h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hopefully!

I'm excited. I can show you and Spartus around the Valley.

Have you ever been out here before? I think you'll probably like it, even if it is the Valley in August...

Yay! *jumps up and down for a bit*

Nope, never been before. Actually, the biggest challenge is that, well, I really hate California. I'm not sure why I do, I just always have. I've longed to live in New York or England, and I've never been there either. I just have always felt "pulled" to the east, and the west seems to stand for everything I hate and loathe about America. (Although J insists that that is the "media's" fault for making Cali seem so shallow, but I dunno...) So now J is endowed with the seemingly impossible task of making me like California while I try not to make it too hard for him. Should be fun.

But I am getting rather excited because I love to go to new places, and I think St. Louis is wearing on us both. So if I think "Anything's better than here!", we're sure to have a grand time. Plus I finally get to meet his family, and they get to meet the person that took him away from them. Again... fun.

Basically, I want to see the Hollywood sign and the Jerry's Deli that Andy K. used to work at. When J asked me what I wanted to see while we were there, that's all I could think of. Which means we should have plenty of time to hang out!

I know he has his own itinerary in mind, but what do you think we should do while we're there?

Well, over at his weblog, Justin had mentioned that he wanted to take you crusing up PCH at night, which is an idea that I may just have to steal. That is so darn beautiful it's frightening.

Then, there's Citywalk, which can be amusing, especially if you want to play in the jumping fountain.

But I definately want to do coffee or sushi or curry or something when you two get here. I've yet to meet anybody from the floor, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Um, other ideas for California... OH! If he tries to talk you into seeing the new Disneyland park, I can tell you right now that it sure as heck isn't worth the price of admission. It's really and truly lame. The only cool thing there is the rollercoaster, but if you wanna go on a roller coaster, go to six flags Magic Mountain in Valencia. California Disney really sucks.

Lessee... There's Knotts Berry Farm, and Six Flags, and Universal Studios, (they replaced the Jaws attraction! Stinkers!) and Disneyland (the real thing, not the crappy California Adventure thing.) and the beaches. I reccomend Zuma, even though it is a bit of a haul from where you'll be. You could go to Santa Monica Pier or Third Street Promanade, or the Block in Orange, which has a Gameworks.

If you're in Long Beach, you could go to the Aquarium of the Pacific or the Queen Mary.

(gosh, I never realized how much fun stuff there was over here to do... )

Yay! Amanda and Justin are coming over to visit!

I fear that "too much stuff" is going to be our problem. That happens when you visit hip and happenin' places... too much stuff, too little time...

'Cept for Miami. Miami was most definitely hip and happenin' and I did not at any point in time feel rushed or obligated to do anything--and we were on an extremely tight schedule! But I digress...

Anyway, that all sounds very lovely and I'm sure I'll enjoy it. California almost seems like a foreign country to me, so forgive me if I point and gawk too much. I'm having a hard time disassociating L.A. from L.A. Story, but I'll try to laugh on the inside. Just as long as I don't come off as an uncultured hick from the Midwest, and am not expected to have any plastic surgery before I arrive, I think the hardest part of the trip might be the plane ride (which J is being wonderfully supportive about). And meeting his friends (whom I've heard many...interesting stories about).


But are you sure we can do all that and have coffee, too? That's what I really need to know. We must have coffee.

I have no intention of going to that new Disney thing. I happened to catch a rerun of Rosie O'Donnell the other day (satellite dish tomorrow! Woohoo!), and she and the cast of the Drew Carey show wandered around the place. It looked remarkably hokey, except for the Soaring Over California ride, which looked pretty cool. Anyway, we don't really have the time to do it this time, plus August in Anaheim is maybe worse than August in the Valley.

And I can't BELIEVE they took out Jaws! Nasty evil filthy...*bad words*. Of course, I haven't actually *been* in Universal Studios in...hmm...15 years, I think. King Kong was new last time I was there, if that gives you a hint.

And at this point I'm seriously leaning to heading up LA way on Friday instead of Saturday, 'cause there is a LOT to see. I can plan and plan and plan, but I know deep down we're just going to mill around and totally ignore what plans I've made.

Should be fun.

Hey, Friday OR Saturday. Either way, I'm easy.

Where shall we meet? If you want to do Citywalk, I'm all for it. We could meet at the Hard Rock, or at Gladstones. Oooh, wait... there's not too many places for coffee at Citywalk.

And Amanda wants coffee. (frankly, so do I...)

Either way, I'm up for it. E-mail me and let me know the itenerary.