Day Twenty Four
I was anxious to get going and got up early, packed up everything, rehitched the truck and trailer and drove into town to share a coffee with Daniel and say goodbye.
We said our goodbyes and I was off. Before hitting Hwy. 101 I stopped for gas. Gas prices in California are among the highest in the nation. I paid $3.79 USD per gallon which is roughly $1.30 CDN per liter which is now pretty closely aligned with Canadian gas prices.
According to my GPS my route to LA was just over 400 miles and should take about 6 1/2 hours so I was in for a long day on the road. Hauling a 6000 lb. trailer always takes longer than the same trip without one.
Here I am parked with the big rigs at a rest stop.
All during the trip I was coordinating with Giacomo my arrival time so that he could be there when I arrived. At first he was going to have me drop my trailer at a friend's place in a gated community nearby but at the last minute he switched the plan so that I could park the trailer on his studio lot.
I rolled in just past 7:00 pm and Giacomo was waiting for me at the gate with a few guys who guided me to where they wanted me to park the trailer.
Even though it was Friday night he had a short scene to shoot before the weekend and invited me to join him on set so I could experience a bit of real Hollywood.
This was going to take a couple of hours so we went into the canteen which was filled with a large selection of steaming hot Chinese dishes. These are the perks that seem to go with this business that doesn't have traditional work hours but people still need to eat.
Giacomo told me that this business has a lot of down time to fill between shoots so each of the actors has a private trailer to relax in when not needed on set. Here is his trailer. Not super fancy but has a large living area as well as a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.
There was a knock on the trailer door and it was a lady telling him he was needed on set so she took us across the lot in a golf cart and Giacomo prepared to do his scene. He was introducing me to people who I've been watching on Grey's Anatomy for years. It was very surreal. The whole crew were so nice to me. They got me my own director's chair and wireless headphones so I could listen to the shoot and actually hear the director talking to the actors and crew.
By the time they wrapped things up it was getting quite late but Giacomo wanted me to experience a bit of the Hollywood nightlife and took me to the famous Sunset Strip and his favorite bar, The Pink Taco. Nicole and her BFF, Tiffany, were waiting there for us. It was loud and crazy but great fun. I did kind of feel a bit like the country mouse visiting his nephew, the city mouse. At one point I felt something brush my leg under the table and when I looked to see what it was, I saw a tiny Chihuahua. It turned out that this was Tiffany's dog, "Honey". By the end of the evening I had decided that Honey was really Devil Dog. She didn't seem to like me or Giacomo and kept growling and nipping at us when she got a chance.
It was 12:30 when we left and drove the short drive up to their rental house which overlooks Los Angeles. Being a one bedroom home they had me sleep on a wonderfully comfortable air bed and after a very long tiring day I was out like a light.
We said our goodbyes and I was off. Before hitting Hwy. 101 I stopped for gas. Gas prices in California are among the highest in the nation. I paid $3.79 USD per gallon which is roughly $1.30 CDN per liter which is now pretty closely aligned with Canadian gas prices.
According to my GPS my route to LA was just over 400 miles and should take about 6 1/2 hours so I was in for a long day on the road. Hauling a 6000 lb. trailer always takes longer than the same trip without one.
Here I am parked with the big rigs at a rest stop.
I rolled in just past 7:00 pm and Giacomo was waiting for me at the gate with a few guys who guided me to where they wanted me to park the trailer.
Even though it was Friday night he had a short scene to shoot before the weekend and invited me to join him on set so I could experience a bit of real Hollywood.
This was going to take a couple of hours so we went into the canteen which was filled with a large selection of steaming hot Chinese dishes. These are the perks that seem to go with this business that doesn't have traditional work hours but people still need to eat.
Giacomo told me that this business has a lot of down time to fill between shoots so each of the actors has a private trailer to relax in when not needed on set. Here is his trailer. Not super fancy but has a large living area as well as a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.
There was a knock on the trailer door and it was a lady telling him he was needed on set so she took us across the lot in a golf cart and Giacomo prepared to do his scene. He was introducing me to people who I've been watching on Grey's Anatomy for years. It was very surreal. The whole crew were so nice to me. They got me my own director's chair and wireless headphones so I could listen to the shoot and actually hear the director talking to the actors and crew.
By the time they wrapped things up it was getting quite late but Giacomo wanted me to experience a bit of the Hollywood nightlife and took me to the famous Sunset Strip and his favorite bar, The Pink Taco. Nicole and her BFF, Tiffany, were waiting there for us. It was loud and crazy but great fun. I did kind of feel a bit like the country mouse visiting his nephew, the city mouse. At one point I felt something brush my leg under the table and when I looked to see what it was, I saw a tiny Chihuahua. It turned out that this was Tiffany's dog, "Honey". By the end of the evening I had decided that Honey was really Devil Dog. She didn't seem to like me or Giacomo and kept growling and nipping at us when she got a chance.
It was 12:30 when we left and drove the short drive up to their rental house which overlooks Los Angeles. Being a one bedroom home they had me sleep on a wonderfully comfortable air bed and after a very long tiring day I was out like a light.
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