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Published: August 1st 2008
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As we sit on a beach next to the jungles of Mexico debating whether we should have a mojhito or margarita for brekky, we can reflect back on what was a bloody awesome roadtrip of California, in the good old US of A.
We started off with a brief stay in L.A, and with one full day to go sightseeing, see the stars, glam it up a bit, Hollywood style, we did what any 2 mature men would do. We spent the day at Magic Mountain trying out as many roller coasters as we could and it was awesome!
On to San Fran, where we met our guide for the rest of the trip, Monique. Had a really good time enjoying the city, made it out to Alcatraz which was pretty englightning, and had a few debates over whether the swim to the mainland was achieveable or not. I however was secretly chuffed that the good people of Alcatraz, use the same orange wood chipper that resides in my mechanics shed back in London. San Fran also has the biggest Chinatown I've seen thus far. We were debating whether visas were neccessary to walk through it.
And so we
Golden Gate Bridge
You wonder how hard it can be to find something as large as the golden gate bridge, but we took the wrong bus and ended up walking for 2hrs through a forrest to get there! picked up the beast of a Chevvy Malibu for the start of the roadtrip. With Monique swearing that we wouldnt need a GPS with her presence, we started off with some screaming from our guide on the wrong side of the road. We made it to Napa where yours truly drew the short straw and had to endure the other 2 winetasting for a few hours and concluding that every wine tasted was -good.
We stopped by Santa Cruz, a really nice chilled out beach where Monique went to Uni. We were introduced to a Pine tree in which if you scale, there's a very good chance of meeting girls at the top. We never found out if there was any truth in that as Shane made it as far as both feet had left the ground, and my insurance policy doesnt include falling from trees in search of hot girls. Had a really cool BBQ on a secret beach with a few locals plus wildlife, and as it was the first ocean I'd seen in a while, I though it prudent to test the 4 degree waters for which I lasted all of 2 minutes.
A big
camping trip in Big Sur was planned but upon arrival, it was discovered to be burning down. I was quite keen to go ahead and test out the capability of my new jacket on ext6reme heat, but the others voted on a few nights in Yosemite. We took photos but in all honesty, the photos do little justice to the shear scale of these granite walls that surround you. Went swimming a some spectacular mountain lakes, fought some bears, and was always on alert for those damned shady squirrels that steal your food as soon as you look the other way.
From there we went back to Newport, caught up with the gang from the O.C, and stayed at Moniques brothers'. There we were introduced to the real Californian life of working by day, having nibbles back home, going for a swim around the pool, then back to BBQing 3 types of animal with a few beers. It's a tough life.
Shane and I decided that on our way to Vegas we would stop by Death Valley for a look. There was so much to see through there! Nah, just kidding. It was a 7 hour drive through
much of nothing. There was sand, some rocky mountain ranges, but on the whole it was 7 hours of watching our car's thermometer tick up to around 45 degrees. In that heat you can't run the air-con as the car would overheat, so we improvised, and nestled cold drinks between our legs. With that area cool, the rest of the body seems to cope. The heat was something, but luckily it relented to 40 degrees by night, and in our tent sweating torrents, we were able to get a dreamy 20 mins kip.
Vegas was all that we imagined. Just huge, exotic, glutonous, excessive in every way. Being men of the world and seeing the way several people lost around $500 in the matter of 30 secs, we decided to invest our well earned money where it counted, at the buffets. We like to think that the Casinos lost out a bit whenever they let us sit down for a few hours in front of various buffet stations. There may be a shortage of shrimp after our stay. What we did gamble was thoughtfully placed so as to take advantage of the free drinks they dish out to 'players'.
As a birthday present for Sams 30th, a few of us had chipped in and brought a helicopter flight out the the grand canyon. So we both took our our vigin flight on a Helicopter.
Again something lost in the photos. Saw the Hoover Dam on the way which was impressive, before landing at the bottom of the Canyon for drinks and lunch. Luckily it was another stonker of a day, and the dozen Vodkas the night before came out to play making the whole trip extra special for everyone on board.
We dropped the car off in San Diego and spent our last few days at Moniques. We spent the much needed time having a few drinks, and days at the beach. Even managed a Hot Air Ballon ride. We finished with a concert from a little known band, much loved by Shane and myself, AND THE REST OF THE WORLD! Ladies and gentlemen, the Stone Temple Pilots no less. Even though the lead singer seems to be permantly smashed nowdays, they still pulled off a hell of a gig playing all the favourites, and leaving us thinking what a bloody good way to start the travelling.
I think I'll go with the mojhito today. Tomorrow can be the margarita. Decisions, decisions...
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Fi
non-member comment
Buenos Dias Gauchos
Hey guys, Fantastic photos and hilarious commentary as expected and STP in concert to top it all off! Have been looking forward to the first blog post! Looking forward to hearing about your adventures in Mexico. xx Fi