I used to love driving into Los Angeles.  I had my usual haunts – Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Getty Center, LA Library with its five underground floors, and so many more.

But that was before I had my little one.  Since then – and that’s five years – I’ve basically been staying local.  Driving with a baby in the car was nerve-wracking and these days, driving with a little boy with endless questions in the car while you’re trying to keep your cool during LA rush hour is just as nerve-wracking. 

So yesterday was one of those days where I should have consulted the Philippine Consulate website and read the fine print that they’d moved location – and looked much closer about the times they were open, and most of all, that of the REAL time that their notarization department remained open which was apparently not 8 – 5 like their website said, but according to the security guard at the front who pointed to the plastic covered 8 x 10 sign on his desk, “our times have changed since last week. They now close at 3. Come back tomorrow.”

And so we took a drive to one of my old favorite places – Griffith Observatory even though the observatory itself was closed on Monday.  Still, one can walk around the premises and soak in the view of smog-covered Los Angeles.  

We’re going to make another foray into the city on Thursday and this time we’ll stay the whole day till the documents are notarized.  This time I’ll take him to the park right below the Hollywood sign, and probably back to the observatory and this time with quarters so he can use those telescopes.

And maybe, just maybe, I’ll make the drive into the city more often from now on and make it a little-guy-and-me weekly road trip .  After all, just because I used to do things doesn’t mean I no longer can’t.