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Published: April 29th 2010
This photo was taken for a certain someone
who goes weak at the knees at the mention of his name (you know who you are!) But do the tips of your ears go red??Within a couple of hours of arriving at our hostel I was hit with jet lag - probably the worst I had experienced. Without warning I was unsteady on my feet and my vision swam. Then the hallucinations hit and the swimming pool tipped to one side and poured water across the concrete. Then a few seconds it tipped the other way.
“Hot damn sheeee-itt !” burst forth from an extremely large African American standing next to me. “Ah don’ b’lieve it ma-han! We’ve dunn garn an’ got us a darn rollll-errr!”
I looked up at him “What’s a roller?”
“Ma-han ladieee we’ve garn andjus’ had us an earthquake. Shheee-it!”
Confusion ranged within my befuddled brain. When the extremely large American spoke I was convinced I was on a film set, but when I looked around I wondered if I had somehow been slipped some mushrooms.
Welcome to Los Angeles!
The earthquake’s centre was only just over the border and registered as 7.2. A Roller is when the earth literally rolls as distinct from a Shaker which is when it shakes. This is what I love about America - they say it like it is.
Seriously the most versatile actor on this planet.
He can take any character and turn it into .......
Harrison Ford We stayed in a place in Inglewood which I gathered was not the most salubrious of places within LA, but it was cheap and people quite nice in the hostel. Music played all night but free champagne was on offer. Quid pro quo I say.
During our wanders about Inglewood we came across a supermarket called Food for Less - great name - you can buy food there and it is cheap. Anyway there I managed to achieve my ambition of buying a couple of jars of Mole Sauce - a Mexican sauce made of chocolate and chilli. Delicious Extremis. We happened to leave the shop at the same time as an elderly man and so all three of us were nearly run over in the car park at the same time.
“Man, those people drive fast!” he said “And do you know why they drive fast? Bee-cause they is in a hurry to get to their gra-aves. Ah look at thim drivin’ like that and Ah say - you drive like that if you like - but I am not in a hurry to get to my gra-ave. You sure can git there firs’ if yah
Margarita in Old Town San Diego
The Americans sure do BIG portions like.” He nodded at us and grinned.
“You guys are for-eign-ers. Tourrr-ists. Right? You don’t have to say anything I know you are!”
“How do you know?” we asked
“Man, the only white people wandering around here is foreigners. Say, anyone bothered you?”
We shook our heads.
“That’s right. An’ no one will.”
We chatted for a bit about life and stuff and then went our separate ways.
“it sure was nice meeting you!” he called as he walked away. “Next time we meet will probably be in our graves. But hey, you make sure I get there first now. I got some years on you so you let me get there first.”
“Ok,” I called back “That’s a deal.”
And his chuckling was the last we heard of him.
We decided to do a tour of LA which was quite a fun way of learning a little about the city and glossing through the main areas - Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Venice Beach, Muscle Beach etc. I am sure I saw Ryan O’Neal but hey I don’t know. I didn’t even think I saw any other celebrities. I was so
longing to see Brad or Angeline or Jen just so I could boast to a former colleague I worked with that I had seen them, but sadly I was denied that small minded triumph. Maybe I’ll lie anyway...
After a couple of days in LA we picked up our hire care and headed to San Diego. This is such a lovely city. We visited La Jolla. Tim was unpopular with me. It is his job to make sure I do not forget the camera and he forgot to make sure I remembered the camera. I suffered the result as La Jolla has seals sunning themselves on rocks while children play on the beach just 20m away and adults dive beneath the waves from the shore. Mt Soledad offers a spectacular view of San Diego and the coast. At the top of Mt Soledad a brilliant white cross stands against the crisp blue sky. But did I have my camera for any of this? No! And it is all Tim’s fault. He knows a lot that it is all his fault.
We had a long drive ahead of us - San Diego, California to Flagstaff, Arizona. Our car was
half full. Pulling into a Petrol Station/Serv-O/Gas Station/Garage we wanted to fill it with fuel/petrol/gas - but in every country we have been to the procedure is different. It is always traumatic. Here in the USA you have to pay for your “gas” before you put it in your car. We understood those rules after a while. Standing in front of the petrol selling person we paused long and hard. A queue began to form behind us. After a bit I asked her how we paid for it before we put it in the car when we didn’t know how much we were going to put in the car and therefore did not know how much we were going to have to pay for it. A look of extreme wonder crossed her face. I kind of felt we were a bit of a rarity. The queue grew longer.
“I can’t release the gas unless you pay for it,” she drawled. “The computer won’t let me.”
“Can’t you make an exception?” we asked.
Long pause then“Nah.”
Long pause. Long queue. Finally a very well dressed American gentleman behind us leaned forward and explained.
“If you don’t
Snow in Arizona
Did I mention this desert has snow? As does the Grand Canyon! Anyone for skiing.. use all the gas you pay for you get it refunded. I suggest you nominate, say $20, if your car is nearing empty?”
Huge relief. “Yes, we’ll do that!” we tell him. We turn to the gas dispensing girl. “We nominate $20!”
“Ya whaaat?”
It looked as if confusion would continue, but then I gave the man $20, who in turn gave it to the girl, who in turn gave him the receipt, who in turn gave it to us and as it turned out $20 was fine.
At last we were on our way - full fuel tank and happy meanderings along Interstate 8 East when - Slamdunk! We are driving into astounding mountains of rocks and bare beauty and then while my heart is thudding with awe it whacks us into a searing plain of boredom. This is the drive from San Diego to Flagstaff Arizona. This on again off again relationship is exhausting. The plains are flat, flat, sea level flat and the heat is enervating and dull. But just as your eyes start to droop, another range of mountains that for hours was forever a way surround and you are 6000ft above
Grand Canyon
Just a tiny tiny tiny bit of it! sea level and squealing with delight and awe. Karbumph - dropped back into the plains without warning and the tedium begins again.
How to describe the magnificence of the Grand Canyon? The richness of the colours, the depth of the canyon, the sheer beauty that unfolds as you walk along the rim leave you completely spell bound. Likie everything else in America is it aptly and precisely named - it is a canyon and it is GRAND.
Our first attempt to get to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert was thwarted by a dust storm of immense proportions. Driving along the Inerstate we had seen a pink hue in the sky but it was only after a couple of hours of driving that we hit both the dust storm and the halted traffic at pretty much the same time. The tiny bit of the storm we experienced was truly terrifying - you cannot see a thing at all and the wind was like nothing we had experience before. We managed to get off the interstate and head back to Flagstaff to try again the next day and successfully this time. But you know how strong a wind must
have been when you see the large road signs lying twisted and down on the ground.
I have to put the Painted Desert right up there with the most beautiful of sights in my life. It literally looks as if it has been painted. Every corner, every vista was more beautiful than the previous until finally I thought I would burst into tears. Tim said that they should line the road with soft foam and padded boulders to make driving a little less dangerous. He also said that driving through Arizona prepared your for a starring role in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” - call his agent!
But this is one of the joys I have encountered during these travels - the other people out there looking and visiting the sights you are visiting are like minded. No one voice will jar, no one opinion is held forth. Most people just walk in silence or speaking softly to each other but in the main either they are wandering about with their jaws scraping the ground or with silly grins on their faces. All of us are doing one or another. I point it out to Tim. He
rubs his grazed jaw - you’re right, his eyes smile.
The Petrified Forest is made up of huge logs of petrified wood. Miles upon miles of desert strewn with logs older even than the Grand Canyon.
We nipped into Utah to feast our eyes and souls with the dramatic magnificence of Monument Valley which is within Navajo Reservation and is owned by the Navajo. This landscape is dry and rich with caramel and red desert punctuated by immense monuments of orange, red and skimmed deep grey stone. They tower almost theatrically above you, large and yet they look intensely fragile.
My experience of people talking about the States has never inspired me to visit it. Mainly they have talked of Disneyland or other such trite tourist places which have absolutely no attraction for me whatsoever. And yes, I would like to see New York and other cities, but there are many cities in Europe I would prefer to visit first. But I do not recall anyone has ever talking to me about the incredible natural beauty of that land.
Southern California and Arizona - hot damn sheee-it, I loved it passionately. My roller and my shaker
in one!
This blog is dedicated to Pam
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Pam
non-member comment
California roller et al.
Catherine - I am humbled. Yes....there will be a next time, and we will dive into deep margaritas together! Thank you, my friend. You are missed. God bless.