Day 14

Day fourteen, July 22,  2011

We were originally  suppose to leave LA very early Friday morning because we had a ten hour drive (at least) to San Diego.  Plus we quickly learned that no matter where or when you go somewhere in LA, you will sit in so much traffic that it is actually easy to forget you are on a highway because often times the roads resemble a parking lot. It is the first time I have ever seen traffic that makes New York City rush hour traffic look like nothing.  However, the night before we found a brochure for a tour of the Warner Brothers set where you come into contact with live sets (basically another opportunity to see celebs!!!) so I was all for it.  We choose to extend our stay in LA a little longer in order to make time to squeeze this tour in, even though that meant we would not arrive to San Diego until at least midnight.  

During this tour we went "behind the scenes" of the world's busiest motion picture and television studio.  We were going to be surrounded by actual filming and production among yesterday's and today's most famous sets, stages, props, costumes, crafts, and special effects.  It  began in a small theatre where we watched a 10 minute clip that showcased some of WB's best motion pictures and television series.  From there we boarded the shuttle.  Our photographer became Andrew's (our tour guides) co-pilot.  Matt, Steph, and I sat in the first row right behind them.  Before be inning the tour, Andrew reminded us that "this is real Hollywood at work and because nothing is staged, there is no telling what, or WHO, we may encounter!"  That was all I needed to hear, I studied every car and every person that passed our cart - I was determined to find a celebrity!

And we were off, our first stop, the only backlot jungle in the country.  Movies like Jurassic Park, The Last Samurai, and Million Dollar Baby were filmed here.  Most recently this set is the home of many scenes from the HBO series True Blood.  We saw the streets, homes, and sets where many famous TV series have been shot, including the park that Rachel and Phoebe (from Friends) jogged in during the episode where Rachel tried to ditch her new spastic jogging partner as well as the park where Ross played Rugby in the hopes to I press his new girlfriend.  We also saw the street that Charlie ran down in a drunken stopper when filming an episode of Two and a Half Men.  Other shows that have shot in these streets are West Wing, ER, Chuck, and Gilmore Girls.  There was a series, Pretty Little Liars, that was being filmed in one of the sound rooms while we were there.  Sadly it was a closed set and all of the actors and actresses were already inside - still no celeb!

Next it was time to get off the cart and walk around one of the sets.  Andrew explained how one set can be used in many ways and for many different movies.  While we were walking back to the cart, Steph over heard security telling another member of the tour that Brad Pitt was here filming a few weeks ago and was talking to some of the groups on tour!! I was now convinced that by the end of this 2 1/2 hour tour that for sure I would be a celeb.  We continued to drive around the grounds and saw the sets of many more movies.

We also visited the prop library, which houses millions of miscellaneous props.  This massive 3 floor building had anything you can ever imagine from furniture to art work to a set of plates and silverware from every time period imaginable.  Andrew explained to us that movie directors and producers from all over come here to "rent" or buy these objects for their movies.  Here we saw props that were used in Inception and Two and a Half Men.  We ended this section by walking into a set that was once a live, working set but has now been retired - it was the set of Central Perk!! The coffee house from Friends!

Now we squeezed (yes Matt, Steph and I have been sitting in a row that was really meant for 2 this entire tour so it was a little tight) back into the cart, next stop the WB museum.  This museum held artifacts and costumes from some of the most famous films.  The top floor was decided solely to Harry Potter.  Matt, being a huge fan of Harry Potter, enjoyed this section the most.  He was amazed at the detail that was put into all of the costumes.  Steph and I spent most of our time on the first floor, even though we did venture upstairs for a few minutes.  I mean it was cool but I guess we really did not appreciate it as much as others because neither of us have really ever been interested in Harry Potter.  Out favorite part was the Batman costumes and the outfits from Inception. 

Now I  knew the tour was coming to an end and still no celebrity so I knew as I boarded the cart that this may be my last opportunity.  I leaned over to Steph to make sure that she was checking inside all of the cars that were driving past and she assured me that she has not seen anything yet.  We headed back to main entrance and to my dismay we never saw a star.  I was a little upset but the tour was still worth it.  After the tour, Rob decided that a place like this most likely would be in need of an engineer.  This is when it came to me, I definitely missed my calling.  I need to move to LA and work in the movie business, of course not in the actual. Oviedo but behind the scenes because I was definitely meant to be around celebrities! Then I could worm as a seat filler on the side when the Oscar's come into town! Agh a girl can dream!

Immediately after the tour we headed to the car, filled up on gas, grabbed a quick bite, and we were back on the road, this time for a little longer than we had hoped but we knew what we were getting ourselves into when we signed up for the tour and it was totally worth it.  The drive started off a little rocky, as I mentioned earlier the traffic is out of control.  We sat in bumper to bumper traffic for what seemed to be forever.  The only thing we kept thinking is that we are going to be driving all night.  We made our way to Route 1, the highway that runs along the coast of California.  We saw the most amazing views of the Pacific Ocean crashing on the coast.  We captured a few pictures before the sun set.  This is about the time that we realized, for the first time, the scenic bi-ways and highways did not really tell us the whole truth.  Although this highway is beautiful, we wish that we could have been informed that it is not a great road to drive on night.  This highway took us up and down the mountains and around several hairpin turns.  Jeff was behind the wheel so we all felt safe, well most of us.  Matt had some difficulty with this part of the trip.  His fear of heights got the best of him.  His palms began to sweat, he started to get very hot, and his stomach was not feeling too well.  Rob assured him that we were fine but he just could not wait until we were off of that highway.  The rest of this trip was very uneventful because we were all so tired and just could not wait to get to the hotel.  

Finally, around 12:30 we arrived at the Red Motor Lodge Hotel in San Fran.  It was a good thing that we were all very tired because I think we may have had some difficulties falling asleep in this sweet establishment.  Let's just say that it was a slight step down from the Hampton's and Embassy Suit's that we had been accustomed.  This hotel was sketchy with a capital S!!  First the parking, the AI told us that we had to take our bubble off because she could not see the elevator door beyond our car.  Of course I to,d her that this would not be possible so she gave me directions to a parking garage below.  However, we had to tell her when the car was there because she had to open the garage.  Then we had to also push a button that was connected to the "front desk" in order to use the elevator.  The room was pretty standard for a motel, minus the fact that you could not take the remote into bed with you because it was bolted down to the desk.  We did hear lots and lots of sirens and screams from outside, but luckily we were all too tired to care plus we knew tomorrow was going to be an early morning.
Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!