Journey to Griffith Park

Last fall we tried to go to Griffith Park to see the observatory. Emphasis on the "tried" part. The GPS took us there, though some of the roads were narrow. Well they felt narrow at least. And when we got there we were unable to find any parking. We actually drove far enough away that while we could still see the observatory, it was tiny and too far for us to walk to, at least up those hills.

So we gave up and said we'd try again someday. Well, someday did come. We had noticed while we were driving around looking for a spot that there was a Dash bus that seemed to be operating as a shuttle. So doing a bit of research I found out a bit more about it. It started at Vermont and Sunset, but the web page very adamantly said there was nowhere to park there. A little more research. It was a subway stop. LA's Red Line. And that was an easy problem to solve.

Driving down to Lancaster and taking the Metrolink with one of those one day passes, we could also use the subway for no additional charge. So for $10 each that part was solved. It did turn out that the one day pass didn't help with the Dash bus, but that was just another 50 cents (each way) per person.

So we headed down on a Sunday. Took the train, and dozed a bit while we were on the way down. Got to Union Station a bit early (the Dash bus doesn't start running until 10 a.m.) and sat around discussing the architecture. We then boarded the Red Line and got to Vermont and Sunset and came up and took a few minutes to find the Dash Bus stop, it was pretty much right there at the ground level. Climbing on it took about 20 more minutes to get us to the top.

To make sure we got to see a show, I got in line right away to get tickets for the Planetarium (the show was on the Big Bang and related stuff). We looked around and made sure we were there to line up for the show. Be sure to sleep well on the ride down since those seats are super comfy.

After the show we discovered a lower floor and a few shows, mostly for kids, and had a good time with that one too.

Reversing course, we took the Dash Bus back to its first stop and made it to the Red Line and back to Union Station. (We did take a side trip to Olvera Street for an early dinner and waited around for the next Metrolink train back to Lancaster. It was a long day. And we were tired. But it was fun.

We learned there's a lot more parking not too far from the Observatory if you go on a day when there's no concert at the Greek Theatre. Just sayin'.

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