My First Day in Los Angeles

I slept pretty well the first night. No gunshots and a minimum of sirens. Other than the helicopters flying overhead it seemed to be a pretty peaceful time. I am staying with my brother from another mother Jon and his lovely wife Kristi. Jon is a dental student at the University of Southern California and Kristi is working and putting up with Jon.

Sunrise over the ghetto:



Fresh oranges in the backyard:



Since Jon had class all day and Kristi didn't have to work until night she and I decided to walk around the neighborhood. We went to the California Science Center which is on the edge of the USC campus. The admission is a suggested donation of $5. Remember people, it's a suggested donation. Let your conscience be your guide if you know what I mean. Afterwards we hit the Tacos El Unico for their four-taco special. Later we went to an awesome little Mexican bakery across the street from their apartment that is dirt cheap.

Tonight Jon and I decided to head over to the three-story Walmart. It is located on the corner of Crenshaw and MLK. Like the comedian Chris Rock said, “If a friend calls you on the telephone and says they’re lost on Martin Luther King Boulevard and they want to know what they should do, the best response is, ‘Run!'"



Due to the sensitive nature of the inside of the store I didn't feel it would be prudent to bring my camera inside. Lets just say that I have never received so many stares that seemed to say, "What are you doing in here?" When we came out of the store some guy was standing there yelling at us in Spanish. I can speak a little but it wasn't enough to understand him. Luckily Jon is fluent. Jon was wearing a Mexico t-shirt and the guy probably thought that we were Mexican or something. Anyways, Jon said the guy was trying to get us to buy some bootleg DVDs.

After doing a little shopping we headed back over to campus for a little while. Despite being the end of October it was a nice warm night and all the USC students were out having a good time.

The Trip Down

Well, I had planned on leaving early Monday morning but one thing led to another and I ended up taking off Tuesday afternoon. Originally I had planned on traveling down the coastline and then coming back up I-5 but I really wanted to get down to Southern California so I decided to just head down I-5 and then when the time is right I will slowly drive back up the coast.

Nightfall came and I was about to cross the border into California. Just for fun I was trying to set a new record for how many miles I could get out of a tank of gas. As I started up some mountain pass near the border my fuel level started dropping rapidly. I had to stop at the defunct fruit inspection station just over the border which cost me fuel upon taking off again. I ended up making it to a station in the middle of nowhere.

Now with my car fueled I sought out some dinner. After eating it was about 9:30 and I figured I might as well get some sleep and hit the road early the next morning. My plan to sleep in my car dictated that I not check into a motel. So I did what all great American travelers do. I set up camp in the Walmart parking lot.

For the uninitiated, Walmart's founder Sam Walton was a fan of RVing. He encouraged people to camp in the parking lots of his stores. These days more and more stores are being forced to turn away campers. But I cruised into the lot at the nearest Walmart in Yreka, California. I was feeling a little apprehensive about the whole thing but when I pulled in I saw that I would be sleeping among friends. Several campers had already set up for the night. And I'm not just talking about pulling in and quietly making camp in a far corner. Oh no, people had their slide outs out, generators running, TVs on, and generally having a good time. The only vehicle that looked to be on my level was an old Volkswagen Vanagon. I parked a few spots away and hit the sack.

The night passed fairly uneventfully with the exception of the weird looking dude in sunglasses and a cowboy hat coming out of nowhere and walking right by my car in the middle of the night. When the store opened in the morning I went inside to use the restroom and buy some orange juice. I walked into the restroom and was met by one of my fellow campers brushing his teeth. I grabbed some orange juice and hit the road.

Pictures of my campground early in the morning:





As I headed south down out of the mountains there was some beautiful scenery:





A Polish rest stop?



All of a sudden a piece of windshield trim came loose. I was going about 70 MPH and didn't feel like stopping so I reached out and grabbed it so it wouldn't come off any more. I then rolled it up in the window as a temporary fix until I stopped for gas.



After filling up with gas I decided to fix the windshield trim. Luckily I had brought along a roll of duct tape. But look who had stowed away!



For those who are unfamiliar with the above character he is Koala-T Bear. (Get it, Koala-T, quality?) A certain organization that will remain nameless gave them to employees who showed exemplary performance levels. I personally have never received one but this particular guy belongs to someone who did manage to do a good job.

Koala-T gave me a hand and we had the windshield fixed in no time. It may look a little hillbilly to the untrained eye but compared to half the cars in Los Angeles it is fine.



My bed for the first night:



I rolled into Los Angeles at about 7:00 Wednesday night. I found my friends' apartment. It was like visiting Mexico. I was the only white guy on the street and every house and store had bars over the doors and windows. All the business signs were in Spanish as well. It was a long but relatively uneventful day.

Also, it is time for a little PSA. Spay and neuter your pets. Seriously. I found one stray dog when I stopped for gas in the middle of nowhere and another one eating garbage at a rest stop. It's cheap people, and it will make your animal healthier. Plus, if I see one more lost dog on the road I'm not going to be very happy.

But on a happier note, stay tuned for more of my California adventures. There just may be a three-story Walmart!

A Little Bit of Background

This is the first time I have kept some sort of online diary. After some encouraging by colleagues I have decided to go ahead and keep a record of my journey.

For those who haven't realized it by now I have decided to go on the vacation of a lifetime. For many years I have wanted to take a road trip all the way down the west coast of the United States. Unfortunately things such as work and school have always prevented me from fulfilling this journey. Luckily for me I finally managed to graduate from college last June. And even luckier for me I managed to secure four weeks of leave from work, starting with the last week in October and continuing on through the first three weeks in November.

Armed with four weeks of vacation and no homework I decided to embark on the journey of the century. Over the years I have traveled to Southern California a couple of times for short stays. But I have never had the time for an extended visit. The time for my dream trip is now. Soon I will be leaving Portland, Oregon and heading south. The beauty of having four weeks to myself is that I don't have to adhere to any sort of schedule. I am free to do whatever I want whenever I want.

Some people have asked me why I would want to travel by myself on a journey of such magnitude. I will be the first to admit that there will be periods of loneliness and boredom. But there is also a pervasive sense of freedom, a feeling that even though we all live in a crazy mixed-up world there is still a chance to be exactly who you want to be. If I feel like taking a detour to admire the largest ball of string west of the Mississippi I don't have to consult anybody. If I find a great campsite and don't feel like hitting the road some morning I don't have to worry about what anybody else wants. This is one of those rare opportunities in life where one has the ability to really ask, "What do I want here?"

But enough with the deep thoughts. By now you are probably all wondering what sort of sweet ride I will be taking. I am sorry to disappoint but it will not be my awesome 1979 Ford surf van. The main reason for this is that I do not have a 1979 Ford surf van. No, I will be taking my trusty 1992 Honda Civic hatchback. I'm not against buying a car just for a road trip, I've bought many a car for way smaller reasons before. I just never found the vehicle that grabbed me so in the end I decided on my Civic. It may not be as cool as a surf van (hey, I don't even surf), but it will be economical. I plan on sleeping in the back whenever I can. This will be another advantage to traveling alone.

I will try to update this as much as possible throughout my trip but I can't make any promises. Feel free to give me any comments or suggestions you may have. I will try to put pictures on here as well. If I can figure it out I may even include video. With that said, off I go.