LA Seminar August 10th -15th

I like flying to the west coast I had a 11:35 AM flight and I was in LA by 1:30 PM, as opposed to when I fly east, I will have a 7:30 AM flight and I won't land until almost noon. Unfortunately the return trip isn't as nice, the last flight out of LA is at 5:00 PM. Too early for me to finish class, pack up and make it to the airport. My only alternative is the red eye, leave at 12:30 AM and arrive in Minneapolis at 6:00 AM.

My company rented with Avis for years but several years ago they started renting with Hertz, for some reason I was booked with Avis again, which is fine with me. My only complaint with Avis was the last time that I rented form them (I am Preferred) they did not have my car ready and I had to go to the rental desk to get my car. It happened again in LA, I was dropped at the Preferred building, I checked the board for my name and once again there was not car space indicated on the board so I had to stand in line at the Preferred desk. I was doing a slow burn while I waited in line so I had to remind myself not to take it out on the girl behind the desk, it is not her fault. She gave me keys and the rental contract and told me that I would like the car. I walked out to the indicated space and saw a black Camero. She was right I did like the car until I tried to put my suitcase in the trunk, it didn't fit but I was able to wedge it into the back seat.

One thing about the new Cameros, people LOVE the car, I got comments every where I went. It started with a young couple several cars down from the Camero in the Avis lot when I was trying to get suitcase in the trunk, the wife looked over and gave her poor boyfriend/husband the line about "why didn't we get one of those?". Next, I was pulling into a Home Depot to get some seminar supplies and a man exiting the lot pointed and shouted "that's what I am talking about!". Then I had a woman in a convertible BMW look over and say "nice car". When I was gassing the car at the end of the trip, the woman the next pump over was telling me how much she liked my Camero and she was thinking of trading her convertible Mustang for one. My favorite comment was from a little kid in a parking lot in Malibu, he said, "I'm waiting for it to transform". I also had a family stop and look at the car in the same parking lot. Chevy, I think you have a hit with the Camero.



The Camero had a V6 so it was fairly fast and it got good gas mileage, my only complaint is it did not sound that nasty, it almost sounded like a four cylinder. I know Chevy could make it sound throatier because my wife's Infinity G35X sounds really nice when you jump on it. I do have one other complaint, the roof of the car is chopped so low it is hard to get in and out of the car, also I was constantly hitting my head on the roof of the car (and I am only 5'9") but the low roof is what helps give the car its good looks.

We have had several seminars at the Holiday Inn Airport in LA, it's not a bad hotel but I decided to try someplace different this time. Our travel agent found the Crowne Plaza Airport and it is literally next to the airport, it is so close that you will find a a sleep mask and ear plugs in your room when you check in. I did wake up several time due to jet noise but it is no worse than other airport hotels that I have stayed at.





Like other in town hotels, parking was extra, the regular price was $12 per day but they gave us the corporate rate of $8 per day. They even gave me a stamp that I used to validate the student's tickets ($50 dollar fine if I was to lose it). The parking ramp is not connected to the hotel, and the parking ramp is shared with other businesses so hotel patrons have to park on the forth level or higher, also the parking spots are really small and with the huge doors on the Camero it was fairly tough squeeze to get in and out of the car.


My hotel room was OK, nothing spectacular. The banquet rooms were on the second floor, nice rooms but again nothing fantastic. The banquet people and the front desk people were great. Melisa Balanon was the Banquet Manager and she good at her job, she found me when I was setting up to verify that I got all of my equipment and she checked with me every day to make sure that I did not have any problem. Sometimes I will see the banquet manager once during the week. The lunches were excellent, huge amount of food and it was well prepared.


Our travel agent actually asked me if I wanted a car when she booked this trip! Hell yea! Of all of the places I don't want to sit in my room after class, LA is at the top of the list. Besides I had to run to Home Depot and Office Depot for supplies and I am ashamed to admit that I forgot my dress shoes so I had to go buy a pair.

I went so Santa Monica for dinner one night, it is a nice city and Third Street Promenade is much larger than the last time I was there. I wondered around for several hours and finally ate dinner at a deli on the end of the promenade. Hanging around Santa Monica is a great way to waste an evening.

The hot yellow Ferrari was parked in Santa Monica.

I had gone to Venice Beach many years ago and I thought I checked it out again. I don't know if I have less tolerance for head shops or I was in a bad mood but I didn't like a lot of Venice Beach and see no need to go back again. The people watching is great, this is where the really odd people that want attention are. There are several medical marijuana store fronts mixed in with the head shops. The beach is beautiful and I would run on the path if the logistics worked out, other than the running path and beach Venice holds no attraction for me.

 

Since I took the red-eye back I had time to kill after class on Friday. I decided to see Malibu, unfortunately I got to experience the infamous LA traffic. It took me an hour and a half to go the twenty-six miles. I was a teen in the sixties so there was something a little surreal about cruising Malibu in my new Camero listening to The Beachboys. The beaches are beautiful, Pepperdine is an incredibly beautiful college, and the beach houses are amazing. I went to Starbucks and checked my email, then drove up the coast but returned to Mailbu to have dinner at Marmalade Cafe. Dinner was excellent, it was as nearly as good as my favorite Italian restaurant in Minneapolis (Broader's). After dinner I drove back to the airport, I was early but I had a Delta Sky club pass, so I went to the club, had a beer, and used their wifi to check email again. I got as much sleep as I could on the three and a half hour flight, but I still came home and crashed until 11:00 am. I was suppose to buy a car (Audi TT) and had arranged to meet the seller at a bank in Apple Valley. I was late but they understood when I explained I had taken the red-eye.

Recap

The hotel is a three out of five stars (not bad but not great).


Banquet rooms are a three out of five.


The hotel employees are great, five out of five.


The hotel parking ramp is a pain in the butt.






Banquet food is great.


Santa Monica is a great place to hang out for the day.


Venice Beach is a pass, don't waste your time unless you are looking for medical marijuana.


The Camero was great.


Malibu is great.


Marmalade in Malibu has excellent Italian food.