California Dreamin'

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California September 1991

The Gulf War (Part 1) was over and it was time to get married. British Airways were offering half price holidays for “Gulf War Heroes” I was eligible so I suggested to Bev that we book a Honeymoon. I suggested California but she dismissed this out of hand. My memory fails me but, some of the words she may have used were Loud, Brash, Crazy, Weird, Tiresome, Incompetent, Scary and Violent, and, I would never go there!! (I may have made some of those up!)

Mon 2nd Sept

We married on 31st August 1991 and two days later were flying British Airways to LAX! (Well sorry Bev, Hong Kong was fully booked!)
We hit the jackpot as one of the stewardesses was the girlfriend of a colleague on my Squadron, and boy did we get the VIP treatment, we made pals with all the crew and our bags were clinking as we disembarked, enough miniatures for a few days at least.

We landed at LAX at 5 pm local, and 90 minutes later, courtesy of Mr Hertz, we hit the road, (Wow into the Americana vernacular already!) specifically Pacific Highway Number One, through Santa Monica and Malibu.
We had only just left the airport when we saw the blue flashing lights of LAPD at the roadside as they arrested a couple of “Perps” by gunpoint!
See, said Bev, VIOLENT! SCARY!

How it took us 2 hours 30 to do 56 miles I fail to remember, but it did and we finally arrived at our first hotel, The Vagabond at Oxnard, we were ready for bed, our body clock was reading 5.15 in the morning! The hotel had NO reservation for us!
See, said Bev, INCOMPETENT!
We did get a room but we had a further surprise on opening our suitcase, my daughters had cracked my security code and filled it with rice and confetti, Bev said that I should see the funny side!!
56miles

Tues 3rd Sept

Jet lag ensured we were up at "Crack of Sparrows" and departed in RAIN! At 0735 it’s raining! In Southern California! We did not sign up for this.
It was now that I realised we had a problem, I had brought all my Beachboy tapes with me (No CD in those days folks) to play in the car and give us some atmosphere, the car did not have a tape player!

At 8.30 we had a stroll along Santa Barbara Beach, it was nice and peaceful just one man and his dog. We had a quick look around the town and viewed the Mission and then left for the Santa Ynez Mountains, in search of Painted cave Road, we found it, it was very hot and very scary!
Red Rock Pool was a nice antidote, diving off rocks into the cooling waters, this was a real holiday.

We arrived at Solvang, it is a little slice of Denmark in California. The architecture of many of the buildings follows traditional Danish style. There is a copy of the famous Little Mermaid statue, as well as one featuring the bust of writer Hans Christian Andersen, even a Danish Style Windmill, all very twee!
We stopped off at Pismo Beach, apparently "Clam Capital" of California, it also was more down to earth and it was very cold! We spent some time watching the Seals & Pelicans.
Avila Beach still has a working commercial fishing pier, we then took the unpaved See Canyon Rd through green rolling hills and apple orchards to St Louis Obispo
We checked into the Lamplighter Inn, we had not booked ahead, and had a very pleasant dinner of typical American home cooking at a place called Apple Farm, our very first taste of Cornbread!
208miles

Weds Sept 4th

We departed St Louis Obispo in low cloud and mist, it was a tad nippy! We called in at Calucos and were enchanted by the Seals at the pier.
Our major stop today was at San Simeon, and a tour of "La Cuesta Encantada" ("The Enchanted Hill) or Hearst Castle, a palatial estate and a National Historic Landmark donated in 1957 by the Hearst Corporation to the state of California. It was designed for newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst who entertained everyone and anyone rich and famous from 1919 until 1947. Apparently, the site attracts roughly one million visitors per year.

After lunch we lay on beach at San Simeon and watched the seals, unfortunately the sea failed big toe test! although the day was a balmy 85F.
We continued our scenic drive along Big Sur through cloud! Where were these spectacular views? We called in at Carmel to see if Mayor Clint Eastwood was home but had to be make do instead with a very chilly but pleasant “17 Mile Drive” where we saw deer, seals rodents and the occasional lesser spotted golfer.
We arrived in Monterey, and found accommodation at the Lone Oak Motel and of course we had to dine on Fisherman's Wharf. (Roppas)
171miles

Thurs 5th Sept

Breakfast at Denny’s, a very fine establishment, perfect for the meal that America does so well.
This set us up for the day for a visit to one of the best Aquariums I have been to, and of course the infamous Cannery Row, the site of a number of defunct sardine canning factories, now a very pleasant tourist attraction

We departed Monterey after lunch and headed for the brassy seaside resort of Santa Cruz we walked along the boardwalk (always wondered what one of those was ever since the Drifters immortalised it in song) Apparently it was opened in 1907 and is California's oldest surviving amusement park, a reminder of a bygone era in amusement, and there was not a lot happening.
We soon discovered why, when we called in at Felton to ride on the Big Woods Railway it was closed. Apparently, lots of attractions close after the first Monday in September which is called Labor (sic) Day, WHY? well at least we saw our first covered bridge if nothing else.

As we had time to spare we drove into Big Basin woods, looking for The Redwood Loop Trail! We drove some way, deeper and deeper into the woods and then the ROAD ENDED! We were lost in the woods and had not even left a trail of bread to find our way out. Unbelievably, we were rescued by a very friendly plumber who happened to be passing, from where to where we don’t know! We never did see the Loop Trail.

I thought it was time that Bev got a chance to drive she was very nervous never having driven on the "wrong side of the road" before and pulled over on approaching the San Francisco big freeway. She had no intentions of driving up Lombard Street or impersonating Steve McQueen in Bullitt either.
See, said Bev, CRAZY!

We arrived at our hotel in San Francisco, the Holiday Inn at Fisherman's Wharf, they did have our reservation. Although this was to be the most expensive hotel on our trip, it was worth the extra to be on Fisherman's Wharf, which was of course, a delight and we had a very pleasant and romantic dinner, overlooking the bay at "Aliotos", one of San Francisco's oldest restaurants, very nice but very expensive .
159miles

Fri 6th Sept

This was San Fran and as we only had 2 nights we were up and out bright and early and by 9am on the Ferry to Alcatraz, great views and a great tour.
We caught the world famous Trolley Car to Union Square, where we had a Deli lunch a HUGE Sandwich that would feed a family of four for a week!
We bought cheap Theatre Tickets and then walked to Chinatown, visited the Wells Fargo Museum and the Cable Car Museum. We then caught the world famous Trolley Car to Lombard St. and Ghiradelli Square.
We went to see “Beach Blanket Babylon”, apparently, according to the advertisements, the world's longest running musical revue...a must see!! Hilarious pop, and political spoofs with gigantic hats and one show-stopping number after another. It was a great show!
Dinner followed at Boccas, which now that I know Spanish means mouths! This was followed by drinks at the Beaux Arts-style Fairmont Hotel which was designed by celebrated architect Julia Morgan (the genius behind the grandiose Hearst Castle) Perched high atop Nob Hill it has great views! especially when ascending the glass lift.

Sat 7th Sept

We decided that we would do the recommended 49 mile "scenic" drive (it was waste of time), we got lost 3 times. We ended up watching surfers, and then we did Twin Peaks drive, this time we got lost 4 times!! We did get views of Telegraph Hill, the Golden Gate, and the Presido.
We said farewell as we reluctantly headed north across the Golden Gate Bridge.
Bev declared she was in Love with San Fran!
We stopped off and hugged some BIG trees (as best we could) in Muir Woods, 500 and 800 years old Coastal Redwoods, the tallest tree being 258 feet.

We could not linger longer as we had to make the Sonoma Valley and get some wine tasting in before everywhere closed.
Time was tight, we hit the first winery we came to, could we make it before closing time? The dirt track from the main road seemed to go on for ever as we left a trail of dust behind us. Hot and flustered with parched mouths we staggered into the winery. A tall distinguished looking gentleman approached us, and with a trace of an Italian accent said
“You want to taste some wine?”.................. DOH! Yes!
His next question, “Where yawl from?”
............................(DOH! give us a drink dude!) “England”.
“I realise that” he said, “Where?”
Well nobody outside England knows Swindon, so I replied “about 80 miles west of London”
“Where?” he insisted.
“It’s a town called Swindon” I replied.
“Aah Swindon” he said knowingly, “do you know Vadim’s night club?”
We acknowledged that we had indeed heard of it.
“I am Vadim” he said.
Well blow me down with a feather! We finally got our wine tasting and well worth the wait it was too.
We passed through Santa Rosa and then retraced our steps as their was NO room at the inn in Calistoga. We found a Best Western, checked in, and then drove 27 miles to find a restaurant.
180miles


Sun 8th Sept

We left our Hotel early to return to Calistoga and ensure we did not miss the Old Faithful Geyser of California (note: Other Old Faithfuls are available!)
It’s supposed to spew forth a 60 to 100 feet spray of steam and scalding water into the air about every 30 minutes. We were too early, the geyser was obviously still asleep, so we wandered round the grounds, when the eruption finally came it was well worth the wait.

Now it was down to the main business of the day, Napa Valley wine tasting. We started the tastings at Sterling, and then moved on to Beaulieu, followed by Inglenook, then Mondavi, then Monticello, and finally Silverado.
One of the wineries, which one, for the life of me I cannot remember, had quite an excessive charge but included a cable car ride and extensive tastings. I enquired as to whether I could get a Military (War Hero) Discount, I did, and it was completely free!
So what did we learn about Californian wine? Well there was an obsession with Chardonnay and Merlot which I must admit I don’t care for.

We left Napa Valley with a happy glow and headed east onwards to Yosemite. We managed to get lost again (maybe one day somebody will invent sat navs for cars!) and by the time we got to Gustine in the San Joaquin Valley had clocked up 1000 miles since leaving LAX.

It was getting late and we watched a glorious sunset in the west, but we were yet to find an hotel, so in Merced we found a Dennys for our evening meal.
We finally found a Hotel in Mariposa at 10.30 another Best Western.
297miles

Mon 9th Sept

We left Mariposa and drove to Yosemite - at the Park's south gate we found the Sugar Pine railway, having missed out on the Big Woods Railway we took the 4-mile railroad excursion through the forest which was great fun. We drove through Tunnel View and the vistas as you actually enter into Yosemite Valley are spectacularand take your breath away - WOW! We passed the Bridal Veil waterfall, Sequoia Groves and drove over Tuolume Meadows thru the Tioga Pass. There were photo opportunities at every turn.

Having left Yosemite behind us our next visit was to 760,000 years old Mono Lake. The fact that the sun was starting to drop and there were indications of geothermal activity combined with the bizarre backdrop of the unusual tufa tower rock formations that line Mono Lake's shores gave a feeling like being on the moon, I have never ever seen such an amazingly eerie yet fascinating landscape before.

We wanted to see the Hot Creek Springs but time was pressing and sunset was on its way so we made a hasty departure from Mono lake. Hot Creek was in quite a remote and eerie place, made more so by the warning signs, the unstable ground, the bubbling scalding waters and the fact it was starting to get dark. We had visions of a ranger turning up and locking the gates so we decided that spending the night here was not such a good idea and high tailed it for the exit and main road.
Our destination was the town of Bishop which we eventually saw from 15 miles out, twinkling in the dark, as we descended from 9550ft to 5000ft.
242 miles

Tues 10th Sept

It was a beautiful Day but Bev doesn't want to get up! again! But today we had an even more exciting day too look forward to (is that possible?)
We had great views of Mount Whitney as we headed for Death Valley.

Death Valley National Park is vast, it is also surprisingly beautiful.
We had read that you do not take a drive lightly, especially as we were taking the long, less travelled north/south route. There are also a number of steep mountain roads involved where you are advised to shut off your air con to save your engine from overheating.
We had read that it can be the hottest place on the planet, we made sure we were well stocked with plenty of water!

Death Valley was everything that we expected a very Hot! 96F and a stunning contrast of awesome landscapes. We saw rolling Sand Dunes, the Harmony Borax Works, the Devils Golf Course, all names to with a wealth of history attached. We stopped at Badwater which was 282ft below sea level and HOT!. We walked the Salt flats and drove along Artists Drive to the Artists Pallette - Brilliant.

Our next stop was a complete change, from the sublime to the ridiculous, as we reached the bright lights of Las Vegas. We drove down the Strip to get our bearings, it was like nothing we had ever experienced before.
We had a buffet dinner at the Stardust, all you can eat for peanuts, I think some people were trying for world records! We looked around Circus Circus with acrobats and wild animals all around we even won a Teddy bear.

It was 1am by the time we headed to our room on the 38th floor, it was hot, I stripped off all my clothes and went out onto the balcony to see what the noise was outside. I came face to face with a helicopter hovering outside our hotel balcony complete with film crew! I made a quick retreat behind the curtain.
351 miles


Weds 11th Sept

Today is 99F! We drove to Nellis Air Force base to buy cheap tickets but got lost again. It was worth the journey as we got great military discounts, shopped and lunched on the base.
We drove back to Vegas but got lost again! It ws so hot we spent 3 hours at Wet and Wild.
We took in a Show, "Legends in Concert" at the Imperial Palace, twas excellent.
Trying to see as many big hotels as possible we looked around La Mirage and had a flutter at Caesars Palace. It was difficult to sleep tonight due to the bloody helicopter!
42 miles

Thurs 12th Sept

We had been told that they were filming over the road at Ballys hotel so we went to take a look. The film was "Honeymoon in Vegas" with Nicholas Cage, we stopped to watch for about an hour but got bored as we realised Nick was not around and wandered off.
We decided to get a sepia photo taken as a memento of OUR Honeymoon in Vegas. We lunched at Caesars Palace before heading to the airport for our flight over the Grand Canyon. WOW! Words cannot describe our experience.

We went to the Omnimax at Caesars, followed by the Excalibur for Buffet dinner. We watched strolling Minstrels, rode the Motion Machines, pretended to play the one armed bandits for free drinks and listened to live music. I even won $30.

Fri 13th Sept

The trip was catching up with us, we overslept.. We checked out only to find we had a flat battery, (note to self, give the parking valet a bigger tip!).
We eventually changed cars and set off for the Hoover Dam.
We did a trip to the Calico "Cowboy Town" went down a Silver mine, checked out a ghost house etc, but the pull of the Barstow Factory outlets was too much for Bev.
Inn at the park Annaheim - Candlelight dinner at Charley Browns
326 miles

Sat 14th Sept

Today was our day for Disney, we were not sure if it was what we wanted to do but I think it is mandatory in the US Constitution. It drizzled all day and by 5 o clock we had had our fill.
We tasted our first ever Mexican dinner at La Casa Grande, nothing special.

Sun 15th Sept

Today we tried to take in as much as LA as possible we did a drive by of the Crystal Cathedral and visited the Queen Mary & the Spruce Goose, wish we could have stayed overnight on the Ship, they opened to tourists, earlier in the year but only as na hotel in November 1972 !
Off we went to Venice Beach, we hired bikes and rode along the front, one word (well two actually!) - weirdsville USA!! Bev refers to para *1 .....Weird!

We drove to Beverly Hills as you do, and then to Hollywood to walk along avenue of the stars and take photos of the Chinese theatre.
We looked in vain for the Hollywood sign so headed to Olvera Street in Little Mexico where they just happened to be celebrating Mexican Independance Day!!
We got lost (again) looking for our hotel the Comfort Inn in Glendale, its not easy driving in LA

Mon 16th Sept

We had an early breakfast on which was due to be our last day in the Golden State, checked out of our hotel and headed over to Universal Studios. A great day but cut short by our need to check in at the airport.
We need not have hurried, we embarked and then sat on the Aircraft for 3 hours, an electrical fault apparently. We got back into the terminal and joined the mad rush + push to get first in the queue for rooms at the Airport Sheraton, for a bonus night in LAX.
169 miles

Tues 17th

After a morning of hanging around LAX we finally got to depart at 1pm.
Bye Bye California, we loved it!

Holiday mileage? 2203 miles. Cost? Who cares. Enjoyment factor? Total

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Photos

Death Valley
Harsh but Beautiful landscapes.

The Dunes Hotel
On October 27, 1993, the Dunes was imploded in a grand ceremony

The Quen Mary
Conveniently the Queen Mary opened its doors to tourists In May 1971.