Roam If You Want To

I’m gonna do it.  To quote George Bailey from the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”… “I’m shakin’ the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I’m gonna see the world.”

I had a surprise waiting for me when I got into L.A.  Normally, I go to the car rental place and they just have a car waiting for me with the keys inside.  I just have to look for my name on the board to tell me which spot it’s in.  This time the board said to go to the counter.  So I went – a little ticked that I was inconvenienced.  They said that my credit card information was invalid on the reservation and that I would need to use another credit card for the transaction.  Fine.

Then the person behind the counter said, “We don’t have any cars left of the class of car you originally requested.  Would you mind taking a Mustang convertible?”  (I normally get something like an Oldsmobile Alero).

… Uh… yeah… that’s like asking if I’d like a steak instead of my usual ketchup sandwich on moldy bread.

Here’s a picture of it in front of my hotel… in the background you can see the Borders that I usually hang out in on days when I’m bored… which is EVERY DAY.

Well, then I thought… since I have to be here over the weekend, why not take a little road trip somewhere.  I’m tired of just complaining about how bored I am while I’m out here.  I should just take some initiative and get the heck out of dodge.

So that’s what I’m going to do.  I’m not sure exactly where I’m going.  I’m gonna play this one by ear mostly.  I figure, what’s the worst that can happen to me.  I mean, it’s not like I’m hiking down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon with a 40 pound pack, not enough water, and the wrong kind of food.   But just in case you don’t hear from me in the next few weeks, notify the police.

Here are a few ideas I have…

1.  Two-day road trip up the Pacific Coast Hwy to Big Sur and back.

This is considered one of the most scenic drives in the U.S.  It’s about a 300 mile drive there.  There are vistas where you can park and watch for whales that are in the area feeding.  In the picture above you can see the Bixby Bridge, one of the highest single-span bridges in the world.  I’m not sure where I’m going to stay, but I’ll find someplace.  Below is a map of the route I would most likely take…

Obviously, this is not the most detailed map I’m going to use.  It will be nice driving along the ocean with the top down and  radio blaring.  Oh, that reminds me… does anyone have any suggestions on a CD I can get that would be good for this journey?

2.  Single evening trip to Anza-Borrego National Park for stargazing

Only a few hours away from L.A. there is a place that is designated by USA Today as one of the top 10 places in the U.S. to stargaze.  I remember seeing for the first time the Milky Way at a place called Spanish Lookout in Belize.  We were many miles from the nearest source of electricity so the sky was very dark, and you could see just millions of stars.  I’ve been wanting to see something like that again for the longest time.  As you can see in the map below, it is a much shorter trip.

3.  Bored-ers Bookstore

If all else fails, I’m going to see how high I can stack magazines that I’m just leafing through in the cafe area before they tell me to put them back.  Then I’m going to systematically switch all the Rap/Reggae CDs with the Country CDs in the display stands and watch people’s reactions.  Then I’m going to ask the guy at the information desk if he can find me a book titled “How to Set Fire to a Bookstore and Make It Look Like an Accident” by Seymour Butts.

And for no particular reason at all…

Here’s a picture of Hansoo singing the National Anthem at the top of his lungs in the middle of the parking lot outside my house.  Click on it to see a larger version.  Enjoy.