Trip to see the King

Not Elvis.  Tut.

While I was sitting at work even before I had decided to retire I was listening to the radio station (KFI) out of LA that I like and heard that the King Tut exhibit was in LA and it was the last time it would be allowed out of Egypt (unless they need to make money again).

I immediately googled it and booked a visit.  Yes, I live in Portland OR so how to get to LA, how long to stay?  Answer:  Fly and two nights.

Yes, pay for an airline ticket to fly to LA, rent a car, stay in a motel for two nights and fly back.

WORTH EVERY PENNY.

I had originally planned to take a shuttle to the Vagabond Inn but couldn’t find anything, taxi was too expensive, don’t trust Uber, et.al.  So, I rented a car from with the military discount it was cheap and since I didn’t drive more than 30 miles I didn’t bother to buy gas.  I used maybe a gallon?  They had a shuttle from the airport to their off-site location so it was easy to get there (and back to LAX upon return).

The motel was old but clean.  I’m not a lodging snob all I want to do there is sleep.  The room was very spacious with one clean bed and through Expedia was very inexpensive for LA.

You name the fast food outlet and it was within walking distance along with any ethnic food you could want.  I mean it is adjacent to USC!

I walked up and down the street the first night but opted for the standby McDonald's.  There I encountered my first fast food kiosk for ordering.  Place your order.  Take a number, sit down and they will bring your food.

The next day I got up too late to make my first appointment to see the movie about the discovery of Tuts tomb.  I figured I had probably seen everything on all of the Egyptian documentaries I’ve seen so no big deal (but I did see it later in the day). 

I walked to the Science Center on USC campus, taking a detour through part of the campus on the way.  At the museum, they scan my ticket and give me my guided tour speaker.  You go into an anteroom where there is a presentation on the discovery and once it is over you are allowed into the exhibit.  This is their way of controlling the number of people in the exhibit area at one time.  You are required to put your backpack in front of you so you don’t a) knock into other visitors and b) knock into the exhibit or knock another person into an exhibit. Halfway through my Nikon camera started acting up so I had to switch to my cell phone and some of those photos came out better.  I went through once then turned around and went back to the beginning and went through again.

There are two parts.  The first is almost all of the artifacts and the second is more of the story of how it was discovered and you end up in the gift shop.  There was an Egyptian “ambassador” there selling and autographing books by  Aswari the former antiquities minister.  I listened to him telling a family about the collection and explaining hieroglyphics. 

Amulet that was the first artifact found ...by the kid wearing it 

My next stop was the 3D IMAX movie on the Space Shuttle.  It was very interesting and the 3D really brought it to life.  I was told to just stay in the theater to watch the Egyptian movie after this one was over so I did!  Not a lot of new information as I suspected.

Then it was back into the main part of the museum to see the shuttle.  It is in a separate building located adjacent to and within the Science Center area.  It was actually smaller than I expected.  Outside to see the only remaining external fuel tank and back inside to the shuttle gift shop. 

In the main hall of the center, there were other space exhibits of Apollo capsules (talk about small), satellites and model of the Mars rover.

By this time there are thousands of kids from day camps there so it is time to go.  Outside I buy an ice cream bar from a street vendor and walk to a shady spot overlooking a beautiful rose garden to scarf it down before it melted in the heat…but it was so frozen I almost broke my teeth trying to bite into it.

I walked back to the hotel and stretched out on the bed enjoying the AC and fell asleep.  After a quick nap, I woke up grabbed a chicken sandwich for dinner and returned to the hotel and read.

The next morning I left around 11 to drop off the rental.  I couldn’t believe how crowded the gate area was at LAX.  I don’t think it has been changed since I flew out of there 30+ years ago but there are lots of signs saying there is something new coming soon.  There was no seating but I found a quiet corner next to a kiosk and sat o the floor next to the window to have a power bar.  I was soon joined by three airport employees having their lunch.  After about an hour I got up and found that there were seats near my departure gate and sat for about 20 minutes before boarding.

First time in three returns to PDX that my car hasn’t been covered in snow.  It was rush hour so I took back roads to pick up Oscar at the Rover.com sitter I had left him at in NE Portland. Then home.

A quick but enjoyable trip.  It is nice to be retired and have the time to do what I want to do.