A Studio tour
and Horse Back Riding

Today we have tickets for theWarner Bros. Studio tour and a horseback ride up to the Hollywood sign. And maybe the LA Zoo, since it is right around the corner from the horseback riding stable.

Breakfast was at the hotel, then we headed towards Burbank. There was a Starbucks there, since our tour started at 9:00 and we did not know what traffic would be like. We drove by a Whole Foods, so stopped in for a few minutes to see what it was like. Really big and nice. Probably a good spot to grab lunch after our tour.

Parking for the tour was at level 5, down in the bowels of the Warner Bros. parking garage. After a bit we finally found out where the line was for our tour. Groups of about 12 were broken out, and we were in a long electric golf cart for the tour. First stop was the archives, where they had current costumes and props from AquaMan, Wonder Woman, and Harry Potter. It was very hard to hear our tour guide because all of the tours were packed together close as we walked around the exhibit. The tour got better once we were on the electric cart again. We drove around different sets. The prop department was cool, since you go to see where they will “shop” for movie props. We could not take pictures if there was a tag on the prop, since that might give away what the movie might be about for the prop selected.

We also toured the Ellen DeGeneres studio. Gwyn said it looked smaller in person. You could not walk on the stage. There were so many lights above the stage and audience.

Each studio building had a plaque with the famous movies or TV shows that were filmed in them. After driving around in the cart, we were deposited at the gift shop, and it had the Friends couch where you could have your picture taken. There were various costumes displayed for viewing. If you go to the Warner Bros Image page, you can see many more items that were displayed.

After we were done with the tour, we headed back to Whole Foods to get lunch. Then, off to our horseback ride to the Hollywood sign!

Our horseback tour did not start until 2:00 PM, so we drove around East Hollywood. Under the overpasses we saw many homeless camps. Pretty sad to see. We drove around the hills and looked at the houses. Some roads are small and winding. Very different from New England. But kind of neat seeing the different architecture of the houses.

The Sunset Ranch Hollywood is at the beginning of the hills going up to the Hollywood sign. They had lots of horses ready to go in the corral. We had papers to sign and a helmet to fit. Once that was all done, they started lining up the horses for us to ride. I had Lil Bro, and Gwyn had Frosty. Once we got on the horses, we had a short introduction to riding the horses. They would know where to go, but we had to help them not to eat the vegetation as we rode along.

Up the hill and out of the corral we went! And yes, the horses hugged the edge of the road, and you could look down hundreds of feet! A bit unnerving at first, but you just have to remember that the horses know where they are going, and they want to get back to the stable and eat.

Our trip was two hours total. And the views were worth it. LA was smog free, and you could also look down on the Griffith Observatory from where we went. The trails were almost wide enough for two cars. Many people were out hiking on this really nice day. On the way back down, a bicycler was coming behind us fast. One of our guides turned her horse sideways and warned the bicycler that he was not allowed to ride on the path here. He protested a bit, but got off and walked his bike past the horses.

We got back from the ride, and we were a bit sore. Not too bad, though. Next, we drove over to the LA Zoo, since they had their Christmas lights still up. But, that did not start until 6:00 PM. Instead, we drove to the Glendale Galleria, and walked through there. We ate at an In-N-Out Burger, which was OK. I am glad that I have had it, but nothing special. We found a Godiva store, and I bought some truffles. We got back to the hotel at about 7:35, and watched Mrs. Brown’s Boys Christmas specials.