I am sure your freeze costume will show up,

It was fun showing you three the town!  Just for anyone else who wants to come out, don't expect to bump into Bobcat and Snoop... and wait a while because i cleared out my "bat drawer" for Dee and Jack.  I need some time to refill it!

 Also let me know the address of your star trek

friend, I went diving again and found something he should like! 

I promise not to take my job for granted and will check the "out boxes"

around the lot when I take my lunch walks.  

Great meeting you and Karen and Dee!  All total we had Dee, Jack, Me, Justin and bat-lurker Brian who has been a good bat friend going back before my new fiberglass adventure. (Saw your head on Puff daddy show!)  And now after going to Jimmy Kimmel I can say, "wow, everything looks bigger on TV" just like everyone else.


www.StarCarCentral.com

www.Fireballrun.com

Here is my official trip report.  I’m sure I will miss a few things so Dee when you get home how about a back up.  Oh Dee your Disk is ready to go just email me your new address.

First let me say this was a trip of a lifetime.  I’ve never really been on a true vacation.  And as Nate and Dee saw first hand I’m a true movie and TV production fan.  LA/Hollywood is my Mecca.   Really a dream come true!  With Nate’s help the trip was better than any normal visitor to the area could ever expect to have.  Thanks Nate.  Also with Dee being there made it even that much better.  Karen and I agree that it wouldn’t have been the same without him.  In fact we started missing him on our trip to the airport and even called him today before he checked out to say hello and wish him a safe trip home.  Miss you already Dee. 

Day one: Thursday

We landed in LA pretty early as we wanted to get a full day.  The flights were great and right on time.  We had no problems getting to the rental car office or getting the car (even got a free upgrade to a Torus)….  Then it was off to find our Hotel. 

Found the hotel without any problems.  The hotel is an older one but man you could not beat the location.  It was less than a mile to Universal, Barris and WB.   It had its share of issues (broken elevator, etc) but I would stay there again in a heartbeat.   The on ramp to all of the highways was right out the door, yet traffic and noise right there was not an issue.  We were able to check in 3 hours early so we dropped off our bags and walked up to the Universal Studio City Walk.

We had lunch at the Hard Rock.  Very good burger.  

Then we walked back to the hotel.  At 3:30 we headed out to pick up our broken mate Justin.  Mapquest said it was about 42 miles or 45 minutes…..  Well that was BS at 3:30 in LA.  After we spent the first hour on the 134/210 and had only gone 20 miles we decided it best to call Nate as we were supposed to meet him for dinner at 6pm.  No way was that going to happen with still a hour and a half left to Justin’s and then another hour from there to Nate’s.  So we all agreed that we would postpone the visit to Nate’s until Saturday.  That actually worked out for the best because Dee was able to go.  So anyway meet Justin (man was he all busted up from the accident).  We also had the pleasure of meeting his Grandfather who was wonderful.  Then we all loaded up and went out to dinner where we met Justin’s girlfriend.  Following dinner Karen and I headed for the hotel.  We hit the sack around 11pm.  Day one was over and a complete success.

Day two: Friday

We got up early and had breakfast in the hotel restaurant.  It wasn’t the best but it was food.  We got an early start and headed to Universal.

We were there right before the doors opened.  Because we had bought our tickets only we didn’t have to wait in the lines.

We did the backlot tour first.  It was cool but more or a Ride than a tour in my opinion. 

We rode most of the rides and seen most of the shows.  I even got to volunteer for the Special Effects show.  I learned I’m not a very good actor. 

You could see WB from Universal. 

While we there we were approached about attending a free taping of a live show.  A sitcom called “Happy Hour”.  Sounded fishy but we said what the heck lets go for it.  It was now 4:00 so we headed back to the hotel to meet up with Dee.  Dee had not arrived yet so we did a quick change and headed back to Universal where a chartered bus was to pick us up and take us to the show (I honestly felt as if we were going to end up at a Time Share conference).  Anyway we made it to the show which was on one of the CBS lots.  It was really interesting to see how it’s all done.  We got to see the filming of the Christmas show.  It was pretty funny.  Sadly we’ll never see it air as it was canceled on Wednesday.  That sucks but it was neat to see.  No cameras were allowed.

Back to the hotel and to bed at midnight.

That ended the first 2 days.  It only got better.  More to come........  Goodnight!

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Day three: Saturday

Again we got up early.  I gave Dee a call but got no answer so I headed down to see if he were having breakfast.  As I passed the gym I noticed a guy that just had to be Dee.  Yep it was (I thought to myself oh man this guys going to want to workout every morning before we hit the road)…  I felt like I had known him forever from the moment we met.   So we all got ready and decided to walk down to a small restaurant that I had heard celebrities frequent for breakfast.  I think the food was much better.  Then we headed out to meet Nate.

Nate was truly the GR8N8!!!  We toured the Batcave where we saw many cool Bat items the coolest of course being Nate’s amazing 66 Batmobile.  Yep Dee and I played in it for probably an hour before we were told to get out of the way so we could go for a ride.  YEA!!!!!  Oh yeah we also tried on Nate’s Bat cowl and gloves but hey I’ll just keep those shots to myself.

Once the Bat was out we headed out for Lunch.  Dee got to ride for the first half.  We had lunch at Carl’s Jr where everyone in the surrounding area stopped to see Nate’s 66 and some even came in to ask questions.  Ton’s of attention with this bat ride.  Nate says he never notices the attention but I find that hard to believe since I witnessed at least a dozen folks try to give themselves whiplash.  

After lunch it was my turn for a ride.  The car ride great and was a blast to cruise in.  Nate decided since Eddie Paul’s shop was so close we would just ride by there and find a place to shot a few pictures of Nate’s car.  As luck would have it Eddie Paul the man himself was at the shop.  Man was this great.

We met Eddie and he gave us free access to the shop.  I felt like a kid when I say Lighting McQueen in person.

I was humbled by Eddie, his shop, and his amazing ability.  The man is truly gifted and a really super guy to have let us take up so much of his time and to trust us in his shop.  Thank you Eddie.

Following the shop visit we headed back to Nate’s where we dropped of the Bat and all headed out to the Petersen’s museum.

Yep took tons of pictures of the original 66, replica 89, Black Beauty, and all of the other cars.  They had a exhibit dedicated to Chip Foose called from Pen to Pavement.  Being a big Foose fan I thought that was awesome.  Also an exhibit for Ed Roth, another great set-up.  We walked around there until it closed.  Nate had to part a little early for a prior engagement but it was really great that he had decided to join us.  An unexpected pleasure. 

I think we went out to dinner in the laceName w:st="on">UniversallaceName> laceType w:st="on">CitylaceType> Walk….. then called it a night.

Day 4: Sunday

Yep you guessed it another early morning.  We headed up to Hollywood blvd to the walk of fame.  We walked from one end to the other.  Took pictures of a ton of the stars, especially all the Batman actors.  One actor passed away while we were on our trip, RIP.

More Walk of Fame.

(no Michael Keaton so I made one from Buster's star) 

As we walked by the Disney Store we couldn’t believe our eyes when we looked inside. 

Dee is just a big kid.  Just like me.....and Nate...

We had lunch at the Pig and Whistle.  Pretty good food.  Then it was back to the car and off to the Beach.  We decided to take Santa Monica blvd all the way to the coast.  It was a great route as it took us right through Beverly Hills and we were able to check one more thing off of my “To Do” list.

We made it the coast with no problems.  We slaceName w:st="on">awlaceName> laceName w:st="on">MusclelaceName> laceType w:st="on">BeachlaceType> and the Pier where Forest Gump, Lost Boys, and Big were all filmed.  AWESOME!!  

You wouldn’t believe who we ran into. 

While walking around we noticed an artist doing face sculptures.  I had never seen anyone do this in person so we were like heck why not and it was only $15.  I was shocked when after 15 minutes I was looking at Mini Jack.  Yep Dee got Mini Dee. 

Probably the best part was my wife was not only able to see the beach but one of the most beautiful Sunsets ever.

Not sure what we did next?  DEE a little help.

End of day 4.

Day 5: Monday

You guessed it another early morning.  Today’s agenda get to WB!  We decided to take the VIP tour.  Man it was well worth the money and if I ever go back I’ll do the $150 Deluxe VIP tour.

We grab a cup of coffee and a bagel in the WB store area where we found a full Mr. Freeze (which I took about 25 shots of).  There was also a Harry Potter and Neo figure in that same area.

It was time to buy tickets.  I latterly begged them to allow us behind the ropes at the Transportation museum.  They said they would ask.  We didn’t hear another word until we got there but the rest is history.

The Tour was the best.  Unlike the Universal tour, we were allowed to get off the cart and walk around the sets.   We got to touch stuff.  Man it really is all fake.  Great movie magic.  We saw tons of places where Batman Returns was filmed.   Recognize these?

And the original TV show.  The front for laceName w:st="on">GothamlaceName> laceType w:st="on">City HalllaceType>.

Then the transportation museum.   Where before entering the guide said we were in for a rare treat as we had been approved or the ropes to be taken down.  Well the first thing we noticed is that the Tumbler looks a lot smaller than I thought it would.  I took so many pictures of it that I didn’t get to see the rest of the displays.  I took something like 100+ pictures of every detail and nook and cranny.  So did Dee.  I think the guide was a bit taken as I don’t think that is what they meant for us to do.  But great shots none the less.  I would say now having seen the Tumbler it would win in a fight between all the bat cars.  Not because of the armor but because the frame structure was amazing.  Every weld was beautiful.  Every part was new.  The machine work alone would cost more than any one of us could afford.  Simply put the Tumbler was not only a work of art but truly a very well designed and built machine!!

We also got to go on the set of Gilmore Girls (No photos allowed).  Also while riding around on the cart we saw a few stars but the only one I recognized for sure was Maura Tierney who plays Addy Lockhart on ER.  We saw a lot of the ER sets.

It was a 2.5 hour tour and only cost us $38 each.  Well worth the money and I would do the 5 hour tour for $150 next time.    

After spending all of our money in the WB store we headed out again.  The next stop was George Barris’ shop which was just up the street.  George was really busy but we again got free reign over his shop.  We looked at everything from his Butt’s 66, the Munster Koach, KITT, James Dean, Ratula.   What I learned was man is George a collector.  He has more stuff then I could ever hope to collect.  And he documents and stores files on every thing he has ever done in his life. 

So here is just a little for the debates.  What is too thin?  I would say this is!!

We left there and headed down to Long Beach to visit the shop of Monster Garage host and Chopper builder Jesse James.  This was disappointing for me.  We saw a few bikes, a custom Hummer, and a Rat Rod. 

Jesse was working in one of his offices so we didn’t get to see him.  We did eat lunch at his diner.  It was Okay but way to far to drive to just see that.  But we could check it off of the list.

It was getting late ad we had a meeting to see all of the Batman costumes at the shop where I got the Returns Stilt Walker coat to see what else they had.  I really wanted one of the clown costumes.  When we got there we found they had tons of costumes from Returns and Batman and Robin.  The one thing I didn’t know they had was the undersuit that Arnold wore as Mr. Freeze.  He had right at 10 of them but there were only 3 still in good shape.  I only bought the clown suit that night.  Oh on a side note the warehouse where I bout the suit was an old movie studio…..A PORN Studio….  I count this as the 3^rd studio I visited. 

We decided to make it an early night at 8:30pm.  We went back to our rooms.  My wife ordered pizza from Papa John’s which actually never arrived.  I had already fallen to sleep anyway so I didn’t care.  My wife was pretty pissed when she called PJ and they told her they got lost.  Oh well.

End of Day 5.

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Hey I have been trying to catch up on your thread.  The video and pictures look great. 

Stay tunned there are still 3 days left to report.  The last was just the rip home but something kind of cool happened even on that day. 

Day 6: Tuesday

The day started with breakfast down the street at Vivian’s then it was load up in the car and head to Huntington Beach.  This was another whirled wind car day.  We were looking for Foose Design.  I guess we rode right by it but found Lanzini’s Auto Body.  They do a lot of the cars on Overhaulin.  We decided to go in since this was one of the places I had mapped out.  We meet Mitch and his wife.  They were both very wonderful people.  Mitch’s wife kept us entertained with stories about Overhaulin and Chip until Mitch was done delivering a car.  When Mitch got back we learned so much more.  Like What this years SEMA Overhaulin car is.   We mentioned that we had gone by Barris’ shop.  The conversation turned to the Batmobile.  I was shocked as Mitch started talking about how much he likes the 66 Bat.  He said hey “I know this guy that builds them”.  I smiled and said could it be Mark Towle?  He said “Yes” and then had nothing but good things to say about Mark.  So anyway we talked a little more about the Mark and the 66. 

Again great folks but it was time for Foose to open to the public so we had to run.  Foose Design was actually only 2 doors down the road. 

I was very disappointed.  Chip wasn’t there as they had just started filming a new Overhaulin that day.  But that’s not why I was disappointed.  The shop was small and not much to see.  I think we may have missed something. 

Anyway no one was there except the lady who was selling the Foose merchandise.  She said all the workers have to take their lunch while the place is open to the public for insurance reasons.  So we didn’t get to see Charlie or any of the other guys.  Like I said I was disappointed as I think Chip is an amazing talent.  Oh well maybe the next trip…

Then it was up to La Habra to the shop of Boyd Coddington and where they film American HotRod.  The show room was full of cars we have seen built on the show.  They were beautiful.  A few were for sale and the prices were not that bad. 

We were not allowed down into the shop but we could see most of the guys from the show working.  They were also filming. 

We did get to meet Dewayne and Thomas (The Swede).  They were both really cool.  Dwayne picked on Dee a bit.  They were just as they are on the show.  Funny thing I even heard a lady say they lad lost a box of parts and there were no cameras around so what you see on the show must be for real.! 

We headed back to the hotel as we had plans to drive out to meet Mark Towle.  It was about a 70 mile drive so we needed to get back for a much needed break.  Plus my wife decided it would be best if it were just the boys.  I think she was really tired of looking at cars. 

Mark’s shop visit……I know you have all been waiting for this.  Here’s how it started.  I spoke with Mark on the phone and he really seemed excited that we wanted to visit him.   I was a bit uneasy about the visit because I haven’t always been nice to Mark on CLTC.  Yep I’ve called him out more than once.  So I half expected to be buried somewhere on his property.  It was funny because Mark said that he wasn't sure about us coming either. 

Well the first thing I noticed about Mark on the phone was he didn’t sound anything like I expected from the pictures I have seen.  He really sounded like a nice guy,  Okay so the trip is on.  We call Mark to tell him we are on our way.  He tells me with the traffic it would probably take us 3 hours to get there.  Well that was pretty close.  We got a little lost.  We called Mark and he was great he actually stayed on the phone with us for around 20 minutes giving us turn by turn directions.  Then he went out by the entry to his shop to wave us in.  You’ll hear this again but he really went out of his way for us.

So we jump out of the rental and meet Mark.  He’s much bigger than I guessed.  What really freaked me out was how much he looks and sounds like Billy Lane.  Mark quickly pointed out that he is at least a foot taller than Billy.  J  Well we were welcomed with hand shakes and an open door to the shop.  I really didn’t take many pictures but I did ask if anything was off limits and Mark said no, take pictures of what ever you want to.  Mark gave us the tour explaining what was going on with each of the cars and bodies.  He even showed, heck he let me hold a couple of original Futura parts.  These were the real deal and man they had to be a one of a kind.  I wish I had taken a picture.  For some reason I was more excited to meet Mark than I was to see the cars.  I know toy want to know what we saw so here it is: two 89 bodies (one mounted and one off of the chassis but it was there.  I even was allowed to take shots of how he stretched the Corvette to get the correct wheelbase), the were at least two 66s (one covered and one he had been working on), the Mach 5, Racer X, Bat boat, Brin’s Bat, 66 molds, tons of parts and metal, etc…..  Mark was really great to us…..Let me say that again Mark was really great!  I mentioned that I really like the way he had done the metal window frames on the 66.  They look so much better that the black rubber in my opinion.  I said can you tell me how you did it.  He said No but I’ll show you.  That’s right he even took the time to bend up some metal for a window frame right in front of us.  He even let me video tape it.  WOW it took Mark just a few minutes and BAM instant frame.  I was so dang impressed.  What more could Mark do?  Well he said hey lets take the Mach 5 out for a spin.  Once I caught my breath I said “Me First”.  Mark took us both on a high speed race around the back streets only to end with each of us getting a ride for a 360 behind Mark’s shop.  I couldn’t stop smiling!!!   Wow was that a blast and yes it’s all on video!

Here's a picture of what it looks like on the Markside.  Yes even I had to be a bad ass. 

Speaking of video Mark wanted to get Dee and I on tape jumping up and down on one of his 89s.  What the heck why not.  He wanted to show how strong the car is.  Well here’s what I now know to be fact.   Marks bodies are the perfect thickness in my opinion.  They are not too thick (probably around 1/4” to 3/8” I would guess).  More importantly they are not too thin like the 89 I got from Yancey.  The 66 body was the same way.  Yes I did see a lot of the same flaws in the body but at this point I no longer care.  Rusty has shown they can easily be fixed.  Also something I noted that I found important.  I really didn’t like the seems on the 89 but then I noticed a gallon can of Evercoat adhesive/filler.  I’m a huge fan of Evercoat products so I know Mark uses the good stuff.   It looked to me as if he fills the seems before it goes to the customer.  I’m can say for sure but Mark can tell us more.  Okay so we had a great visit at the shop and it was about 10pm so I figured it was time for us to hit the road.  But Mark says hey I’m taking you guys to an Irish bar.  Hey that sounded great because they serve food and I was starving.  We get there and this place was hopping.  It was comedy night.  We met Mark’s brother and some of his friends (hot chicks)…  Speaking of Hot Chicks Mark shared some pix of his girlfriend and man is she beautiful!  Sorry Mark I couldn’t keep that to myself.  Anyway we had a few beers (Dee and Mark had a lot more since I had to drive home ((Dammit))).   The comedians were hilarious!  And get this that guy that looks like a bad ass and is always flipping folks off in his pictures has quite the since of humor.  It was actually strange to see Mark laughing and joking.  I guess I really just thought he was a grouch.  Well it was after midnight and I said hey we better call it quits and hit the road.  I really wish we could have hung out all night.  I was having such a great time.  I had decided that the meal and beers were on me because Mark had been so great.  I paid for the meal but then Mark tells me that he would have to talk to the waitress because he had told her it was all to be put on his tab.  NO WAY he was a great host and then he was still going to pay for our meal too?  I couldn’t let that happen.  Anyway it wasn’t that bad of a price.  Maybe she gave us a Mark discount.  Hey Mark I just thought of something.  She did include all of our food and the beers too right?  Man I hope so I asked and she said we were all covered.  Dang it I hate when I’m not sure.   Please let me know.  So anyway Mark got us directions back to the highway.  So as Dee and I were driving back I mentioned to Dee that I was really shocked at how cool Mark really was to us.  In fact I told him how bad I felt having been such an ass in the past.  So just as I’m feeling sorry the cell phone rings and it’s Mark.  He just wanted to make sure that we were able to follow the directions and were heading the right direction.  Dang now I really felt bad.

Oh I almost forgot Mark gave Dee and I each an autographed 66 Bat Antler. 

So to Mark.  I am sorry I have given you so much crap in the past.  I know you said forget it and that the comments only helped you to improve but I really feel I owe you that apology.   You were an awesome host and really gave us both too much.  Too much info, too much of your time, and well just too much.  Thank you.  If I’m ever there again I hope we can hang out again! 

So that ended the night.  A lat night, I think we got home around 2am. 

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