California: Los Angeles

Well we finally made it to LA. After 1800 miles and a lot of fun we got back to where we started in one piece. Here is a view of downtown LA from the Hollywood hills.

This is a shot of Beverly Hills. behind us was a burger van. So now we know how the rich and famous live. Well I am guessing that it was all the under paid workers...

I dread to think of how much the houses on this road cost. So much you can't even see them.

Here is the famous Hollywood sign and the infamous superman pants. Why do I do this to myself.

Here is is unspoilt

Outside the Kodiak theater they have all the foot and hand prints of the stars. Who a thought he would come back as the governor.

You can find anything in LA....

From past stars

To giant hot dog cars

And cool old cars

We stopped off at Rodeo Dr on the way back. All I could afford was a picture of this arse...

You don't see cars like this down on the high street of Dronfield.

We did have time for a big beer though

So this is the end of the California post, was it good?

California: Santa Barbara to LA

Almost done with the California photos. I have been so busy lately and the blog has suffered but I am going to make a serious effort to try and make it up. Here is the last part of our journey down the coast. Thought this was a classic.

I actually took this out of the window at a stop light. It turned out pretty nice.

You wanted superman pants. You got em. I am whole heartedly apologetic to the good people of Malibu for debasing their sign. Well maybe...

I tired to capture some real scenic beauty but didn't want to fall off the cliff.

These cars were actually being road tested and they had cloth covers on it was really strange seeing them in convoy. We had actually taken a wrong turning at the time but it was fortuitous.

A classic baywatch shot for you. Take note of the surfer in the background towards the orange flag on the left.

A not so classic baywatch moment. We got to Venice beach and literally just as we set foot on the sand this crazy fog just descended. Well I wasn't gonna let that spoil my chance to swim in the Pacific ocean.

Although the real bay watch had to be called.

Only joking it was some boating accident. I assume everything went OK as they weren't really rushing.

I just really like this photo of the playground at Venice beach

Crazy people, gotta love em.

Here is a rare photo of a freeway in LA where cars are moving and it is daylight. I spoke to Andrea about driving in LA and she said there is about an hour if you are lucky when it isn't bad in the daytime. Somehow we found that hour.

California: The Road to Vegas

It has been a while since I have updated but have I got some updates for y'all now. For the past two weeks I have been on a road trip round California including Las Vegas. I went with Lawrence (Loz) from school. Loz had never been to the states and I thought it would be a good idea for us to road trip round California. We had a bloody good time. Here are the pics. First off I know y'all wanted superman pants, well here they are!

That picture was actually taken later in the trip but I couldn't resist putting it in. Below is the car we got. I thought it was a bargain @ $350 for 10 days.

This was the beast we got. A 4.0 litre V6 Ford mustang. We knew we were gonna be spending on the gas but it was so cool to drive. The engine sounded great and we were doing a road trip in the states. We actually got almost 30 mpg that first day. It took us about 65 miles to get out of civilization. LA is massive. The total journey was about 300 miles (give or take a few errors, I was kinda navigating at first), here is on a map.

This is actually the point where I took over driving for the first time. Loz managed 200 miles, fulled on by great American fayre; a breakfast of pancakes and a Barstow dinner lunch. I was pretty nervous as the mustang was a beast and I hadn't really driven much. After a few minutes of panic it all came back and thanks to the automatic transmission and cruise control we were eating up the miles with ease. It is great just driving a long listening to classic songs on the radio.

I took this photo because years ago I saw a series of photos by an American photographer with the Union 76 gas stations as the subject. Alas the iconic ball is no longer there but it is cool that something so mundane can be beautiful.

After a nerve wracking journey through Vegas in the rush hour we finally got to the hotel. it was a pretty cool trip to have on our first day. From the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles, through the fantastic mountains and deserts, to the neon of Vegas. It's easy to forget that Las Vegas is in the middle of nowhere, you can see in the background of the picture the mountains that most people just forget about as all they think about is the money.

Here is one of the lions that live in the MGM grand in Vegas. It is just that kinda place.


It is so bad I do love it.

The first night we were pretty tired, but we managed to gamble a bit, I was even up $10. We just wandered round looking at the sights and even got some all-you-can-eat ribs for dinner. Ah Las Vegas the place of excess.

Check back for more adventures tomorrow!

The Superman pants are back!!!!!

Last night was the penultimate bulls game of the season, it would have rude not to go

So we got some friends together and decided to watch the ball game.

Oh yeah there was the little issue of embarrassing ourselves while we still can. The story goes, a while back Andy decided it would be funny to pay for the privilege of singing 'take me out to the ballpark' at the bulls game. The song is sung in the middle of the 7th innings and they lyrics are:

Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the Bulls,
If they don't win, it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.

A little bit of liquid encouragement was needed

To celebrate this Superman pants made their triumphant return

They were a little difficult to get on......