07.04 - Day 83 - Mission Viejo & Downtown LA
Sunday 7th April - Mission Viejo + Downtown LA (Day 83)
An action packed day ahead so an earlyish departure at 8am, though not as early as it seems as all four kids wake each day between 6-6:30am, so us adults are soon after - coffee and tea in hand whilst they play.
We jump in our White Knight, at least that’s the name of the car Daniel and Maggie kindly let us use, and head north on the freeway, all six lanes of it, up past Downtown LA to then wind up a hillside past cyclists on an event up to Griffiths Observatory.
I thought that at 9am on a Sunday it would be quiet, and it probably is quieter than normal, but the car park is almost full and the observatory doesn’t even open till 10am. But it’s not the observatory we or anyone else is here for, it’s for the sweeping views south over LA and then also the Hollywood sign, which although a little way off in the distance is still a popular view. The grass lawns are well kept and the observatory a sparkling white against the bright blue sky. Occasionally as you walk a lap of the building your position aligns with a North South street and you can see along the street for seemingly miles. It’s certainly a great vantage point for majestic views of the sprawling city.
Our main goal is to see basketball at lunchtime which is near downtown and this spot is just 20 minutes away (nothing it seems is 5 minutes away, or heaven forbid, walking distance) so this is close. We had also been recommended by Daniel’s brother Jason La Brea Tar Pits - which is of course 20 minutes away, but in the vicinity and we head there next, arriving just in time to join a guided tour at 10:30am.
This small park is and was home to several tar pits which in the (relative) recent past tens of thousands of years ago animals would get stuck in and meet a black end. Bad for them, but now a treasure trove for the palaeontologists digging them up. The site is scattered with tar pits big and small and it is still an active dig site today - inside the small museum you can view the team cleaning the latest set of bones and fragments. Apparently over 3.5 million pieces and counting, most of it sat in storage.
The nature of the tar pit meant one animal would get stuck, then a predator would emerge thinking free meal and then they’d get stuck and on it goes up the food chain. In one pit alone, 27 woolly mammoths have been identified. All very impressive especially in Downtown metropolis and brought to life by the enthusiastic tour guide.
We stay for an hour and probably could have done more but need to beat a retreat to the car and drive - 20 minutes obviously - to a slightly random car park I’d reserved a spot at (using Spothero, which was easy), a 10 minute walk to Crypto.com Arena (or Staples Arena in old money).
After a very smooth run till this point we come unstuck when the airport style security tells us we can’t take our food and drink in. Kate offers to run it back to the car and I transfer her a ticket in the app - unfortunately she can’t set up an account on the app because of the online security clashing with her international mobile plan. While she goes back to the car, Sienna, Seb and I head to our seats; front row of one of the upper tiers.
The LA Clippers are hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers in this game at the backend of the regular season. It’s all quite a spectacle with music booming anytime the ball is not in play, which when the game last 2 hours yet it is only officially 4 x 12 minutes, is a lot of the time. It’s all quite a show - enough even that the kids don’t even ask me for food or drinks which is one of the first signs of boredom. I do my best to explain the rules to the ever curious Sienna, whilst Seb is happy watching.
Match wise the Cavaliers slowly but surely pull out to a lead which continues to grow. When Kate is able to get in, she appears to be a lucky charm, as the Clippers rally from a 26 point deficit to snatch the lead with just 7 seconds left and then block the Cavaliers final chance. The murmuring crowd grew more and more excited as the comeback was on and there was plenty of hollering at the end, even from us. A great first NBA game.
As soon as we file out the cleaners swoop in; there is an LA Lakers game here tonight. The venue is also home to ice hockey’s LA Kings, so there is almost always something going on here.
After successfully (and comfortably?) negotiating the drive back, we crash into an extended Webb family gathering - Daniel & Maggie and Annabelle & Juliet, Daniel’s parents, his brother and their family of four and Jason’s wife’s brother and her family of five. There is a Mexican feast to tuck into after all the kids have happily watched the well travelled Bluey - and post dinner it becomes an even more wholesome affair with Daniel and his dad getting guitars out for a mixture of children’s nursery rhymes and 70’s and 80’s gentle singalong classics. A very long, tiring, satisfying day.