The wide open spaces of America awaited us and after a 22 hour train journey we could not wait to get out on the great highways of California!
A short coach journey and ride on the subway got us to San Fran airport where our companion for the next week and a half waited - the Dodge Journey 4WD SUV rental car! This Beast could certainly handle all the mountainous terrain that we were about to encounter but at only 24 miles per gallon I don’t think I’ll be recommending this to Tactical Solutions (my old company) as the new company car!
Driving on the right hand side of the road proved to be quite easy and we soon got used to jumping all the red lights (it’s allowed in America!). We headed South out of San Francisco on the Pacific Coast Highway. This road is a combination of Route 1 and Route 101. It hugs the coast pretty much the whole way and you cannot be afraid of heights when driving along the winding cliff top stretches. It does however offer the most spectacular views! If any of you remember an Irish indie band called The Thrills; virtually every song they sing about is on this stretch of road. First stop for us was Santa Cruz - you’re not that faaarrrrr!!!
At one scenic stop where we pulled over for photographs we were approached by a woman who was lost -she was looking for directions. I’m not making this next bit up by she looked at us and asked with a serious face - “do you know the way to San Jose?” Honestly - this is true.
Santa Cruz is a small surf town and although it was nice we were in town the weekend of the US Open golf tournament. This meant we probably paid over the odds for our motel room but the people were friendly as ever. We went down to the beach where a free music concert was taking place. We went all the way to Santa Cruz and saw Herman’s Hermits play live on the beach! (Kids - ask your Dad, he’ll know who they are).
Next stop on the drive was all the way down to Oxnard (just outside of Los Angeles) - eight hours in total of driving but you don’t complain when the scenery includes the Cliffs of Big Sur, The town of Santa Barbara and roads where if you are taking the cliff edge hairpin-bends at 20mph you’re driving way to fast!
We continued the next morning down to San Diego where we would stay for two nights. Along the way we stopped in Malibu for some beach-time. We looked for the home of Charlie Harper - my all time hero - but it was no where to be found.
We arrived in San Diego in time to park the trusty Dodge at the Travel-lodge and head into the Gas Lamp Quarter for some of the best Mexican burritos you can find. Chicqito’s in Park Royal has got nothing on this place!!
The next morning we headed to San Diego Zoo - very cool to see the recently born baby panda and the human-like gorillas loved the attention and mooning at the crowds. We thought we had grown out of getting excited about going to the zoo but clearly not!
We toyed with the idea of crossing the border to visit Tijuana in Mexico as it was so close but decided against it in the end and settled for a visit to san Diego Old Town which the locals told us was far more Mexican than Tijuana could ever be. After some more great food and watching the festival dancing we headed back for a night to recover ready for a drive through Death
Valley the next day!
The wide open space of Death valley was astounding - never driven on a road that just endlessly goes on like this one! We arrived late afternoon and just headed straight on the road (there is no other direction you can go). We stopped off at a scenic point in time to capture the sun-set over the desert mountains - very nice and romantic! One problem though - after sunset it gets dark! We can now tell you from experience that death valley is not the place to be in the darkness. After the car made a 10,000ft climb we then had to get down the mountain on the other side - not easy on hairpin bends and cliff edges in the pitch back. No wonder we didn’t see another vehicle for nearly three hours- no other idiot is foolish enough to attempt this drive in the dark!
After a night spent in a motel in Bishop we headed out to Yosemite National Park early the next morning. After the searing heat of Death Valley it was nice to climb into the mountains via a scenic drive around June lake and see snow on the ground. Where else in the world can you go from 42 degree heat one day to snowball fights the next?!
The scenery in Yosemite is truly breathtaking but beware - you better keep your eye’s on the road or you WILL hit a bear!
We arrived late into a town called Sonora - a place in California’s ‘gold rush country’. This was the town where 19th century pioneers headed out to the hills to make a claim mining for their fortunes in gold. After a nights sleep we took a 10 minute drive (as opposed to the 10 hours driving the previous few days!) into Columbia Town where all the buildings are preserved from the gold-rush era and the town-folk work in 19th century costumes. Bit of a tourist trap but good fun. We went panning for gold but didn’t strike it rich so still gonna have to find some work in Australia to fund the rest of the trip. Damn!
We stayed out drinking late in a nice bar where we met some Mexicans. Good people but they insisted that European football was rubbish, too slow and the players too stiff and a European team would never win the world cup again! As this blog is being written after the world cup has finished I can now laugh and say ha! The top three teams were European. However they were clearly right about the overpaid, over-rated England idiots.
The next day we drove back to San Francisco to drop the car back and catch the greyhound bus down to Los Angeles. Some time to kill in the afternoon though meant we could go to the Imax cinema and watch Toy Story 3 in full on 3D. Definitely our new favourite film of the year - tipping this for an Oscar!
After an eventful greyhound journey (never getting on one of these buses again) we arrived in Downtown L.A. around 6.30am. Didn’t fancy hanging around here for too long so jumped in a cab to our motel in Alhambra. It wasn’t too bad so we dumped our luggage and despite no sleep for at least 36 hours we headed out for the thrills, spills and rollercoaster excitement of Universal Studios!
After 8 hours of wrestling with King-Kong, evading Jurassic Dinosaurs and hanging with one Homer J. Simpson we headed back to finally get some shut-eye before a 6am start the next morning to head out to Vegas!
After misreading the timetable the day before and not realising it was a Sunday we nearly missed the bus! A phone call to hold the bus at the next stop and taxi-ride got us there eventually otherwise we would have missed Vegas. Disaster averted!!
The first thing that strikes you about Vegas is the sheer size of it. The hotels and Casino’s are clearly big but the distance between them stops you from hoping from one to another. Clearly a cunning ploy to keep you in them for as long as possible particularly when the heat outside is constantly over 40 degrees! We stayed in the Imperial Palace which was a decent hotel and good casino but wanted to venture out - particularly up to the old town to see the Freemont experience. We got the Monorail up to the end of the strip and walked the rest - past lots of little white chapels but resisted the urge to go in! There was one place that claimed to be the venue where Joan Collins and Michael Jordan got married - a strange wedding if ever there was one!!The Freemont experience is right the way along Freemont street and consists of a giant LCD screen over the street projecting images of rock concerts as well as interviews with the crowd. The atmosphere was good with live bands playing and the party was definitely fuelled by one dollar Margaritas and a dollar fifty for bottles of Corona! After a small bit of gambling it was off to bed - nope no big winnings to pay for the rest of the trip either.
The next morning we set off towards The Grand Canyon stopping off for brunch at an all you can eat Chinese Restaurant for only $10. We ate a lot! We arrived at our overnight accommodation around 3pm - the Hualapai cowboy ranch on the western rim of the grand Canyon. To say the views were amazing would be an understatement - can you get much better in the word than waking up in the morning to see the sunrise over one of the seven wonders of the world?!
After a short journey along the canyon, peering over the edge a few times and watching a Native American dance performance we headed back to the ranch for a campfire and sing-song. Off to bed then with some great memories and in good time to get up at 5am for that sunrise!
The next day we headed back to Los Angeles arriving late afternoon. After a drop off downtown in Chinatown we headed out on the subway to our hostel in Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard. We arrived in time to catch a burger in a diner with a jukebox at you table - each song only 5 cents!
On the morning of our final day in the USA we jumped on one of the Hollywood tours. First up was a quick journey up the hills for the obligatory tourist photo under the Hollywood sign. We then headed down to Hollywood Boulevard for a stop at Mann’s Chinese Theatre and the Walk of Fame. After yet more photos we headed up to Beverley Hills and Bel Air for a tour around the homes of the rich and famous. Except you don’t actually see the homes. A few high fences, some hedges and the occasional mail box are pretty much all that marks out the home of someone you might know. Saying that though, Jennifer Aniston certainly has a swanky mailbox!
Anna, and the other Scandinavian girls we were touring with did get extremely excited about being so close to the film stars but not as excited as a shopping trip down Rodeo Drive! Getting close up with a Bugatti Veyron parked up on the street was a high point and goes to show there still some money to be made in Tinsel Town!
Back to pick up our luggage then head to LAX airport. 4 weeks in North America coming to an end. Five states of the US covered as well as Brtish Columbia in Canada. Travelled by plane, train and automobile (as well as bike, boat, coach and bus!) Time for a break from all this stressful travelling. Where’s next? Ahhh…… Fiji!!!
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