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| The largest plane just passed us by at the parking lot |
B and I hit up 3 'stadiums' this week; the Rose Bowl, the Dodger Stadium, and the Hollywood Bowl. Suffice to say, this is the most social activities that we have had in one week. I can't stand being cramped around large crowds for the most part, but summers in LA are not to be beat. Everyone is out and about to appreciate all of the great summer events that entice people to leave the comfort of their homs.
This past week we have taken Tico to the usual; the Redondo Beach Dog park twice, and the El Segundo dog park, since it's a few miles down the from the Pet Smart store, where we scored his dog food on sale, so our savings went to a monkey plush doll for him.
Going back to the Rose Bowl, Mai and Jason invited us to their house in Lake Balboa for a BBQ Monday afternoon. Then all 8 of us (including friends John and Nunu, and Jason's parents) drove to the stadium after six. We watched some bands play, some bike show, and other entertainment before the fireworks took main stage at 9pm. My co-worker Brenna and her roommate Lindsay joined us just in time. No dogs were allowed.
Rose Bowl has flea markets (which means food = no dogs allowed, but the Rose Bowl park next door is pet-friendly) on 2nd Sundays of every month. They also host football and soccer games and concerts. This is my first time inside the stadium. I've been to the flea market, and I hiked with a group once around the stadium, but I've never been inside. It is huge, and seats 90K. There's a golf course and a large park right behind the stadium too.
This is my main pet peeve about large crowds: the parking. And for $20, it took us an hour to get in and out of the stadium. But I do love the idea of going to the Rose Bowl for fireworks, since we got a full view of the fireworks. For half an hour, the crowd is quiet, the sky is lit up, and the american flag is waving to the right of us. All is right in the world.
The following work week was crazy busy for me. I walked around like a chicken without a head for the most part of the week. So going to see a Dodger's Baseball game was a treat. The Dodgers lost that night. But it's all good. We got the premium field seats tickets from my bosses, and it came with free premium parking, so that was the fastest time we've ever got in and out of the Dodger's stadium. Hallelujah. We once had to park and walk to/from the lot that was right behind the 'Think Blue' sign before. B's sister Michelle and her husband Jerry joined us that night. I'm glad that they made it since they drove all the way from Riverside after a full day's work. Dodger Stadium has annual "Bark in the Park" at end of May, where you can bring your man's best friend. Make sure they wear the Dodger blues, though.
Dodger's Stadium is large too, and seats over 50K. We get there by 110 Freeway, to the Stadium exit. Parking is usually $10. B's family has 4 season tickets here so they are here all the time, but B and I rarely have a chance to go since it's used all the time. Besides, B is a Yankee fan more than anything. But we try not to rub it in. After all, I am more an Angels fan myself if anything.
B and I picked up some hot Genoa salami and Italian dry salami at Guilliano's, our favorite deli. With olives, macaroni salad, provolone and gouda, we got a nice spread. We also brought a red wine that I purchased in Temecula a few weeks ago called 'Group Therapy', and we shared that with D and Mike at the Hollywood bowl where they were playing the movie "West Side Story". We were at the benches at the very top, and we got a full view of the stadium of thousands of people like ants just below us - the Hollywood sign a few miles in front of us, a mountain side to the left of us, and the lit up cross on top of the hill to the right of us.
Wikipedia says it seats 17K. It looked a lot more. This summer's calendar include some Rachmaninoff\Beethoven\Tchaikovsky performances, LA Phil's Dudamel, Gladys Knight, Disney's Fantasia, some John Williams, and of course - fireworks. As far as I know, no dogs are allowed.
Mike and D were here a few weeks ago for the Hall and Oates concert, so they were pros at finding the best parking spot, which was the lot C for $16 across the street, and we just walked in the tunnel to cross, and we were in and out of the parking lot in about 5 minutes. Sweet. But to walk to the parking lot, the droves of people inching to get out of the stadium were a lot. Which made D blurt out 'moo'. We did feel like cows being herded out. This always remind me of the movie Soylent Green, so I told B. He's never heard of the movie before, so it's something that we'd have to Netflix one of these days.
Without giving away the ending, this is a great movie about overpopulation and the absence of natural resources we have in the world at this moment. People lined up for food and water. In the film, it is the year 2022; and you see people dressed in gloomy, simple grays and blacks walking around in droves. They were reminiscing about the world before, when people were young, and the world was better. There once were beautiful oceans and trees and streams and valleys of green and blue, flowers of various colors, animals of different species roaming around. Eggs were fresh, "you can buy real meat everywhere", and not the processed 'food' that they are eating. But, as one person corrected; "people were always rotten. But the world WAS beautiful".
It definitely is a beautiful world. LA is no tropical island, but it has enough dosage of culture and food and entertainment diversity that can keep anyone busy and happy. And with hundreds of dog parks and beaches all over Southern California, it definitely offers a lot to give Tico a wholesome, well-rounded dog's life. And we don't take that for granted. Movies the depict the future like 'Soylent Green' reminds me enough to appreciate it every day.
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