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San Francisco - LA (Another Day, Another Highway) - Day 4 (Saturday, September 5th, 1998)

The following morning was a little more relaxed. It was our last day in San Francisco and we decided on a sauna and then a swim on the rooftop, followed by another sauna and an invigorating, cold shower. Had one last look for Lavey's black house which we didn't find, stopped by some magic shops and then we drove across the 'Golden Gate' bridge and onto the southbound highway back to LA. Once out of SF all of a sudden we came over a hill top and there they were. The windmills. (see Windmills pic) The large propeller type efforts you always see in music videos and National Geographics. I simply had to have a picture. So Elke took some as I was driving. The landscape was fairly barren and we drove the quick route back which only took 5 hours. We also chanced upon those other items one sometimes sees in pictures of American landscape and those were the bobbing mechanical oil wells. An excellent development I thought, but by then it was too dark to take any pics. It was a long drive but we finally arrived in LA at about 9pm.

LA, Santa Monica

We found our hotel on the beachfront easily enough and we checked in. The 'Ocean Lodge' was a place Elke had found on the internet. From the picture on the net it hadn't looked that bad but when we finally got into the room we were a little disappointed and quite worried. The door looked like it had been jimmied open about 40 times. The TV channels hardly worked(devastating), there was a layer of dust on the pillows and were those bullet holes in the wall? Although the bathroom was clean, we did not sleep well and decided to try and find another hotel in the morning.

LA, Hollywood - Day 5 (Sunday, September 6th, 1998)

Got up bright and early and walked to the Best Western down the boulevard. It was big, secure, clean and we reserved a room, also with an ocean view for a mere $10 more than what we were being charged at the Motel from Hell down the street. We then found a deli and had another celebrationary breakfast of buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup, eggs and beef sausage, ham and cheese omelette and the obligatory bottomless porta pools of coffee. After which we checked out of the lousy motel and into the new hotel with a smile. My day brightened up considerably. Then we hopped in the car and drove to Hollywood Boulevard and the Sunset Strip.

We walked around for about 4 hrs and investigated just about everything. It started to fill up later on in the day, too many bloody tourists. We stopped for a couple of Budweisers at some semi abandoned bar near the end of the Boulevard. I called Neil and we arranged to meet later. Had a long look for the Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) a place I had once wanted do a years guitar course at. Couldn't find it but then I didn't have the address so little wonder. Among other things we wondered into Hollywood prop shops, the Chinese Theatre (where they have the stars hand prints), a few adult stores and numerous clothing and music merchandise shops. Back at the hotel we arranged to meet Neil who was doing a little street gig with his jazz band on the 3rd Street Promenade just around the corner from our hotel. We went for an early walk along the promenade which included more shopping and found Neil banging away at his drums halfway up the street. There were a lot of publics around the band and they made a fair heap of dollars that night. We positioned ourselves across from the band at the Sunset Grill. More beers and a couple of burgers later we helped Neil pack up his equipment and arranged to meet the next day, 'Labor Day' in the states.

'Baywatch', Santa Monica Beach - Day 6 (Monday, September 7th, 1998)

Woke at 5am the next morning and found there was no 'Little House On The Prairie'. Not particularly bummed out I went back to sleep until after 7am. Once up, we bounced back and forth between the deli and a little French restaurant called Matisse trying to decide who had the better breakfast. No lies we walked between the two of them for 20 mins. There was also a loud wino who had just spent the night on the promenade and was emitting large sound waves on the problems with the country and why there had to be so many 'NIGGERS' and tourists in it. A black LAPD officer walked up to him and warned him to "Shut the fuck up!" which he did until the police man had disappeared, at which point he shot off up the street swearing at everyone and shouting, "Um just sayen whut ever'budy thainks. Fuck ya'll!" During breakfast he would later have another cameo appearance of about 4 minutes. Matisse was a nice enough restaurant except they gave me an omelette with no yolks in it, no yolking, which I duly returned for a yellow one which came with hash browns French style. The freshly squeezed orange juice was OOTW - (out of this world). Coffee for an army as usual and croissants. Yummmy! Feeling satiated we made for the Santa Monica mall across the street where we found sneakers and clothes and I watched a senior citizen put away a chili dawg with fries and all the extras. Good healthy food. Realising it was fairly late we raced back to the Hotel, dropped our shopping and called Neil arranging to meet for a braai later that day which would later turn magically into a meal at a Mexican restaurant. Then we made for the beach where we hired bicycles and raced along the 43km concrete pathway full of roller bladers, skaters and cyclists. We rode North towards Malibu where we found the Baywatch boat. Grabbed the obligatory, daily Root Beer and turned back heading south for Venice beach and the market. Lots of sun and lots of people. Hit the beach after our 90 minute ride/rental for a swim in some rather smelly water and brown/black sand which found it's way into every orifice. I don't know what was wrong with the waves but I got absolutely dumped about 6 times. Pacific my ass! There is nothing peaceful about that ocean. I finally decided I had had enough and got the hell out of the water. We hopped in the car and drove through Hollywood Hills where we found Neil's house and were introduced to his girlfriend, Areceli and the humming birds on his patio. It was too late to have a braai so we decided to go to a restaurant called the 'Acapulco' for some real Mexican food. Our waiter, a real Mexican, seated us, brought us our menus, a bowl of salsa and some corn chips. We ordered a pile of food and some margaritas and off we went. After the meal which included valet parking we headed back to Neil's house to see a video of his band and his fridge magnet collection. Later on we drove back to the hotel where we relaxed with an excellent ocean view and watched some TV.

Universal Studios - Day 7 (Tuesday, September 8th, 1998)

The following day was Universal Studios day. We got an early start and were by now sleeping almost normally. On the way to Universal city we stopped at a gas station and bought breakfast which consisted of hot dogs and Root Beer. We purposely left early so as to avoid any queues and when we got there the guy at the gate lied to us. He told us that we might as well turn around and go shopping as ticket sales only opened at 10 and the gates to Universal Studios at 11. We had read that the park opened at 8:30 and so we ignored his advice and drove in anyway. Found parking, bought tickets $38 each and went through the already open gates into an empty-ish Universal Studios. So the bugger had lied to us for what reason I can't imagine. Anyway the moral of the story as the X-Files and one or two other great philosophies would have you believe is 'Trust no-one'. The park would fill up as the day wore on but at that time the rides were still fairly empty. We headed for the 'Back To The Future' ride. It was an Emaginator type ride where you hopped into a buggy, a replica of the Delorian used in the movie but an 8 seater version, which raised, lowered, trembled and shook the living nightlights out of you while you vidied a large wraparound cinema screen which showed the road down which you were supposedly travelling. It was extremely well done and made any Emaginator ride seem tame by comparison. With our skeletal structure somewhat rearranged we stepped out into daylight and headed for the Jurassic Park ride. I must pause here to add that up until this point I was thoroughly relaxed and happily enjoying our holiday. So we step into the Jurassic Park ride which is a rollercoaster style boat which seats like 30 people. I notice that the seats are completely wet, but stooooopidly enough assume it was because each car gets splashed a little more each time it goes through the system. We got a little wet here and there and I felt safe until the very last obstacle which was a three storey or more drop. We hit the water at a curious angle and a wave engulfed the car, drenching Daniel from head to foot, right through to the underwear. Boy was I steaming. I stormed out of the car and demanded monetary compensation for the contact lens I almost lost, the camera which almost got wet and a towel, once the ride was over. (Well the towel part is true.) Of course there were no towels and so we went to the 'Backdraft' show to see if the fire would dry us off. It was hot but it didn't work nearly as well as the sun which I tried to get as much of as possible. So for the next couple of hours we walked around wet and cursing. During this wet period we chanced upon the ET ride. Upon entrance you receive a little card and the guy with the computer asks what your name is. He swipes your card through the machine and types in your name. Then you have a little video presentation by Mr. Spielberg himself and then you all traipse through a plastic forest where you see ET's crashed space ship and a couple of his pals who all constantly beg you to, 'Save ET!'. At the end of the forest you are met by someone who slides your card through another machine and tells you where to stand. Soon enough along comes a car which seats 15 and is made up of bicycles all stuck together in a row. Aaaah, it dawns upon you that you will be going for a bicycle space ride over the moon.....just like in the movie. Still wondering what the security card swipe thing was for you hop in and are whisked away over a hill and into a forest where you almost get hit by army Landrovers among other things, just like in the film and then as you pass ET sitting in a bush somewhere he mutters something akin to 'F-L-Y-Y-Y', and you take off. You fly through a room full of stars and into a tunnel with a laser which seems to make the tram shake and then next thing you are transported through time and space to ET's home planet. There are all kinds of little creatures on all kinds of mushrooms and I imagine this would be a good ride to do after ingesting something of the psychedelic, narcotic variety. At the end of the ride hey presto, there's ET again and he says goodbye to everyone in the car by name. Aaaah so that's what the swipe cards were for. ET was learning the names of the people on the ride. The tram tour was good. They point out studios which have been used for famous flicks as well as hinting at there being someone inside shooting whatever new blockbuster was being filmed right at that very moment. The other fun stops include the 'Jaws' scene, the 'Psycho' house, the 'Earthquake' scene and the 'Flintstone' set. We had lunch at the 'Marvel Comics' restaurant where we met Captain America and Wolverine from the X-Men. We saw Spiderman doing a photo shoot with some visitors outside but didn't speak to him. I had the biggest burger I have ever laid eyes on. It was an incredible Hulk Burger. (see Hulkburger pic).Tasted like the Incredible Hulk too. It was disappointing flavour wise. Size is not always everything. We missed the 'Waterworld' show at 3pm and decided to wait around wasting time until the next showing at 5:30. We did the 'Back To The Future' ride a second time and it was as good as the first. We saw the 'Beetlejuice Rock Show' which was mildly entertaining and we went to the 'Animal Stars' show which just about had me convinced that the animals were of higher intelligence than the audience. The 'Waterworld' show turned out to be well worth the wait. Pyrotechnics, stunts, fire, water, jet skis and aeroplanes. (see Waterworld pic) There were some seats which were labelled 'wet area' which would later on become apparent but which I suspiciously avoided. As it turned out the audience was divided into three sections, each with their own mascot or champion. And each of these muscle men took great pleasure in gathering buckets of water and drenching the first three rows of the neighbouring crowd for 10 minutes before the show began. Also when the swamp boats and jet skis entered the arena they sprayed water everywhere too. We found seating halfway up out of the way of the water and a good decision it was too.

After leaving Universal Studios we headed for the Hard Rock CafŽ next door where we walked around inside looking at the guitars and displays and taking snaps while the traffic died down. The displays included a Motley Crue section (see Motley pic), Van Halen, Steve Vai and Ratt displays, a Cadillac and many famous outfits and instruments. Feeling rather exhausted we headed for the car. We drove back to the hotel along Sunset Boulevard and back at the hotel we packed and fell asleep.

LA to Arizona - Day 8 (Wednesday, September 9th, 1998)

We awoke at a reasonable time the following morning, continued packing and then went for a quick walk on Santa Monica pier, a place where many a famous movie has been filmed, and what do you know? Right there in the restaurant at the end of the pier, they were shooting a movie. It must've been a Jackie Chan movie or something because there were actors and actresses kicking and punching each other. We stood around watching from a distance and then headed back for the hotel where we said goodbye to our beautiful big room, checked out and drove to the car rental place. They provided a shuttle to the airport and we took off for and arrived in Phoenix, Arizona on time and intact.

Phoenix, Arizona

Andrew was at the airport to meet us camera in hand. We hadn't seen each other for 17 years. He left SA when he was 10 to live in New York. As we walked through the gate there he was, and he took a photograph. We collected our luggage and as we stepped out of the airport we vaporised. At least two of us did. Andrew, the Arizona resident, merely continued as if nothing had happened. Welcome to hell. This must be where the Devil has his headquarters. To say Phoenix is a hot place would be the understatement of the decade. I don't think there's any place in South Africa which even comes close. If you don't have air-con in your car, house, office and favourite restaurant you're a dead man. And we had apparently missed the heatwave by a week. Andrew carried us to the car where he resuscitated us with the cooling system and once revived we decided we were all hungry. So, he took us to a little Mexican cantina on the wrong side of town where the food was spicy and the beer cold. And yes, the place was air-conditioned. We ate hungrily and chatted in between mouthfuls of refried beans, cheese, beef salad, salsa, nachos and Budweiser. The restaurant itself was very colourful. In fact I would say that almost all the colours in the spectrum as we know it were represented in some form of plastic hanging doodad or another. We drove through the city of Phoenix and back to Andrew's place where we met the dogs, Maggie and Winston, had a swim, watched a movie and relaxed. Then we went to the car rental place and organised a car for the following morning and to Circle K where we stocked up on Root Beer, Hostess fruit pies and Twinkies. That evening we met Andrew's wife Debra and went to an Australian steak house by the name of 'The Outback' where we had some sizzling Arizonan beef and bottomless sodas. Yummmy!

The Grand Canyon - What A Hole! - Day 9 (Thursday, September 10th, 1998)

Woke at 6:15 the next morning, or rather Andrew woke us. They seem to rise and shine very early there, probably on account of the extreme temps. We drove to the car rental place and rented a Nissan Altima. We'd only been on the road for three minutes when we saw the place we were going to be celebrating breakfast, IHOP (International House Of Pancakes). We parked, entered and ordered up the house special for $3.99, pancakes, eggs, sausages and as much coffee as you could wish for. There were four different kinds of syrup on the table and yes we tried them all. Maple, buttermilk, raspberry and blueberry. Breakfast indeed!

We hit the I17 northbound for the Grand Canyon. We immediately noticed loads of Saguaro (pronounced swaro) cacti in the fields and plains. Arizona is pretty much arid, semi desert and desert. The drive up to the Grand Canyon passes through Sedona and Flagstaff. At about 3000 feet the Saguaro cactus suddenly disappears. Sedona is a little town famous for it's red rocks (similar to 'Ayers Rock' in Oz). We wanted to stop by Sedona on the way down and get some photies but we ended up walking around the Grand Canyon for far too long and by the time we passed Sedona later that same day the sun had unfortunately set. We continued up the I17 until Flagstaff at which point it became the 180. The surrounding land is mostly Navajo (pronounced Navaho) Apache land (according to our map anyway). The vegetation has populated the dry land in patches...heh heh maybe that's why it's called apache land. Seriously, first there will be a whole forest of one kind of tree with a brown trunk and then that will be replaced by a whole forest of trees with white trunks. Then there will be sections of grassy stumps without any trees, and then more desert. It may have something to do with the altitude but I didn't really notice anything obvious. The entire drive up to the Canyon took 4 hours, the highest point being 8000 feet. The Grand Canyon was at 7000 feet above sea level. We passed areas with really cool names like..... 'Bloody Basin Road', 'Big Bug Creek', 'Dry Beaver Creek', 'Coconino County', 'Fox Road Ranch' and 'Schnebly Hill Road' to name but a few. Finally after what seemed like an endless highway, the Grand Canyon simply appeared as if from nowhere. It was a magnificent sight. We entered the reserve after being fleeced $20 entry. There are various viewpoints along the rim which one can drive to. The first one we encountered was Yavapai on the northern rim. We took numerous photographs hoping to capture the breathtaking scenery but I fear the magnitude and sheer beauty of the canyon is something that can only truly be experienced first hand. (nevertheless check out pics GC-Panaorama and GrandCanyon). We found some parking and set off on a little hike around the north rim. We must've walked for two hours or more before returning to the car. I blew off a whole black and white spool and a load more colour shots. We stopped at a souvenir shop which included an Indian lookout tower with a spiral staircase and native Indian paintings on the inside walls. Found another souvenir shop which had some Viper Venom chili sauce and one which was labeled 'hotter than hot' called 'Sergio's Revenge' sauce. After realising it was after 1600 we decided to make tracks via the 'Desert view' viewpoint on the eastern rim, which sported a clear view of the Colorado river. They say the canyon is ever deepening due to the erosive effects of the river. Stopped a couple more times on the way to the highway which is the reason we only reached Sedona after sunset thus missing the spectacular red rocks.

Back In Phoenix

Returned home shortly after 8pm and went out for some more real Mexican food with Andrew and Debbie at a place called Chuys (pronounced chewies). Once again we were completely exhausted so we hit the sack relatively early.

Horses & Saddles & Cowboy Stuff - Day 10 (Friday, September 11th, 1998)

Woke Friday morning at 7:00 to the sound of thunder. The storm took out the power, a nice little side effect, and it was back on shortly afterwards. We had a day of shopping and horse riding planned. We or should I say one of us wanted to get the other one on top of a horse. As fate would have it, it was still raining and a couple of phone calls revealed that the only available horsy things to do involved a little walk about. There was no cantering or galloping, and seeing as how only one of us didn't really want to go for a simple horse 'walk' the whole horse riding plan quickly fell apart. Nevertheless we set off in search of a saddle store after a swim in the rain in Andrew's ample sized pool. We found our way around Phoenix fairly easily because peculiar as it may seem to the designers of large intricate cities in Europe, most of the USA's cities are based on a grid system. This not only makes a lot more sense to visitors who need to get from point A to point B but it also makes basic map interpretation a lot easier. (Both San Francisco and LA had the same unusual idiosyncrasy). We noticed a CD store called the 'Wherehouse' and made a quick stop to fill up on cheap CD's which are typically 5/8's of the price they are in London. We left the shop and up until that point I had been doing the majority of the driving and prided myself in being easily able to switch from driving on one side in the UK, another in South Africa and another in Germany. I turned out of the shopping centre area blissfully unaware into the face of oncoming traffic. The hooting cars passing by alerted me to the problem and I managed to rectify our course and narrowly avoid an ugly collision. Phew! Once back on the right side of the road we were able to locate a couple of nice 'tack' stores and in the second, with the help of a friendly, country lady named Terry, Elke set about ordering a saddle and a few other bits and pieces while I gazed at a bull and bronco riding video, which was demonstrating the demise of some 'brave' cowboys, in the corner. The shop attendants in Phoenix are just full of phrases like: "If ya'll need any help ya'll just holler." and "Ya'll are very welcome." which I found quite quaint. After the whole saddle fiasco which took about an hour we hit the Mall. We made our way to the eatery department and after a pit stop lunch of chili dawgs, chili fries and Root Beer at 'Johnny Rockets' we were in full-on shopping mode. The Fashion Square Mall however turned out to be wickedly expensive and so after a quick look around we made an abrupt exit in search of a grocery store and more CD shops. We found a Safeway store and bought a veritable truckload of candy, soda pop and magazines. We ended up back home at about 16:00 and after a movie, '...Point Blank', some more Root Beer and a swim, Andrew took us to another CD store which made him late for his softball match. They played for about 40 minutes at which time they stopped the game because the other team had too many points. We went to a pub afterwards called Aunt Chilada's (enchiladas) for a beer. There was a band and a large beer garden but the pub was mostly filled with brawny, sporty jock types who would give you the evil eye if you happened to bump into them or brush by, by mistake. If they had realised I had been shoving into them on purpose in some cases there would probably have been a brawl of some kind. I was out-numbered, not to mention out of place with my long hair and earrings in this desert rat pub. After that we met Debbie for Sushi @ Kampai, a Japanese Restaurant. Raw soya been entree's, bottomless green tea's and a sushi plate each later we headed back to Andrew's place. The girls went to bed and the boys sat chatting, reminiscing and trying to recall intricate details of their lives as 10 year olds until the wee hours. Awoke at 5:00am, packed, said goodbye and raced to the car rental place and on to the airport.

Adios! - Back To Europe - Days 11+12 (Saturday, September 12th, 1998)

Flew to San Francisco where we waited around for a couple of hours for our connection to London via United Airways. We were offered $300 each to take a later flight but we were too tired and just wanted the whole travelling ordeal to be over. We climbed aboard, popped some Melatonin and flew east into the night sipping Bloody Mary's, away from the setting sun and a glorious two week adventure which we'll never forget.

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