Day 20: Road Trip Goes Hollywood

Today is day three of the great California excursion. We left the Telford compound bright and early to take our friend Dan to the San Diego airport. Consequently, our travels began around 7:30 this morning. With Mexico to the South, ocean to the west and no plans to go east yet, we began your trip northward.

Initially, we planned to go straight up to Sequoia National Park, giving LA only a passing nod. However, given the fact that it was early and we don't know when we will be back in Califonia, we decided to get a little SoCal experience. We travelled about two hours north of San Diego to the beautiful beaches of Santa Monica. After walking along the Third Street Promanade and looking at the upscale shops and cafes, we put our toes in the sand and then the Pacific Ocean! It's hard to believe that only two weeks ago we were diping our feet in the Atlantic! We have come so far and still have a ways to go! We had some lunch on the famous Santa Monica Pier and rode on the Carousel before deciding to move on to bigger and better things.

From Santa Monica we went into Hollywood. There we visited the Grauman's Chinese Theater and spent a moment in the shoes of stars (so to speak), among them Gene Kelley, Marylin Monroe, the Marx Bros, Julie Andrews and the "governator" himself. And what would a visit to Hollywood be without some star sightings? We saw Mickey Mouse, Yoda, Batman and of course Elvis, just to name a few!

When we were finished oogling at famous footprints and "stargazing" on the walk of fame, we decided to drive up to "the hills:" to get a good look at the Hollywood sign. We caught a good glimpse of it and snapped some pictures before getting lost up there and deciding to be satisfied with the view we got. Our final point of interest was a cruise down Rodeo Drive on our way out.

This afternoon we decided to leave the glitz and glamour (and expenses) of "Hollywierd" behind in search of more natural surroundings. We drove about four hours Northeast to the town of Three Rivers, about 15 miles outside of Sequoia National Park. On the way we saw (and smelled) the billowing smoke of a forest fire along the edge of the interstate (luckily not the side we were on), and we felt that now we had truly seen California.

Now we are resting in Three Rivers, getting ready for a big day of big trees! It is on to Sequoia National Park, and don't worry everyone we WILL drive through the tree!

More on that tomorrow.



Now the California stats (from the Past 2 days):
Been to: 35% of the USA!
Overall Average: 39.0 mph
Moving Average: 50.2mph
Moving Time: 13h 18m
Stopped Time: 3h 47m
Total Time: 17h 6m
Distance Traveled: 667.9mi
Distance to go: Back to the begining