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Published: February 21st 2011
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Since I was but a lad, I've read about the street racer scene on Mulholland Drive, that twisty, ridge-top two lane astride the Santa Monica Mountains. Even though the area along the Mulholland has been heavily developed, and by now the racer types have moved on to greener pastures further out of town, I've still always wanted to drive it myself.
We left from our hotel in the San Fernando Valley and headed back south on the 405 Freeway towards the sea. Before we had gone far, and even though it was a Sunday morning, the six lanes of traffic we were in slowed to a crawl. After 10 minutes of painfully slow progress, the flashing lights came into view showing us where there had been an accident. We at last reached the Mulholland exit and bid a grateful farewell to that cursed strip of pavement -- good riddance!
We peeled off onto that storied route and were soon having a ball -- up and down & round & round we went, riding the razors edge of the ridge while enjoying the alternate views of the snow covered San Bernardinos' to the east and the blue Pacific Ocean to
the west. We stopped in a few spots to take pictures, and though the pavement was rough and there was quite a bit of traffic, it was great fun. Scratch another one off the ol' bucket list --
After we reached the east end of Mulholland, we turned right on Laurel Canyon Road, and headed down, down, down, into Hollywood. Next we turned onto Sunset Boulevard, and soon we were there -- Beverly Hills! When we saw the sign for Rodeo Drive, we just had to do it -- so into the belly of the consumerist beast we went. Cathy shot a picture of us reflected in a shop window as we trolled slowly up and down that gilded street.
We went back up to Sunset, and then followed it all the way down to the Pacific Coast Highway. Turning north, we followed the beach through Malibu and on to our next stop, Point Dume State Beach. This beach has a long history of use as a movie location, including personal favorites of mine such as "Planet of the Apes" (the original, not that regretable Tim Burton remake) and "The Big Lebowski". We picked up a sub and
some ice teas at a nearby deli and headed in to hike about and have a little picnic.
When we got down to the beach, there was a photographic team there taking pictures of a brand new Porsche track car. As we drove by, one of the guys flagged us down and asked if we would park next to the 997 GT3 for a few pictures. It turns out they were on a shoot for an upcoming article in a magazine called "Rides". That's not a publication with which I have any familiarity, but I take it it's some kind of tuner boy/bling-a-poluzza sort of deal -- but what the hell -- we played along. My only regret was that there were no surgically enhanced bikini models of the type usually seen draped over cars in those pages in evidence there. Never the less, they took some pictures of the two cars together, and so did we, and I treated those poser tuner boys to an example of what genuine barnyard engineering looks like. I doubt I changed any minds there, but I think they enjoyed it, especially my Heineken mini-keg airbox. I bet they'll be talking about that
for a while.
Funny to think of the many different paths there are to walk in any given hobby. For those guys, the entire point is to show how much money you can spend; and for me -- how little you can spend -- and still have every bit as much fun.
After that strange interlude, we returned to our regularly scheduled programing. We hiked up the winding trail to the top of the cliffs and had our most wonderful repast, splendid! Beautiful views north way up the coast, and south all the way to distant LA. There is some controversy as to whether this is the spot where Walter and the Dude spread Donnie's ashes (mostly on the Dude) at the end of "Big Lebowski" - but it looked like it to me, close enough! There were wonderful wild flowers too, so nice to see in February, especially if you happen to be from NNY.
The point sure looked like the one in the final scene of "Planet", though with no evidence of the Statue of Liberty remaining -- pity that!
Having learned from last night's mistake, we stopped early tonight at a nice motel
in Santa Barbara, "The Sandman". We went across the street to a "Whole Foods" supermarket to do some shopping. First time we'd ever been in one -- what a great market! Why the beer cooler alone brought tears to my eyes --- how do you select from so many choices? California -- it IS the land of plenty!
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jm
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your best post yet
Thomas, without a doubt the best post yet, a wonderful telling of a great day. I'm sure you were thinking of Steve McQueen and his buds as you toured about Mulholland, perhaps you'll think of him again when you hit the hills of SF and recall scenes from "Bullitt". If only you could find a steam recip boat, you could even have a "Sand Pebbles" flashback! I had the oddest thoughts about Porsche's "progress" as I looked at the shot of your tub next to the ubereuros ride, and wondered idly what the ratio of costs would be - your tub at probably under $6k out the door in '65, I can't even guess at the cost of that new multi-turbo gorilla parked next to you. I'm sure it's a lovely ride, but it just seems to me that Porsche has long since passed making cars an enthusiast can wrench to semi-race platforms that need teams of geeky guys in white lab coats to restore to lustre by waving hard drives over them as they babble software chants. I suppose it's progress, I wonder when an all-electric Porsche on the traditional 911 platform will hit the marketplace? When you get to SF, see if you can get a shot of your car airborne over one of the hilly spots - Cath can set up and do the shot, you drive. Or let Cath drive, you take the shot! I've got lots of good ideas! Have fun, loved the read. jm