Los Angeles

There are two trips to Los Angeles reported here. To skip to 3/26/04 and a report on the Grand Slam con and VIP tour of Universal Studios, click here.

Saturday, October 18, 2003

I arrived in Los Angeles about 10 PM Friday night and then had to get my rental car and drive to Pasadena, another 50 minutes away. The maps Richard made for me before I left helped and I didn't get lost except for getting off the freeway a bit too soon and driving a long distance on Colorado. When I got off the freeway, I asked a glassy-eyed woman to point me in the direction of Colorado East. From there I did fine. Karen, my roomie, was waiting up for me and, of course, we spent some time chatting so it was 4AM my time before we got to sleep. This morning I adjusted my thinking for California time instead of Florida time.

This trip was to get together with friends. Billie, Karen, Ann and I spent part of the day in essential shopping. We went to COSTCO for party supplies and bottled water, which was cheap. 28 bottles per case of 24 oz. water for $6.15. We bought 2 cases. It came in very handy because LA was in the throes of a heat wave with 100+ temperatures while we were there. Several photos of me showed sun burned nose and cheeks. Or wind burned. They were red in any event and it wasn't from makeup.

We had a nice two hour lunch at Denny's - at least it felt like 2 hours - then spent the evening in Helene's room for DVDs and videos. Dinner was ordered in. It didn't arrive until 10PM! I got a cobb salad and wolfed it down. There was pizza and buffalo wings and lots of snacks - caramel popcorn, M&Ms, sodas, etc. We watched Boomers, the pilot in which Scott Bakula replaced Bert Reynolds, the Eisenhower and Lutz pilot, some dailies from Quantum Leap that were great, and the Gung Ho Elvis episode. I left at 11 to get ready for bed but most were still watching videos.

Roommate Karen	Frannie	Barbara & Helene with Enterprise Shirt	Amy studies menu	Gail and Frannie

   Sunday, October 19, 2003

Most of today was spent at the Arthur McCready Charity event. Karen and I awoke around 7:30, showered and dressed and joined a caravan lead by Barbara and Helene to the country club where the event was being held. There was a meet and greet session from 11 to 12 in which we had time to buy our raffle tickets and inspect the 70 odd baskets up for raffle. There was also a silent auction table with goodies from Scott. The table included a Lladro figurine donated by Billie, A tray of stuff (I didn't pay much attention to this), another Lladro figurine, a Quantum Leap jacket - unworn - and a basket containing 2 Eisenhower and Lutz tee shirts, a QL sweatshirt, a TV Guide with Scott on the cover, two BW photos, an Archer doll and a cap. Debbie and I got into a bidding war until I talked to her and we agreed to split the basket. Billie wanted the doll, Nancy wanted the Enterprise cap, Debbie wanted an E&L tee and one of the black and white photos and I wanted the QL sweatshirt, an E&L tee and the rest of the basket. Scott is autographing the entire lot and it will be sent to me through Jay's office. Can't wait!

I learned later that the charity cleared $8,000 after expenses. I'm not sure how many people attended but estimate 150+ so I'm doubly proud that 2001 Orlando Leap brought in $6,000 profit for our charity with only 87 people attending. I'm not knocking the $8,000. That's great. I'm just thinking that Leapers are a more generous and charitable lot. The Scott items brought in $875 for the jacket and $500 for the basket!

When lunch was served and we started on our salads, Chelsea Field's mom came by our table to meet new Leapers and chat with us. She told us a wonderful story about one of Scott's sons who loves to sing and dance and is going to be the next Scott Bakula. After lunch, Chelsea's mom introduced the Leapers (we had two tables front and center) to the rest of the room. She introduced Bill Lewis who was the entertainment for the event. He sang some wonderful show tunes and serenaded me with "If Ever I Would Leave You."