For Day 11, we ventured into LA, which yes the traffic is as bad as people say but it was well worth it to see some of the historic landmarks around the city. We went early to check out Hollywood Blvd. and we saw the Chinese Theatre. Then we drove up the the hills and found a spot to hike up and see the Hollywood Sign.
After spending a little time in Hollywood, we booked it out to the Santa Monica Pier and that was an incredible place to be where they had actual talented street musicians playing and lots of other things to do along with the beach!
On the 10th day of our trip, we decided to fulfill our dreams as kids and visit Legoland, CA. The park, overall, is aiming its market towards kids but the two parts I was overly impressed with were Miniland, USA which featured mini Lego versions of major cities, ie New York, Vegas, San Francisco, etc. I was also impressed with the fact they had the original sets used in the Lego Movie.
It was nice being a kid again for one day but for day 11 we’re headed off to LA!
Los Padres. Located just north of Santa Barbara, this dynamic area encompasses rolling hills, towering cliff sides, and even a few of southern California’s lakes. The drive up into the park is through sweeping vineyards and cliffside villas, Smokey the bear pops up to warn you of high fire dangers in the area today, and camp sites become more and more frequent as the palms turn into pines. We went in search of a visitor center, a base of operations from which one could venture out into the best trails and roads the park had to offer, this proved difficult however, as there didn’t seem to be one. This was ok however, because we ended up simply driving through the mountains, drinking in the scenery. The lack of proper park accommodations was completely overshadowed by the winding 30mph roads that twisted through tunnel and mountain alike.
We just got our first sight of L.A. after what should have been a 30 minute journey took four times as long thanks to the infamous L.A. traffic. The smog is absolutely real, a thick haze of grey hangs over the entire area for miles, it’s absolutely unreal. The sky is perfectly clear, but it’s not blue on the horizon, just pale and drab. It effectively conceals the city from view until you find yourself swallowed up in it, caught in the crushing jaws of gridlock. The weather is still gorgeous though, I hear it might even rain this weekend. More updates to come.
We’re on the road again and headed to Lego Land. It may not be a staple land mark, but for any child of our generation it was the dream. 15 years later and we’re finally on our way, but not without some detours. As the biggest fallout fans you can find, we’re making it a point to hit up all the in game locations we can. First up is home sweet home, Goodsprings. On our way we’ll hit Primm, home of the Mojave express, the Ivanpah dry lake, the mountain pass, and of course the Mojave itself. The terrain has changed again from mountains to flat desert pans, but war, war never changes.
On the ninth day of our trip we stayed in Las Vegas, NV. On the way we of course stopped at the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead and also made a stop at Red Rock Canyon, which was absolutely phenomenal.
We wrapped up the day with walking 13 miles around the Strip. Thankfully it was only around 90 degrees!
As we cruised into Vegas, we decided to check out Red Rock Canyon, a well renowned park on the east side of the city. The first thing we noticed is how quickly the city disappeared, one minute we were driving through lush palms and suburbs, the next all we could see in every direction was desert. The canyon itself was semi hidden behind some spectacular mountains, just a glimpse of brilliant red over the tops of hills as you get closer and closer. When you finally do make it to the visitor center, a clean and modern haven of tourist info and air conditioning, you will see a completely alien stretch of rock jutting out of the ground through a massive window-wall that wouldn’t be out of place on a star destroyer.
We spent days 7 and 8 in the Flagstaff, AZ area and checked out both the Petrified Woods and Grand Canyon National Parks. I’ll let the photos do the talking for this post.
Next up we are in Las Vegas for day 9 of the trip.
After Roswell we headed to Alburquerque, NM and it was one of the most stunningly beautiful cities we had be to so far. First we went straight to Sandia Peak and took the tram to the top of the mountain. You can fully read about it in Matt’s post.
We’ve made it through Route 66 and are on our way to Lake Mead. The terrain has changed to something like desert, but the underbrush is still thick and there are no cacti. Slightly disappointing. The heat is back, it’s 90 degrees and rising, and although it’s dry it doesn’t take long to really sink in. There’s not much here, but with Vegas as the light at the end of the tunnel we don’t much care. More updates to come.
The World As We Know It 