While at the LA Trader’s Expo, I stayed in Arcadia.   Now melded into LA, Arcadia used to be its own distinct town on Route 66.   I spent one evening walking around and marveling at Arcadia’s most surprising residents:  hundreds of wild green parrots.   Parrots are not natives of the region and no one knows for sure how they came to roost in Arcadia.   Rumors has it that a fire in a pet store decades ago prompted the release of a few parrots and nature took care of the rest.

I also came across an intriguing example of the great melting pot on the Pacific rim:  on El Dorado St (a Mexican name), is a drive-in diner (a US thing), featuring bento boxes and sushi (a japanese food).