california dreamin’.
we’re parked in the malibu beach rv park right now, and i’m listening to the pacific crash below. i came into this trip with the mindset not to get enamored with california (and i wasn’t, at first), but i’m starting to realize why my parents lived out here and why i’m really on this trip to begin with.
no pictures tonight. sorry. since we didn’t even arrive in LA until the sun was setting, i wasn’t able to get any great photos being stuck in an RV. however, by the end of tomorrow…i hope to have some greatness to add to the grand canyon bunch. speaking of, the canyon was intense. i would’ve gotten better photos if all the smoke from wildfires near the north rim wasn’t settling inside the canyon. even though, it was one of those experiences that really humbled you. made you realize you’re a lot smaller than you think. i suppose, the best way to describe it, is if you’re standing on the edge looking out into this amazing place and someone is standing next to you (even if you know them or don’t), you’ll want to come clean. tell them some sort of secret or something like that. the purity of the canyon almost forces it out of you. i digress, no need to start sounding like i actually live out here or something.
we spent the greater part of today, making the 400-ish mile trip from the canyon to LA. i drove from kingman, az to barstow, ca. 200 some odd miles, almost straight through the mojave desert. think a desert looks any different then on tv? nope, they actually got that one right. everything was hot, windy, and brown. most, if not all, of the vegitation in california is watered. usually, if you see lots of green, that means lots of irrigation. towns like ludlow, ca solely exist to support the trucking industry that passes through them. i could count on one hand the amount of residences. on the other hand, the san bernadino mountains were fun to drive through. it’s amazing how much smog is kept in LA b/c of those mountains. that was my first impression of LA…smog. extremely disenchanting. however, as we got closer, the “bright lights” pulled me in.
actually seeing the “hollywood” sign, capitol records building, chinese theatre, hollywood blvd, sunset blvd, etc…was sort of surreal. everyone talks about LA. you see it all over TV…but bam, when you’re there, it’s strange. you see the rough “underbelly” moreso than nyc tourism. i suppose, that is b/c of the sheer size of nyc. after parking our RV in santa monica next to a t-mobile store with a line of people waiting to get their sidekick 3, we ate at PF changs. so far, my quest for excellent regional food has gone unsatisfied. didn’t get to eat anything local in AZ (was looking for some kick ass mexican) and my most recent california meal was from some chinese bistro chain.
let me backtrack real quick. before stopping for dinner, my parents took us through LA and more specifically, the UCLA campus. showing us what dorms they lived in, both on and off-campus. one of the off-campus dorms my mom lived in is now a W hotel. pretty crazy. as we drove through the cool LA night, listening to my parents talk about their lives 30 years ago…it all made sense in my head. not only were they being able to relive their past…they were connecting parts of their lives for us, their children. as we drove, listening to my parents healthy banter about living in LA and their lives before starting a family…i was humbled. pretty much exactly like the grand canyon experience. i’m a lot more appreciative of my parents and their lives in general. it made me hope that someday i’ll be able to do the same thing with my children. blah, look at me getting mushy. none of that.
after dinner, we made our way up the PCH (pacific coast highway). i couldn’t really see the pacific (b/c it was dark), but i could smell it. as the waves crash below, i can only think about the great discoveries to be made tomorrow. we might be meeting an old college friend of my dad’s for breakfast or maybe meeting “gidget” for lunch. eitherway, san fran by tomorrow night. photos soon after. hope this finds you well.
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