California Dreamin!
I have to say that the amount of driving between cities and through states definitely is not a dream. It is not until you actually start to travel through, explore, and then move on that you feel the vast distance of America. Until this point, it the sheer size of the country has eluded me. Laurence on the other hand, being the main driver, has felt it from the start.
We made our way from Phoenix to San Diego which, much to our pleasure, had a far more habitable climate – instead of late 40’s we were in early 20’s. The highlight of the drive was seeing the Mexican border. Given the radio and news about Trump wanting to build a wall, we were surprised to see a wall of sorts already in place. We understand that the wall is more of structures which cover maybe a quarter of the distance at most, but it looked pretty good from where we were sitting. It also looks like and inhospitable dessert to be crossing.
Given that we were only staying in San Diego for a few nights, we got right into the points of interest that we had figured out the night before. Out first full day in the city took us to Balboa Park, the Museum District. It was a lovely area with around 15 different museums. We choose a day pass to allow us through five of them. Overall, the day felt like a long one but we both really enjoyed the outing.
Day two in San Diego took us on more of a driving tour of the area. We went to Point Loma (and inadvertently got lost and turned away from an US Naval Area) in the morning, walked along the beach and ate lunch at La Jolla, then went to Green Flash Brewing Company for Laurence to have a taste tour in the evening. This allowed me to drive the car for the first time on our trip (so far, also the last time).
Moving on to Los Angeles was easy, except when we found ourselves on a toll road with no way to pay due to the car being a rental (must remember to check how much the rental company charged us for that). We had booked an Airbnb for the first time and I was a little nervous (of course, Laurence was fine about it). It turned out that we were staying in an area about 10 minutes from Long Beach with a couple that were friendly, but absent most of the time.
We spent four days in Los Angeles, and I can honestly say that we probably didn’t use our time there to see everything. We did some major attractions like the Hollywood Sign, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, Bel Air (Mulholland Drive), Santa Monica Pier, and the Venice Canal Walkway. We also took Laurence to the Space Museum (and spent hours there). I think the rest of the time we took a break and watched a lot of Netflix – Laurence with White Collar, Me with Charmed and Criminal Minds).
Overall, I loved San Diego and think that it could be a really cool city to stay in for a while. Los Angeles seems like a city that is made by the friends that you have and the work that you do – would recommend if you have a tour guide/friend already living there.