random snippets of life: October 2012

Epic US West Coast Extravaganza

3-15 Oct 2012

I have stopped writing about travels; maybe I have become too busy. Worse, maybe I have lost my sense of wonder and have become desensitised to the feeling of amazement and awe I feel whenever I see or experience something new. This trip, I resolved to not let that happen. This is the story of our super-quick roadtrip nearly covering the entire length of the US west coast, from Los Angeles to Seattle .

Day 1 - we landed in Los Angeles in the afternoon after a surprisingly pleasant 11 hour flight. The scale of the place starts to dawn upon us when we had to take a shuttle bus 15 mins away just to get to the car rental. We somehow get persuaded to upgrade from a 1.5 litre economy car to a 2.0 litre full-sized car, a decision we did not regret later. We drive what would have been 30 mins to Hollywood, but actually took 1 hour in the horrible jam. Exhausted after the travelling we find the motel in a rather nice part of town near the private hospitals and next to a huge Church of Scientology. We drove down Sunset boulevard to get D's must-have fast food: Chick Fil-a. Apparently they famously stood up against same-sex marriage, consequently losing and gaining its following. Junk food stop #1.

Day 2 - drove down Hollywood Boulevard in search of the famed strip. Learnt the art of parking "validation", ie free/discounted parking based on some conditions. Checked out the walk of fame (some ridiculous pple have been added to the legacy like the muppets and Billy Graham) and viewed the Hollywood sign, as well as the Grauman's Chinese theatre and its concrete hand and foot imprints of celebrities. Got bored. Went on a drive to see Paramount studios, from the outside. Drove somemore through the Wiltshire Miracle Mile before hitting Farmer's Market for lunch (and free parking). Philly cheese steak and chilli dog were decent but felt like junk food too. Drove 20+ miles to Santa Monica beach by the Pacific Ocean - checked out the pier and the end of the historic Route 66. Attempted to check out the supposedly impressive LA County Museum of Art but was denied entry (closed). Headed to Beverley Hills instead which turned out a sharp contrast to all the surrounding neighbourhoods. Walked along Rodeo Drive and the seriously fancy shops trying to celeb-spot unsuccessfully. Returned to the Dolby theatre in time for the performance of Cirque du Soleil which we impulsively decided to treat ourselves to after being rather disappointed with what Hollywood had to offer. impressive acrobatics combined with dizzy performing makes for an antidote against serious jet-lag. Drive to in-and-out for dinner and was not that impressed, despite all the rave reviews and not-so-secret menu! Junk food #2. LA, done in a day.

Day 3 - rushed to make a headstart at Universal Studios. Followed A's advice on the order of rides/shows and we managed to finish the whole park with minimal queuing before closing time, with time to spare despite a long lunch at Bubba Gump (junk food #3 which made us too full for dinner). The park was excellent, particularly the studio tour and technology deployed in every corner. But from a rides perspective was rather dismal given most of them were 3D which implies some form of sitting in a moving seat in a machine with screens. Forget the roller coasters. Tired from a day of rushing around, we left at 6pm and drove 3hrs north to our accommodation for the night - Santa Maria. Too tired for dinner, we settled for some snacks and fruit knicked from the morning's breakfast.

Day 4 - checked out a latino supermarket for supplies, and came face to face with the supersized reality of America. I seem to remember massive row after row of freezer and fridge facilities but not the tubs of 5 gallon ice-cream they were filled with. The meat section was the same; they seem to have supersized chickens and turkeys too. Despite a rather horrifying sight, we settled into Mexican lunch at the supermarket of tacos, right next to the aisle that sold the raw meat. Nice. Junk food #4. On the road now headed for the Pacific highway 1 and towards the Big Sur... Mile after mile of drive along a winding dual carriageway, just by the Pacific Coast. It was bliss for me (the passenger) and not so fun for D (for driver). We stopped along the way multiple times to take in the particularly calming view of the boundless ocean with the waves crashing into the rocks, got caught up in a festival, stumbled upon a large 600-strong colony of male elephant seals lounging lazily on a small beach, saw an unusual waterfall onto a beach, and caught the sunset at the beautiful Pfiffer beach where the sand was purple inside. Finally, we arrived at Monterey Bay for the night.

Day 5 - with the jet-lag (ie ability to wake up early in the mornings) fast fading, we only made it to the Monterey Bay aquarium just in time for the 11am Open Sea feeding session. The sea truly opens up a different world and I'd never seen such a huge school of tuna hundreds of thousands strong, or all kinds jellyfish bobbing up and down, or seahorses of all variety etc. it was straight back on the road for a 3 hr journey to San Francisco, which was much colder and windier than I had ever imagined California to be. On the way we must have passed some very smart and/or rich pple who live and work in Sillicon valley. Entered hilly San Fran just in time to catch an Airshow, probably for the first time

In my life. The slopes in San Fran were scary, probably at an incline of 60 degrees and with cars parked perpendicularly all along! We checked out the Golden Gate bridge (from a distance) and saw Alcatraz, which brought some grief to us considering we didn't manage to buy tickets, even 2 days in advance. Dinner was kindly hosted by some old friends from school.

Day 6 - contrary to all advice, we took our car everywhere we went in the city, which actually worked out very well. 1st stop was down along Lombard Street, a part of it is named the crookedest street in the world with numerous hairpin bends for cars (hmmm we've probably seen worse in Norway!) then on to Coit Tower for supposed good views of the whole city (waste of time). Lunch was seafood at a nice but cheap restaurant along Fisherman's wharf (so that we could get 2 hours free parking!) followed by some wandering along Piers 39-45. This time there were some sealions on the pier greeting the multitude of curious tourists. Then we drove downtown and parked right smack in the middle of town (Union Square) where parking cost $4/hr - no validation! Saw the Hyde street cablecar turn around, a ridiculously long queue round the block outside a newly-opened Uniqlo store, checked out the Mother of all Chinatowns (disappointing) and the Financial district, did a Macy's and Cheesecake Factory run, and retrieved the car. All within 2 hours. Fed up of paying for more parking, we just did a driving tour around the more spectacular buildings of the opera and drive through the Tenderloin to a little park where there was a cute view of nice Victorian houses in a row, with the San Fran skyline in the background. Back to Fisherman's wharf for dinner at Boudin's (great clam chowder!) and unfortunately we didn't make it out of the city across the Golden Gate bridge before dark :( it was another 3 hours (this time with coffee in hand) on the same highway before we reached Redding, the last major town of Northern California heading north. Fiasco at the front desk of the Best Western plus because they couldn't find my reservation, and on top of that scoffed that I only paid £37 for the room through Priceline. All made up for with a very very nice room.

Day 7 - drive, drove, driving, overtake, avoid police cars, sleep, change driver, drive some more. This was the one day we were especially thankful that we had upgraded to a bigger car. It was a 650km drive, 643km of which was along the very same highway. Not sure why I bothered getting a Sat Nav! It wasn't all bad - each time the landscape changed we were kept entertained for 10 minutes. From dessert to mountains to lakes and autumn trees, that drive had it all. Tried to stop in Eugene, Oregon (home of Nike) but we couldn't quite locate a decent downtown or a decent lunch place. Ended up at Denny's along the highway where we nearly died being bloated. Death by junk food #5. Everything was made better upon arrival at the Woodburn company stores. No therapy better than retail therapy, all the more when the state you shop in does not impose sales tax! Unfortunately after a whole day of driving we only got there close to 7pm at night, so 2 hours had to suffice. Exhausted, we pulled up at the nearby crowne plaza at lake Oswego (only £50!) and felt all very posh indeed at a proper hotel! Who needs dinner when u have sleep?

Day 8 - returned to the outlet mall, and resumed shopping for 3 hours but still did not manage to complete a full round of the shops. Auntie Anne's pretzels in hand for lunch (Junk Food #6), we sped all the way to Seattle, 3.5hrs north, desperate to make the cut-off time for returning the car. Sadly we only saw Portland on the periphery, and it looked like a nice city indeed. Once we hit Washington, all the trees seemed more seasonal - the orange, red and yellow hues were more distinct and deep-set, making for a scenic backdrop for our race against time. Suddenly, just as we hit Tacoma (just south of Seattle) the sky turned a familiar shade of London grey and it seemed that we had left all the good weather behind! The remainder of our days were to prove worse. Anyhow with the help of the amazing High Occupancy Vehicles (defined as 2 or more people in a vehicle!) we made it to Seattle downtown in time to return the car, albeit with sub-optimal petrol levels. We transferred straight to another car, this time chauffeured by our dear friends S&S who met us at the end of our epic dive. Dinner was authentic Korean in the university district, and we were welcomed very warmly (in freezing cold Seattle) to their beautiful home, in a proper orange 3-storey house!!! :D more bliss.

Day 9 - woke up at the crack of dawn because we were on a mission to get to Mount Rainier National Park (3hrs back down south!) before the working crowd, which comprised mostly of Microsoft folk) trudge their way to work. Weather forecast was horrific and we were prepared for the worst, ski jackets et al in tow. But the thing we really needed were a pair of sunglasses, for God gave us a p-e-r-f-e-c-t blue sky hiking day. In fact it actually got quite warm! Mt Rainier, an active snow-capped volcano part of the Cascades mountain range, was the best-dressed mountain I've ever seen, with a white top against a solid blue backdrop, and with a skirt of bright red, orange and yellow (ok and green too) plants. Drop dead gorgeous. We took the most ambitious route at Paradise, 5.5miles and 1700 feet elevation (starting at 5400 feet). We were kept rather entertained for the next 5 hrs by looking out for small wildlife like chipmunks and raccoons, a mountain lion, traces of lost hikers, and coming high enough above the tree line onto some frozen glaciers. Sun-burnt, grimy and achy, it was another long drive back to Seattle, comfort Japanese food, board/card/video games with friends and zzzz.

Day 10 - woke up late morning and lazed around; perhaps this was the start to a proper holiday. Went supermarket shopping for American chocolates with S and again found them in supersized packets (given Halloween was round the corner). In the afternoon it was time to explore downtown Seattle. Pike Place market offered the popular fishmongers with fish-tossing fanfare, quirky little shops and the world's first Starbucks store! the rest of Seattle did not have much to offer, except for Top Pot donuts which were probably well worth their weight in gold. Took the bus back to home-cooked beef stew... mmm.

Day 11 - helped to pack the house a little bit and more outlet shopping in the afternoon/evening! This time with tax. Enough said.

Day 12 - last full day in Seattle. Went to church in the morning where I think I met my match in someone who could speak faster than me. I felt tired just listening to the pastor speak, but it was a very good message. Lunch was proper burgers (as opposed to fast food burgers) at home, and then more staying at home all day because it kept raining and raining! S&S had friends over for dinner which was very nice. Before we knew it, it was 1am - time to pack and for one last holiday snooze.

Day 13 - off to the airport in the morning knowing full well our flight had been delayed, which would have caused us to miss our connecting flight in Houston. Thank God that we got re-routed via Chicago without any hassle, and many uncomfortable hours on an antiquated plane later, we were back in London. End of vacation. Barely left the airport on the tube when I got a call from the office - I was being sent to a client meeting by myself that afternoon. Nothing like sheer hard work to bring one back to earth.

My most and least favourite parts about landing in heathrow are how it takes ages and many rounds of circling the low skies before being allowed to land via a final descent in an east - to - west direction across central london. On a clear day, every landmark or building can be easily observed and London looks truly magnificent from above; on the other hand, I moan everytime we distinctly see and fly right past our home, only to have to travel another 2 hours across london to get there from Heathrow.

Maybe I'm just not so suaku anymore. But may I never, never lose my sense of wonder, especially at the beauty of creation, its brilliant Creator and the bestowed genius on man as a minuscule reflection of His image.

"For the beauty of each hour

Of the day and of the night,

Hill and vale, and tree and flower,

Sun and moon and stars of light,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our grateful hymn of praise."