2020 October, Winter in Los Angeles

  Travel Journal – Los Angeles, CA Oct 2020

Wow, we flew into Los Angeles and over the weekend took a driving tour of all the famous roads in LA! Found this link by searching self-driving tours of LA. Check it out! So cool to drive the roads we have always heard about in movies and books about LA.

Share this with us as we tour LA!

 

LOS ANGELES – ONE DAY DRIVING TOUR

There is a LOT to do in Los Angeles for a variety of tastes and ages.  Our goal for this day was to be able to drive and see the sights of Los Angeles without stopping a lot of places – but you could always make changes based upon your interests.  However, we must have done something right in our planning as we found ourselves behind paid tour buses the entire way.

And we would love to hear your thoughts, comments or suggestions at the bottom if you think we missed some unique stops; would make some changes; or if you simply found this helpful.

We started early in the morning on our drive coming from Newport Beach to Hollywood.  And if you have never experienced Los Angeles traffic, you can understand why they call their highways by proper name.  THE 405.  THE 110.  They deserve proper names and distinctions as they leave you surrounded by honking horns and gridlocked traffic.  So, in true California speak, we took the 5 over to the 101 to start our drive.

As you drive on the 101, you will pass the Capitol Records building on your left which is a famous landmark.  And we did not choose to exit at this point and visit the Walk of Fame or the TCL Chinese Theater or the handprints outside – but if you wanted to stop here is where you might want to add that or at the end.  If you do visit, parking is recommended at Hollywood and Highland in the center.  Instead, we chose to drive up to the Hollywood sign to 3000 Canyon Lake Road.  It is a winding and confusing path through the neighborhood, so be sure to use a good GPS map on your phone.  You’ll see a park once you get close – and you can park along the road and walk up to get a great view and photo of the Hollywood sign.

You can then drive back across the 101 to Mulholland Drive and stop at the Hollywood Bowl overlook.  It only takes a few minutes, and you can’t miss it with all of the buses and tourists coming and going.  Next, head west on Mulholland over to the famous Laurel Canyon Road and back down to Sunset Boulevard where you’ll want to take a right.  This will take you by the Chateau Marmont (where we thought about having lunch – but decided it was more geared towards older kids than ours); the Viper Room; the Whisky a Go Go; the Roxy; and more.  I think after taking this drive, 90% of all movies and TV shows must be shot in this small area as you begin to see the sights over and over on TV once you get back home.

If you want a picture in front of the famous Beverly Hills sign, you can continue down to the corner of Sierra and Sunset to get a quick photo in the small park.  And then make your way back east to drive down Rodeo drive and see the Beverly Wilshire in front of you at the end of the street.  Of course, you can stop to shop on Rodeo.  We simply drove the famous street and made our way back east again to Melrose and Pink’s Hot Dogs.  There was almost no line once we arrived, but we hear it can get very busy right at noon, so we tried to be there just a little early.  If you have not heard of it, Pink’s is somewhat famous with Hollywood actors and film studios for catering sets with hot dogs and fries.

You can then spend some time shopping on Melrose which is much less expensive than Rodeo drive.  Travel Tip – the shops to the east of Fairfax are more eclectic and hip (think future rock stars).  To the west, it is a bit more geared towards higher end clothing.

Again, there is a lot more to do in Los Angeles, but if you are looking to simply spend a day there (you probably have to fly home from LAX anyway) and want to check off as many items as you can without spending the night, this tour will hit most of the high points in a short four or five hours.

And for more details on surrounding areas see our full itineraries for Southern California and Ojai, Catalina or destination notes for San Diego, Joshua Tree/Palm Springs, Newport Beach, Ojai, Catalina Island and Disneyland.

MAP

CLICK ON THIS LINK AND IT WILL OPEN IN GOOGLE MAPS AND YOU CAN DRIVE THE SAME ROADS WE HAVE. TB

HTTPS://GOO.GL/MAPS/GYWXYW48UNNUXLLZ9

LINKS – LOS ANGELES DRIVING TOUR

·        Capitol Records

·        Hollywood Walk of Fame

·        TCL Chinese Theater

·        Hollywood Sign

·        Hollywood Bowl

·        Chateau Marmont

·        Sunset Strip (the Viper Room, the Whisky a Go Go, the Roxy)

·        Rodeo drive

·        Beverly Wilshire

·        Melrose

·        Pink’s Hot Dogs

Chateau Marmontdriving tour of los angeleshollywood bowl overlookHollywood SignLos Angeleslos angeles driving tourMelroseMulhollandPink'sRodeoSunset

 

Wow awesome tour! Click on each link to see more details of what there is to see.

The first weekend here was disappointing for the air quality was so poor that you could only see about 3 miles. Fortunately, after the next weekend the Santa Anna Winds blew the smog away and all was clear.

The second weekend here we drove by the home we lived in San Bernardino, CA and the old neighborhood, big difference from when we lived there but memories of pulling weeds in the yard are still fresh!

Also, the palm tree has grown from 3 feet tall.

That afternoon we went and had lunch with Sister Mary and her husband Larry. They always make us laugh and have a good time. Tanya remembers the last visit and excellent Mexican restaurant so that’s where we all went out to eat.

The 3^rd weekend we drove to the mountains to recreate my bicycle ride when I was 14. From Highland, CA up Hwy 18 to Big Bear Lake, across the “Rim of the World Highway then down Waterman Canyon Road back to town. What great views this highway has, scenic roads, memories. Saw this picture and could not remember it so texted family to see if they did:

Mom responded. That the natural formation arrowhead, near where the spring (Arrowhead Springs Water) originates. There was a Christian camp there.

 Sunday morning of the 3^rd weekend we drive Mulholland Drive just at sunrise and you could still see the city lights and hills at daybreak. Adding Hollywood Sign going up steep winding roads reminiscent of EU towns was cool.

4^th weekend sister Mary informed us that she had previous engagements so altering our plans we decided to explore Los Angeles. The app izi travel was the basis for this weekend tour and we got to visit several places, some we had heard of before and a few we have not. Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach for example.

Wow, so cool in the late fall to walk the boardwalk on Santa Monica Pier. Some of the display boards on the pier described the history of this place and kept bringing up memories of movies that showed this same place. We had a great time.

No muscle men working out on the beach and very few roller blading women to spice things up a little. But still fun to see and remember movies or shows at this place.

Marina Del Ray was difficult to find a place to stop and see the large number of boats, both power boats and sailboats. Really tough place to find parking so we decided on Trader Joes as the place to park and look around, a little shopping of course as well. Tanya commented that she had never seen so many sailboats in one place before, movies of course such as Columbo. I thought I had taken her to a marina before, but I guess not and will have to see that we do more of that. I of course in my Navy career have visited many marinas all over the world and had forgotten that this is new to my wonderful wife and will make sure that when we go to Key West Florida, she has more opportunity to see marine views.

Off to downtown to see the street Alvira, this had small shops reminiscent of Tijuana Mexico, souvenirs like tiny guitars, Mexican hats were predominant. Being on a business trip and having no place to store thing helped us keep in check any purchases we were tempted with.

The Grand Market place we sampled some local food that later seemed to make for an uncomfortable evening, ha so common in trying different foods.

Across the street was the trolly labeled as the shortest train in America, goes up a hill to the parking lot, see Tanya riding the trolly?

Chinatown tempted us strongly with shops offering foods we truly enjoy, no room left after sampling food at the Grand Market place, interesting place though for many towns have a Chinatown and some are much bigger than LA’s.

2 days of playing tourist, a lot of free time to wind down and relax made for a great weekend for the both of us.

Thanksgiving in Las Vegas

It's only a 4-hour drive to Las Vegas from Los Angeles and on a holiday weekend it's so close not to go! Tanya scored a great room in Vrada on the 40^th floor providing a great view of the Bellagio Fountains. I looked many different ways to get streaming music from the Fountain show and could not find any. If I had it would have been absolutely stunning to be in a warm hotel room watching the Fountain show.

Taking it easy with so much time available was wonderful. Breakfast at local Roberto’s was affordable and enjoyable. The Covid changes for buffet had us concerned so we did not even try this.

We walked several of the casinos with themes – Paris, Venice, Fremont Street. Even stopped in to see the famous Golden Nugget at of course Golden Nugget! Walking the streets was a little crowded and there were a few homeless people about in certain areas that made it a little uncomfortable at times. All in all it was very enjoyable to visit Las Vegas.

During the return drive we stopped at Calico Ghost Town, Covid does not allow the street gunfights anymore, but it was still a good stop. There were quick draw demonstrations where 2 people in western garb would shoot at a balloon in a box, the time recorded who shot first to determine the winner. Pretty cool demonstration.

Another weekend took us to San Juan Capistrano, the site itself was still open with controlled attendance. Nice to see a way to play tourist during the pandemic. Mary and Larry could not join us, would have been a lot of fun if they had.

Of course, a little ice cream snack while playing tourist!

The week prior to Christmas Tanya flew home to spend Christmas with Maria. We were also very concerned with travel during the Christmas holidays for Covid surge has increased so much. Tanya sprayed herself and the baggage down with alcohol as soon as she got off the plane and everything turned out alright.

I am finishing the tour here on 31 Dec and the next assignment has changed several times – first Casper, WY which would be cool in summer but very cold right now – Tanya was excited saying we could snowmobile! Next was some confusion of Savannah, GA but turned out the VP was referring to better golf courses! Lastly it is implied northern Virginia would be the next stop. I am not concerned, just happy to be working right now.

We had forgotten to tell you that we have bought a new home! It still has wheels for it is a RV. The last 3 years of RV travel including the last 1 ½ years travel and work together full time made us decide to increase our capability of traveling with more storage and increased working/living space.

Tanya had come across Leisure Travel Vans, and we explored the models they make and decided on the model “Wonder Rear Twin Bed”. This model has the most storage of all the LTV models. The only way to get one of these is to order direct from the factory. There are never enough made to have on a lot in a dealership, so our expected delivery date is June 2021.

Another reason to choose this model is that it is NOT on a Mercedes chassis. It is on a Ford 350 chassis and I for one am much happier for that. Better smoother ride, more availability of parts and repair locations, great reviews of this engine. Rides like a SUV rather than a truck like Mercedes.

It is 3 feet longer that our current Rialta which gives a lot of flexibility in interior design yet still small enough to park in a single parking space (just barely). So stealth camping is still feasible with this RV. Dual tires in rear for additional stability, so we feel more comfortable on dirt roads while boondocking. Much better insulation that our 22-year-old Rialta will make a major difference in our comfort. Many other differences to mention but perhaps you could view it on this link. Wonder Class C RV - Leisure Travel Vans (leisurevans.com)

2020 Travel only.

Our adventure in Los Angeles completed. I will start a new blog for our next adventure.

2020 September UT and east bound

  Truly mid-September is a great time to be in Utah’s national parks. The weather is just right for travel with warm days and cool nights. Of course, we are boondocking and found some interesting places to camp. The I-Overlander app is quite handy to

find places to stay, the Campendium website helps to make sure that we have cell service wherever we are too. Tanya works remotely so this is essential for our travels.

As Tanya works, I take the scooter and tour Capital Reef National Park. The scooter makes it easy to stop at every pull off right up to the display boards and read each one. I have learned so much of the places we visit by reading the boards. The Capitol Reef National Park was named because of the geologic plate that created a drop of 600 feet along a 100-mile range hence the word “reef” in the name. The capitol portion of the name is from a distinct mountain that resembles the Capitol in DC.

There are 2 side canyons that have a trail at the end of the road that made for an interesting hike. One led back to some water tanks. These tanks were dry when I was there but important in the desert to have water much of the year. Along this trail was also a Pioneer Ledger. It had signatures in the rock wall from the 1800’s. Hiking these canyons with high narrow walls is exciting! Makes me feel I am in a protected area instead of the vast openness of the desert.

When I tour by myself, I look for the best places to return to so the next day after Tanya finishes her work, we can do a driving tour hitting the highlights. This way Tanya can have some of the great travel experiences that I do and still be able to work. This is working well for us to share experiences together.

There is a “river” that flows alongside Capitol Reef National Park and that is why the pioneers settled here and planted fruit trees and vegetable gardens. The native Fremont Indians had left before the pioneers arrived, so no conflict was recorded. Kind of nice to see some green in the middle of the desert!

Moving on to Arches National Park, we found a campsite next to the municipal airport. Our neighbors were pilots for commercial airlines and had a small plane at this airport. They spend quite a lot of time here and told us about the views of the area from a small plane. Wow, it would be quite a sight to see these National Parks from the air! Too bad that during our stay the wind was not cooperative for flying, it would have been outstanding to take a plane ride.

My scooter trip to Arches was different, I went into Moab to have breakfast and it took 1 ½ hours for breakfast. This restaurant was not very organized, and I did not leave a tip, the service was so poor. Going back to Arches NP and they had a sign saying park is full come back in 3 hours! Of course, no one to ask when the time started so I went to the parking area and waited 1 ½ hours before they opened it up for more visitors. Chatting with a man from CA who was on a scooter also and we ended up leapfrogging each other inside the park, kind of nice meeting people, sharing places.

Arches has several points to hike to see more distinct arches. I enjoyed the hikes as much as the scenery as well as the scooter ride. The next day when Tanya was done with work, we toured again hitting the highlights.

 

The smoke from Mexico and AZ had arrived and views with any distance were very poor so we elected to pass on Canyonlands National Park and move on to other places with better air quality and closer views. This is not so bad, for it means another RV trip in the future.

On the way to Canyon de Chelly, we stopped for the night in a small town of Bluff, UT. Parked next to a historical visitor center with log cabins depicting the early Mormon settlers who came from Salt Lake City, UT to colonize and spread the word in this region. The travels they made to get here showed 3 different routes, the one they chose was called “Hole in the Rock” because they blasted a trail down a steep cliff to cross a canyon. There were pictures showing drilling into the cliff face placing wood poles, covering them with branches and rock to make a road down the cliff. Then the same thing on the other side of the canyon to get back up. This site is one of the most beautiful and well-preserved locations we have seen. There were docents in period dress to share information about the historic village, this couple came from upstate UT to spend a month sharing the word. There are others who participate and each one spends time doing maintenance and providing tours. A nice quiet night, great tours.

Tanya has a long work meeting coming up so we travel to Albuquerque, NM to stay at a real campground at Kirtland AFB so she would be more relaxed and comfortable. Saw a roadrunner in campground! Apparently, he is a resident here, for we saw him the whole time we were there. Wow never thought I would see one so close and personal. I have only had a glimpse of one before, so this was really cool to watch him flit around all day.

While Tanya is having her meeting, I tour downtown Albuquerque historic district. I'm sure I mentioned the izi travel app before, this app gives you a free guided tour of many cities around the world. This tour in Albuquerque was a walking tour that I followed on the scooter. As you reach each location on the map the app automatically starts telling you the history of the building. Of course, most of these buildings are now tourist shops but interesting how the town came to be. I really enjoyed this tour.

I punched in vegetable stands and was rewarded with fire roasted green chiles! Mmmmmm, I bought a half bushel, for there was not much room in the freezer for more. Keeping two one-quart bags out in the refrigerator and the rest in the freezer, we enjoy the rich bold flavor of fire roasted chiles. They roasted them on the spot, apparently a local farm brings their harvest to town and sells them raw or roasted. Wow, many years ago I had some of these and loved it, didn’t expect to find it so easily but I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

So, Tanya gets on a plane for DC for her work and I leave Albuquerque and head toward Duane’s house in Brownwood, TX. Duane is the guru of Rialta's, he has helped so many people to keep these fine machines on the road and is a walking encyclopedia about Rialta's. We spent the afternoon and the next morning chatting about everything under the sun and had a very enjoyable visit.

Leaving Duane's, I explore Texas Hill country and stop in and visit Eric and his wife Denise, another couple who are Rialta enthusiasts. They also had an older Rialta and Eric is parting it out, and I scored a gas tank cover holding spring. Have forgotten about this for years and used Velcro to keep the door closed, and now with the right spring it will function normally.

While in Austin, TX I finally found the right size tires for the front of the Rialta. Having replaced all 4 tires in Oregon I had made a mistake and gotten too large of tires, and we have been having a lot of problems on mountains, for the transmission shift ratio is way off. Gas mileage has suffered as well. Although the load rating of the Oregon tires is much higher and I feel safer, it is a poor performance. So glad to have corrected this and now we can climb hills much better again. I will keep the other new tires from Oregon to replace on the rear axle when it is needed. Oh well, these things happen.

I really like this area from Duane's to Eric’s – Texas Hill Country. After so long of dry brown desert it is really nice to see green again. The humidity is nearly half of what Florida is, so it is much more comfortable as well.

I looked into Presidential Libraries, for Texas has a few, and they were all closed due to Covid. Deciding that it’s time to head east to hopefully see some fall foliage, I go through Tennessee. The mountains did not have color yet and I had to decide to visit my son and his family or go north to find color on the trees. Visiting family won out and away I go to South Carolina to see Doug and family.

Next blog will be going to Florida for kayaking.

2020 September US 50 Loneliest road in America

  After evacuating California, we pick up US50 outside of Reno, NV. This is touted as “the loneliest road in America”. Yes, it is a very lonely road and we cautious of our fuel for the towns were few and far apart.

We did not clear the smoke until Austin, NV which is halfway down Hwy50 “the loneliest road in America”. What a view of the stars we have, so nice to be free of the smoke at last! We are so happy to be on the road, clear skies and beautiful scenery again. I kept playing with my weather app and found how to see where the smoke is. Excellent, the area around the 4 corners National Parks is free from smoke and here we come! Timing is perfect, Friday when Tanya is free from work, so we do not worry about cell coverage for a few days as we travel across the high desert.

Sometimes you do not know of attractions to see until you are upon them. We discover, Great Basin National Park along US50. This was at one of the highest mountains along US50, I was very confused of why it is called Great Basin if it is a mountain? So, I asked the park rangers and found that the entire central western area covering most of Nevada, Utah was a basin where water does not flow to the sea. Yet there are not many lakes to contain the water. As known of Great Salt Lake, the rest of the Great Basin is similar in that some areas develop lakes during rainy season and dry up as salt flats during the remainder of the year. The Great Basin National Park was designated because there was an attraction called Lehman Caves in this mountain also a Rock Glacier (ice under a slab of rock) and the state of Nevada wanted a National Park so this became the location for the Great Basin National Park.

Nearby is an archeology site for a village of the Fremont Indians who preceded the Anazi Indians. Not a lot evident to see but the walking guide covered a lot of information of each building and the land topography. Interesting that here where it is so arid now the Fremont Indians cultivated crops with irrigation and the Anazi Indians cultivated by rainfall.

Onward we reach I15 then I70 to pick up US24 to head into the Utah National Parks. Stopping in Richland, UT to stock up supplies and have tire concerns addressed for we plan to boondock for the next few weeks and do not know what stores would be available. While camping in Walmart may seem normal most of the time, we learned that for so long being in dispersed camping the noise difference kept us awake. This is not the first time we have experienced this but each time it is a shock to our sense the noise levels in cities. We definitely have a preference and know that it is a high consideration for us of where to live.

 

 

2020 September, CA Redwoods, Visit sister Jean

  The Labor Day weekend is upon us and we cross over to the California coast to meet Tom’s sister Jean and her husband Bob. We are extremely fortunate that it will be cool along the coast while the inland area that are experiencing record heat such as 111’ in Redding, CA. Whew, so great to be mobile and follow the weather!

I had discovered a website that shows where the wildfires are, and while I was checking the area around Klamath, CA I saw that it is due west of one of the fires and the prevailing wind is from the west so we will not be plagued by smoke from these fires. Once again, we are fortunate to be mobile!

Just like when we meet other family members, it is so refreshing to renew our relationship, share changes in our lives and generally have some quality time together. Jeans children and grandchildren did not come on the trip with her, but she caught us up on what is going on in their lives. Later, we will stop at Jean’s home and get to see the rest of her family. Tanya has now met every one of my siblings and has been accepted well by all. She says she has gained a new family – this is very true! Of course, no one would have doubted that she would not be accepted.

Another first for Tanya and for Jean also was to see the California Redwoods, magnificent trees so large and impressive. Taking our time for 5 days is plenty to see what is nearby and we get to spend a lot of time in the campground chatting.

We don’t spend a lot of time in formal campgrounds, so it’s unusual for us to have so many people close by, with all kinds of activity and noise and campfires all around us. Such a different camping experience from dispersed camping where we’re all alone in a national forest. We both expressed a preference for dispersed camping compared to campground camping – and it saves money too! 😊 Also, when we do dispersed camping we are flexible to find places with good cell phone signal so that Tanya could do her work, but in a campground, you don’t get that flexibility. No cell phone signal – no ability to do work – not good! 😊 

We toured a hot tourist attraction near Klamath, CA depicting Paul Bunyan and the Blue Ox, Redwoods, Sitka trees and finally a rope bridge.

All four of us with the big guy. OOPS look under the Blue Ox, didn’t realize this was anatomically correct!

See Tanya at the end of the rope bridge? Yes, that’s a victory salute! Tanya is not a fan of heights but without encouragement or maybe coercing she stepped out and conquered her fears!

Yes, that’s Bob – sister Jean’s husband.

 
Great pic of sister Jean and Bob

I learned to use panoramic mode in vertical and Bob took this pic 😊

 

Is that a smile or anxiety?

You can see the multiple levels and pathways. Sister Jean in foreground, I don’t know if she is texting or taking a pic.

There is a lot of wood carving in the Redwoods. This one is about 9 feet tall.

Everyone was taking a down day, so I broke out the scooter and rode 80 miles through redwood forests, seaside cliffs and the town of Crescent City waterfront. This is my longest ride yet! Headset on with gps and music flowing through my brain and easy curves of the road is so relaxing and pleasurable. I love it!

We each made a breakfast and dinner for the group, the rest of the time we fend for ourselves. Did not go out to eat for we are 20 miles from town and with Covid restrictions a sit-down dinner is difficult. I thought it was more fun to cook, laugh, eat together without strangers around. The time we spent together with family is priceless!

Time to head out and we are taking different routes, so we make our goodbyes and leave. As Tanya and I planned to stay on the coast so the smoke from wildfires would not be around we were going down US101 when a new fire right on US101 began and we were forced to do a 100-mile detour. Thinking it was ok because we were to stay on the coast. We are on US1 near Fort Bragg, CA and the winds changed and came out of the east right to the coast. Ugh, suffocating, we camp on a pullout on US1, and everything is orange, the sky could not be seen. Ash falling over everything, had to scrub the windshield several times. All the west coast has numerous wildfires and is covered in smoke.

Brother Bob calls and says they must evacuate their home in Oregon. His property caught fire from a transformer exploding and the fire department and Bob did put it out. There were other new fires near his home and first they evacuated to a nearby church parking lot with the motorhome and llamas. Later he had to evacuate from there and went across the Columbia River to a friend’s house.

Tanya and I decided that’s enough smoke for us and begin to head out for sister Jeans pick up a few things we ordered before evacuating California by going over Donner Pass to Reno Nevada. Also, the refrigerator has been having issues with the thermostat, I would have to tap it occasionally to get the refrigerator to start. I went to an appliance parts store, and they could not even find the model number to get a new thermostat. Deciding that it is really a disposable refrigerator we bought a new one and swapped it out in about an hour. Leaving the old one at sister Jeans while working on the warranty we head out over the Sierra Nevada mountains.