up on the NS App saying Disruption! With our flight leaving at 10am and the travel to Schiphol Airport taking 2 hours we would have had to take the first train at 05:50hr. Without the Disruption message we would have taken the risk taking the train with the construction happening near Schiphol but instead the wife was woken up with a special request of taking Philip and I to Amsterdam airport. Thanks!
Let's fast forward half a day and we arrive in LA. The direct flight meant that we arrived rather early. After customs, picking up the luggage (everything made it) we walked outside looking for the Dollar Rental bus. Although not as frequently as the competition, a bus arrived, we hopped on and made it to Dollar. After saying no to pretty much everything extra they still managed to squeeze another $329 USD out of us after we had pre-paid for the car. The lady was confusing and after 18 hours of travel my mind wasn't too focused to follow her silent voice. For this, next time it won't be Dollar Rental for us.
We picked the SUV with the black rims. We made that mistake in 2023 as the car looked good but was so old it still had a CD player in it, but this time we made sure it had some phone chargers and an Apple Car Play navigation system. The Florida plate we took for granted on the Ford Escape. It was 1pm so instead of drving down to our home base in Newport Beach, we headed a bit North-East to LA to tick off some of the flags on our Google Maps plan.
We drove straight to the LA store of Palace Skateboards. Last year it was closed, this time we were welcomed to their palace in North Hollywood. Checked it out, didn't find anything, outside in 10 minutes. But after having visited their stores in Tokyo and London it was cool to see their shop in LA. Next up; Supreme. A new store there with a full on elevated bowl and F1 sculpture. Massive store. New Vans shoes for Philip. If you want something special, you've got to put in work. A bit down the street was the KITH store. We walked in like it was yesterday, same with the HUF and Golf Wang stores that are all nearby. New for us were the Cherry Los Angeles store and Race Service agency. Getting to experiences places for the first time is so much more interesting. Nice conversations at both places. Look 'em up if you are feeling the vibe. Food? Chipotle!
When it got dark and the shops were closing we asked Google Maps to take us home the quickest way. It was rush hour so Google Maps directed us to the empty streets of Inglewood and Compton. We kept driving to stay out of trouble and reached Hotel Solarena in Newport Beach at 19:30hr. The place had a fridge, double bed, shower and coffee machine plus wifi. All we needed for the coming days. Lights out.
BdJ