After eight months in Latin America (and Greece), we decided to come home to the Los Angeles metro area. (If you read Yahm’s last post, you know how proud we are to be from The Valley.) When we initially landed in the United States, we experienced a surprising amount of culture shock. Besides having to retrain ourselves to say “hello!” rather than “buenas!” all the time, we were also surprised by how it felt to return to a familiar place. Suddenly, we were no longer a married couple traveling on our own; family and friends were anxious to see us and catch up about life. This took a few months of getting used to, which is also one of the reasons it’s taken us so long to write this post about what we’ve been up to since our return.
Before our trip, we hadn’t lived in Los Angeles for eight years. We had lived in Alabama and Arizona for four years each. When we came back to visit, it was for short but intense stints. Normally, when we would visit L.A., we would stay at Adam’s parents’ home. However, this wasn’t possible for the first month or so when we arrived. So, we turned to our tried and true way of saving money with lodging: Trusted Housesitters. (If you click on that link and sign up, we get 2 free months on the site. So, be a mensch and sign up.)
We found a house- and petsitting gig in a suburb called Thousand Oaks. The family we housesat for was very relaxed, and their two dogs, Tullah and Gizmo, were goofy and very lovable sheep dog poodle mixes. Gizmo was a wonderfully stubborn old man who looked deep into our souls and Tullah was a kind-hearted but ditzy pooch. We enjoyed this gig a lot. In fact, it was our second favorite house- and petsitting experience after the one we had in Costa Rica.
Following this two-week stay, we headed to Arizona which we wrote about. Afterwards, we returned to The Valley and stayed in a converted garage that Yahm’s mom helped us get for two weeks. After all this moving around, we finally moved in with Adam’s parents at the end of April. Soon after, we both started hiking the Santa Monica Mountains, which hold an exceptionally special place in Adam’s heart. These mountains, which he grew up hiking, helped him fall in love with the outdoors and the natural world. Hiking through the chaparral vegetation communities is always special for Adam. Yahm likes them too, but is not as enamored.
Since we didn’t know how long we would be in L.A., we took on a few more house- and petsitting gigs so that we could give Adam’s parents some quiet. We all get along great but we also recognize that we’re a bunch of introverts who want space.
Over the 4th of July weekend, we watched an English bulldog named Calvin in the Los Feliz neighborhood. (Fun fact about Los Feliz: folks from The Valley typically pronounce it Los Fee-lis while folks from the other side of The Hill pronounce it Los Feliiiz. What a funny socio-linguistic divide.) Calvin loved to be the center of attention and made it known when he didn’t think he was getting enough by barking or nudging us with his snout. He was also quite content to walk only a few steps outside to go to the bathroom before running back to the apartment to play, have a snack, and nap. Of all the dogs we housesat, he probably had the boldest personality. We were very happy to watch him for a few days.
Our third (and as of now final) house- and petsitting stint included watching two Golden Labradoodles named Buster Brown and Ziggy in Sherman Oaks. These two were incredibly sweet and well-behaved dogs. We loved taking them for long walks in the morning and petting them as they followed us around the house. Probably the funniest thing about these dogs is that they love to chew ice so every time we got ice, we had to pay the “ice tax.” The house itself was beautiful, too, so this will be remembered as one of our favorite sitting experiences.
Besides spending quality time with family and friends, we also tried to keep our explorer lenses on to participate in new or forgotten experiences. One of the first things we did in this vein was to attend the Thousand Oaks Chili Cook Off, Car Show, and Craft Brew Festival. Neither one of us had ever attended, even though the festival was celebrating its 49th year. This was also Yahm’s first chili festival, which made it extra special considering how much she loves beans. We came hungry and each tried 20 different chilis made by various local businesses throughout Ventura County. If only we had bigger stomachs to try them all! Some chilis were delicious, others so-so, but our favorite was made by Mando Youth Services. They mixed in cumin, cinnamon, and other spices to create a wonderful and unique flavor profile, so we voted for them. We did not stick around long enough to see who won the popular vote, but hopefully they did! Before we left, we also walked by the car show area, which, admittedly, isn’t something we would normally do, but we are explorers. The cars below were our favorites.
On another day, we had a chance to grab coffee with a friend who was visiting from Phoenix in downtown L.A. Afterwards, we walked by the Crypto.com Arena, (it will always be Staples Center to Adam!), which is where the Los Angeles Lakers, Sparks, and Kings play. Adam was excited to see the growing “garden” of statues of Laker and King greats.
First row, left to right: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (NBA player); Magic Johnson (NBA player); Shaquille O’Neal (NBA player)
Second row, left to right: Pat Riley (NBA coach); Jerry West (NBA player); Elgin Baylor (NBA player)
Third row, left to right: Kobe Bryant (NBA player); a box score of his 81-point game; a quote attributed to Bryant
Fourth row, left to right: Wayne Gretzky (NHL player); Luc Robitaille (NHL player); Dustin Brown (NHL player)
Fifth row, left to right: Oscar de la Hoya (boxer & L.A. native); Chick Hearn (NBA announcer); Bob Miller (NHL announcer)
Since we were in L.A. during Pride Month, it was important to Yahm to take part in the celebrations somehow. The L.A. Pride Parade is too corporate for Yahm’s tastes, so she looked for alternatives. The Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA) were having a special Pride Night and Yahm tasked Adam with purchasing tickets. While Adam has had a nearly lifelong love affair with sports, Yahm only really likes the occasional live sporting event if margaritas and/or popcorn are involved. The Sparks took on the Portland Fire and the crowd’s energy made it one of the best live professional sports atmospheres either of us have ever been to. Everyone who attended received commemorative clear plastic bags with the Sparks logo and Pride straps.
Adam wound up going to another Sparks game two weeks later with a friend when they hosted the New York Liberty. Though the Sparks-Portland game was competitive, the Sparks-Liberty game was even better when the Sparks overcame a double-digit deficit and won on a buzzer-beater three point shot. The game also featured a short performance by legendary L.A. rapper Warren G, which was a special treat. This game was also a celebration of the 30-year anniversary of the WNBA, so his friend got free commemorative t-shirts and tickets.
Though we have both visited the iconic neighborhood of Venice many times, Yahm had never walked through the canals. A childhood friend of Yahm’s joined us as we strolled up and down the canals, enjoying the waterway, birds, and unique homes. We also took the opportunity to have lunch not far from the boardwalk and smiled at all the 2026 FIFA World Cup tourists experiencing our hometown. While these canals and the Venice boardwalk are such popular attractions, we still felt like we were stumbling on a hidden secret. That feeling is ubiquitous in so many L.A. hotspots that it’s difficult to ever feel like you can experience everything the city has to offer.
Another place Yahm had never visited was the La Brea Tar Pits, which preserves thousands of fossils of Ice Age-era mammals that once roamed what is now Southern California. (Fun fact: “La Brea” means “the tar” in Spanish, so really these are The Tar Tar Pits.) Natural seeps of bubbling tar have existed in this area for millennia and humans have exploited it for a variety of purposes for centuries. The Indigenous Tribes in the area, specifically the Chumash and Tongva, used it as sealant for their boats. Later, the Spanish, Mexicans, and Anglo-Americans who came to the area also exploited the tar. The land eventually became part of the Mexican land grant of Rancho La Brea and animal bones began surfacing. In 1901, geologist W.W. Orcutt, who was hired by an oil company, recognized that the bones belonged to extinct animal species.
Other scientists would arrive after Orcutt’s discovery to confirm that the bones found in and around the tar pits were those of species such as dire wolves, short-faced bears, saber-toothed cats, mammoths, and other now-extinct Ice Age-era mammals. Besides a fenced off section that houses the still bubbling seeps of tar, there is also a museum and promenade. The museum displays many of the fossils found in the pits, re-built skeletal models of several species, and a lab where visitors can watch the process of cleaning and processing bones in real-time. The museum is closed as of July 7, 2026 and will reopen in two years time ahead of the 2028 Olympics, which was another reason it was important for us to visit this iconic heritage site.
Top row, left to right: the bubbling tar; replica statues of a mammoth family watching as the male gets trapped in the tar
Second row, left to right: skeletal model of a Harlan’s ground sloth; skeletal model of a La Brea caracara
Third row, left to right: skeletal model of an antique bison; a skull of a saber-toothed cat of some kind in the lab that is visible to visitor’s to the museum; skeletal model of an American lion
Bottom row, left to right: obligatory selfie #1; a replicated model of an American scimitar-toothed cat; obligatory selfie #2
The La Brea Tar Pits weren’t the only cultural heritage site we’ve visited the past four months we’ve been in L.A. Stick around for part two for those recaps. In the meantime, we want to share one more very L.A. tidbit. Our five-year civil wedding anniversary is in the middle of July. (We have two wedding anniversaries that we celebrate.) Rather than going out for a steak dinner as so many people do to celebrate an anniversary, Yahm asked Adam to take her to a dive bar somewhere in The Valley. Since Adam went to college in the area (Yahm was overseas for most of her 20’s), he knew just the place: the Maui Sugarmill Saloon in Tarzana. We spent the night chatting with locals, enjoying live music, and sipping some of the best Mai Tai’s Yahm has ever had.
Stay tuned for part two of our L.A. adventures, including another food recap in Yahm’s Corner. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to Traveling While Introverted so you don’t miss our next post!
Traveling While Introverted 
Leave a comment