Yoo Hoo!  We arrived safely at the Valencia Travel Village for the Alpine Coach Association Pre-Rally to the FMCA Rally in Pomona.  We made it here around 3 PM on Thursday after successfully navigating the bumpy and busy LA freeways thanks to our Rand-McNally GPS.  Whenever we get near a major city after being in the wide open southwest – it seems that all the drivers are impatient and in a hurry… common-sense and courtesy seem to be things that are reserved only for  non-urban areas.  Oh well… we’re here, with only a few frazzled nerves from the sudden traffic jams and lack of merge etiquette.

Here’s an awesome sight… a long row of fine Alpine Coaches.  I think there are about 30 Coaches in attendance, (I’ll confirm that number later).  Our Coaches filled up the first two rows near the entrance to the park and we ended up in the front row with a view of the pool and spa across from  us. 🙂

Everyone gathered at the designated meeting spot for our “Meet & Greet Social”.  Once again, it was nice to see old acquaintances/friends and to meet new ones.

After an hour of “catching-up” with folks, it was time for our catered dinner from Panda Express.  Great selections, great food, great people!

After our fine meal, we finished setting up the Coach and relaxed for the evening.  We were lucky to get a shot for the satellite dish through the tall trees around our site.  I thought we might have to move forward or back a few feet but it worked out.

In case anyone’s interested; here’s a view of our schedule for our time here at the Valencia Travel Village:

Since Friday is a “free” day,  we decided to check out some sights in and around LA.  I thought about downloading the Harley, but decided against it after recalling our freeway experience(s) on the way in here.  So, we jumped in the Silverado and plugged “Hollywood Sign” into the iPhone.  What did we do in the days before GPS?

After 35 miles and about 50 minutes later, we ended up at the Griffith Observatory parking lot which is also on the road to the Hollywood sign (which is closed).

Here’s some pics of our time at the observatory:

We each took turns walking through the observatory because little dog, Coach, wasn’t allowed 🙁

Stilla and Coach greeted me outside the building after my fast-paced whirlwind tour.   Pretty cool place… wish we had more time without having to worry about the dog… it was too hot to leave him alone in the pickup.  Another must-see place.

After we left the observatory, we drove a little ways up the road to the Hollywood SIgn.  A park ranger said that this is the first time in 20 years that vehicles can travel part way up the road.  It’s still blocked off about 2 miles from the sign.  Then we cruised around Hollywood and found ourselves at the La Brea Tar Pits.

The Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits was pretty cool.  But as usual, no dogs allowed inside the museum.  At least we were able to walk throughout the grounds with him on leash.

I’m running late this morning, so I’ll close for now and join the group for our scheduled trip to the Nethercutt  Museum.  Stay tuned for Day 2 of our Pre-Rally…