View from my hotel room in LA

Thursday I flew out to LA for a job interview.  By the time I landed and picked up my Dodge Avenger it was already dark, so I didn't do much that day but eat supper and head to the hotel.  I was able to "enjoy" a 2 hour drive (covering just under 50 miles).  Traffic out there really is that bad during rush hour.  For the first  hour and a half, I only covered about 15 to 20 miles.  The most annoying part was the motorcycles, who were all driving on the dotted lines in between other cars, instead of in the lane.  Turns out in California, it's legal for them to do that.  I've always wanted to try out the Avenger, and the rental place let you pick any standard car, and they had two a white and a black.  The hotel was very nice.  What was great about the hotel, was the check out was at noon.  That meant I didn't have to check out before the interviews.  I was able to come back, change clothes and pack up for the day.

My cool car rental

On Friday I had my interviews.  I had a two part job interview.  The first interview was with three people.  It lasted about an hour and a half, with situational questions that I got to answer.  At the end, I was able to ask them a few questions as well, to get more of a feel for the company, and what they value.  The second session was another hour long with the HR and some of the US and Canadian salesmen.  Mostly it was the same sort of questions, but a little more HR specific.  While we were talking toward the end, I mentioned that I intended to do a little sight seeing down the coast before flying out, since this was my first trip to California.  The lead US/Canadian Salesman, told me I should try out Neptune's Net on CA-1.  I tried a sampler plate, and it was pretty good seafood.  It wasn't really a sit down, so much as a biker swing through place, where you grab it, eat outside, and go.

Neptune's Net

I can see why some people would enjoy moving to California.  The small area I saw was very beautiful, and unique to anything I had seen before.  On one side of the road you could see the beach and the ocean off to the right.  On the other side, off to the left, it almost immediately climbed up into the mountains.  I will say, the beaches still don't compare to Anna Maria Island, but then again, I don't think many do.  Some of the beaches had primitive campsites, which I think would be fun for a day or two.  At the beach I looked for seashells, and didn't find a single one.  I was planning to get Britt a rock anyway, because that boy loves rocks, so I got both Britt and Ruth one.

A California Strawberry Field

I did swing by and look at a strawberry field or two out of curiosity.  I noticed they were using clear plastic, instead of black.  They had alot of bloom coming on, and seemed to already be picking very strong.  There's nothing to stop them now.  The market will be strong through Valentine's Day or so for sure, but after that, it might trail off with California berries coming in.    I was tempted to try one from the field, but I refrained.  I hated it when people did it in Florida.  However, I'm still convinced that Plant City has the best berries.

Britt's rock

The last thing to report was the marathon trip back.  So, basically I spent 18 hours getting from LA to San Fran, to Chicago, to Fort Wayne, and about 10 of that was layovers.  It was ridiculous, but I did want to get back home as soon as possible, just in case the baby decided to come early.  The only fun part of the whole trip, was being stuck in San Francisco.  I ran into four other poor souls who were taking the red eye from there.  To help pass the time (nearly 5 hours), we sat in a Chinese seafood place talking.  Two Canadians had changed vacation plans from the Northeast to a cruise out of Fort Lauderdale.  Two others were heading home to Washington DC.  It was kinda fun, to have all five of us stuck there until midnight before our flights out.

Danielle's favorite picture from the trip.