State #43, Winter Fun Half Marathon, Long Beach, CA, 1/20/19, Part 1

Hazel and I met at the LAX airport Friday night with much cheer. My flight arrived about 40 minutes late due to a delay in Charlotte, but she waited for me before catching the shuttle to bring us to a commuter station in Van Nuys. We met up at the baggage carousel, and I said goodbye to my new friend Beverly who had been my seat mate on the flight in to LAX. Haze and I grabbed our bags, and after a lengthy-ish wait for the Fly Away Bus, boarded and began our catching up. The wonderful thing about a dear, old friend is that you feel comfortable right away and pick up just where you left off, despite the time passed and distance between our addresses. 

We arrived at the Van Nuys station, the closest location to where Hazel’s parents live. Her dad was there to pick us up, and my childhood reunion continued. Mr. Thyne looks fantastic! He lost over 130 lbs in recent years and became a committed Crossfit enthusiast. In fact, he arranged for Hazel and I to participate in a Breathing and Bracing workout the next day at his gym. 

We arrived at their beautiful home in North Hollywood where Mrs. Thyne was waiting for us. She immediately remarked that I looked just like my mother, and the catching up continued. She looks just the same as I remember her, and it was so wonderful to see her after all these years. We stayed up for a bit chatting, and then headed to sleep, which was very welcomed after a long day of travel. We had a big day the next day and needed our rest. 

The morning brought us to the Crossfit gym with Mr. Thyne. Thinking that the workshop we were about to do was yoga, meditation and breathing based, we weren’t worried about overdoing it before the half marathon the next day. Well….we started off with a “warm up” of jumping jacks, jumping, pushups, burpees, and squats. More than what we bargained for, for sure, but not impossible. The breathing and bracing came next which was pretty cool. We focused on filling our lungs and doing various exercises with proper breathing. Bracing was the activity of tightening our abs to properly prepare our bodies for various exercises, and we also worked on bracing with proper posture. It doesn’t sound hard, but actually the tensing and holding of our muscles was actually more strenuous than expected. The workshop ended with the WOD (workout of the day) which included pushups, sit-ups, burpees and squats (I think). As many as we could do for three minutes for each exercise. Whew, we were tired when we finished, but it was great. 

Mr. Thyne, Hazel and I after our breathing & bracing workout at Angelino Crossfit.

Coach Karlos, myself, Mr. Thyne and Hazel post-workout.

We wished everyone at the gym well and headed back to the house on foot. It was about a two mile walk home, which was perfect to shake things out after all that muscle work. Once back, we had breakfast, changed and waited for Hazel’s brother, TJ, to come along. He was planning to give us a tour around Los Angeles.

TJ arrived around noon or so, and it was so fun to see him after all these years! I remember him as a little kid with curly hair and glasses, and now he is a real life Hollywood actor! I congratulated him on his success for the tv show Bones and let him know that the folks back in CT were very proud of his achievement. We chatted for a bit about our lives and his decision to run the half marathon with us (yay!),  and then Hazel, TJ and I set out for our tour of L.A.

Iconic Hollywood sign.

Sun in my eyes...Hollywood sign behind. 

Me and the Hollywood sign in the distance.

Hazel and I attempting a selfie at the Hollywood sign.

TJ brought us on the most wonderful driving tour of his city, providing the most excellent narrative history of the area and its early founders. He told us of the early “moving pictures” industry, creation of roads and advertising how luxurious they were, diversion of water (reservoirs) to the area and beginnings of Walt Disney Studios/Disneyland. 

TJ drove us through many of the amazing little neighborhoods scattered all through Los Angeles and he brought us to see the infamous Hollywood sign. What a beautiful area! We stopped to take a few pictures and enjoy the views before moving on.

Next we stopped at what seemed like an ordinary grocery store (Gelson's), but once we went inside, TJ told us that the building was in fact the original Walt Disney Studios where the earliest animated Disney movies were made, including Snow White. He told us the story of how Walt Disney wanted his animators and their families to relocate to the area to work for him, and that he built special housing for them that was close to the studio so they could work and spend time with their families. The housing he built for them looked just like the cottage of the seven dwarves in Snow White. So charming! We took a peek in their courtyard, despite the no trespassing sign. Such a cool place and even cooler story!

Grocery store that was once the original Walt Disney Studios.

Cottages built by Disney for animators and their families.

Another cottage. 

Front gate of the cottage alcove.

Inside the courtyard.

End of the cottage courtyard.

Next we visited TJ’s house in the Silver Lake neighborhood of L.A., a lovingly restored 1920’s bungalow style home filled with such style and amazing tricks! Inside, the house boasts a hidden passage to his master suite, master bathroom and master closet, cleverly disguised as a built in china cabinet. So cool! The finishes and decor in the house were amazing, and his back yard had a pool, outdoor patio/deck space and detached studio for the workout room, laundry and kitty hangout. He also had a fabulous roof deck that overlooked the area with gorgeous views! I was ready to move in! Such a cool home. 

TJ's super cute house. 

View from his roof deck.

We were due to meet their sister Katie at her home in West Hollywood next, so we headed over there via the famous Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard. Along the way, TJ pointed out various points of interest (theaters, statues, speakeasies, etc.). I snapped a couple of photos here and there along the way. 

Sunset Blvd. view.

Hollywood Blvd. view.

Mann's Chinese Theater.

Once at Katie’s house, I got the grand tour…her house is amazing, too. The house is a flat roofed mid-century modern type home with the most perfect modern, clean decor to match. I told both her and TJ that I needed them to help me redecorate my house! We left Katie’s and took a stroll around West Hollywood down to the Melrose Place (yes, that Melrose Place) area. Boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops and other places of interest lined the main street. We stopped to pose in front of the famous Paul Smith hot pink wall, where apparently people line up to take selfies and pose for photos. We got very silly about that little detour. So many laughs!

Posing at the Paul Smith pink wall.

Trying to be all California cool.

It actually is pretty fun...

TJ and I and Lemonhead Man.

The Thyne kids. Super hip.

But they couldn't hold it. Too many laughs!

We ended up at her local Le Pain Quotidien for a late-ish mid-day bite, where more laughs ensued, and Katie and I got to catch up with each other. What wonderful medicine it is for the soul to reconnect with with long lost friends! I absolutely enjoyed their funny family stories and photos as they also caught up with each other. 

On the walk back to Katie's house, we stopped at the new flagship Restoration Hardware store (which seriously looks more like a luxury hotel than a furniture store) to check out the rooftop park. The city required RH to make the rooftop park a city park open to the public, and it is a spectacularly gorgeous space. We took in the views from here and tried to take some photos, but as you can see, our silliness and laughing just got the best of us. 

Pano view from the top of Restoration Hardware.

Who wouldn't want to hang out in this gorgeous park?

Old friends trying to take a serious photograph...

Too much laughing...

Still can't stop.... 

We probably won't be able to do this... 

The best we could get in between our hysterics.

We walked back to Katie’s house and said our goodbyes to her (after a hilarious episode of the siblings trying to stuff a large, rolled up, non-slip carpet pad in the trunk of the car), and headed back to Mr. and Mrs. Thyne’s house. Mrs. Thyne was treating us runners to a spaghetti and meatball dinner for our pre-race carb load. 

We also secured our plans for the next day’s race (wake up time, drive time, etc.). Although it seemed like the Winter Fun Half Marathon was a pretty small, casual race, it would take about an hour to get there (with no traffic), so we settled on 5:30 am as our estimated time of departure to allow for plenty of time to make the 7:30 am start time. TJ ended up not staying for dinner, as he wanted to get to bed early to be ready for the morning, so mom and dad Thyne, Hazel and I had a fabulous spaghetti dinner together followed by an early bed time of 9:30. Such a fun, wonderful, heart-warming day of friendship and sight-seeing it had been.