California: San Clemente & Los Angeles

After Legoland, we drove up the coast to San Clemente. The view from our hotel was the best. 

The next day we took surfing lessons (a first for both of us). It was awesome! Our instructor had us practice on the beach for a while to start (Mr. G picked it up right away, but it was super tough for me) and then move out into the ocean. (Sidenote:  I LOVED wearing a wetsuit. It was so nice to be warm in the water and not have to worry about a big wave taking off part of my bikini!)

Mr. G heading out for a wave:

We both stood up on several waves and even rode in together on a couple. (And I was worried beforehand that I wouldn't even be able to stand up!) What surprised me the most was how physically demanding surfing is! We were exhausted after our 2 hour lesson and spent the rest of the day relaxing and recuperating. I was sore the next day too, haha. 

Thankfully we were still able to walk around town to enjoy all the exotic (to us) plants in everyone's gardens. Cactus, what?!

The next day we drove to LA - a traffic beast all its own. Roads everywhere!

To celebrate our anniversary, we ate dinner at Crossroads, a vegan restaurant. I finally braved the world of cold soup and had the chilled cucumber soup. It was . . weird. The soup was definitely cold, but it had enough spices (pepper, garlic, and others I couldn't identify) that it warmed my mouth. I wasn't sure what to make of it. Mr. G had "crab cakes" made of hearts of palm. I was amazed that they actually tasted like crab cakes! 

For dinner, we couldn't decide between risotto and lasagna, so we each ordered one and shared. I didn't realize how much I miss sharing dinners at restaurants (usually Mr. G orders meat dishes that I don't eat).

Our other exciting experience in LA was watching a taping of the The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. We saw Craig doing stand up live a few years ago and Mr. G has been watching his show ever since. I think he's funnier in person. :) Getting to see behind the scenes of a TV show was fascinating too. They used 5 or 6 different cameras throughout the show and adjusted the lights, sounds, etc. while filming. Very on-the-fly kind of job!

Next up:  Big Sur & San Francisco

Any other surfers out there? (I think I need more lessons before trying it alone.) Have you ever watched a TV show taping?

Comments

  1. I haven't been to a live taping, but I love Craig Ferguson! So funny!

    We won;t be driving or surfing when we visit LA lol, but it's great to read about your adventures.

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    1. LA also has river canoeing and kayaking if that's more your style. :) San Clemente had a train that ran right next to the ocean all the way to LA - I wish I had known about it so we could've skipped that drive!

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  2. Congrats on your anniversary! Surfing sounds challenging - I would like a wet suit too! I look forward to your next post since I've been there and it would be great to get a peek into what you did and what you thought of it.

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    1. Thanks Dar! Yoga has helped with my balance, but staying up on a moving object is a whole other story!

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  3. I plan to do a learn to surf course, so your tips were great (ie have time to recuperate!). Thankfully a friend stopped by my blog recently, so now I have someone to do it with too!

    I've been to a live taping of a show on our national broadcaster all about advertising. The host is a comedian, so it's pretty witty and enjoyable. I'm trying to think if I've seen other shows taped, but I don't think so. Back in the day, I had hoped to see Oprah in Chicago, but now life's not the same...

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    1. Can't wait to hear how your surfing goes! It will be great to share the experience with your friend :) You may also want to check out a video of someone getting up - I spent most of the lesson learning that move, so if you can practice ahead of time, it will probably save you some trouble. This is how I learned:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn9cEV1xjuw

      Oh, that's a bummer about Oprah. I thought she still had a TV show?

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  4. Love your pictures - the beach looks so beautiful! Congrats on your anniversary and also on 'getting up' on the board with surfing. I haven't tried surfing but found it nearly impossible to get up to water ski (many years ago!) so I can imagine how difficult surfing must be. The live taping sounds like a great holiday idea!

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    1. Thanks Fiona! I've never tried water skiing, but it looks difficult. And fast!

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  5. Love the view from your room!!!

    I'm a no, thanks to cold soup. It just has to be warm for me.

    I'm not a surfer. Mr Sans was one - all through his teens and twenties he surfed every weekend.che still did it regularly in his early thirties but then we had kids and lived too far from the beach. And when you visit the beach with little ones you need your wits about you. Mr Sans would always be on life saver duty with our kids - he can swim much better than me, I'd struggle to save my own life let alone another bod. I did lie on Mr Sans' surf board once. God, it went fast. I flipped off, board hit me in the elbow and I had an egg-sized lump. Enough for me! But well done you!

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    1. Yes, I plan to stick to warm soup in the future :)

      Mr. G is going to have to be on lifeguard duty once we have kids because I'm not a strong swimmer either. Laying on the board sounds like a great way to surf! I fell so many times trying to stand up! I ended up with two huge bruises - one on my foot and one on my knee from slamming into the sand. Thankfully the wetsuit protected me from getting scraped.

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