Universal Studios

On our first day in California we drove to Universal Studios which was a 68km 60 minute trip on the famous LA freeway system from Anaheim to the other side of central LA near Studio City. We had a rental vehicle which we had only paid basic insurance on so I was constantly worried about damaging it. Narelle had her finger nails impaled in the seats and was always quick to remind me about merging lanes or if a car was braking in front of us. Fortunately the kids could sense the tone in the front of the car whenever we drove and kept reasonably quiet.

The GPS was the saviour yet again. It was the best $100 investment I have ever made. It provided a spoken and visual description of what needed to happen well before time. Even so, crossing 8 lanes of traffic can be a bit scary especially when no one seems to have any speed other than very fast. I was told later that the LA freeway system is the second busiest in the nation with Hawaii being the busiest. Next time I'm in Hawaii I will remember this and take a cab! It is amazing when you come to a place in the freeway where 4 or 5 entry/exit lanes are situated. They all curve gracefully away at different heights and angles loaded with vehicles headed who knows where. There were plenty of police around although I am surprised how they manage to pull people over safely.

We even managed to catch a glimpse of the Hollywood sign in the distance although Rhys was annoyed that he didn't see it. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to drive up to the sign. Next time we are in LA (assuming there is a next time), we will spend more time seeing the city.

Universal Studios was great although much of it was the same as I remember from the last time I was there 20 years ago. The one difference is that there seemed to be more shops which were a big hit with the kids even though we didn't buy much. Cameron purchased a pair of Hollywood novelty glasses which he wore religiously for the next few days.

We all enjoyed going on the guided tour and the kids recognised many of the places and props used in movies they had seen. They really liked that town square which was used to film Back to the the Future. Cameron kept saying 'I can't believe that it is right there.' He also loved the Delorian which was used in the movie as well.

The stunt show was spectacular with explosions, men on jet skis, a plane crash, gunfights and people falling to their pretend deaths! Alyssa didn't seem too scared by it all. By the time it was late afternoon we were all tired and ready to tackle the difficult drive home which we did safely.