Leaving Las Vegas...

Sunrise came very quickly that Sunday morning and it was time to get on the road. Kate and I had decided one night in Vegas was enough and were anxious to arrive at our final destination. Downey, California - a suburb of Los Angeles. There was a reason for this particular choice. While I would have moved to Guam, Los Angeles became possible because two friends were out here visiting a relative. Though totally unknown to me, it was "family" to someone my family knew which made it possible for my parents to consider. More about that later.

Obviously,cell phones hadn't been invented and we stopped at a pay phone to let our friends know we were on our way. They had booked us into a reasonable motel for a week while we would get our bearings and figure out next steps. One had just accepted a job in downtown L.A. - wherever that might be - the other was leaving in a couple of weeks and Kate was going to work at the Los Angeles office of a large insurance company she had worked for on Long Island. We had a week to find an apartment...somewhere near Wilshire Boulevard.

It should be noted that Wilshire Boulevard is a major artery - one of the few streets that runs completely through the city of Los Angeles from the ocean to downtown. There are at least fifty completely different worlds located along that 14.4 mile corridor. We didn't yet know that fact or have any idea which world would be closest to Kate's job.

The drive from Vegas to Los Angeles took around four hours and another phone call as we approached ascertained our meeting at the motel in destination Downey. As the freeway signs announced our arrival to the area I felt a knot beginning to tighten in my stomach. Where were the palm trees and mansions? Movies stars and talent agents couldn't possibly live here. Where was Beverly Hills adjacent?

What part of town was this?

The part with the Giant Donut located right off one of the many freeways.

We won't discuss the reasonable motel...all I could say about Downey was "we gotta get outta here...fast".

The search for Wilshire Boulevard began early Monday morning.

During rush hour.