Southwest Chief And Hollywood

April 12-14

We are onboard the Southwest Chief for our 44 hour journey from Chicago to Los Angelous. The journey took us through 6 states with two night spent in our roomettes. There are few distraction on the train since there is no internet so watching the landscape is the focus. Our country is beautify and diverse from the flat desolate fields in Missouri to the high desert and Mountains of the southwest. I didn’t take a lot of pictures because trying to shoot pictures through a dirty windo while the train is moving doesn’t create a good result. The sunrises and sunsets were spectacular!!!! Being on a train that long with little distractions allowed me to quiet my mind and enjoy the journey. Sleeping on a train is not easy! One night we hit a bad patch of rail and I was sure I was going to be tossed from my bunk.

We arrived in LA at 7:30am on Tuesday and after we settled into the hotel we headed out to explore. We are staying in the Hollywood area. Our hotel has a rooftop bar and pool that provides us a great view of the area including the Hollywood sign.

We headed to Hollywood Boulevard to check out all of the tourist attraction including the star walk of fame, the Dolby theater (where the Oscars are held)and the Chinese Theater. We were total tourist and had so much fun finding the stars of our favorite stars.

After lunch we headed to the Rock Walk at Guitar Center where there are hand prints and signature of rock stars.

Then we headed back to the hotel as our energy was waning from lack of sleep. As we were walking back we encountered a robot delivery bot!! It was so fun watching it stop at street crossings and at one point run off the sidewalk and right itself. OK, I am easily amused!!

After a bit of rest we walked to Mel’s Diner an icon in LA, for a bit of food. The best milkshake I have ever had!!!!

We made it back to the hotel for sunset from the rooftop of our hotel. A perfect ending to our first day in LA.