Kleinland: In which we did, and did not, make it to the LA Auto Show

Sunday, November 23, 2008

In which we did, and did not, make it to the LA Auto Show

This friday we tried to go to the LA auto show. Our plan was to leave early and get our subaru serviced in Ventura (the closest Subaru dealer, 25 miles away) on the way down. There was traffic, and we were running late, so we got to our car appointment 15 minutes late and almost out of gas. When we went to pay, however, it turned out that both Dan and I had forgotten our wallets! Luckily Dan has his credit card information memorized, and we were able to leave the Subaru dealer without pawning our watches across the street. However, we couldn't continue to the auto show because we didn't have any money for parking. No problem, head home! Oops, no gas. We spent 5 minutes scouring our car for loose change, and managed to come up with about 1 and a half gallons worth of quarters, dimes, nickles, and pennies (good thing gas prices have gone down recently). We headed home, driving 55 mph on cruise control the whole way - sorry other drivers! But we made it, and didn't have to beg on the side of the road for money, which was a relief.

Saturday, take two. Loaded with a full tank of gas, two wallets, and our friend candidates Jason and Abby, we headed back down to the auto show on Saturday afternoon. We spent 2 hours getting to the LA Convention Center, and then 5 hours (yes, FIVE, that is not a typo) looking at cars, before spending another 2 hours getting home. Luckily I had practiced my car comments before we went - "ooh, look at those headlights!" "Wow, they really curved those rearview mirrors this year," etc. The car show was really fun for Dan, but I fear for the potential long term negative impact on our friend candidates. Here are some photos from the show.

Dan in Porsche 911