Friday, May 10
Odometer Reading: 48,585 Food Supply: We forgot about refilling the cooler with ice while we were having fun in Vegas, so the car smells real bad and our food is all rotten.
I can honestly say that there is nothing between Las Vegas and California. We drove right through the Mojave Desert, a lonely, dry and desolate landscape. It is so hot that road signs instruct you to turn off your a.c. for the duration. Can you imagine how hot it was, driving through the desert on a 115 degree day with a stinky cooler full of rotten turkey and cheese?
And to make it worse, we were sad about leaving Las Vegas. That's all we could talk about. We weren't even excited about going to L.A. or being contestants on 'The Price Is Right.' We wanted to be in Vegas.
California's stretch of Route 66 carries you through Barstow and all the way to L.A. For more info on California's Rt. 66 Association check out Get Your Kicks, my page of Mother Road links.
We finally made it to Anaheim and checked into our hotel. As soon as we got in, Matt was on the phone trying to make 'return' reservations for Vegas. We were going to stop back through and cut San Francisco out of our trip (we'll get to San Francisco next time).
Saturday, May 11
Odometer Reading: 48,842 Food Supply: See above
Instead of taking a professional tour of Los Angeles, Matt decided that we could drive. I was very nervous about this, hearing all the horror stories about the city. Matt told me not to look at anybody, and we headed off.
L.A. isn't so bad after all! We found our way around just fine. The downtown area is clean and the skyscrapers are modern and funky looking. Our first stop was the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, home of the Academy Awards. The DCP overlooks the L.A. County Courthouse, which looked a lot bigger on t.v. during the O.J. trial (oh, come on, like you didn't watch it too)! In fact, everything in L.A. looks a lot bigger in the movies.
We cruised on down to Hollywood, which I expected to be a big dump, but it wasn't so bad either! Yes, it was run down and swarming with tourists and people with multiple piercings and spiked purple hair, but there's still a bit of the old-time glamour there. The Walk of Fame, lined with many stars we didn't recognize; Mann's Chinese Theater with its famous footprints out front; the Capitol Records building; the historic Roosevelt Hotel....Hollywood does not disappoint.
Sunset Boulevard represented trendiness at its finest. Nifty sidewalk cafes and overpriced boutiques lined the streets. We drove by the Chateau Marmont, the famous cluster of bungalows where John Belushi died in 1980. And movie billboards are on every block. Next stop was the Mulholland Scenic Corrider, where you can see the Hollywood sign and the city covered with dense smog. Then on to Beverly Hills, a beautiful section lined with palm trees (the roads are horrible, though), and Bel Air, filled with many obscenely huge mansions (presumably movie stars' homes). Century City and Rodeo Drive, Melrose Place, the tar pits...we saw it all.
Sunday, May 12
Disneyland: The Happiest Place On Earth. I was skeptical about going to Disneyland...after all, I've been to Florida's version lots of times. But Disneyland is different--it is more detail oriented, and it is like a totally different place. The strange thing is that it sits right in the middle of town! If you've ever been to FL Disney World, you know that there are acres and acres of unspoiled land surrounding the parks. Not so in Anaheim! Instead of being surrounded by trees and lakes, Disneyland is encircled with dirty roads! I'd recommend it, however, to anybody traveling in the L.A. area. In fact, I liked Disneyland better than the Magic Kingdom at Disney World! The rides are different, too. And the Indiana Jones ride is especially great.
Exhausted, we pulled back into our hotel and decided that we'd head on back to Vegas. We want to move to L.A., so why spend too much time there? (Ha ha).
This page was created and written by Louisa Moore.
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