“My first time travelling long distance was to see my family in America, my Aunt and her 2 children in Los Angeles, California and my Gran and her husband in Hurricane, Utah.
I have been longing for this day ever since I was little, I have always been obsessed with America, having a New York themed bedroom for half of my life only inspired me more to get out there and see it for myself.
I set off in December for 9 weeks, the flight to LAX seemed to last forever, every time I woke up I saw seeing the flight path ahead we always seemed to be over Iceland (I will never think of Iceland the same way again!).
Finally, touch down, we pulled up to our gate and I was free, well almost, I had an hour plus of security lines to get through, although it wasn’t as bad as my friend who joined me a month and a half later, I waited for at least 2 hours while he was stuck in security. I came out of arrivals to see my Aunt with her 2 children and a handmade welcome sign they had made for me, I felt such relief that I was finally there and excitement at the adventures that were awaiting.
The drive to my aunt’s Santa Monica apartment seemed so overwhelming, coming from a small quiet island with one lane roads to a big city of lights, billboards and highways of at least 8 lanes, I was fascinated and amazed. I couldn’t wait until morning to really take it all in. I got a good night’s rest along with many hugs from my cousins and their dog Sadie, a rescued Pit Bull cross (a breed we are not allowed in Guernsey and the loveliest dog I’ve ever met).
I didn’t have much time to settle into LA life before we shot off on an 8 hour road trip to Hurricane Utah to spend Christmas with my Gran and her husband. I have never experienced a road trip before other than a couple hours’ drive in France and we never really saw much as we were always on a motorway. I was absolutely in love, endless views of mountains and empty space for miles, we drove past Las Vegas and saw all of the big hotels. We stopped at a couple of places along the way to fill up on petrol, get snacks and stretch our legs and they were classic American “Gas” stations, one in Nevada with a casino inside, of course I had a little gamble however no jackpot prizes for me.
We arrived in Hurricane, a place so serene I could stay there forever and not feel one ounce of stress, mountains surrounding the town, a very orange/brown place, you won’t find any blue green or pink houses here. We visited many places while “in town” my favourites being Zion national park, a Dinosaur themed park (fun for the kids and for us adults!) and a little diner with the best Pie and Hot Chocolate called Black Bear diner.
We stayed for under a week in Utah and headed back to Santa Monica where there was a lot of exploring to do. Every morning I became accustomed to visiting Petes coffee house which I became a daily customer and fan of, known to many screen writers and actors, I met an American TV show actor (although I had no idea who he was – oops!).The coffee at Pete’s is fantastic and breakfast there is a quick bite but delicious, I became a “Frappuccino” girl and enjoyed every moment. Sunglasses became my new best friends as I never took them off, constant sunshine and vitamin D is to be expected here, in 9 weeks I only experienced 2/3 dull or rainy days, definitely not the place to go if you miss/enjoy the rain. I visited well known tourist spots, Malibu, Santa Monica Pier (where I experienced famous funnel cake), Venice beach, Hollywood Boulevard, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, Disneyland California, we went shopping on 3rd Street Promenade, Whale watching in Newport Beach, The Cheesecake Factory became my favourite dinner location and Denny’s (only discovered in the last 2 weeks of my trip) became my favourite breakfast location, Ross became my favourite clothing store to shop (so much so I had to buy a second suitcase to bring everything back!), I got my first tattoo at Black Diamond LA as well as so much more that I could fit in with the time I had there. The main event of the trip was the official adoption of my 2 cousins, a huge party was had and i’m so glad it happened while i was there!
My time in Los Angeles came to an end, with absolutely no regrets. I couldn’t believe how LA made me feel, I never understood how things/people/places could have Auras but I definitely felt California’s Aura and my, what an amazing feeling! I can’t wait to go back this year, until the next time City of Angels!”
