RTW Day 12 - Los Angeles

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Today is our longest drive. 380 miles to Los, 366 on Route 10, so my awesome navigational skills will not be in great demand. As most of the day will be spent in the car, I get up at 6 am and head for the gym. GCU’s colour is purple and they’ve not skimped on the colour scheme. I run 5 km in a haze of purple motivational quotes before we set off for LA.

Soon we are back in California and off the map in ‘Lonely Planet Southwest USA’. I’m not sure how California is not in southwest USA and there has been correspondence on the matter. I pointed out that it’s about as south and west as USA gets, but Lonely Planet stood firm. I ended by telling them I hope Donald Trump doesn’t consult Lonely Planet before building his wall, or the whole of California could end up in Mexico.

Two unexpected things happen when we reach the California border; 1) we get stopped by some sort of border police and 2) it starts raining. I’ve seen LA loads of times on TV and it’s never raining. We stop for petrol and snacks in Indio, a town on a plateau circled by mountains. It’s very Spanish. I buy Tapatio flavour Doritos. I’ve no idea what Tapatio is but I do (now) know it’s so spicy it burns my lips so badly they blister.

After 6.5 hours on the road, we reach LA. We’re staying in the Coral Sands Motel, just off Hollywood Boulevard. It’s a bit tired, in fact it’s bordering on the exhausted. The surrounding area in lined with rough sleepers and junkies. I’ve never seen so many people incapable of walking in a straight line. I go to the supermarket next door and the security guard is beating a ‘customer’ with a metre long truncheon. Dinner in our room and staying put till daylight seems like the best option.

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