Day 4 and 5, From Los Angeles to Las Vegas

Today we are leaving the city that has given us such a warm welcome and gave us a great start to our holiday. Before we leave we have one more stop ... Venice Beach ... a place you have to see and feel. Such a colorful place right next to a gorgeous beach. I was looking for a nice hat and we tried some on at the first stand but didn't find one I like so we walked away and the owner of the stand acted all mad ... he thought we stole a hat because I had put on the one I already had again. Guess he doesn't know his inventory very well.

After that we went on our way to Las Vegas (with an overnight stay in Barstow). Of course we had to stop to take some pictures of a route 66 sign, when you're on it, you have to live it, right?! And then, right on the left side on the road, you see a very special place. Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch. Elmer Long build an inspiring forest of trees of bottles. It's colorful, serene, creative ... just beautiful! Can you imagine the contrast when arriving in Las Vegas the day after? The city with all the lights and music and people. First thing in Vegas we cruised up and down the strip, I was watching my eyes out, such a different, special place. Since we saw it was quiet at the famous Pawn Stars pawn shop, we stopped and had a look. One stop we could scratch off the list of places to see. After we arrived at the hotel we freshened up and went out for dinner and some serious sightseeing. We had dinner, walked through all the hotels, some shops, watched the fountain show at the Belaggio and saw so many things.
There are not enough words to describe this city and the way it made me feel, at first overwhelmed but soon enough it grows on you and you start to see the special beauty. The hotels are like small towns, build for people to enjoy their day and forget time. All the gambling tables, the shops, the food courts ... it's truly amazing.

After a long day and with over 36,000 steps in our feet we fell asleep like babies.

Day 2, Sightseeing

I'm a little bit behind on my log, the past couple of days were full of fun and when we got back to the hotel all I wanted to do was ... SLEEP! So now we're in Barstow, a bit earlier than other days so I'm trying to catch up starting with day 2.
Day 2, Thursday, was the big sightseeing day. Jetlag got us up early so we had plenty of time to see all the hotspots. Of course we started at Griffith Observatory, great views over the city and of course the Hollywood sign. On the way down we came past the Greek Theatre, for the TOTO fans a familiar venue. Of course we also had to see Capital Records.

SIghtseeing makes hungry so lunch was very needed, Gelson's Market has a big counter with all kind of ingredients so you can make your own salad and ... I'M LOVING IT!

After lunch we were recharged and went on with the sightseeing. We got as close to the Hollywood sign as we could without hiking, drove the Pacific Coast Highway, through Malibu and of course we stopped at the Santa Monica pier, had a look around, got our feet wet in the see and strolled Third Street with the sand of the beach still between our toes.

We ended our day at the BLVD Hotel in Studio City where we had a small Toto Fanpage America meet up, after years of strictly online contact I finally met Jay and Kathleen, the wonderful moderators of the Toto Fanpage America and very dear friends. Fellow fans Merrel and Dannene were there too and we had lots of laughs ... I however missed some jokes because I kept falling asleep so it was very clear it was high time to go back to our hotel and ... zzzzzzzzz ...

Day 3, Oh what a night!

Oh what a night!!!

But let me start with the day. Yesterday we didn't get to finish our list with 'must sees' so we went out to finish what we started. Of course we had to see Beverly Hills, so we did. Crazy TOTO fans as we are, we also had to see the house where little Luke grew up and played his first notes, Barnaby's where he went to hang, the Steakhouse and The Baked Potato.

Next stop was the Mulholland overlook, an amazing view over Universal and Studio City, we did some shopping at Rodeo Drive, well, OK, just window shopping ... ;-) .

The Farmer's Market was our next target and Grove too, we do NOT recommend the milkshakes at the Grove though. And now it was time to get covered in some TOTO fun. We had a pre-gig meet up at a hotel near the venue, LOTS of crazy women, normal men and an enormous amount of laughs and giggles. When it was time to line up for the VIP experience we went to the venue and were ready for a night of great music. Little did I know the night would become even more special than I expected. When we were set in front of the stage, ready to see the sound check and ask questions, my friend Kathleen took the first oportunity to ask the band if her friend from The Netherlands (yupz ... that's me) could sing with them. OH MY GOODNESS ... they let me get up indeed and I sang with my musical hero's. This had been a dream for so long and now I was there ... on the same stage ... making music together. Believe me, it's been 24 hours and I'm still high on cloud 9!!! Joe hugged me when I was done and said I did a great job. Still can't believe it!
After the soundcheck we had a meet&greet, Steve P. also complimented me on the singing and Luke called me 'singer girl'. I couldn't stop smiling. The gig was great too, lots of energy, just one thing that is really hard for me as a European fan ... WHY ON EARTH DO THEY HAVE ASSIGNED SEATS AT GIGS IN THE USA??? Not even a choice to stand! But hey ... that doesn't change the fact that it is still amazing to see the guys on stage.

We wanted to let the fun continue a little longer and headed to the original Tommy's for an after gig snack, by the time we went back to the hotel we were BEAT. But to end the way I started ... OH WHAT A NIGHT!!!

Day 1, time to travel!

Yesterday was a long day but everything went smooth and we arrived savely at the hotel. Flights went on time, no bad weather and hurray, just us on the row of 3 seats so we had some space! First lesson we learned ... never renting a car at AVIS again! Damn what a mess. First they gave us a car that didn't even fit 4 suitcases in the trunk, after we asked for a different one we had to wait for over 30 minutes to get another one. But now we drive a nice Nissan Rogue 2019 model.
From the plane we already say Bryce NP, Zion NP and Las Vegas so I guess we can skip that LOL.

Yesterday afternoon we walked and drove around Hollywood, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. The Walk of Fame is right around the corner of our hotel, of course we went to see the handprints of TOTO at the Guitar Center on Sunset Boulevard and I had my very first burger at In 'n' Out burger.

Wrote an update here yesterday but somehow it didn't post so now sitting here at 05.30 am (hurray jet lag LOL) to write a little update before starting our 2nd day of our holiday. Plans for today ... guess you'll have to wait to read all about it in the next log!

Much love from Sunny Cali!

Time to travel!!!

Finally time to travel. So excited to start our adventure. Waiting now to board the plane to London, then to Los Angeles from there.

ONE MORE WEEK!!!

One more week, it is getting so close now. Serge is all cool and collected, me ... I am excited, anxious, happy, scared but most of all ... READY TO GO!!!

Preparations have started

With only 17 days till travel time, preparations have really started. We filled in our ESTA applications, checked our flight schedules and booked a few hotels. Only the first couple though, after that we're gonna see where the road takes us.

To be continued ...

Welcome to our travel log

Hi,

Welcome to our travel log, we're going to keep a diary of our adventures on the road. We'd love for you to travel with us!

Join the fun!!!

Greetings,

Serge and Yvi aka Double Dutch