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Published: December 10th 2012
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After departing Texas I made a whirlwind 1 night stop in Los Angeles to catch a Lakers game. I've never really had much interest in seeing LA, also skipping it last time I was in the States. I'm happy for someone to convince me why I need to see the Hollywood walk of fame or the Hollywood sign however. Staples Center was the first arena I had encountered that had its own McDonalds inside. The Lakers overcame a spirited effort by the Brooklyn Nets much to my dismay. Being surrounded by so many casual fans, bandwagoners, idiots and enemies at once was a little off-putting. A couple of highlights included one Lakers fan querying his mate, 'Who is this bench guy (for the Lakers)?' and chanting 'MVP! MVP!' to Kobe Bryant 11 games into the season. But it was pretty cool seeing some big name players such as Kobe, Deron Williams, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. Unfortunately Steve Nash missed the game with injury who was another player I really wanted to see.
The next day I ventured back out to LAX airport to rent a car. My first stop was Santa Monica beach. The beach was massive, bright yellow
and clean. Not much surf though. There are miles and miles of cycling/walking paths along the ocean here. Coupled with the awesome weather I reckon I would be much more motivated for fitness living here. Still wouldn't see me on the beach volleyball court though. The pier was a nice place to hang out for a little bit, which also happens to be the end of the road for Route 66.
I spent the night in Santa Barbara which has a dreamy beach and coastline. It's a bit of a rich person's town but not too tacky. Sunset here was spectacular among the many palm trees. The next night was spent at Morro Bay. It has a huge rock on the point and I ventured down there for sunset. They have a massive rock wall protecting the bay from the pounding surf. The rock wall is a restricted area for everyone's safety but I decided that didn't apply to me of course and went for a closer look. I fancied catching a photo of a wave or two smashing into the wall. After watching for a little while to judge how close I could get I moved into position.
Everything was fine for a while until a big swell came in. Another couple of feet closer and I would have been knocked over for sure. I was reminded of when Chris and I used to taunt injury riding the motorbike when we were younger. As soon as you make one small mistake and have a close shave, it was time to put it away. In that regard I took a moment to appreciate my luck and got the hell out of there.
The next morning I visited Hearst Castle, the once home and estate of William Randolph Hearst who was a major newspaper publisher and the inspiration for the movie Citizen Kane. Everyone but my dad is probably already bored by that sentence. His estate is now a museum (and a rather expensive one at that) as it has been left as it was in the 1950's and you can tour many of the rooms and gardens. It is located on the biggest hill around with a spectacular view over the Pacific ocean. He once had his own personal zoo but the only animals remaining are descendants of the zebras which I was lucky enough to spot roaming
the hillside. The two pools were also very inspired (and no doubt costly) creations as the photos will attest.
This roughly marked the point where the coastline got more dramatic - the road started to climb off the coast and around nearly every corner you'd be greeted with either a golden, sandy beach or a stunning cliff 100 feet below.
Along the way I took a moment to study and laugh at an Elephant Seal colony, take a short hike to a pretty cove with a waterfall landing right on the beach, and cross many high bridges spanning inlets. The area is known as Big Sur and it definitely did not disappoint.
The next morning I got up early to take the very scenic drive around the Monterey peninsula on the famous 17 mile drive. The drive winds past Pebble Beach golf course (only $450-500 for a round), and a number of other courses - plus the usual stunning rocky coastline. The trees along the coast here are now in a permanent wind swept pose which makes for a dramatic and picturesque effect.
I also took some time to check out Monterey Bay Aquarium which is
highly rated. It was good, but as tends to occur in these types of places they become infested with children. And they just love Neeeeemo! The aquarium did have very interesting jellyfish and seahorse exhibits at the time which you don't generally see. You wouldn't think jellyfish would be that interesting but there you have it. Some of the seahorses were seriously ridiculous. Forget the finches, if these things weren't evidence of evolution then nothing will be.
The last part of my drive was through San Francisco across the bay to Oakland. I didn't spend any time in San Fran as I had visited last time. My purpose here was to check out a Golden State Warriors game then fly up to Seattle the next day. The best Aussie in the NBA Andrew Bogut was out injured unfortunately so I didn't get to see him play, but it was an entertaining game nonetheless. I had a very early flight the next day at 6:20am and it also happened to be Thanksgiving weekend. I really couldn't avoid travel at this time as my schedule was tight so it had to be done. I was staying at a cheap motel only
4 or 5 km's from the airport and I ordered a cab at 4am. Now you'd think a cab would be relatively easy to acquire so close to the airport, but it took nearly 45 minutes to arrive. When it did some 'local' girl appeared out of nowhere and tried to jump in. I intervened but the cabbie who was of the same background probably decided he would rather take a young girl in his cab than me. Even after quizzing him for the name he danced around it and said it wasn't me who ordered it. She also was not going to the airport so I couldn't share. Feck! I had been well and truly shafted.
So I had to order another cab, but now it was much more urgent. At the same time this was happening another 'local' girl was having a hard time trying to get a room at 5 in the morning because she had no ID on her (I assumed she had just knocked off work). The guy behind the desk staunchly and impressively refused and she was pulling out all the stops such as 'I've stayed here before without ID' and 'I'll sue
your ass for leaving me out here in the cold'. After ordering my 2nd cab (it was too late to resort to walking now), I again went to wait. Some guy standing near his car who I now pieced together was with the girl, asked me what was going on. After explaining the girl's lack of luck in renting a room I mentioned I was going to the airport. He's like 'sheeet man I'll give you a ride'. This was one of those red flag moments where a million thoughts run through your head. Despite all thoughts to contrary I realised my hand was forced, and so I accepted. The girl returned moments later and I got in. It didn't take long for the subject to turn from 'where I was from' to 'weed'. I just did my best to keep the conversation going and pondered how badly I would be hurt jumping out of a car at 50 mph. In the end, everything was just fine. The guy was friendly even though he was clearly high and I gave him $20 for his services. I was just happy to be out of there! I still had an hour til
my flight and even after jumping the baggage queue, I still had to run to make the flight with a few minutes to spare due to sloth-like security control. As my plane ascended into the air I took a few minutes in my still sleepy state to reflect on just what the hell happened and how very lucky I was.
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june
non-member comment
Your adventure catching a cab out of San Fran is every mothers nightmare :) your angels were looking after you LOL....