Steve and Charlene drove us to the Grand Rapids airport. We went from Grand Rapids to Chicago O’hare airport. We had a 1 hour layover in Chicago. We left Chicago at 10 a.m.
Carol was there to pick us up at the Los Angeles airport. She drove us in her sports car to Aunt Elsie Lang’s trailer. We had a nice lunch. Carol drove us around Stanton, which was where Elsie lived. We stayed at Aunt Elsie’s overnight. She gave us her waterbed, which was pretty cool.
June 15, 1988: Beverly Hills
We took a tour on the Pacific Coast Tours to Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Sunset Strip, Rodeo Drive, the Farmers Market, and Universal Studios. There were 3 different looking buildings in LA that had a revolving restaurant. This is where the show “It’s a Living” was filmed.
In Universal Studios, we took a tour of where “Charles in Charge”, “Out of this World”, and “Simon and Simon” were filmed. Tom Hanks was filming at Universal Studios, but I didn’t get to see him. I saw the restaurant they used in "Back to the Future" and the log cabin used in the "Great Outdoors".
We got back to Elsie’s around 7:30 p.m. and watched TV. Elsie fed us very well while we stayed with her. She was such a wonderful lady.
She made bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. I still talk about those bagels and cream cheese with her.
June 16, 1988: Spruce Goose and Queen Mary
We went to Spruce Goose and Queen Mary on Gray Line Tours. I learned about the largest airplane ever built. We went to Ports O’Call to do some shopping. We took a cruise around the harbor of Ports O’Call. I thought that part was boring.
June 17, 1988: Disneyland
We went to Disneyland in Anaheim, which was off of Harbor Blvd. We drove Elsie’s late husband's car there, which was so old and hard to drive. It was hard for my mom to put on the brakes.
We got to Disneyland and rode a bunch of rides, such as Space Mountain, Autopia, Haunted House, and Submarine Voyage. Space Mountain was pretty cool. It was a roller coaster in the dark. There were stars on the ceiling which was pretty cool. It went backwards, too. While we were in line, I was reading all of the warnings about the ride and started to get scared, but I ended up going on it. My Mom and I freaked out on it, so we only went on it once. But, now I can say I have rode Space Mountain.
June 18, 1988: Mann’s Chinese Theater
Carol Caliva went with us to Mann’s Chinese Theater to get tickets for the Star Home tour in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, and Hombly Hills. We saw the homes of Ed McMann, Lucille Ball, Dick VanDyke, Johnny Carson, Aaron Spelling, Eddie Murphy, Burt Reynolds, and Lonnie Anderson. It was a 2 hour tour.
Carol drove us to California State University to the Westwood Shopping area. I bought a green sweatshirt that said "Universite of Beverly Hills" and Rodeo Drive in pink letters on it. Carol bought a white, long sleeved t-shirt that said "Rodeo Drive" on it. We ate at a Hamburger Hamlet. When we got home, we watched "Golden Girls" and "227" on channel 4.
June 19, 1988: Crystal Cathedral
Today, we went to a church service at the Crystal Cathedral. Robert Schuller was the famous pastor of the church. He had his son, wife, and 4 children at the Father’s Day service. This show was filmed for TV. I was hoping we would be seen on TV.
Later, we went to Knott’s Berry Farm. We went to an ice skating show which was good. We also went on a ride called, Bigfood Rapids, that really got us wet. We had their famous chicken dinner. There is nothing like mashed potatoes, gravy, and homemade biscuits.
Elsie was kind and bought me some gold earrings in the gift shop at Knott’s Berry Farm.
June 20, 1988: Solvang
Today, Carol, Elsie, my Mom, and I rode to San Simeon to go to the Hearst Castle. We drove along the mountains of the Pacific Ocean. It was gorgeous.
Stopped in Solvang, which was a German community with many shops. We had our first experience eating potato pancakes. I think I saw the actress, Traci Gold, from the show, "Growing Pains", as I came out of the bakery.
We also went to a show and learned some things about the Hearst Castle.
When we got to San Simeon, we stayed at the Holiday Inn. Our plans got all goofed up because Carol's travel agent told us the wrong hotel. We had a door that divided our rooms together.
June 21, 1988: Hearst Castle
We took tour #1 of the Hearst Castle. The castle was all white and huge.
My Mom tried to hint to Carol that she wanted to go to the Winchester House, so Carol drove north to San Jose. We stayed at the Best Western Sandman on Trimble Road in San Jose.
For dinner, we went to this restaurant called, "The Peppermill". All of the waitresses had real short outfits. We liked the atmosphere around us, but our food didn't taste very good. I laughed when I saw Elsie looking up at the mirrored ceilings trying to see under the waitresses' skirts.
June 22, 1988: Winchester House
Today, we went to the Winchester House and took a tour of the mystery house. Sarah Winchester was told by the spirits that the house needed to be built with 13 steps, 13 tiles, etc. If she didn't do this, then she would die because she was killing someone in the Winchester family. The gardens at the house were gorgeous.
June 23, 1988: Diane Patterson/Medieval Times
Today, we slept in while Elsie got her hair done. We washed our clothes in the laundry at her park. In the afternoon, we went shopping in Bueno Park Mall.
At night, Diane Patterson, came with us to Medieval Times, where we ate chicken, soup, spare ribs, potatoes, and cheesecake with our hands. While we ate, we watched a horse and knight show. We were on the red team.
June 24, 1988: San Diego Zoo
We took Fun Bus Tours to Old Town and to the San Diego zoo. The zoo was ok, but you couldn't see many of the animals because of all of the plants in the way.
June 25, 1988: Ed's House
Shopped at Mervyn's store. We went to Ed's house on Segal Street. Then, we stopped at Carol's house on 11308 Edgefield Street in Cerritos, California. We had dinner at an authentic Chinese restaurant around the corner from her house. I got a ride in Carol's boyfriend, Eddy's red sports car. We went on the 39 and 605 freeways. He taught me how to use the stick shift. Eddy is Cuban and has dated Carol for several years.
June 26, 1988: Knotts Berry Farm
Elsie, Mom, and I went to breakfast at Knott's Restaurant at Knott's Berry Farm. At 1:30, Diane and Bob came over and we went to the Griffith Observatory. We could see the Hollywood sign from the observatory. We had dinner at the french restaurant, Mimi's cafe on Beach Blvd.
June 27, 1988: Catalina Island
We left for Catalina Island on an 18 mph boat that took about 2 hours. We had lunch at Busy Bee's restaurant. We took a tour of the casino. The ride back on the boat was very rocky and I got seasick.
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