L.A. 12.09.12
Yesterday was chock-a-block, we went as far east and west of downtown as possible. We started out at the Griffith Observatory – high in the Hollywood Hills – a site used in the movie Rebel Without A Cause. From there you can see the whole city – which is in fact many cities that have become one. Every suburb seems to have three or four train stations – so big are they.
We ended the day at Santa Monica Beach – a two hour bus trip from downtown. It was like Vanity Fair – an overblown Noosa or Byron Bay with snake handlers, ferris wheels, and a memorial of crosses in the sand for the soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
Everything is big – including small coffees.
There are damaged people all around. On the train, in the buses mini dramas are being played out. Mexicans are very short. Afro-Americans are very uninhibited – talking aloud, airing grievances. We are always totally engrossed by sights and sounds.
Our hotel has been great – clean – close and owned by Chinese people but run by Latinos. The lady in charge of the dining room looks and acts like a Nazi if and when someone steps out of line – toasting a muffin or moving a chair. So far we have escaped her ire.
Today the train journey begins – to Portland, Oregon.
In My Life 
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