universal studios

Monday 22nd July 2013

Bit of a slow start today as our sleep has still not sorted its self out.  Drove to Universal Studios and got a park with the other 50,000 people that thought they would go Monday as it would be quieter than the weekend!!!!  How wrong!

Bought our tickets and in we went.  We managed to go on most of the rides bar 1 or 2 that didn't look that exciting.  Saw the BTTF DeLorean that has just been restored.  Its the "A" car or the 'hero car' from the first movie which Bob Gale organised the restoring of so it can be kept for 'all time.' 

We spent all day there until the last hour and then we hit the road for the motel.  We stayed some 40kms away which in LA is probably close.  We get up at 5 in the morning to head to Seattle and be Seattleites for 4 days.

 

universal studios

 

waiting for waterworld to start

 

waterworld show

 

BTTF 'A' car

 

oct 26th 1985!

 

flux capacitor

 

 

 

 

 

 

the clock tower now, 2013.
The street is where the car
got struck by lightening

 

on our way out

 

la zoo

Sunday 21st July 2013

Today we went to the LA zoo after having a bit of a sleep in from the travel.  The zoo was right back near Griffith Park and Hollywood.  The zoo was really nice and we spent most of the day there.  After the zoo we drove along Santa Monica Blvd to Rodeo Drive and did a lap around the fancy pants shops and houses.  There was a really nice park there too that we had a look around.  Got some dinner on Santa Monica Blvd and then headed back to the motel.  Tomorrow is Universal Studios and the BTTF DeLorean time machine!

zoo entrance

cute meerkat

triple deck lizards

the aussie koala

squirrel

just off santa monica blvd

arriving into LA, griffith park and the space shuttle

Saturday 20th July 2013

Arrived safe and sound in LA at around 10 a.m. and picked up the rental car and hit the road.  Drove through LA and up to Hollywood where we continued to Griffith Park.  From there we went to the California Science Centre and had a look at the Endeavour Space shuttle.  Wow that was one crammed packed day after the 13 hour flight from Sydney.   Tomorrow we hit the LA zoo.

 

griffith observatory

 

me and the hollywood sign

 

forecourt area

 

telescope entrance

 

nice day in the park

 

view over la

 

more of the smog!

 

endeavour

 

me an the endeavour

 

 

 

tiles on the bottom of the shuttle

 

bttf

coastal road along malibu

heading north

train line used in bttf III
me standing where the delorean was smashed

the street where the delorean flys down at end of bttf I
mcfly house

street corner from bttf II 2015 lyons estate
burger king where marty skate boards from

angels flight railway in la
at the top

walt disney concert hall
front of hall

shopping centre car park where the delorean first travels in time
me standing where the fire trails were

Tuesday 27th September 2011

Well today's post has a massive Back to the Future theme so if you like the movie you will love the photos, if not you wont find them interesting at all. I liked it so bad luck!!

We first headed north from Marina Del Rey and followed the coast road to Port Hueneme CA which took us through Malibu along the way. It was around 70km but the drive was very picturesque. We were heading to the site which is commonly referred to as the 'DeLorean death site.' This is where the DeLorean is smashed to pieces by a train in the final episode of bttf.

From there we headed to Arleta CA to Roslyndale Ave which is where Marty McFly lives and is where the DeLorean flys through the trees at the end of episode 1.

Also 3 streets away is the street corner used in episode 2 where the DeLorean is stolen by old Biff while Marty and the Doc try to get Jennifer from her house in 2015. (wow I sound like a nerd!!)

From there just a couple of miles down the road to Burger King Burbank where Marty goes to Doc Browns shed and plays his guitar and then takes off on his skate board hanging onto a ute as it leaves the drive thru at Burger King.

Now we headed back in the Downtown LA where we rode the shortest railway in the world called Angel Flight. It was originally further along the street and was pulled down and moved to its current location. The ride costs 25c each way and was well worth it. Once at the top we took a short walk to the Walt Disney Concert Hall which is a very spectacular building made of polished stainless steel. Just prior to finding a car park in the city I did a u-turn to park and I was stopped by the police. He gave me a warning for doing a u-turn where you are not allowed. He looked at my licence and said 'I lock up people from Australia, New Zealanders are okay but the Australian aren't.' Lucky me as that could have been a nice ticket!!!

We now started to head out of the city towards Palm Springs which is east of LA. On the way we detoured to the shopping centre used in bttf I where the Doc first puts Einstein in the car and test the time travel for the first time. We parked our car just behind where the truck was parked in the movie and then I stood close to where the fire trails were as Marty was filming with his video camera.

We arrived at Palm Springs with a balmy temp of 34 degrees C. The motel was really nice and had a great pool and hot tub which we used after dinner. Tomorrow we head to Phoenix AZ as we make our way east.