Thursday, May 25, 2006
Day 46.
Just for a change, we drove some more today. The first major town to come to in quite some time was called Tonopah, an old mining town in the middle of "Nowhere, Nevada" (most of the state is somewhere in this region). I managed to get online and coincidentally had a group email waiting from an old highschool friend telling about her recent trip to the US and mentioning along the way that her plan to visit Yosemite was foiled by about 7 feet of snow on the 10000ft tioga pass into the park. This was my intended route. I looked up the park site and sure enough the road was closed with no expected opening date. So with a sigh of relief at discovering this _before_ i was in the sierra nevada's, I changed my plans to instead head north through the comparatively flat nevada to lake tahoe.
We blasted our way into Hawthorne, home to the largest conventional weapons stockpile in the US and maybe the world. This at least was the official line from the military website but there are many conspiracy theories about what is being held in the thousands of semi underground barracks that litter the landscape as you drive into town. The nearby walker lake offered a scenic place to park up for the night.
Day 47.
A few days back I went out on an unsuccessful hike in search of the elusive rattlesnake that terrorises the minds of campers out west. I shouldn't have bothered, because as I sat reading my book beside the van this morning a snake was out on its morning hike trying to spot a human. It spotted me all right, and for the second time in three days i nearly soiled myself as i leaped into the kombi calling forrest before she could leap to my defense. The snake reacted how I would have a few days earlier if I had of found one. It broke into a gallop, I swear, and headed for the nearest bush. Once it was on the defensive my testosterone surfaced and I galloped off after it to try and get another glimpse. Forrest THe Fierce, oblivious to all, was trying to knaw at a spot above her docked stump.
With the days excitement over I settled into the daily drive. But the day still held some surprises. I pulled off the road and stopped outside a church to take a call from greece - an act suspicious enough for the locals to call in the cops to check me out. The officer turned out to be nice enough and gave me some helpful directions on how to get out of his jurisdiction.
The day dragged on still and we drove over a short and steep pass and down into lake tahoe. This is the second deepest lake in the US, perched up in the sierra nevada's at 6000+ feet, home to many a ski resort town, one of which hosted the winter olympics back in the 60's. We stopped beside the lake and watched a spectacular electrical storm unfold on the other side, then headed off to find a place to camp. For the second time in one day the police approached but I was well rehearsed by now and didn't give even give this goose the chance to reprimand. But I had to find another spot. And that's how we ended up high in the hills surrounded by the sound of melting snow.
Day 48.
At least we approached the sierra nevadas from a platform of 4000ft. Coming down from there into the coastal valley took twice as long, and by the time we hit sacramento i'm sure my brakes beat the heat that hit me when we pulled up next to the californian capitol building. It was bike to work day and there were gifts galore from stands outside the government offices - especially with a cute dog in basket.
Sacramento is a nice city despite being home to governor schwarznegger, hero in movies, villain in politics. I didn't see him so couldn't put my Commando warfare techniques into practise - these days he doesn't draw the M16 though, its much easier as governor to sign the next execution paper and have someone else do the dirty work.
But more importantly. I washed in Sacramento. I found a pose of hotels and the second one I approached had a pool without lock and in I jumped (forrie struck it lucky at the first hotel with a "sprinkler garden" for pets).
We drove down out of the heat and with camera in hand (not only have I mastered map reading while driving but also photography) we approached the golden gate to san francisco. On the final approach all hell broke loose. Fog started piling in over the hills, temperature plummeted, winds rose and by the time we crossed the bridge I barely noticed it for the terrible visibility.
Day 49.
One last burst for the bike before selling it in LA. We cruised around downtown san fran and were pleasantly surprised. Its a nice city, not too big, and it has a lot of character (which is out of character for most big US cities). The weather didn't do us any favours so by early afternoon we were parked up on the bay looking out at alcatraz. When it seemed like the rain might be stopping we bolted for the golden gate - this time by bike and with slightly better views.
That night i met up with a friend from DC, made use of their shower, and headed out for beer..
Day 50.
The plan to drive down the coastal route 1 from san fran to LA was foiled pretty early on. Just out of san fran it was closed due to a landslide a few months back. So we backtracked and headed south on the inland route but could soon head back to continue down the coast. This route had been built up in my mind so much so that i was doomed for disappointment. The coastal hill country turned out to be very much like scenery in NZ, the road long, steep and windy, and i was left feeling like i should have of flown out of the states from an airport in southern utah. The weather was the worst it had been the whole trip, and not even the colony of elephant seals i stopped to see could cheer me up. Actually they did cheer me up but it would have cheered me up more if the girl who jumped the fence and headed to the beach, ignoring all signs to leave the seals in peace, had of gotten a good mauling.
Day 51.
One final day of driving. I gave the kombi some tender words and nursed it back out onto the highway for one last long drive down to LA. We passed through Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara, and with my mind ever fearful of burning a valve at this late stage we spent as much time off the road cooling as on it. An over-reaction for sure, but i wanted to play it safe. That night we pulled into LA and into the warm hospitality of David, an old work colleague.
Day 52.
Business. Final check up for Forrie, paperwork completed, of to dept of agriculture to get the paperwork endorsed... and give them a few hundred bucks for their nice stamp and signature. That done we headed off to see some of LA's beaches. Looking at the map the name "long beach" stuck out as a place that much have a decent stretch. So we drove over and felt completely cheated when it turned out to be a major port and marina with very little beach at all! But the area was nice so we pulled up next to a park to enjoy the late afternoon sun. I was reading about the crazies in "one flew over the cookoos nest", when the peace was interrupted by a couple of crazies close at hand. A brawl had broken out between a couple of guys. The fight was pretty pathetic, but when it moved in my direction i cleared out and when I came back the police were there talking to the guys.
Day 53.
Long beaches main attraction is the Queen Mary, an old transatlantic oceanliner larger than the Titanic that sailed back some time ago. Its also said to be haunted, a claim that coincidentally was backed up a couple of days later when i was watching a ghost program on TV that featured the boat. For the $20 bucks it cost to get on it i wanted a cruise as well but they wouldn't bargain, so we skipped it.
We made another attempt to find a beach, this time I put in some research effort and heard about Venice beach. When i got there i knew it was another mistake. The shorefront at venice is packed with stalls offering anything from tatoos to souvenirs. But its the people that were the main attraction for me. Muscle-bound men basking at the chance to pose, and bikini girls scooting around on roller blades. The best was a particularly muscular guy prancing along looking staunch wearing only leopard skin briefs, i shit you not!
Never before have i felt so alienated from a cross-section of society. Not even in the depths of asia. And no-one there was happy, everyone was complaining about something. So I retreated to the safety of the van and read for a while. But safety is relative, and I was jolted to my senses when someone attempting to park backed into the front of us. I jumped out to make sure the guy didn't drive off. He got out and we looked at the damage. The solid old volkwagen suffered no damage, while his bumper had a couple of holes punctured into it. The prick drove off complaining about his bumper without even apologising for hitting me.
Day 54
We headed back to Davids and spent the day unpacking the van and cleaning it out. The bike sale went through and I crossed my fingers that the van would sell the next day. That night just before taking forrie across to the airport i couldn't find her collar. I looked everywhere and finally had to make a mad dash to a pet store to get a new one and arrived late at the cargo terminal. The USDA official was waiting to seal her into the crate, and one of the first things she said was to take off the collar as she wouldn't be needing it!
Several hours later and back at Davids I hopped onto the roof to watch Forrie blast off for Australia.
Day 55 - Epilogue.
The auction for the bus ended five days ago and I still didn't have the deposit that was meant to be paid within 24 hours. So I wasn't getting my hopes up about the sale when I took the bus over to the guy who won the auction. He turned out to be honest and gave me a pocket full of dosh and shook my hand all too heartily - I didn't complain. So I gave the dash one last pat to say thanks, and off she went, another kombi that has served me well and shown me places i would otherwise never have seen.
And with my last vehicle sold my US travels are complete. 55 days, 7300 miles, at 55mph, 2 oil changes, one tune up, one rip off, and many wonderful memories. Now i wait for my travel agent in Australia to wake up so i can change to a flight out tonight to catch up with Forrest...
Just for a change, we drove some more today. The first major town to come to in quite some time was called Tonopah, an old mining town in the middle of "Nowhere, Nevada" (most of the state is somewhere in this region). I managed to get online and coincidentally had a group email waiting from an old highschool friend telling about her recent trip to the US and mentioning along the way that her plan to visit Yosemite was foiled by about 7 feet of snow on the 10000ft tioga pass into the park. This was my intended route. I looked up the park site and sure enough the road was closed with no expected opening date. So with a sigh of relief at discovering this _before_ i was in the sierra nevada's, I changed my plans to instead head north through the comparatively flat nevada to lake tahoe.
We blasted our way into Hawthorne, home to the largest conventional weapons stockpile in the US and maybe the world. This at least was the official line from the military website but there are many conspiracy theories about what is being held in the thousands of semi underground barracks that litter the landscape as you drive into town. The nearby walker lake offered a scenic place to park up for the night.
Day 47.
A few days back I went out on an unsuccessful hike in search of the elusive rattlesnake that terrorises the minds of campers out west. I shouldn't have bothered, because as I sat reading my book beside the van this morning a snake was out on its morning hike trying to spot a human. It spotted me all right, and for the second time in three days i nearly soiled myself as i leaped into the kombi calling forrest before she could leap to my defense. The snake reacted how I would have a few days earlier if I had of found one. It broke into a gallop, I swear, and headed for the nearest bush. Once it was on the defensive my testosterone surfaced and I galloped off after it to try and get another glimpse. Forrest THe Fierce, oblivious to all, was trying to knaw at a spot above her docked stump.
With the days excitement over I settled into the daily drive. But the day still held some surprises. I pulled off the road and stopped outside a church to take a call from greece - an act suspicious enough for the locals to call in the cops to check me out. The officer turned out to be nice enough and gave me some helpful directions on how to get out of his jurisdiction.
The day dragged on still and we drove over a short and steep pass and down into lake tahoe. This is the second deepest lake in the US, perched up in the sierra nevada's at 6000+ feet, home to many a ski resort town, one of which hosted the winter olympics back in the 60's. We stopped beside the lake and watched a spectacular electrical storm unfold on the other side, then headed off to find a place to camp. For the second time in one day the police approached but I was well rehearsed by now and didn't give even give this goose the chance to reprimand. But I had to find another spot. And that's how we ended up high in the hills surrounded by the sound of melting snow.
Day 48.
At least we approached the sierra nevadas from a platform of 4000ft. Coming down from there into the coastal valley took twice as long, and by the time we hit sacramento i'm sure my brakes beat the heat that hit me when we pulled up next to the californian capitol building. It was bike to work day and there were gifts galore from stands outside the government offices - especially with a cute dog in basket.
Sacramento is a nice city despite being home to governor schwarznegger, hero in movies, villain in politics. I didn't see him so couldn't put my Commando warfare techniques into practise - these days he doesn't draw the M16 though, its much easier as governor to sign the next execution paper and have someone else do the dirty work.
But more importantly. I washed in Sacramento. I found a pose of hotels and the second one I approached had a pool without lock and in I jumped (forrie struck it lucky at the first hotel with a "sprinkler garden" for pets).
We drove down out of the heat and with camera in hand (not only have I mastered map reading while driving but also photography) we approached the golden gate to san francisco. On the final approach all hell broke loose. Fog started piling in over the hills, temperature plummeted, winds rose and by the time we crossed the bridge I barely noticed it for the terrible visibility.
Day 49.
One last burst for the bike before selling it in LA. We cruised around downtown san fran and were pleasantly surprised. Its a nice city, not too big, and it has a lot of character (which is out of character for most big US cities). The weather didn't do us any favours so by early afternoon we were parked up on the bay looking out at alcatraz. When it seemed like the rain might be stopping we bolted for the golden gate - this time by bike and with slightly better views.
That night i met up with a friend from DC, made use of their shower, and headed out for beer..
Day 50.
The plan to drive down the coastal route 1 from san fran to LA was foiled pretty early on. Just out of san fran it was closed due to a landslide a few months back. So we backtracked and headed south on the inland route but could soon head back to continue down the coast. This route had been built up in my mind so much so that i was doomed for disappointment. The coastal hill country turned out to be very much like scenery in NZ, the road long, steep and windy, and i was left feeling like i should have of flown out of the states from an airport in southern utah. The weather was the worst it had been the whole trip, and not even the colony of elephant seals i stopped to see could cheer me up. Actually they did cheer me up but it would have cheered me up more if the girl who jumped the fence and headed to the beach, ignoring all signs to leave the seals in peace, had of gotten a good mauling.
Day 51.
One final day of driving. I gave the kombi some tender words and nursed it back out onto the highway for one last long drive down to LA. We passed through Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara, and with my mind ever fearful of burning a valve at this late stage we spent as much time off the road cooling as on it. An over-reaction for sure, but i wanted to play it safe. That night we pulled into LA and into the warm hospitality of David, an old work colleague.
Day 52.
Business. Final check up for Forrie, paperwork completed, of to dept of agriculture to get the paperwork endorsed... and give them a few hundred bucks for their nice stamp and signature. That done we headed off to see some of LA's beaches. Looking at the map the name "long beach" stuck out as a place that much have a decent stretch. So we drove over and felt completely cheated when it turned out to be a major port and marina with very little beach at all! But the area was nice so we pulled up next to a park to enjoy the late afternoon sun. I was reading about the crazies in "one flew over the cookoos nest", when the peace was interrupted by a couple of crazies close at hand. A brawl had broken out between a couple of guys. The fight was pretty pathetic, but when it moved in my direction i cleared out and when I came back the police were there talking to the guys.
Day 53.
Long beaches main attraction is the Queen Mary, an old transatlantic oceanliner larger than the Titanic that sailed back some time ago. Its also said to be haunted, a claim that coincidentally was backed up a couple of days later when i was watching a ghost program on TV that featured the boat. For the $20 bucks it cost to get on it i wanted a cruise as well but they wouldn't bargain, so we skipped it.
We made another attempt to find a beach, this time I put in some research effort and heard about Venice beach. When i got there i knew it was another mistake. The shorefront at venice is packed with stalls offering anything from tatoos to souvenirs. But its the people that were the main attraction for me. Muscle-bound men basking at the chance to pose, and bikini girls scooting around on roller blades. The best was a particularly muscular guy prancing along looking staunch wearing only leopard skin briefs, i shit you not!
Never before have i felt so alienated from a cross-section of society. Not even in the depths of asia. And no-one there was happy, everyone was complaining about something. So I retreated to the safety of the van and read for a while. But safety is relative, and I was jolted to my senses when someone attempting to park backed into the front of us. I jumped out to make sure the guy didn't drive off. He got out and we looked at the damage. The solid old volkwagen suffered no damage, while his bumper had a couple of holes punctured into it. The prick drove off complaining about his bumper without even apologising for hitting me.
Day 54
We headed back to Davids and spent the day unpacking the van and cleaning it out. The bike sale went through and I crossed my fingers that the van would sell the next day. That night just before taking forrie across to the airport i couldn't find her collar. I looked everywhere and finally had to make a mad dash to a pet store to get a new one and arrived late at the cargo terminal. The USDA official was waiting to seal her into the crate, and one of the first things she said was to take off the collar as she wouldn't be needing it!
Several hours later and back at Davids I hopped onto the roof to watch Forrie blast off for Australia.
Day 55 - Epilogue.
The auction for the bus ended five days ago and I still didn't have the deposit that was meant to be paid within 24 hours. So I wasn't getting my hopes up about the sale when I took the bus over to the guy who won the auction. He turned out to be honest and gave me a pocket full of dosh and shook my hand all too heartily - I didn't complain. So I gave the dash one last pat to say thanks, and off she went, another kombi that has served me well and shown me places i would otherwise never have seen.
And with my last vehicle sold my US travels are complete. 55 days, 7300 miles, at 55mph, 2 oil changes, one tune up, one rip off, and many wonderful memories. Now i wait for my travel agent in Australia to wake up so i can change to a flight out tonight to catch up with Forrest...
