Just a Thought

My Trip To L.A

kelleysdiy

As most of you know, I live in the So. Ca. desert.  All the beautiful wildflowers are blooming all over the desert. I just love this time of year.

Well, I had to go see a Dr. at UCLA in Los Angeles. L. A was my birthplace and I was excited anticipating the drive with my friend, I haven’t been to L.A for years. I was so excited with this trip and wanted to share it with you!

With all the rains we have had here in Ca, the views were so so beautiful. First time in decades Ca isn’t in a drought. All the hills which are usually just brush was alive with beautiful greenery! (Please remember these photos were taken by my phone while on the freeway.

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It was such a calm relaxing drive. We listened to music, and sang the whole way, what fun! We knew we were getting close when we came upon this exit to La Brea!

Then there it was in it’s majestic splendor, downtown LA. I was leaning over in front of my friend who was driving, to take these pics out of her side of the window. Yes, that sounds dangerous, but we were moving very slow. I was so excited! We don’t have any high rises, except the casinos and some hotels where I live now, this was just amazing to me to see!

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But look at that smog!

The buildings were so tall when we were in the city!

Do you like how I took that second shot at an angle??

I met up with the new Surgeon and I really like him, and he gives me hope.  So, I will be visiting L.A. for the next few months often, which is great because we are going to hit the downtown fashion district!

Hope you enjoyed the pics, and have a great week!

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The Luxury Closet

Published by kelleysdiy

I love creating new ideas. And now that I am happily retired, I have lots more time to create them! Whether its crafts for decorating my home, or up cycling items I find at garage sales, thrift stores, and even on the curb, and turning them into something wonderful. The creative juices flowing in my head are almost always in overdrive....so many ideas! I love sharing my new ideas with all of you! So please follow me and let me know how I'm doing! I hope I can inspire you.....and if I do....send me a pic. I would love to see your creation.

48 thoughts on “My Trip To L.A”

  1. I haven’t been to down town L.A. in years. I grew up in the San Fernando area and am currently in central Cal. Just remember that the governor has declared the drought over doesn’t mean we should go back to our wasteful ways. We should still conserve water. I remember many droughts when I was a kid. It seems they last 6 or 7 years and then we are good for 2 to 3. That’s not a very good ratio.

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    1. Oh I agree with you 100%. In the desert here we have so many golf courses which use waste water. It’s not drinking water, but the city parks do the same.They have been declaring Ca. in drought for several years. Good news for the forests, less fires.

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  2. Wonderful pictures! And you made the trip fun! Road trips are pretty cool. Hate to hear about your reasons for the road trips though.
    After not venturing out much to any place other than a couple of small towns with 25,000 people each within 25 miles, we are now driving to a real city 55 miles away twice a week. I had forgotten how much better the selections are in the city at places like Kroger, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot & Lowes! And the restaurants! We have eaten at different one every trip so far. LOL

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    1. It started with my stupid pride. I had a bunion removal. Well, the plate broke, another surgery with just the screws, 3 of 4 screws are broken and backing out. So hardly any more real estate left, I went to a top surgeon in LA. This time taking bone graft from hip. I am a strong woman! I’ve been through worse, and came back stronger. I don’t look forward to any kind of surgery, but I will be fine. All the stuff I have done in the past year here on my blog are on a knee scooter..haahaa. So creativity doesn’t disappear, it makes me so much stronger!

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  4. I love L. A. Thank you so much for sharing the photos with us. I’m glad you found a surgeon you love. It really helps. You’re in my prayers. 😊❤

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  5. Beautiful pictures Kelley….sending prayers all goes well for you with your Dr. appointments.  God Bless!  🤗Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy Tablet

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      2. Before I answer that I have to say, I live in the desert, clear skies is what I’m used to. I did grow up in the 60’s near LA, no smog then. On the drive all of a sudden you see this smog. You can see the beautiful blue skies disappear in this smog cover.

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      3. A wise friend just pointed out an interesting fact: my family moved from the desert to the LA Basin weeks before school began in 1965. I remember being terribly disappointed by the dark skies. I had forgotten feeling very concerned about the news reports of the riots happening in Watts. Though I recall taking weeks to adjust to smelly, dirty air, it’s possible the cover at the time was actually smoke. I’ve enjoyed this post and chatting with you 😊

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      4. I remember the Watts riots…terrible. It is so sad to see such a beautiful city topped with pollution like that. I have enjoyed chatting with you too! Have a wonderful day!❤️️☺️

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      1. Brent is my colleague in Southern California who I regularly say bad things about. He is a renowned landscape designer. We were roommates in the dorms while studying horticulture at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in the 1980s. If you did not see him waving, you likely saw some of his trees. We have been planting his birthday trees since 1998 in that region, and planted many of the trees in the big median of San Vicente Boulevard. If you saw La Brea Avenue as you drove over it, you likely saw some of the trees we planted there.

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      3. Most of the trees on that section of La Brea Avenue are California pepper, Schinus molle. Several nice specimens are in the median of La Brea Avenue to the north and south of the Santa Monica Freeway, with a few in the parkstrips. Century plant, Agave americana, is mixed in with those out in the median. California sycamores, Platanus racemosa, are in the parkstrips farther to the north. If you happen to exit from either direction of the Santa Monica Freeway onto northbound South La Brea Avenue, there is a Mexican fan palm, Washingtonia robusta, on the left (west) side of the street. just past West 23rd Street that is obscuring a billboard. Brent planted most of the street trees in that region. South Orange Drive two blocks to west is nicely shaded by tipu tree. Tipuana tipu. If you happen to see the medians of San Vicente Boulevard, the trees there are quite a mix too many things to list, and some were added after we stopped planting there.

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      5. Oh no. It was done quite illegally. As a nurseryman, I happened to be responsible for the disposal of many unmarketable slightly ‘imperfect’ trees. As a resident of Los Angeles, Brent happened to know of many places where we could sneak some of these trees in. We started planting them in the median of San Vicente Boulevard on January 18 in 1998, for Brent’s thirtieth birthday, and expanded outward from there. We planted 30 at first, and then 31 the following year for Brent’s thirty first birthday. We plant one more each year than the previous year, so were up to 51 for Brent’s 51st last January. The department of Public Works was baffled by it for years. It was easier for us to do it the way we did than to try to procure permits, and then be instructed on what to plant by those who know nothing about trees. Many of my trees would not have worked in Los Angeles, so were not used. We did happen to try coastal redwoods, just because we were not sure how well they would do. (They failed, but at least we know.) We are both horticulturists, and I am an arborist, so I trust our judgement more than that of anyone or any group of anyones in the Department of Public Works. In the future, I would like to grow trees specifically for the project. Neighborhoods are helping us more with it, and some do their own projects.

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      7. Goodness; we planted 93 just in the first three years (30 + 31 + 32), plus a few extra every year. I have not done the math for how many we planted in the past twenty years! That does not even include the extra projects that are separate from the birthday trees. Los Angeles is such a vast city that the Department of Public Works could not keep track of it. They probably thought that some other department was doing it. It took them a while to figure out that they really had no idea who was doing it. By that time, campaigning politicians were trying to take credit for being involved with the projects (which is a ‘standard’ practice here in Los Gatos too.) They still try to pretend that they are ‘good buddies’ with Brent, even after Brent busted some selling mature palms off of the embankments of the Santa Monica Freeway. Most of our first trees that were planted in the median of San Vicente Boulevard are gone now because of the new trolley system being constructed there. We knew that they would be temporary, but they were worth it while they lasted.

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      11. The smog is not nearly as bad as it was decades ago. When I went to the Los Angeles region in the late 1980s, I really did not know that the San Gabriel Mountains were right there in the background. With the exception of the experimental redwoods that we planted in the beginning, we plant trees that are resilient to pollution. Redwoods would do better there now than they did back then, although I still would not recommend them. There happens to be a few in Franklin Canyon Park and Griffith Park.

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      13. When Brent took me to your region back then, I was SO amazed by Joshua trees, and then the desert fan palms near Palm Springs. The region was so empty back then. Brent thought my reaction was funny, but then he reacted the same way when he came here and saw the redwoods.

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      14. probably was here back then…gosh. when I came there was nothing much but desert and some trees. Now, wow! They have brought in so many different varieties from all over the world. ☺️❤️️

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      17. It was so scenic when I was there. As it became developed, I sort of thought that once the region is deprived of the scenery, it would not have much more than the weather going for it.

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      18. The surrounding mountains are gorgeous,particularly now when they are capped with snow! I was in LA again. I checked out on the way the palms. I did see many, they don’t really trim them though. Would look a lot cleaner.

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      19. Those on the embankment of the Santa Monica Freeway around La Brea Avenue had always been neglected, although they look good even as they grow wild. When Brent caught and exposed those stealing them, it was because they were pruned and groomed first. Brent saw that they were getting pruned and groomed, and then saw empty craters where they had been! Then, he noticed fresh new palms at a new development on Wilshire Boulevard.

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      21. It involved several palms, but the one that remains is very well pruned and groomed among others that have never been pruned right on the northern embankment of the Santa Monica Freeway, just west of La Brea Avenue. After a few were taken, but before more were pruned, Brent realized what was happening and put a stop to it before that last one was taken.

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  9. We went to get our taxes done in Lake Elsinore last weekend and we were stuck in traffic because of the super bloom on the hills. There were soooo many people invading the area and the city was at a standstill. But the hills were beautiful. I had never seen anything like it. I had seen the poppies before but nothing like this explosion of color. The hills were orange but up close, you could see the beautiful yellow and purple wildflowers as well. I got some ‘through the window’ pics as well. I love your pics of your trip to L.A. So happy to hear you liked your surgeon.

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      2. The wildflowers here in the desert is gorgeous too. I love seeing all the beautiful hillsl.The mountains surrounding me are filled with greenery and with snow. Beautiful!

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