California Dreamin'
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2004
1
4
88
Trip End
Feb 01, 2005
LA and San Fran,
California,
United States
Saturday, January 24, 2004
I didn't tear it up much at the airport, a little, but not like the bawling I had done previously. I waved Mum, Dad and Kate off and left for who knows how long.
I was a bit stressed (very normal in these circumstances) and thought that I had missed the start of the boarding, however our flight was delayed so that the terror and bomb experts could scour the plane. Whilst waiting in the departure lounge I was amazed to see Todd and Rick Kelly rock up with their bags. (They are V8 Supercar drivers and are from Mildura). I was quite excited and as I got on the plane I stopped by their business class seats and said "Fancy seeing a couple of guys from Mildura on the plane" and they asked if I was from there and we had a bit of a chat
01 Hollywoodville
. I didn't need to go to Hollywood. I'd already seen some stars!!!For all The Castle nerds, I watched Uptown Girls and SWAT on my flight from Melbourne to LA. Other than that, the flight was normal, except for this Israeli citrus and grape farmer who was two seats over and who tucked my blanket in behind my shoulder while I was watching TV. Creepy. I also had a moment of concern when I couldn't find my bag under my feet where it had been before I had a snooze across 3 seats. With the assistant of one of Qantas' many male flight attendants' torches, I found it squashed right up under the feet of the people in front of me.
Immigration and Customs were a breeze. I had forgotten Jenn's address to fill out on my card but thought I remembered her parents address so just put that in instead.
LA
Jenn, her mum and Tina (a German exchange student) met me at the airport and then took me on an amazing drive around Beverly Hills, with a stop in Rodeo Drive
02 Splash Mountain
. I was taking a photo of the Via Rodeo and there was this guy in a pale blue shirt and crazy hair saying to a couple of chicks "Well you contact my agents...." Jenn thinks he is some rapper but is not sure who. When I get around to posting some photos here, there will be a prize for whoever can identify him for me.Beverly Hills turned into Hollywood and the obligatory shot with the Hollywood sign. I was quite amazed by how many stars were on the sidewalk (already getting some American lingo going) on Sunset Boulevard. Saw the red carpet and barricades being set up at the Chinese Theatre for the premiere of BarberShop 2. I am sure that it is a quality film and I can only hope that I get to see it on my next flight.
The freeways in LA are totally amazing!! I was glued to the windows of the car watching all the cars go by. What astounds me to no end is the size of these juggernauts. In Australia you don't really get a car much bigger than a Ford Explorer 4x4. In America there are two sizes up from the Explorer (in the Ford fleet at least). The Expedition and the Excursion. The Excursion is so massive that it requires truck side mirrors to see behind it. Of course it is perfect for the American family with 10 kids, 5 dogs, 3 birds and baby elephant to move across the country.
My first night at Jenn's was spent with the Upland Sister City people and I got to check out and compare Chaffey's Mildura to Chaffey's Upland. Quite similar, although in Australia we don't have American flags out the front of every second house.
Disneyland
A visit to LA wasn't complete without a day at the Happiest Place on Earth
San Fran Skyline
. There are significant benefits to being with locals. We managed to avoid the queues at the ticket booths and proceeded to Customer Service and sneakily got some tickets there. From there it was dodge-the-pram city as we started with our first ride.I don't know what other people imagine Disneyland to be like, but subtract Mickey and friends walking around everywhere and take a bit of acreage off it. Also, don't look for the scary, thrilling rides like the Zipper that you find at the show.
It was a bit disappointing that there were a lot of rides not operating, but as there weren't a lot of people the longest queue was about 20 minutes, with some even being non-existant for a popular ride like Indiana Jones.
I thought it was supposed to be winter, but my zip off pants came in handy as the temperatures soared and I stripped down to shorts and a singlet. It also meant that it was a great day for Splash Mountain and to dry out afterwards. Splash Mountain with Brer Rabbit, Fox and Bear and the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dahs turned out to be my absolute favouritist ride and I went on it 3 times.
We got McDonalds on the way back to Jenn's and I was shocked when I received my chicken nugget meal, which I had expected to be small, come out with fries and Coke the same size as large in Australia.
That evening I went with Jenn, her boyfriend Greg and her Dad to the British Bulldog pub which is about the only place you can get a sausage roll.
I had a great time in LA catching up with Jenn, hanging out with her family and being awestruck by the freeways and I really appreciate them putting me up and showing me the sights. I promise I'll be back again!
San Fran
Getting through airport security is interesting and after being told "You can't walk through there in those (shoes). I can't let you through with them on." I then waited for my 100% bag search to be completed and listened to the security guys stories about having Pamela Anderson come through and how Tommy Lee had come through a couple of weeks earlier and that they had almost had to call security on him.
I found my way easily into the city and was then left to find the hostel. I had been lead to believe that it wasn't far and I was in for a rude shock. I had to climb the most vertical footpaths I had ever seen with a massively heavy pack on my back and ended up getting so hot and sweaty that when I finally arrived I couldn't speak until after I had dropped my pack and taken off my jumper. It then took me about 90 minutes to cool down.
San Jose for the ice hockey was the highlight of the evening. Never having seen ice hockey before I was quite interested. I got booted out of my seat by a rude guy, however it ended up not being my seat. The game started well with a bit of violence and slamming into the glass, however I had missed the first faceoff because I couldn't hear the whistle. As the game progressed I saw a couple of goals and then a punch on, but the end result was San Jose Sharks 1 - Phoenix Coyotes 2.
Friday I wandered around the city with some girls from the hostel. We went up Coit Tower and walked through the beat and checked out some shops. Again the hills challenged me but at least I wasn't the only person being challenged by them!
That night it was a cocktail night at the hostel so we stayed for a bit and then I went with some of the other girls to a pub around the corner. I discovered that they don't have cordial in America and so my Coke had to go unadulterated.
I was disappointed to not have been able to go on the San Fran tour through here, but it was overbooked (I was the overbookee due to what I had thought were 2 crossed off names) so I ended up checking out some stuff on my own today (Saturday, Sunday in Oz). I took a cable car ride to Fishermans Wharf where I saw some historic ships and paddlesteamers. I saw the Eureka which is apparently the largest wooden vessel in the world. I thought of Dad as he would have loved it and been in his element.
I then took a walk along the waterfront and then up to Fort Mason which has excellent views of the Golden Gate bridge. Tired of walking everywhere, I caught a bus that went past the Golden Gate and then through the Golden Gate Park. I changed buses and went down Haight Street which is full of interesting shops, kind of like St Kilda, and has some beautifully painted houses.
Tonight I am off to Castro to check out the gay district. I doubt that there will be any kissing opportunities there though.
THINGS I HAVE LEARNED
* It is a very strange feeling to sit in the front on the right and not have a steering
wheel in my hands.
* Californian winters are nice!
* Hostel cocktail evenings can end up loud and very messy (for some anyway).
