Day Thirteen - Escape From L.A.

Today we started out by getting ready at the Los Angeles KOA. While not as nice as some of our previous KOAs, it’s definitely nicer than anything else we’ve seen in LA. First up on our to-do list of the day was to re-visit Hollywood. The purpose of the visit can be seen on yesterday’s post as we had to re-create a few pictures that got *misplaced*. After that we headed towards one of my chosen destinations, the Petersen Automotive Museum.


The Petersen, while not the most comprehensive auto museum, is quite possibly the nicest I’ve ever been to. The displays have a lot of time and thought put into them and there are always special collections on display. Throughout the museum you can see anything from an early 1900’s touring sedan mired in mud to a 1930’s Ford Dealership to an impressive collection of Ferrari’s. Additionally on exhibit was a rare assortment of cars, art, and other memorabilia from Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, one of the most influential custom car builders of the 60’s and 70’s and creator of the “Rat Fink”.


After getting absorbed in the glossy paint and bright lights at the Petersen for almost 2.5hrs we headed up the coast. Upon recommendation we stopped at a Del Taco fast food restaurant for lunch. Sorry Justin, but they don’t hold a candle to Taco Bell, despite the impressive quantity and delicious French fries.

Moving on, we skirted along old Highway 1, aka the Pacific Coast Highway, and 101, as we headed North towards San Francisco. Eventually, after being forced to pay almost $4.00 a gallon for gas when there was nothing else around, we decided to stop for the night at San Simeon State Park and set up camp. The park, within earshot and eyesight of the coast, was very quiet and offered up some decent scenery for the night. I also took the time to do a little maintenance on the camper. Tomorrow we’ll be heading out early to continue on up the PCH along the “Big Sur” portion.

Day Twelve - Star Struck

This morning we slept in beside the ocean and awoke to a beautiful view of the crashing waves and sea foam. Lingering around our campsite, we watched the water and also the “burrowing ground squirrels” whose “rodent activity” effects the cliffs of the park. Once exceptionally chubby fellow even made his way into our garbage somehow; I took this picture before shooing him away. After a quick 50 cent shower, yay token restrooms, we were on our way up the highway and into L.A. On the way, Carl took a detour off the freeway and up route 1. Not only did it provide us with some more beautiful views of the beach, but we also saw the original Batmobile!

Along this route we also stopped for lunch at Arby’s where we met a girl who was originally from Arlington, VA and was impressed that we were on day 12 of our cross country drive. Back on the freeway, we finally rolled into L.A. and onto Hollywood Blvd.

After circling the area for some decent parking, we finally found a place which offered daily parking for $7 (this was a deal considering that the other places were charging $3 for 15 minutes and $8 for an hour), plus it had a high fence and a little Hispanic man standing watch. After loading our bags with all things valuable, we headed down Holly Blvd. our eyes constantly on the sidewalk to catch the familiar names of the stars. We even found Alice Cooper! (Well his star anyway).
We stopped by Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to see the foot and hand prints of the stars. There were a variety of names, everything from John Wayne to Johnny Depp. Here I am with Cary Grant.
We also went to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not odditorium. I’ve always wanted to go to one, and Carl was willing. It was great fun! We saw all kinds of things, including a two headed baby and a statue of Marilyn Monroe made completely of money.

After walking along the strip a bit longer, we decided to go in search of the Hollywood sign. We drove up a recommended street until we reached a trail. After a short climb we could see the Hollywood sign looming in the distance. There’s really not much else to say about today. L.A. is definitely not one of our favorite places on the journey. The traffic is everything you’ve ever heard and more. The entire city is covered in a thick haze, and, compared to the desert and the state beach, it’s a whole other world.

Tonight we’re camping at a KOA just outside of Los Angeles and tomorrow we’re cruising the Pacific Coast Highway.

Day Eleven - Carl goes to Carlsbad

The desert sun woke us up early this morning, and we were packed and on the move well before 8am. Before heading back into the city, we decided to spend part of the morning doing a bit more exploring.



After passing through some more canyons and following some washes, we came upon a place called split rock. From the picture I’m sure you can tell where the name comes from. We stopped here because Jack’s map indicated that there were some petroglyphs. We got out and began scanning the cliff’s surfaces for any patterns or designs and soon found what we were looking for. Right on split rock there was a small red figure of a man. Around the rock we also found some rounded areas that the natives of the area once used for grinding and preparing food.

The heat was fast approaching, and the day was slipping away from us, so we soon turned back and returned to the highway. Saying goodbye to Jack in Ramona, CA. we headed back into the city to visit some museums in Balboa Park and Old Town.

Our first stop was the Museum of Man, San Diego’s Anthropology Museum. The Museum is housed in an old church, and it was surreal to see replicas of Mayan ruins looming out from what once was a pulpit. The museum houses a variety of displays, including modern African Art and a full Ancient Egyptian exhibit which boast a collection of mummies.


After visiting the Museum of Man, we also stopped by the San Diego Automotive Museum and then headed downtown to Old Town San Diego. This is the birthplace of California and is now a State Historic Park filled with shops and restaurants and costumed guides. Many of the shops contained merchandise brought in from Mexico, and I was very excited to find two Calaveras, toy skeletons used in the celebration of the Day of the Dead.




Finally, it was time to say goodbye to San Diego. We headed north and made camp for the night at South Carlsbad State Park. We were able to have a campsite right on the ocean, and it was a very relaxing experience. It was so nice to be able to walk along the beach, dip our toes into a whole new ocean, and roast marshmallows while listening to the roar of the waves.


Tomorrow we’re off to Los Angeles. Hurray for Hollywood!

Day Ten - UMMM MUD?

After checking in late at the campground last night, we awoke this morning with a lack of knowledge about our surroundings. It was dark when we rolled in so we couldn’t really take note of where things were in the campground. After wandering around to find the bath house and showers we discovered that they had a punch-code lock on the door. So we went towards the office to see if it was written anywhere for night registration, and found an envelope with our name on it, well close, “Larry McWhirt”. Of course the bathroom code wasn’t in there so we wandered around a bit more and eventually I found another box with some night check-in details and on these were the code to the bathroom. Problem solved, sort of…

Upon returning proudly to the bathrooms with our codes we found obstacle number two, a coin operated shower. We again headed back, this time to scrounge around the truck for quarters. Finally some time later we got our showers and were ready to hit the road.

We met up with Jack, Jarret , and Uwe & Srisuda from 4wdtrips.net at Anza Borrego Desert State park to do some exploring in the desert. The temperature quickly surpassed 100*F but it was not at all unbearable, just had to be sure to consume plenty of water. It really is true what they say about a “dry” heat out west. We started off by heading up Coyote Canyon. While not particularly scenic it did quickly orient us to our desert surrounding and made for a fun drive. We also saw the only standing water of the day when we made a couple of creek crossings and one interesting narrow passage through a spring.




Afterwards we headed towards Font’s point. Font’s point is an overlook for the badlands of Anza-Borrego. The scenery here is much like some that we saw in the painted desert though not quite as colorful. We’re told that it’s absolutely amazing at sunset. It was also at Font’s point that we met a nice French girl named Madeline who was traveling solo around the west coast and came to spend the day in Anza Borrego as well. Since she was also planning to visit the next site we were going to and happened to be driving a rental Jeep Grand Cherokee, we invited her to follow along. She seemed to really enjoy tagging along with us, and it certainly gave her the change to take a lot of pictures. She even took a picture of my liscense plate - MMMM MUD. For some reason that has been a good point of conversation and entertaining to lots of people we've met.

Along the way we made a detour to see the area known as “17 Palms”. Its name derives from the number of palm trees that once marked this site, near a spring, where travelers and stage coaches would stop for water and relay messages. Today there’s a box still there where visitors can leave messages and sign the guestbook.



Continuing on we arrived at one of our primary destinations of the day, the “Pumpkin Patch”. Looking at the photos it’s easy to see where this name came from. The area was littered with several spherical shaped rocks that have been eroded away by the winds. The area used to be much fuller, but like many interesting geological sites in the west, many have been carried away.

It was here that Uwe and our new friend had to turn back, and Jack and I set off for the highway near Ocotillo Wells and the road to our campsite for the night. After navigating many different washes we arrived at the highway right on schedule and proceeded further south. Fish Creek, now a dried up wash, provided an access to Sandstone Canyon. Sandstone Canyon, one of the sites that I desired most to see, was more than I could’ve imagined. The narrow passages eroded away through the soft sand stone made for a spectacular setting. Eventually we came to a blocked portion of the trail. There was a detour but the sun would be setting soon so we headed back out to setup camp.


After finding a nice clear flat area away from the foot of the cliffs we made camp. The Four Wheel Camper’s advantages here were easily visible as we quickly popped the top and were soon fixing dinner, while Jack was still setting up his tent-cot. We enjoyed some Chili and Peas and sat around and talked for a while underneath the clear night sky as we watched the stars steadily become more visible. It’s so peaceful out here with a near-full moon illuminating the desert terrain.





Uwe and Srisuda also uploaded some photos from the first part of the trip here: http://www.whitethaiger.net/albums/ab052707/

Day Nine - Welcome to the Jungle

Waking up today in San Diego was a wonderful feeling. After packing up and enjoying breakfast at the hotel, we headed off to find the San Diego Zoo.

Remember how we said this trip has caused us to lose all track of time? Well, this can be both a good and bad thing. It’s good because it helps you to relax and enjoy yourself; it’s bad because you sometimes time things wrong and hit rush hour, or in today’s case, go to the zoo on Memorial Day weekend.

Still, the day was great fun. It started off with a hyper active monkey who sprang from tree to tree and ran along the walls and windows. This show was followed up by a photo hogging parrot which the other birds in the aviary attacked and then also two playing/fighting/ADD badgers.

It seemed that the animals at the park fit into one of three categories today. They were either: 1) hyper active, 2) sleeping, or 3) hiding from the mobs of tourist. Then again, who could blame them.

We were also able to enjoy the animal shows at the zoo. One was dedicated to folklore about various creatures. Apparently badgers have very tough skin and will actually stand up to a bear. They flatten themselves on the ground and when the bear swipes it only bats them away. Their skin is so tough that snakes can only bite through it around their face.

Another bird in the show was extremely entertaining. The trainer had worn new shoes today and it completely threw the bird off. It attacked her feet rather than performing its tricks, but it was very funny and the trainer handled it very well. We also saw the sea lions, and of course they were blowing kisses and giving kisses on cue.

Other animals we saw included the Meerkats (Carl’s new favorite), the Hippopotamus, Polar bears, the red panda (my favorite!), llamas, elephants, tigers, giraffes, koalas, kangaroos, various monkeys, birds, wild hogs, and deer etc.

After the zoo, we still had a bit of time before our dinner plans, so we decided to stop by Old Town San Diego. Neither one of us had any idea that there was so much there. The state park part of the district still holds many original buildings and has interpreters and themed stores which recreate the old west. We were a bit pressed for time, but we made plans to stop back by sometime on Monday, and we will certainly take the camera.

After checking out Old Town we met up with Jack Silberman of 4wdtrips.net and a few other members and their families at a local Thai restaurant for dinner. Carl finally ate Thai food and actually liked it, making me very happy. It was nice to meet everyone and plan out our trip to Anza Borrego Desert Park for tomorrow. We’re staying at a little camp ground near Anza Borrego about 55 miles east of San Diego for the night and will be meeting up with the 4wdtrips group in the morning for a little desert wheeling and sightseeing.

Day Eight - Hotel California

We started day eight off by spending a few bucks with the empty hopes of driving a new mustang home from Vegas. We then enjoyed some Krispy Kreme donuts made in the in casino factory at Circus Circus. Finally, with our fill of the glitz and glamour of the strip, we drove off into the desert.

There’s really not much to say about today (in fact, I don’t think we even took any pictures). We drove through the desert, reached 100 degrees, saw our first tumble weed, a were stopped at a border check for fruit, and then breezed on in to San Diego.

Yeah, the fruit thing was kind of weird. The guy wanted to know where we were from, how many days we’d been on the road, and if we had any raw fruit with us. Apparently we gave him all the right answers, because we were allowed passage into California. Good thing canned items travel better than fresh items I guess.

Since we’d reached the coast, Carl and I had a bit of a treat and stayed in a hotel downtown. It was very nice and comfortable, but also very strange. We had a big room, a bathroom we didn’t have to walk to, television, etc. I almost missed the camper… almost, but the night was very relaxing and well appreciated. J

After finally finding a parking garage that could house us, we enjoyed dinner downtown at a small local pizza place. Then, exhausted and ready to collapse into a big cushy bed, we called it a night. We had to rest up for our adventures the next morning, primarily the zoo!!! (I’m certain there will be lots of pictures of cute mammals tomorrow)

Day Seven - Where's the Dam Tour ???

Today we had two clear destinations in mind. We pulled out of our campground in Williams, AZ and set out for the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas.

Of course, as it has been throughout the trip, it didn’t take long to find a slight detour. When coming in the previous night I saw a marker right outside the campground for the Great Western Trail (http://gwt.org/). I’d heard of it before but was unaware that it ran right through our present location. The trail starts in Canada and more or less stretches all the way to Mexico. IT is certainly on my list of future trips. This morning I stopped to read the marker and took note of part of the route nearby.

We were off to an early start anyways so I couldn’t resist checking it out. As we took off down the forest roads that made up the trail in NW Arizona, we were very impressed with the scenery. The thing I was impressed with the most though was the quality of the forest roads themselves, which were smoother than any of the highways we’d driven through in Oklahoma… After 10 miles or so we turned back and hopped back on I-40, wishing all the while I was still on those beautiful back-country roads.

We hit the Arizona-Nevada border a few hours later and were greeted by a “Homeland Security Checkpoint”. Being in a “RV” we were immediately flagged and we had to pull off to the side for an inspection. After a brief chat with the officer and a quick peek in the camper we were back on the road. Rounding the corner at Boulder Canyon the Hoover Dam came into view.

After a quick sandwich out of the back of the camper and some advice about California from the family who parked next to us, we headed off for the Dam tour. The entire setup has been recently redone, with a new ticket office, presentation room, and exhibit center. Getting to go inside the Dam was one of the highlights of this trip so far for me. Pictures just don’t do it justice. The tour only gives you a glimpse of the inner workings of the dam but it was still well worth it.



Leaving behind the engineering marvel of the Hoover Dam, we began our short jog over to another man made attraction of the west, Las Vegas. Vegas in a sense is just like the Grand Canyon, all the pictures, stories, movies, and such that you see and hear about it never truly prepare you for the sheer size and spectacle of the place.

Our campground was located right on the Vegas strip right next to the Circus Circus hotel, casino, and amusement park. After checking into our site and cleaning up a bit, we took off down the street to take in all the sights and sounds. Vegas is well known for a variety of things, primarily the gambling, and throughout the night we try to take in a bit of everything.

We first explored the casino we were staying at. Circus Circus is a carnival themed casino and hotel which prides itself on being “family friendly.” The way it does this is by having not only gambling areas, but also a full midway with carnival games and prizes, live circus acts throughout the day, and the “Adventuredome”, a full indoor amusement park complete with log ride, roller coaster, and other traditional rides and games. The adventure dome is a good example of just how large everything in Vegas truly is.

For dinner, we enjoyed the traditional Vegas buffet at the Frontier, one of the older casinos. There we gorged ourselves on all you can eat prime rib, baked ham, country style ribs, peel and eat shrimp, and an assortment of pasta, fruit, and deserts.

Leaving the Frontier, we then began to take advantage of the free shows offered along the strip. At the mirage we saw the salt water aquariums, which contained the largest and the freakiest puffer fish that either of us had ever seen. It was also there that we saw the Beatles “Love” Theatre and Revolution Lounge. (Both of which made Lindy quite giddy.) Down the street we enjoyed the performance of the fountains at the Bellagio. We also were able to catch the Sirens Pirate show at Treasure Island. Of everything we’d seen at Vegas, this had to have been one of the raunchier displays. This was surprising considering it was performed right in front of the Casino by the public sidewalk.

After enjoying the food and the shows, the last thing left to do was spend a bit of cash at the slots. We tried our luck at the Bellagio and Caesar’s Palace. Caesar’s is another example of how crazy the layout of Vegas truly is. We entered Caesar’s on one end, played a few slots, and then tried to find our way out. An hour later we had found three night clubs, a full mall, a saltwater tank filled with sting-rays, and yet still could not find a way out. When we finally did resurface on the street, we had been through three stories of shopping mall and were about two+ blocks from where we had originally entered.

A few dollars poorer, we decided it was best to call it a night. We noticed on our way through Circus Circus that there was a Mustang and BMW prize at two of the slots, so we decided to get some rest, sleep in, and try our luck again in the morning.