It’s been about a week since I arrived in Los Angeles and I’m slowly starting to become acclimated to my new, frantic environment. There’s a strange element of peaceful bliss about getting lost in the chaos of this city. I’m getting a better idea of the city layout and have starting ditching the GPS just to see if I can find my way around the city.
All the grocery stores are completely different on this side of the country. I’ve switched from the Publix, Bi-Lo, Ingles and Food Lions of the east coast to the Ralph’s, Vons, Trader Joes and Bristol Farms of the west coast. The only constant was Whole Foods, but I’d have to sell a kidney to shop there on a regular basis. Ralphs is the most similar to the east coast stores and there is a great one about a half mile away. Definitely caters to the UCLA crowd.
I’ve taken some pictures that need to get up on Facebook and Flickr soon. I’ll try to upload those this week. I haven’t been keeping up with TV and iPhone apps lately, but I have really enjoyed the new Sunny in Philly
season. It’s pretty incredible when a show can consistently stay hilarious season after season. I’m also digging the new version of the Facebook app for the iPhone. I can finally post to walls and return messages without logging into my computer. Yay!
Digsby just keeps better and better. They recently added LinkedIn support to the social networks. I’m not interested in status updates so much, but it’s interesting to see the updates when people change their job. Plus I never have to type in my log-in info anymore.
I don’t typically read Mark Cuban’s blog, but he made a great common sense post about building wealth this weekend. There are too many people living beyond their financial means in this country. I’d love to eat at Whole Foods and drink Starbucks everyday, but I don’t based on the same principles that he discussed.
So I moved again. This time it’s Los Angeles. I bought a new car (Mazda3 sedan) and started planning a trip across eight states to setup a new life in L.A. I said my goodbyes, loaded up the new ride with my earthly possessions and started the road trip.
But before I left, I loaded up a few helpful road trip iPhone applications. Travelocity was good for finding hotels near my GPS location. Gasbag was excellent for finding the cheapest gas in the area. Where was also decent for gas stations and Starbucks. I relied on a separate GPS unit for turn-by-turn directions. It was invaluable after stopping over in Memphis.
If you haven’t experienced Middle America before, there’s no better way to envelop yourself in the rural lifestyle than driving across the country. It was a little disconcerting at times where driving across long, empty stretches of Texas and New Mexico, but still worth the experience.
Favorite Exit: Exit 237 in Oklahoma on Interstate 40W. Do yourself a favor and stop at the Hungry Traveler. The place is in a desolate part of Oklahoma, the epitome of the middle of nowhere. I had a delicious mushroom and Swiss burger polished off with the best slice of blueberry pie that I’ve ever eaten in my life.
Favorite State: Arizona. Perhaps it’s just the northern section, but the slow transition from rocky desert landscape to lush, green mountains is really quite breathtaking. I stayed on Route 66 for one night after passing through Flagstaff. It made me think of the Pixar film Cars. (RIP Paul Newman. He was awesome as the voice of the Doc.) The gorgeous farmland of Oklahoma is in a close second.
Least Favorite State: North Texas. The entire area smelled like cow manure from one end to the other. My overnight stay in Amarillo was incredibly boring.
Favorite Overnight Stop: Memphis, TN. I got to see some old friends and eat two delicious plates of sushi.
I made to L.A. after four days. It didn’t rain one time during my trip. I’m staying on Wilshire Blvd. near UCLA. I might have lucked out with finding an excellent roommate and place to live on Craigslist. Only time will tell. It’s going to be interesting to see how well I can acclimate to the city. It’s overwhelming and exhilarating all at the same time.
