I am going to get around with just 1 big bag & 1 carry-on bag, will definitely have to look into getting stuff shipped back home, also coz the train & bus services here have a baggage weight limit.  No fair!!  LOL

Anyhoo, G picked me up about 11am & we headed off to see a few sights.  Went to & had a walk around the Chateau Marmont, an extremely posh hotel in Hollywood.  Drove around Hollywood Hills, oohed & aahed at the big houses and lovely views.

View from between a couple of houses in the Hollywood Hills.

Some of the houses in the Hollywood Hills.  That huge building in the middle of the photo is just one house!!

Looking out over Hollywood from the Hollywood Hills.  The tall buildings in the distance are Central LA.

View from the Hollywood Hills.  Think the road is Sunset Boulevard.

Close up of Central LA from the Hollywood Hills.

Side of the road in the Hollywood Hills.  Very steep drop & no barrier!!  And this is one of the 'rich' areas in LA.  I will never complain about the state of our roads back home again.

Drove around Bel Air & then into Malibu for a looksie.

The famous Beverley Hills Hotel.  No, I didn't stay here, we just drove up the driveway & out again. 

View of Malibu Beach from the car.  

After that we headed to Orange County, which apparently is not part of Los Angeles, I learn something new everyday, which is where G lives and spent a while looking for a donut place.  Finally found it - Randy's Donuts - bought a couple of donuts and I have to say that they were worth the hassle. 

Damn good donuts!!!

Then we went to The Queen Mary, a cruise ship docked at Long Beach - http://www.queenmary.com - and had lunch at one of the restaurants on board.  Then had a walk around the ship & saw some of the original furniture & fittings, was very interesting.

Ulrich looking at the view while we had lunch on The Queen Mary.

Closer shot of the view.

The Queen Mary.

It took us about 2hrs to get back to Fullerton (the 'suburb' in Orange County where I am staying) so we went to the hotel so I could check-in and drop off my luggage.  When I arrived the guy at the front desk asked if I wanted to upgrade from a standard 2 queen bed room to a 1 king bed room with jacuzzi at no extra cost, to which I said "Yes, please".

Bathroom of my upgraded hotel room.

View from just past the bathroom.

View from standing in front of the jacuzzi.

View from the lounge area of the room.

Me in the jacuzzi (empty of course) in my room.

After dropping off my bags & oohing at the room we headed to In'n'Out Burger for dinner.  I forgot to get a photo of their menu, but if we go back I will because many won't believe what they offer - just 3 burgers (hamburger, cheeseburger & double double burger (a double cheeseburger), fries & drinks, that's it, no chicken, no salads, no nuggets, and it was really busy.  

My meal - cheeseburger & fries, animal style.  They don't advertise 'animal style' but if you know about it you can ask for it and it's fried onions, melted cheese & pickle sauce (similar to McD's Big Mac sauce) added to your burger & fries.

After filling up on a burger & fries we went to Walmart to pick up a few supplies and then it was back to my hotel and bed.