Friday was a day of leisure. First it was a morning to sleep in! I didn’t have to work as my off-shore dev team doesn’t stay late on Fridays. A leisurely morning, a good breakfast, unwinding after a LOT of driving.

Friday afternoon it was time to go explore. Drive part of Route 66 westbound out of Pasadena, check out Hollywood and Griffith Park, and enjoy Friday rush hour traffic.

Friday night it was a trip downtown to a friend’s office on the 50th floor, with magnificent views.

LA oozes cool things to do and look at. We started by taking Colorado Blvd to Figueroa, down Figueroa to hop on the 110 into downtown, exit and loop around for Sunset Blvd.

I was going to drive Santa Monica Blvd west past Paramount Studios, but instead my son wanted to see Hollywood Blvd. I’ve driven both many times, having lived in LA for a few years and visited dozens of times over the years.

We drove down Hollywood Blvd to Laurel Canyon, which was predictably packed on a Friday afternoon. My son was surprised to see a homeless man camped out on a hillside with a makeshift shelter. We turned around and headed back down Laurel Canyon, east on Hollywood, jogged up to Fountain over to Western, and into Griffith Park.

They were shooting something at the entrance, not surprising in Tinsel Town! Then wound our way up towards the Observatory. I remember decades ago going to the Observatory and parking in front (for free), then enjoying the views overlooking the LA Basin. Now parking is paid and parking slots wind down the hillside. Traffic was stop and go to the Observatory itself so we took the shortcut and went through the tunnel and on down to Los Feliz to the 5, up to the 134 east to Pasadena. LA rush hour at its finest!

And cars. LA is home to exotic cars. Dillon is a bigger car nut than I am, knowing all the new supercars and hypercars by sight. A couple of quick sightings included for your convenience.