I'm On A Swan!

 Los Angeles, CA

All ahead full!

Echo Park Lake

Today we went to Echo Park and rented a Swan Boat.  It's something we have thought about doing our whole time here.  Our friend Dana came to visit for the afternoon so we decided that this would be our day (or at least hour) on the lake.  We walked to Echo Park and Donna showed the attendant our reservation.  We were handed Life Vests, asked to sign a safety waver, and then shown to our Swan.  They have 2 sizes of Swan Boat, One for up to 5 people, and one for two adults and 2 children.  We were put in a 5 person Swan.  Once we were all set we shoved off for a 1 hour tour of Echo Park Lake.

We were prepared with our paperwork

I wanted to take a final photo just in case we ended up on Gilligan's Island

Getting the shove from the attendant to get us going

Donna put her legs to work and we were off!

I sat in back and took photos

Then we switched and I felt how much effort it took.

We avoided the fountain.  We hear the water isn't entirely clean or safe.

Donna still has her docking skills leftover from Disneyland

It was 11am on a Thursday so there wasn't much water traffic.  We were able to navigate around all of the other swans.  We did drive by on a Friday night when they light the boats up and it appeared that almost all of the boats were out on the water so it is pretty popular.

Lunch in Korea Town

Donna wanted to go to one of the restaurants we read about in Korea Town.  Dana was up for the adventure and even offered to drive.  We found parking easily.  Chunju Han-il Kwan was nestled in a strip mall with about 7 other restaurants that looked equally as good.  We headed in and were greeted with smiles and waves and shown our seats.  It wasn't very crowded because it was around 1:30 when we arrived.  Lunch was fantastic!  It was exactly what we wanted.

The entrance 

This place was pretty old school.

Donna and Dana were talking about something that required Donna to make this hand gesture

They brought us tea while we decided what to order

Our awesome banchan spread 

Donna got the rice cake and dumpling soup

I got the spicy BBQ Pork

We had great food and conversation.  We did some catching up the first time we hung out here, but today gave us more time which was great.  

After lunch Dana gave us a ride back to our Airbnb and then headed home.  We still have a few more adventures here but we are quickly running out of days in LA.  That's okay because new scenery, new adventures, and a whole new set of friends are waiting for us at our next stop in Denver.  This time next week we will be in Flagstaff AZ on our way to The Grand Canyon.  Stay tuned!

Yesterday we went to The Getty Museum and it was very cool.  Check out the photos here.

A Foodie Sorta Day

Los Angeles, CA

Crab grass is tenacious

 Acquiring Dessert for Tomorrow

We were invited to a BBQ in Long Beach tomorrow.  We have 2 dog friends (we met them at dog beach when we all had Italian Greyhounds) that we haven't seen in many years so we let them know we are in town.  We were invited over for a back yard BBQ.  We asked what we could bring and they answered with the winning combination of dessert and beer.  Perfect!  More about this in tomorrow's post.  Today is about getting the dessert.

There is a Filipino Bakery that Donna has been eyeing for a week now.  They have a cake called Sans Rival (literally translated, Without Rival).  We decided that this is the dessert we would bring.  The bakery is only about a mile away so we walked and picked up 4 individual cakes.  It's a cake with layers of cashew meringue, French buttercream, and it's topped with chopped cashews.  We can't wait to try it tomorrow.

My Mom's Bakeshop

The Sans Rival Cakes

Another Checklist Item

Our next trip involved pulling the car out of its cubby hole and driving to Hollywood.  We left at around 2pm in hopes that traffic would be light.  We were after the famous Zankou Chicken.  Zankou is an Armenian and Mediterranean fast food restaurant with falafel, wraps, kebabs, shawerma, and rotisserie chicken.  We were there for the chicken.  It's the best!  We got a family meal featuring 1 whole chicken, hummus, turnip pickles, garlic paste, pitas, and more pickles.  Yes, a lot of pickles!  They are so good!  

The Original Zankou Chicken in Hollywood. 
They have branched out so check, there might be one near you!

A shot of our family meal.  Look at all those pickles!

 
We had some of the meal for late lunch, some of the meal for a small dinner, and there is still plenty left to make chicken salad sandwiches with the white meat, left over pitas, and cut up pickles.  

Echo Park Farmers Market

The weekly Echo Park Farmers Market is today.  It opens at 3pm so we walked through the park and up to the farmers market.  We love a good farmers market.  This farmers market was on the smaller side.  We didn't buy anything but I got some good photos.

The Grand Entrance

Kind of sparse but it was a good midpoint for a nice walk

We might be back next week for veg

They had a flower stand

I thought these candles looked great

There was a guy buying micro greens.  I bet he was a chef.

Now your greens can be purple and pink!

I complimented this vendor on their beautiful display
and then walked away without buying anything.

After returning from the farmers market, we got in our lounge attire and continued binging the shows we have been waiting to watch.  We finished Pretend It's A City on Netflix and we started Netflix's Cowboy Bebop.  Tomorrow is another day in Orange County catching up with friends.  There is something to look forward to every day!  Talk tomorrow.

Want to read about yesterday?  See it here.

 

A Walk Around Echo Park Lake

 Los Angeles, CA

We took a walk

Echo Park Entrance

Today was a day where we had no plans listed on our calendar.  We slept in, made coffee, blogged, and lounged.  We had some leftovers for lunch and then decided to walk to Echo Park.  It's about a mile from us and a mile around so we were committed to a 2 mile walk.

The view of the park on the approach

Entering Echo Park

There were quite a few more people in the park on a Tuesday at 1pm than I would have thought.  Maybe people taking late lunches, maybe people "working from home".  Francis got to meet a few nice dogs and we met a few nice dog owners as well.  When we got to the lake I saw a Black-crowned Night Heron fly into the reeds so I started a bird list.  I haven't done much birding in LA County so I figured this would be a new bird and I was right.  I picked up 3 new birds for LA County, Black-Crowned Night Heron, Brewer's Blackbird, and Barn Swallow.  

One bird that we saw that wasn't new was the Canada Goose.  It's breeding season so we saw probably 100 in different stages.  

We were carful not to get goosed

Echo Park was founded in 1892.  In addition to being here during Canada Goose Breeding Season, we are also here for the Lotus Bloom! The bloom is celebrated with a festival that is in its 41st year.  The festival celebrates the people and cultures of Asia and The Pacific Islands.  

A few different varieties of Water Plants

Water Lillies

The Bloom!

An interoperative sign

Francis isn't really in a headlock,
it just looks that way

We continued our walk around the lake looking at birds and seeing the sights.  Another thing Echo Park Lake is known for is their Swan Peddle Boats.

The boats lined up and ready to go

We are still considering if this is something
we want to pay for. Donna pointed out that it's
cheaper per person than a beer at a comedy show

The last sight for us to see was the WPA era statue.  The Queen of the Angles or Lady of the Lake as it is affectionately called stands with its back towards Downtown Los Angeles.  

The Lady, a Swan Boat, The Fountain,
and DTLA in one shot

Francis sniffing around the statue's plaque

After our walk we went home and I took a nap because I can!  Later we had Happy Hour and then made dinner.  We used up all of the ingredients we bought at Numero Uno Market the other day.  Black beans, Soyrizo, potato, and avocado make a nice bowl.

It's fun to go out to eat but making food at home
is fun and it really helps save on money.

Last night we went to a comedy show.  Check it out here.

Looking Back - 4/18/2022 Cerro Alto Campground CA to Los Angeles CA

Cerro Alto Campground, CA 

The Drive into LA for our Month Long Stay

Always try to open with a photo

Today we pack up and say goodbye to camping for a month.  We will be back to camping after LA, but for the next 30 days we will be in an LA Airbnb and I am looking forward to it.  We made coffee and had breakfast and then took our time packing up.  Check in time is 4pm and the drive is 3.5 hours so leaving at noon will give us plenty of time.  

It wasn't as warm as we would have liked

Cerro Alto will be in our rear view mirror soon

We ended up packing up earlier than we wanted because we are so darned efficient so we decided to really take our time.  We headed back up to US101 and made stops at a few rest stops and took time out for lunch.

Our route

The drive was easy and we didn't really hit any traffic until LA.  Even with trying to delay, we ended up 30 minutes early so we parked at Echo Park and waited.  Echo park has a big fence around it right now because they just recently cleared out a big homeless encampment and are trying to keep it clear.  We weren't sure how to get in so we just sat in the car and listened to public radio.

When our time was up we did the 5 minute drive to our Airbnb.  We checked in with the owner and carefully pulled the van into the tight spot that was provided.  Unpacking was fast because we were parked right outside the front door.  We spent an hour or so arranging things and trying to unpack the bins. I ran out of energy so I walked to El Pollo Loco (one of our guilty pleasures) and picked up chicken and brought it back.  Dinner was chicken and a beer.  

The Squeeze was on

Francis making himself at home

The guilty pleasure

The meal!

Me and my computer in our Airbnb

That's it for our looking back series until the next road trip!  Now back to your probably daily timely updates!