| For those of you who've been patiently waiting (as well as for anyone else)
here's part I of my trip report covering our experiences in (mostly)
sunny California.
WARNING: This entry contains NO nudity :-)
Sunday, Sep. 6, 1992 Copenhagen, Denmark -> San Francisco, CA
Checked in at Copenhagen Airport at 8.05 am. (CET) We were booked on British
Airways all the way, but had a stop-over in London Heathrow from 9.45am to
1.15pm GMT. We were however quickly able to locate a "genuine" British pub
complete with draught beer and all, so this was bearable.
After a pleasant (but long) flight, it was only 4.05pm PDT, when we landed in
SF. Our luggage was still with us, and we got through customs + immigration
w/out any problems.
We took a taxi to the Holiday Inn in Chinatown, where we had booked three
nights. The hotel turned out to be right next to the TransAmerica Pyramid (well
known from the opening shots of any movie that has anything to do with SF).
According to our internal clocks the time was now 3.00am, so we decided to take
a nap before we went out for something to eat. We woke up again at 9pm (6am our
time) and decided that SF would have to wait a little longer for our undivided
attention
Monday, Sep. 7, 1992 San Francisco
Since we had wasted our first night, we were up early today and ready to do
some serious touristing at Fisherman's Wharf. We decided to walk there, and on
the way try and see if we could find a place that served typical American
breakfast. For natural ethnic (we passed through China Town + Little Italy) and
holiday (Labor Day) reasons this was not very easy, so we ended up walking all
the way down to the Wharf, where we found the stuff we were looking for:
scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, hash browns et. al.
After this weighty exposure to American haute cuisine, we were ready to explore
Pier 39 with all it's souvenir shops. Who would have thought that "I [heart]
San Francisco" could be put on basically any kind of merchandise?
On the way back to the hotel we had passed a restaurant named "The Stinking
Rose". We returned to the restaurant for dinner and had a meal in which the
main ingredient was garlic. Even the Dry Martinis weren't spared. Interesting!
Tuesday, Sep. 8, 1992 San Francisco
Today we picked up our rental car from Avis: a cobalt blue Pontiac Grand Prix,
a really nice car. After we had gotten it we went to AAA (or rather California
State Automobile Association) to get some help with the planning of our trip.
In my opinion a membership of AAA or one of it's associated clubs is a must for
anyone who plans to travel in the States. We talked to a travel counselor, who
gave us good tips, maps, TourBooks (with descriptions of all the states and
cities we are to visit, as well as listings of hotels and restaurants) and
CampBooks (with listings of campgrounds), all in all two bags of information,
all for free, if you're a member of course :-)
We decided to try the maps immediately, and took a day trip around the bay. We
went down 101 to the 13-mile long San Mateo bridge. On the other side we drove
through Anthony Chabot Park, which was very beautiful, and amazingly quiet,
considering how close it is to the metropolis of San Francisco. We crossed the
Richmond-St. Rafael bridge, and went down to Tiburon, which is a very rich
little beautiful town. I assume that is was once a fishing village, but now it
is a posh (sort of) suburb of SF, with the commuters using hydrofoils instead
of car/trains.
It was now beginning to get dark, and we were beginning to get hungry, so we
bought some bread, cheese and sausages, which we enjoyed on a park bench by the
water, with a nice view towards the Golden Gate bridge and San Francisco.
Wednesday, Sep. 9, 1992 San Francisco -> Monterey, CA
After yesterdays training drive, we are now ready to hit the road for real. We
headed down south, only to be enticed into a roadside beach caf� sandwich diner
near (I think) Salinas River St. Beach for a quick breakfast. We hadn't really
decided how far we would go this day, but since we in the afternoon found
ourselves in Monterey, which was on our list of potential places to stay, that
is what we did. We found a slightly run-down motel within walking distance of
Monterey "downtown" and Cannery Row.
In the evening we walked down to Cannery Row in the light drizzle. the weather
had been nice all day, although not really warm enough to lie on the beautiful
beach (some people did anyway). Cannery Row is of course known from John
Steinbeck's novels, but I doubt he would have recognised it today, with it's
galleries and restaurants. Tina had her doubts that we were ever to find it (it
is some way from the center of town), but we got there eventually, and found
(this is turning into a restaurant report) an Italian sailor restaurant, called
Bullwacker's. The food was fine, but the place closed at 11, so it was out into
the drizzle again. We did however manage to find a piano bar on the way home,
so somehow it was 3am when we hit the sack.
Thursday, Sep. 10, 1992 Monterey -> San Simeon, CA
We quickly decided that one motel night was more the enough. It is simply too
much hassle finding a motel in the right place at the right price, hauling
luggage up to the room in the evening and then down again the next morning. We
will probably not be staying more than one night in most of the places anyway,
so we might as well sleep in the car at campgrounds.
We hadn't brought any sleeping bags, so we went to the nearest shopping mall,
to get the cheapest they had. Tina had never been in a REAL American
supermarket before, so she went into a coma, when she saw all the shampoo (25
running feet), detergent (60 feet) and what have you. She has a theory that the
reason that American TV has commercials within the programs (which is not very
common in Europe) is simply because of the amount of goods that needs to be
advertised. Well, we managed to only buy the most important stuff for our ice
box, (Cokes, Buds + other essentials), and went to Pacific Grove for a secluded
spot to picnic.
Pacific Grove is pretty, but that was nothing compared to the sights we
enjoyed, when we headed down California State Highway 1, aka. PCH - Pacific
Coast Highway. We simply had to stop again and again, to take in the most
breathtaking views of the almost vertical cliffs down to the blue and green
waves of the Pacific. Simply amazing and truly a must for anyone who travels
between San Francisco and LA, has just a little extra time to spend.
When we got out of Los Padres National Forest and the mountains, we found
ourselves in San Simeon, home of the Hearst Castle. It was however too late in
the evening for that, so we headed to the campground at Simeon State Park
Beach, that was to be our home for the night. It is a little bit chilly, but
with a sweat shirt on we are still able to sit outside until it's time to go to
bed, or rather front- and back seat.
Friday, Sep. 11, 1992 San Simeon -> Santa Ana, CA
As it turned out, sleeping in the car was quite possible. Nothing like the
water bed at home, but still, we slept.
The weather was as could be expected in the morning, a little misty, but as
soon as we reached San Luis Obispo, the sun began to make its way through the
clouds.
From San Luis Obispo, we continued on to one of this trips true cultural
highlights:
Solvang
For those not familiar with Solvang (literal translated from Danish:
"Sunfield"), maybe I should explain that it is either of the following:
a) A Danish settlement in California
b) A tourist trap dressed up as a small Danish village
Whichever definition one should chose to believe, it is a fun place to visit
(for a Dane). Talk about culture clashes. Watching a biker (I know he was a
biker because of the decals on his leather vest: "Harley Davidson - 25.000
miles", "Harley Davidson - 50.000 miles" and "Jane Fonda - Traitor B*tch!")
ordering a Danish "Medisterp�lse" in the warm Californian sun is truly
mind-boggling.
When we'd had enough of Solvang, which didn't take all that long, even though
it was fun to see, we took Cal. State Hwy 154 instead of going back to 101.
This took us by Lake Cachuma, which is a large water reservoir for Santa
Barbara. The route was what is usually described as "Scenic" in the guide
books, and we stopped for some hours in the Lake Cachuma Recreational Area for
some recreation, sun- and pool bathing.
We were heading for Santa Ana, to visit an old friend of mine; Barbara, but
since it was getting late in the afternoon, we decided that taking up the fight
with LA's rush hours wasn't exactly what we'd consider fun, so we went into
Santa Barbara instead. This was our first real meeting with Southern
California, and its beaches, palms and surfers. I must admit that this is one
part of the States that I really like, highways and all. We were in Santa Ana
at 11 pm, and Barbara had beer, towels and a choice of bedrooms ready for us.
After this long day it didn't take long before we were both sound asleep.
Saturday, Sep. 12, 1992 San Ana
This Saturday was dedicated to the Spirit of Walt Disney, that is we attacked
Disneyland, or did it attack us? :-). Anyway, we spent a whole day here, and an
unspecified amount on American $$, so I guess that they won. Since the last
time I was here, they had invented the "Disney Dollar". Quite brilliant, for
one thing, everybody takes one home as a souvenir, and when you're leaving you
make sure that you spend the rest, rather than queuing up to change it back to
"real" dollars.
I know that it is not "comme-il-faut", but I must admit, that I enjoy
Disneyland. It has a lot of fun things to do, and everything is very neat and
tidy. We quickly found out two things: 1) The lines are always longer than you
think and 2) The fun rides are the ones that the small kids and pregnant women
aren't allowed on. Our favourite: "Star Tours" (presented by M&M Chocolate
Candies) which took us on a guided tour through the universe. Actually we
didn't move anywhere at all, but the seats we were in moved up and down and
sideways, while we looked through the windshield of a space craft. OK, so it
was only a movie, but it was fun!
When we got home a swim in the pool under the stars in Barbara's backyard was
exactly what we needed.
Sunday, Sep. 13, 1992 Barbara's Backyard, CA
This is an easy one. Total R&R all day.
Monday, Sep. 13, 1992 Santa Ana -> Marina del Mar, CA
This was to be our last day in Los Angeles. According to our plan, we would be
going on a little round trip: LA -> San Diego -> Grand Canyon -> Las Vegas ->
LA. The return to LA wasn't what we originally planned, but because of a major
SNAFU by our travel agency, we could not get our Motorhome until next week.
Well, that's is what we thought. Just to be sure that the motorhome would be
ready next week, and to ask if it was possible to have it a little earlier, I
called GO Vacations, from whom we were going to rent the MH. To our great
surprise they told us that it would be ready the next day! Certainly great
news!
Quickly our itinerary had changed again: we dropped San Diego, and would head
out for Las Vegas tomorrow instead. This also meant one more day in LA, so we
decided that it was time to pay Hollywood a visit. First though we took a
little cruise 'round Beverly Hills, where we saw the fences of the rich and
famous. We had bought a map which had little stars that marked the houses of
the stars, but to protect their privacy from stupid tourists like us, most of
them had done everything they could to keep people out. Very understandable.
But still, a very nice neighbourhood. We also went and saw "Graumans Chinese
Theatre", (although I don't think it's Graumans anymore) with all the above
stars' hand- and/or footprint in the cement, and Sunset Boulevard. Not too
frightfully interesting, though.
After this it was time for real entertainment: a visit to Universal Studios. We
started with the Tram Ride which took us all around the area. This was a lot of
fun, and we experienced both fire, earthquake, a flood and a big guy name King
Kong, who tried to grab us. Universal Studios also have a lot of other
attractions. Those we tried were Backdraft, a setting form the movie about
firemen, The ET Adventure (which was for children, and really not for adult
like us who only ACTS childish), and The World of Cinemagic, which took us
behind the scenes and showed us how some of the special effects from the movies
Back to the Future, part XX and Psycho were made. It was getting near closing
time, but we managed to get into the last showing of the shows Wild West Stunt
Show and Animals Actors Stage, which was also very much worth seeing.
We had a motel reservation in Marina del Mar, so we headed in that direction.
First though we wanted to visit "The Shack" in Play del Rey. I had learned of
the place in the Malibu::LA_stuff Notes conference. Supposedly it is a place
the the local DECcies hang out. When we got there the Monday night football
game was just over but there were still a lot of people and a lot of action.
The place could best be described as a SurferBeerBurgerHangout. I'm not sure if
any of the natives were DEC people (they weren't wearing any badges or maybe
they had just fallen on them), but they sure were able to have a good time (as
we did too). After some of the local food, Nachos super supreme, a Shackburger
and a Fire in the Hole (I think it was called) + a few pitchers we headed off
towards our motel in Marina del Mar.
Except for an minor earthquake (a real one this time) we didn't experience
anymore today.
Tuesday, 15. Sep. 1992 Marina del Mar -> Barstow, CA
The next morning (well it felt like, but to be more precise, the next day at
noon) we went to get the motorhome and to drop the car off at LAX. We tried to
get a refund for the car, but since it had been paid for in Denmark the lady at
Avis couldn't/wouldn't. We later got the money back form our Danish travel
agency, so this turned out OK.
I was a bit surprised when we got the motorhome, since it had all of 92.000
miles on the meter, and was from '87, but since we had gotten a fair discount,
because it wasn't a new one, we really weren't in any position to complain. The
motorhome was built out of a Chevy van, and had: 2 double beds (one in an
alcove above the front seats, and one that was made by converting the table in
the back), a bathroom with a toilet + a shower, a kitchen with 3 burners, a
sink, a refrigerator, air-conditioning, a stove and enough closet room for all
the clothes + other stuff that we had with us. The utilities run on 12V/110V
and/or propane. Having never had a motorhome before, we were thrilled at all
this. The only thing missing: a decent radio: the one that's there only
receives AM. Luckily we've brought a small clock radio.
We didn't want to spend more time in LA, so we headed straight for I-15 towards
Las Vegas. In the evening we stopped at the KOA campground in Barstow, which,
for those of you who don't know, is smack in middle of nowhere between LA and
Las Vegas. The KOA had what we needed though: beer, food, a swimming pool, the
most fantastic sunset that I've ever seen, and a temperature of 89�F. Who could
ask for more?
Oh yeah, I also observed something strange: just after the sun had gone down,
there was a bright light in the direction we had come from. I wondered if
someone had finally blown up LA, but I guess that it might as well have been an
ordinary UFO :-)
Wednesday, 16. Sep. 1992 Barstow -> Nevada
On the news this morning the above mystery was solved. It seems that some
people haven't noticed that the cold war is over, so they were still testing
out MX-10 missiles.
Thus relieved that the free world can still defend itself, we headed of towards
north-east. At the KOA, we had gotten a folder about the many exciting places
one can visit in Barstow (it's a joke :-). One of them was Peggy Sues Diner, so
we went there for breakfast. Tina had never been in an American diner before,
so it was (actually) exciting for her. Also she had never had American
pan-cakes before, so she had a stack of those. Too much maple syrup made them
less exciting however. Since Baghdad Cafe was also close by we took a little
detour to see that too. For those who's seen the movie, I think that it is
worth the detour.
After three hour of driving we crossed the state line between California and
Nevada and then...
...to be continued
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