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Published: April 21st 2009
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We last left you in Phoenix, where, on our final day, we went to the botanical gardens, perched out on the edge of the desert. It combines all sorts of weird and wonderful plants and flowers, with even more weird and wonderful huge glass sculptures, shaped and coloured in a way to make you feel like you're walking through Wonderland. We sat under a pavilion overlooking the desert, waiting for sunset. We were hoping to see the unusually shaped cactuses silhouetted against a sky of reds and oranges, and we were not disappointed; it really was the perfect desert sunset.
The following day we passed from Arizona into California, trading in cactuses for palm trees as we went. With the town of 29 Palms as our base, we explored Joshua Tree National Park, where the Mojave Desert is littered with the oddest looking trees; their limbs surreally twisted, with tufts of pine needles growing at the end of them. We headed from there to the coast where we stayed in San Diego. The ocean breeze made the heat pleasant, and the harbour was picturesque enough for a lot of the Americans get out of their 4 wheel drives and -
heaven forbid - walk. All along the ocean front were ships, old and new, submarines and colourful abstract sculptures, and we just spent the day strolling along and exploring.
After San Diego we drove north to Los Angeles, a huge city of palm trees, shiny buildings and terrifying freeways. We were picking Mark's mum and Tony up from the airport, and even though the journey was only meant to last 20 minutes, it ended up being over an hour, the whole time of which I was gripping hold of my seatbelt, praying that we would survive it. I must have been praying to the right deity because, after a week of holding my breath at every merge and change of lane, we are still alive. The hotel we stayed in was a beautiful old buildings, with chandeliers and ballrooms, where, in the 1940s, the Oscars ceremony was held. Our first day there was a little disastrous; we wanted to see the Hollywood sign and so we braved the freeways to get to Griffith Park. With it being Easter Sunday though everyone had the same idea, and we were driving around for hours trying to find a parking space. We
eventually gave up and went to look at the Walt Disney Concert Hall instead. We tried a couple more times to get good views of the Hollywood sign, but it was surprisingly difficult. We got a few pictures from a mall on Hollywood Boulevard, and then from the roadside, but you really can't get close to it. Fortunately, there were many more cliched LA activities we could partake in: we followed the stars along the Walk of Fame, we drove down Santa Monica Boulevard, window-shopped along Rodeo Drive, and admired the houses in Beverly Hills (one day...sigh)
One day we drive down to Venice Beach, and while I lay in the sand reading, Mark and Jane dug a very impressive hole (why? I don't know, but I'm assured it has to be done). Another day we went to Universal Studios and we went on the famous studio tour. We saw Desperate Housewive's Wisteria Lane, the plane wreckage from War of the Worlds, King Kong's Skull Island and the Bates Motel from Psycho (which doesn't look overly dissimilar to the ones we've been staying in). It wasn't just at Universal Studios where we witnessed the predominant presence of the silver
screen; movie making truly is the business of LA. We saw a carpark taken over by make-up trailers and trucks full of camera equipment. In Hollywood we saw Tom Hanks and Paul McCartney at the star ceremony of George Harrison. Outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre, we saw them readying the red carpet for the premiere of '17 Again'. Even in our hotel they were filming an episode of 'Entourage', which meant that the lobby was constantly populated with 10ft tall, paper-thin actresses and extras, wearing more make-up than clothing (there's nothing like being in LA to give you low self-esteem)
On our last day there, we said goodbye to Jane and Tony at the airport and headed for Santa Barbara, where we spent the night before starting the drive along the famous Highway 1. That journey was really beautiful; bright blue ocean on one side of you, golden hills and emerald green forests on the other, and the winding coastal road before you. At one point we were looking down at the sea and realised we were actually looking down on clouds; thick mist was covering the water completely and stopping as soon as it reached land. We stopped for
lunch at a beach and as we headed down to the water, we saw that the beach had already been claimed - by a huge gang of elephant seals. They really were the most disgusting animals I have ever smelt; they lie there baking in the sun like middle-aged beer-bellied men, noisily letting wind out both ends and simply not caring. Me and Mark were in hysterics listening to the foul sounds they were making, but it wasn't just their overactive flatulence that was causing the smell, it was the fact that they had come on land to molt. So parts of their skin were lay scattered in the sand - lovely. Weaving in and out of the seals were, strangely enough, squirrels, preying on the tourists who had come to see their rather larger neighbours. They weren't quite as threatening as the deer in Nara, but they were just as cheeky, perching themselves in front of you and fluttering their eyelashes until you gave them food. They know how cute they are and they totally flaunt it. Surrendering our cheese crackers to them, we went on our way, passing through Big Sur and groves of redwood trees, before reaching
Monterey, my favourite place in America so far.
We really like it here, especially after the overwhelming size and gritty underbelly of LA. It's small, sunny and colourful, with a welcome sea breeze and friendly locals. On our first day we went down to Fisherman's Wharf and watched the seals lounging on the pier and pelicans bobbing up and down in the water. We went out into Monterey Bay in a boat hoping to see some whales, but returned to land disappointed. We were given rain check tickets, and so this morning we went back out there for free and let me just say - WOW! A whole family of killer whales came swimming right by our boat and they are such amazing creatures! We were watching them for ages, trying to predict where they would
re-surface next. One of them leapt out of the water right in front of us - unfortunately we weren't quite quick enough to catch it on camera. On our way back to the shore, a humpback whale swam by next to us, and it was unbelievably huge, giving us a good view of its enormous tail as it dove down deep. Forgive me
for all the enthusiastic adjectives, but it was absolutely fantastically amazing!! Without a doubt, the best thing I have ever seen!
Once we were back on land, we did a bit more exploring of Monterey, walking down Steinbeck's famous Cannery Row, and after this I think we are going to hit the beach, because it is a boiling hot day and the sea beckons 😊 I hope the weather is nice at home for everyone!
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Deborah
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:-)
Good to hear from you again! The whales do sound amazing, and I'm glad you're enjoying it all so much! LA freeways sound like Dallas! I really can't wait to see your photos of USA. Hope you keep enjoying it all, and take care, and see you soon :-)