I consider myself a very active person. I embrace everything that Los Angeles has to offer. There is rarely a weekend that I don't attend a local event, visit a museum or go to a live performance. I love perusing Los Angeles Magazine and LA Weekly with a pen, noting everything that I want to do. If anything, living in the city brings an overwhelming amount of choices.

I've spent my thirty-six years living in Los Angeles and I'm still surprised when I discover something new. Dan and I have belonged to our Smart Car club for about a year and half and in this time, we have had some great new discoveries. I feel like the SoCal Smarties are more than just a car club, it's also a community of great people finding new adventures in the City of Angels.

Last Sunday, we met the SoCal Smarties at The Automobile Diving Museum in El Segundo. The Automobile Driving Museum is very unique, as it is the own known museum that allows visitors to ride in classic cars! We met our group just prior to ten and lined up our cars for display in the parking lot.

The museum is free, but is also a non-profit. so make sure to donate! It's worth it! Quite honestly, we were more impressed with The Automobile Driving Museum than we were with the flashier Peterson Automotive Museum. The Automobile Driving Museum is a lot smaller than the Peterson, but the intimacy allows for a superior experience. The docents were great and even though we didn't take a guided tour, they were very accessible for answering questions and pointing out details.

The Automotive Driving Museum allows you to get very close to the cars, giving visitors the ability to admire the interiors and in most cases, all angles of the vehicles. They have quite a large and varied collection.

When we entered the show room, our eyes immediately went to the Hot Wheels vehicles. I was surprised to learn that the pink suffer van (Volkswagen Beach Bomb) has the record for being the most valuable Hot Wheels collectible.

Dan took all of the pictures for this blog post with his new Panasonic Lumix DMC-G5K Camera. He got "artsy" with some of the pictures, but they really turned out great. The cars were easy subjects with colorful, glossy coats and shiny embellishments. The cars of yesteryear are so much more elegant than those currently on the road.

After signing a liability waiver, we were cleared to take a ride in the three classic cars that the museum had out for tours. The cars are different each week and although subject to change, they post the cars in advance on their website. If you are looking for a ride in a particular vehicle, I would recommend calling up the museum. It's run by a great group of people!

Alan, gave us rides in a 1948 Studebaker Starlight Coupe and in a 1946 Packard Clipper. He was a wonderful guide, giving us plenty of information on both cars, including pointing out various features. I was amazing at all of the leg and headroom, especially in the Packard. This was my first time riding in a car that was older than the 1960's. I felt like I was a movie star in a period movie. The classic car ride is a very special experience that The Automobile Driving Museum offers.