Weekend Update: L.A. Road Trip

Well, THIS is how my weekend started on my way home from work on Friday:

It was only 116 degrees out and I had to pee! I was driving on the 60 when I realized the noise I had been hearing was my car and not the junky car that was driving behind/next to me. Getting a flat tire while driving has always been a fear of mine, so I'm kinda glad that it happened in order to help my nerves. It just made a repetitive sound (Jay later told me that that's the main indicator of a flat) and the driving felt weird. So I slowed down quite a bit and got off at the first exit I could. Jay was flying so I called AAA (that's what we pay them the big bucks for, ya know) and they came within about 20 minutes. Jay put 4 shiny new tires on it today and I'm good to go!

Now, on to the real weekend. We left early Saturday morning for L.A. Jay's boss' wife was throwing him a surprise birthday party and we decided it would be fun to go. We were also happy to escape record heat (even though L.A. was experiencing record heat too - it just wasn't as bad as in Phoenix).

About 50 miles (give or take) east of L.A., we saw huge clouds of smoke over the mountains. It's wildfire season here in the desert, so it's not uncommon to see this time of year. More on the fire later, but here is what we saw rolling into town:
Our first stop in town was Fab Hot Dogs. We had seen this place on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Friday night and figured we'd check it out since it wasn't too far from our hotel.
We hadn't really thought of the fact that there would be a crowd (we weren't the only people who saw the show by the way - whadda know). Let's just say we had plenty of time to go grab a beer at a bar down the street while we waited for our dogs. We got back just in time and this is what we had:
Left to right: Mine - The Ripper (deep fried dog) with cheddar and onions, Jay's Chicago dog, and Jay's "Bald Eagle" which is a Ripper with a house-made mustard relish on it. You can see in the picture that Jay was waiting patiently to dig in :) They were very good and I definitely recommend you check it out if you are in town (it's in the Reseda area).

Afterwards we had a much-needed nap to sleep off the big lunch and then got ready for the party. We had watched the news while getting ready and found that the fire was rapidly spreading and only 5% contained. Evacuations were happening right by the boss' house in La Canada (pronounced La Can-yada by the way - I really want to call it La Can-a-da though!). Driving up there, we had to detour a little bit around closed roads. I could see several tanker planes diving into the fire and releasing retardant (the red stuff). There were at least 5 aircraft I could see right in the action, and I'm sure there were several others in the area. Here is a photo still a little ways from their house:

This picture was taken from their backyard...
...as was this:
Luckily, the boss and his family hadn't gotten evacuated yet (they are ok) and the party went on. It was a great time and nice getting to know Jay's co-workers better. It was soooo smoky out there that we had to put our clothes in a separate bag Sunday morning so they didn't stink up everything else we had. Several guests at our hotel were evacuees and I'm not sure if it's because they were staying there or what, but the entire hotel hallways and lobby smelled like smoke Sunday morning too. This fire is now well over 100,000 acres (it was just around 20,000 on Saturday) and has taken several homes and the lives of 2 firefighters. I pray that firefighters get it under control soon before there is anymore destruction to people and property.

Sunday, Jay and I had brunch with an old friend of mine. Jonny and I went to junior high school together and have gotten back in touch through, you guessed it, Facebook. He has been in L.A. for about 10 years now and so I gave him a heads up that we were coming and they invited us over! It was so nice to catch up (it had been 17 years since we'd seen each other!) and see their beautiful home in Woodland Hills. It was built in the 60s and they have done some great renovations. Jonny's husband Jason made the most delicious bacon & cheddar quiche, potatoes, salad and sweet bread! It is moments like this that really make me glad that Facebook exists. It was so nice to be able to have a connection after all these years!

Jonny, Me, Jason

After filling up on brunch, we headed back home. The smoke was worse than ever, so it was nice to finally get out of the haze. We stopped at the outlets in Palm Springs for a little (unsuccessful) shopping and made it home around 6:30 which was really nice - gave us time to eat dinner and decompress after all that time in the car!

Tomorrow is our last day of work before we head back east to visit family and friends! It might be a little while before the next post, but we're sure to have some great pictures and updates!!