Day 17 - Los Angeles
We slept in and got a cab to Dodger Stadium to see the Dodgers play the Anaheim Angels. At the game, Craig had two Dodger Dogs (the ballpark's famous food) and some peanuts. Paul ate one Dodger Dog, a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich, and peanuts. The fans were very rowdy, especially after an Anaheim pitcher hit Shawn Green with a pitch and the benches cleared. No punches were thrown but the Angels manager was ejected. The Dodgers ended up winning 5-4.
After the game, we took a cab back to the hotel. We ordered pizza from Pizza Hut for dinner. We got sunburned at the game, so we went to a GNC in downtown LA to get some aloe vera lotion. Later, Craig watched USA beat Mexico 2-0 in World Cup soccer.
Day 18 - Los Angeles
We woke up and watched the re-airing of the USA vs Mexico soccer game, so we didn't get out of the hotel until after noon. We took a cab to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Once we got there we walked around a little while, then got lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. After lunch we walked to a Ferrari dealership and then to a couple other exotic car dealerships. One of them even had a Michael Schumacher F1 car.
We then went to a gas station in Beverly Hills to get directions to Hollywood. We bought a map also. After looking at the map, we decided it was way too far to walk so we took a cab to Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. We saw the hand and footprints and the stars in the sidewalk.
A man raising money for the homeless did a short comedic routine. He was in the Cake music video for "Short Skirt Long Jacket." We gave him $8.
While walking down the main road in Hollywood, we saw a big truck that hauls a car behind it so they can videotape a driving scene. There was a man in the drivers seat of the car being recorded and a woman in the passenger seat. The man was looking at the woman and talking/singing. The car was old and light blue. I think the man was the lead singer of Smash Mouth, which would mean they were shooting a music video. Maybe we'll be in the background!
Hollywood seemed really dirty and trashy, with the exception of a couple of parts. We took a cab back to the hotel.
Being in California, I (Craig) was insistent that we eat at an In-N-Out Burger. We got a cab and the concierge at the hotel told the driver where one might be. We went to USC, there wasn't one around. After the cab driver got out and asked several people where one was, he couldn't get an answer for one nearby. We went to the only one he knew of. It was near LAX. The cab fare for the trip to In-N-Out was about $55, and we gave the driver $70. A handsome tip for his efforts. The only things on the menu at In-N-Out are hamburger, cheeseburger, double-cheeseburger, and fries. We ate at In-N-Out Burger and bought two tee shirts. The total for the food and shirts came out to be $27 and change. We finished eating (the food was good - way better than McDonald's), and called a cab to take us back to the hotel. The cab ride was $37, and we gave the driver $40 because that's all we had in cash. The total cost of the trip to In-N-Out: $137.
Day 19 - Los Angeles, CA to Las Vegas, NV - 282 miles
Left L.A. at 10:45am. We had planned to do the Rim of the World Scenic Byway, but forest fires around Cajon Pass kept us from doing that. After we got out of L.A. and were driving on I-15, we saw acres and acres of charred land. We could even see some flames from the forest fires.
NEVADA
Arrived in Las Vegas at 4:00pm. Our hotel was a Travelodge on the south end of the Strip. Since there were two scenic byways nearby and it was over 100 degrees outside, we did the Red Rock Canyon Loop Drive. We left the hotel at 5:30pm. Just after entering the loop, we saw wild donkeys walking around near the road, so we pulled off to the side. One walked right up behind the car. It was so close that it could have stuck its tongue out and licked the spoiler.
We got back to the hotel around 8pm and got dressed up to walk up and down the Vegas Strip. We started by going all the way to the south end, which wasn't very far from the hotel. At the south end, we crossed the street and started north.
We went into New York New York and walked past all the slots and gaming tables to an area that was set up to look like a New York street with a bunch of New York style restaurants on each side. There was even a brick walkway instead of carpet. We decided to eat dinner at ESPN Zone in New York New York. We got a table in the room with TVs at every table and two big screens at the front. We ate dinner and watched TV, then went upstairs to the game room and played games until we ran out of points on our cards. Paul won 8-7 in our 15 competitions (3-1 in air hockey, 1-0 in kart, 1-0 in CART Fury, 1-0 in Cruisin' Exotica, 1-2 in Virtua Striker 2, 1-2 in Super Shot, 0-1 in ESPN College Hoops, 0-1 in bowling).
We left ESPN Zone at 12:30am and continued north on the Strip. We walked in a couple casinos and weren't stopped by anyone, but we never stopped and tried to gamble so there was no reason to kick us out. There were a lot of kids younger than us running around. We stopped at the Frontier near the north end of the strip to get a soda and sit down for a few minutes. After that, we decided to take a cab back to the hotel.
We grabbed Bee Man and walked to a good place on the strip near the hotel to take a picture, then went back to the hotel [this will be explained in a future post]. We got in at about 3:00am.
Day 20 - Las Vegas, NV to Grand Canyon, AZ - 438 miles
We slept in after the late night and didn't leave Vegas until 11:15am. We started by going north on I-15 so that we could do the Moapa Valley Drive. The drive took us past Lake Mead (created by the Hoover Dam) and through the Valley of Fire (a group of red rock formations jutting up from the ground).
One point of interest was a group of Native American petroglyphs high on one of the rock formations. There is a stairway up to the preserved petroglyphs so that visitors can get a good look at them.
After the scenic byway we got back on I-15 towards Las Vegas to get on the way to the Grand Canyon. Four hours after leaving, we saw a sign saying that we were eight miles from Las Vegas. We could see the Strip again from I-15. We got to the Hoover Dam at 4:15pm, paid $5 to park and walked around. The visitor center was closed and neither of us wanted to walk all the way across the dam , so we took some pictures, walked around a little, and left around 4:45pm.
ARIZONA
We arrived at the Rodeway Inn - Red Feather Lodge at 8:30pm MST. We found out in the hotel that Arizona does not do daylight savings time. The hotel is in a small town near the Grand Canyon called Tusayan. We walked next door to the Tusayan Cafe for dinner, but it was taking too long to be seated, so we went next door to Wendy's instead. After that, we walked across the street to McDonald's for ice cream. We were back in the hotel before 9:45pm.
Day 21 - Grand Canyon, AZ to Farmington, NM - 368 miles
We woke up and left the hotel at 10:15am to go to the Grand Canyon. Admission was $20. We parked at the South Rim, walked maybe a half mile down the trail, took some pictures, and walked back. At one point on the trail we saw a sign saying that "most people" who die at the Grand Canyon go beyond the fences or railings. That did not inspire confidence. Also on the trail, we saw a squirrel cooling itself on the shaded rock the same way our cat does on the tile floor. People were walking right up to the squirrel, but it would just stare back at them and not move. We left the Grand Canyon around 11:30am.
After the Grand Canyon, it was on to the scenic drive at Monument Valley. We had lunch at the starting point of Monument Valley at a Blimpie. The area where we ate lunch looked strange because the sky was almost tan with sand being blown everywhere. Monument Valley is a bunch of bright orange rock formations in the middle of an otherwise completely flat area. At one point, we were able to see where the picture was taken for the front of the Road Atlas, and we got a picture of our own.
UTAH
As we drove towards four corners, visibility became low (not dangerously low) from what seemed to be smoke. It may have been smoke from a forest fire that was in Durango, CO which was northeast of us at the time. We went to Four Corners on the way to Farmington, NM. It is located in a Navajo Indian Reservation, and I'm assuming the money goes to them. Admission was $4. We took some pictures of the marker showing the division of the states, walked around it to be in all four states, and stood in the middle before we left.
UTAH / NEW MEXICO / COLORADO / ARIZONA / NEW MEXICO
We arrived in Farmington at the Days Inn at 8:00pm MDT.
Day 22 - Farmington, NM to Albuquerque, NM - 213 miles
We woke up at 6:00am to watch the USA vs Germany World Cup game. Craig stayed up to watch it, but Paul did not. USA lost 1-0. We left Farmington at 10:45am. Went to Aztec to see Native American ruins. We used receipts from previous parks to get a National Parks Pass for free (normally $50, valid for one year). The town is named Aztec because it was assumed that the Pueblo in the town could only have been built by the Aztecs. It was later realized that the structures were built by the Anasazi. It's strange to think that every brick had to be shaped by hand out of rocks, and that it was done 900 years ago.
Left Aztec before noon. Arrived at the Howard Johnson Express in Albuquerque at 5:00pm. Left the hotel and drove to Old Town Albuquerque. We walked around old town but most of the stores were closed. We ate dinner in Old Town at a place called Casa de Fiesta. It was a small Mexican restaurant with a guitar player walking around. The chili con queso was so hot Craig went through three Cokes before we even got dinner. We left the restaurant around 7:30pm and drove down US-66 through Albuquerque to Nob Hill (near UNM) and then back to the hotel. There was not much to do in Albuquerque.
Day 23 - Albuquerque, NM to Lubbock, TX - 340 miles
Left Albuquerque at 9:30am. No scenic routes today. Had lunch at A&W in Clovis, NM. Across from the A&W, some high school girls in bikinis were having a car wash and were trying to get us to get our car washed. As we drove away from them, one yelled in a whiny voice, "Come on! We'll wash it ourselves!" It was humorous.
TEXAS
Arrived at Hampton Inn in Lubbock at 5:00pm CT. At dinner at IHOP near the hotel. The waitress kept saying "y'all."
Day 24 - Lubbock, TX to Dallas, TX - 396 miles
Woke up and watched the F1 European Grand Prix. Rubens Barrichello won. Left the hotel in Lubbock at 10:30am. Arrived at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Dallas at 6:15pm.
[ Part 2 - Denver to Los Angeles ] <--- | ---> [ Part 4 - Dallas to Maryland ]
No comments:
Post a Comment