My friend, author Corrina Lawson (I’ve posted a review of one of her books HERE), was out in Los Angeles earlier this week, as part of a bloggers’ junket to Dreamworks for their upcoming film The Croods. She’s a regular blogger for the GeekDad and GeekMom websites. We’ve known each other (online for the most part) for over a decade, through our shared interest in comic books and writing.
She had a little bit of free time before her red-eye flight back to Connecticut (where she lives with spouse, offspring, and feline residents), and since she was staying relatively near where I live (at the Sheriton Universal), we made plans to get together.
I plodded my way over to the subway stop at Hollywood and Western and got on the train heading toward North Hollywood. In all the years it’s been running, this would be my first trip through the pass and into the valley (previously, I’d only taken it to Hollywood and Highland). Not that you are aware of the difference while in the subway, of course. But it amused me, knowing that the train, which felt as if it were travelling pretty much a level course, was going through the pass, under the ridge between the Los Angeles basin and the San Fernando valley. On the train, the only thing notable was the comparatively long distance between the stops.
Arriving at Universal City, I then faced the fact that the Sherton sits half-way up the very steep hill, between Lankershim and the Universal CityWalk. I made the error of assuming that the free shuttle that runs on the hill actually stops at the hotels, and got aboard. As it turns out, it does not. This provoked a slight comedy between Corrina and myself. She hadn’t quite returned to her hotel when I arrived up at CityWalk, and because of one of modern technology’s mysteries, my cell phone battery was verging on empty (even though it had been charged that morning). I left a voicemail for her, and hoped she could call me back before the phone died.
We had discussed the possibility of checking out CityWalk, so I decided to wait there until I heard from her. The anxiety of “Will she call before the phone dies?” was … well, it wasn’t really nail-biting, just a problem that might need to be dealt with. Happily, she got back to the hotel in short order and called me back (her own cell being on the verge of empty battery too, as it happened). She offered to treat me to dinner (at the hotel), so I navigated the steep slope downward (somewhat easier that trying to walk up the hill), and joined her at the hotel.
Because we were dining well ahead of the dinner crowd, we had the restaurant mostly to ourselves, with very attentive service. It was fun to catch up with more detail than mere Facebook status posts can convey. We talked of writing, comics, family, mutual friends we know. She told me a bit about some of the activities from the bloggers’ junket.
By dessert time, we decided to make an excursion up to the CityWalk. She wanted the opportunity to be a little bit touristy, and there was the enticement of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream there. We were, of course, continuing to talk the whole time.
We took a moment for the appropriate image capturing of the out-of-town visitor.
We parted as the dusk was drawing on. She wanted to do a little bit more exploring of the enticements of CityWalk. I needed to get back down the hill and homeward before it became too dark. All in all, a lovely day. A pleasing break from the current routine.
