4/14/2013. - Day 19 - Hollywood Blvd. Made it up Muhlholland Dr. And then evaded local law enforcement...

4/14/2013. - Day 19 -
Made it up Muhlholland Dr.
And then evaded local law enforcement...














This morning started with a mini exploration of Hollywood in search of a church for Sunday Service. Last night I tried to map out local Lutheran Churches, but it was hard to narrow it down. I decided to just start driving, and I ended up getting lost and finding this one--McCarty Memorial Christian Church- and was awed by the building alone and later charmed by the congregation. Other morning attendees were still scurrying in so my timing was perfect and I joined them for the service. As I walked through the doors, the first person to greet me and welcome me was from South Dakota, ironically. The congregation was very warm and friendly, and the service was wonderful. Many of the songs were familiar from my time at summer camp at Lake Metigoshe when I was in junior high, so I hardly needed my hymnal. At the end of the service, the entire congregation joined hands to pray and it was truly beautiful. I felt so comfortable and welcomed in this congregation and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

After that I set out to explore Hollywood Blvd. It should be noted I harbor a serious fear of street people in costumes, much like you see in Vegas. This is really confusing because I love theme parties, and I love Halloween and dressing up; but people walking the streets in costumes dressed as movie characters, celebrities, etc. freak me out.

Of course, not even a block into my sightseeing safari, a "spiderman" approached me and asked if I was here to model or act. I said neither, and responded further that I was simply exploring. He then asked if he could walk beside me. I provided him with an explanation about my fear of costumed people, which he ignored, and then resigned myself to the fact that he could walk beside me if he wanted whether I liked it or not. There is no law that says costumed figures can't walk on the same sidewalk as social workers from North Dakota. In response to his request to accompany me, I finally responded, "Sure, but I'll probably stop soon to do some shopping". This hopefully implied "don't wait outside the shop for me."

Spiderman babbled on as we walked and I was desperately searching for a legitimate store that I actually had interest in to duck into and loose this tail. There were masses of people on the streets so I didn't feel I was in any real danger, it was just my severe fear of those in costume that was hindering me at that moment. I finally found something of interest and thanked Spidy for the conversation and headed inside. I stayed long enough that I figured he had moved on, peered out the display window to make certain he was gone, and then continued on my way.

 Hollywood is really a spectacle in itself, with no rhyme or reason to the building style. One block may have a fancy theater, and the next may be rather run down, and the subsequent block may be set up like a palace, followed by a block of modern clean cut buildings. Of course tucked in between are all sorts of souvenir and gift stores galore. It felt as if I was moving through movie sets with each building and block that passed. There were tons of people about-- walking, selling various items, and working as creepy costume people. The sky was a bit overcast, but it was still warm temperature-wise.






I passed over the walkway of stars with the names of the famous carved inside, saying the familiar names to myself as I went along.Despite the crowds, which I sometimes find overwhelming and containing, I felt free. Hollywood is a constant buzz of activity and excitement, but I felt the real excitement was getting to see and experience all of this on my own. There is some pride in this adventure--partially in going it alone, but also in no longer feeling afraid to go it alone. There is something to the phrase "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." In the beginning, I was very nervous and scared, though scared of what I don't know.

As the days and weeks tick by, I have dropped not only my structures and plans and schedules, but my fears and inhibitions. I can truly feel a transformation from feeling constrained to the margins of living in a small town, to being able to spread out, be myself, and break free from a cookie cutter mold to which I had been trying to squeeze into for so long. We spend so much time on the "shoulds"--who I "should" be, what I "should" do--it's elating to finally just let go and be what I am, what I was created to be, whatever that may be.

Not even by yourself. Good rule of thumb. 

When I returned to the hostel, I found one of my roommates, Agata, inside the room. We exchanged the day's activities thus far, and then decided to go explore Mulholland Drive together. As we made our way towards the twisting and winding roadway, we caught fantastic views from above the city skyline and stopped for a few photos. Then we continued to wind our way up Mulholland.

Somewhere during this drive we also hatched a plan to make it up to the Hollywood sign, or at least get as close as we could. This involved driving up some very step and crooked roads, many which displayed signs warning us that there was no access to the "Hollywood Sign" and instructed us to turn around.




Being young and adventurous (and maybe a little nervous) we continued. I made an executive decision to stash the pickup in a residential area and suggested we hike a little ways up towards the sign. After a few minutes, we reached a small clearing that was fairly cluttered with signage warning people not to park, hike, climb, or breathe near the sign. There were cars parked, people hiking and climbing, and of course, breathing, all over the place. I made a valiant attempt at one path, which I deemed a straight shot to the sign. It was too steep though, and halfway up I had to turn around when a helicopter flew over, much too close for comfort, and whipped dirt and debris up. Agata was not impressed and is not into climbing up treacherous terrain just to see a sign. She will use the zoom feature on her camera.

One sign was not enough.
Neither was three.

I couldn't settle for this--I needed to get a bit closer. We stopped a few hikers to inquire as to what the best course was for decreasing our proximity to the sign. Taking their instruction, we finally found a path that took us up high enough and close enough that I was satisfied with the picture taking location. We performed our tourist duties and then descended the trail, making our way back to the clearing of a thousand warnings.


Halfway down the trail, we began to hear sirens and subsequently a megaphone from a police car. The voice was telling everyone to move their cars and get away from the area, and reminding us that obviously there are signs telling us that we were not to be here in the first place. The public service announcement  finished with another command to basically get out.

Now I have encountered two fears in one day: costume people, and police in uniforms. For some reason, police uniforms creep me out and I hurriedly tried to explain this to Agata, while advising her to keep silent and still. We were hidden in the cover of the foliage on the path and were far enough from the clearing with the warning signage that we felt we would go undetected. We waited with bated breath for the exodus of fleeing tourists and the subsequent departure of the annoyed police officers. When the sounds subsided, we continued cautiously to the clearing, and finding it empty, made our way back to the pickup. I was a nervous wreck and tried to pretend I was not afraid-- but Agata got a good chuckle at me for my irrational fears.

As we drove back to the hostel, we swapped life stories. I explained my trip in all its grandeur, proudly telling her of my independence and adventure. Agata nodded in understanding, paused, and then asked what I was running from. She speculated a job gone wrong, a dream that died, or was it a boy? I answered that it was none of those things, but rather I needed space and room to breathe. And I needed to get away from some memories for a bit, maybe of a boy... Maybe from all of those things... I was tired of seeing sad children and seeing their parents in court and subsequently at the grocery store that night. The dreams I had when I was in college were completely obsolete, and the relationships I envisioned had gone up in flames. I told myself this was not a reason I left, but to be perfectly honest, sometimes after something breaks you apart so much, you need a change of scenery to rebuild yourself into something more beautiful that what others tore down. I reflected on this before answering further, and then offered to Agata that the trip has been in the back of my mind for some time, but a bad breakup probably spurred me into action. That situation probably helped me realize I was walking down the wrong path and needed to change something. Sometimes things that seem negative can be the catalysts for things that shape us in such incredible and unexpected ways. I explained further that I also think more than running away from anything, I am running towards something better, escaping the comfortable to learn about myself outside of my comfort zone. And maybe realizing that getting too comfortable can sometimes stunt our growth.

We returned to the hostel with a little time before dinner. The hostel was hosting a taco dinner and later providing some entertainment from local comedians. In our down time before dinner, I seized the opportunity to write a bit. I want to share everything that is happening, but I feel I must balance this with experiencing everything as well. I try to make time for a little writing every day, but remind myself that there will always be time to write. While I want to take small moments to capture my exact emotions, thoughts, and feelings in real time as they happen--I only use small windows such as this. Now is the time to live in these moments; recording them can wait.

Dinner was mediocre and the promised "beef tacos" were quite suspicious with regard to their meat ingredient. I speculated it was likely horse or dog because I know what beef looks like. After all I'm from North Dakota, where we name our calves and then butcher and eat them and then do it all over again next year. This here on my plate, this was not beef.

After dinner a couple of us walked to Starbucks before the comedy presentation. We strolled Hollywood Boulevard at night, slurping Frappacinos and picking out names in the cement stars that we were familiar with. As we walked, there were many street people in costumes and I stuck close to the pack because at night I find them EXTREMELY scary. A few tried to talk to us and we ignored them and walked on. One particular individual, dressed as Johnny Depp from Alice in Wonderland, was rather persistent. I squished myself into the people walking in our group and I hollered towards him, "Sorry but I DON'T LIKE PEOPLE IN COSTUMES!"

He made creepy eyes and responded in an equally creepy voice, " What costumes?" AGHHHHHHH. As I hurried to speed walk away, I caught something out of the corner of my eye, up above me. I looked up to find a spiderman perched 10 feet up, somehow latched onto the brick side of a building. I freaked out and screamed, "That is not fair, you cannot surprise people by hiding up on walls and then startling them. Not fair. NOT FAIR!" That's it, I'm done. We are walking back. No more costume street people with creepy accents and outfits lurking at the corners of buildings or up on the sides of walls. No. More.

Later we attended the comedian event. It was honestly terrible and out of respect we stayed long enough not to hurt anyone's pride and then departed for some sleep. I have planned a full day of enjoying Santa Monica tomorrow and am then heading further down the coast for my beloved San Diego. <3