Author: Paul

Tripometer – 10,258 mi

Gas Gauge –  788.351 gal

Location – BLM Land, Valley of Fire Hwy, Overton, NV

Lodging – FREE

Cans of OFF – 4

Today was full of surprises. It was a rainy morning in the RV Park when we woke fairly early and the cloudy weather lasted for most of the day. While having coffee in the morning before heading out we heard a persistent rushing water sound coming from a nearby Rental RV. (We would guess that just about half of the RVs in the RV park were rented from companies such as Cruise America or El Monte RV.) One of the rented RVs was pouring water from each wheel well, the door wells, and in a couple of other places. Something went horribly wrong inside. When the occupants returned they were overheard to say that this is the third time this has happened on their trip. The party that was staying in the RV only stayed for a short time. They changed clothes and left the RV again. For the second time that morning we had to go over and turn off their water supply because the motorhome had started to leak all over the place like it was just pulled from a lake.

Apparently that $100 chip in Dave’s pocket started to burn a hole because Dave decided to give the blackjack table one more shot this morning before we rolled out of the RV park. He returned fairly quickly $20 poorer and cured of gambling fever. This leaves his winning streak up $60 on a $20 investment. Pretty good for a weekend in Vegas!

Once the coffee set in and the flood induced shock had worn off, we headed off this morning with the intention of driving to the Kanab, Utah area to get a campsite for a few days. We plan to use this campsite as a basecamp while we visit Bryce and Zion Canyons before heading off to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. There is a lot of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in the area and we will look to stay for free tonight along the way. While visiting in Washington a few weeks ago, Paul’s nephew Christopher highly recommended that we visit Valley of Fire State Park just outside of Las Vegas. We structured our travel plans today to take us through that area. Driving east and then north out of Las Vegas we drove for most of the morning along the dramatically expanding Lake Mead shoreline.

Always looking for pull offs and roadside stops as we travel we all pulled off at a sign for Roger’s Spring right before the turn to the Valley of Fire. What we found at the edge of the parking lot was an honest-to-god desert oasis complete with palm trees and a fresh water spring. The spring was mildly sulfurous and had plenty of signs warning not to drink the water due to the possible presence of brain-eating amoebas (shudder).  We certainly didn’t expect to find this today!

As soon as we entered the park, the Valley of Fire looked like a destination where we were going to want to spend some time. Rock formations hundreds of feet high towered over smaller rock structures suitable for hiking and climbing. The two rocks towering over a picnic table pictured above really give a feel for the scale of the formations in this park and the way the park has nestled the recreation areas into the surrounding topography.

After we took in the beautiful visitor’s center in the park we drove out into the valley to view the Fire Wave, the park’s cornerstone attraction. We took a short hike along a sandy path to view the result of vividly colored ancient sand dunes being slowly eroded in beautiful patterns. The vivid colors in the rocks really struck us. Had the sun been out consistently today the coloration in the far hills would have popped more. If you look carefully at the hills behind the Fire Wave you can see reds, yellows, whites, purples, and even greens in the rocks. On our hike to the Fire Wave we saw a large group (perhaps 20) of mountain goats lying in a shady valley. On our way back we found a desert tarantula pancake on the highway which is as close as any of us wants to get to one of those.

Leaving the Valley of Fire quite late in the evening we pulled off of the Valley of Fire Highway and parked both trailer rigs at a pull off on BLM land. Traffic on the road was light to begin with and trickled to near zero after dark making our proximity to the road (~25 feet) acceptable to sleep. The view from our site was amazing, warranting the panoramic photo above. The sunset was fantastic to watch as we cooked dinner on the shoulder. It was a great site to introduce Dave to the RV lifestyle. Play it loose and look for beautiful places to park the trailer!

Tripometer – 10,171 mi

Gas Gauge –  788.351 gal

Location – Circus Circus RV Park, Las Vegas, NV

Lodging – $61

Cans of OFF – 4

Some were up by 10am, others as late as almost noon. It was a rough morning. The general consensus this morning is that we are all Las Vegas rookies and can’t handle the ‘proof’ of this city. Almost everyone took a nap at some point during the day today.

David came to Las Vegas with the intention of gambling for a while with a limit of $100. After coffee and a lot of water (including the aspirins he should have had last night) Dave and Stratis ventured into Circus Circus to try Dave’s hand at $5 blackjack (and a couple of spins of the roulette wheel too). Having purchased $20 in chips at the beginning of the venture (holding $80 in reserve) Dave worked his way up to a $100 chip! (see pic) Not seeing his luck continuing, Dave decided this was enough for one day and retired from his gambling career up 400%. Nice job Dave!

Paul spent most of the day working on the blog and generally being the grumpy trailer troll. Kelly spent a good part of the day at the pool and water park behind Circus Circus. Needless to say, she found this a Grade-A people-watching opportunity!

We noticed today that the sign on the top of the Trump International Hotel behind the Circus Circus reads “Rump” if you stand right at our trailer door. We’ll call that an excellent parking job.

Needless to say it was an early night for everyone.

Special Note: Our favorite RV park guest was parked up against the bathroom at the very back of the park. His 20 some foot trailer was hooked to a ¾ ton pickup truck that looked like it was going to experience axle failure from the strain. It honestly appeared as though the springs were completely compressed. The trailer had seen better days. At some time during its life, it had all of the compartment covers ripped off and graffiti scrawled all over one side (which was subsequently painted over… sloppily.) That paints the picture. Now the interesting part. Sitting in front of the trailer, partially unrolled, was a full-on red carpet rolled up on a roll about 3 feet in diameter. That’s still making us scratch our heads.

Tripometer – 10,162 mi

Gas Gauge –  788.351 gal

Location – Circus Circus RV Park, Las Vegas, NV

Lodging – $41

Cans of OFF – 4

Dave arrived in Las Vegas this morning on an 8:00am flight. He’s been awake since about midnight Las Vegas time to get here. No Rest! You can rest when you’re dead! As soon as Dave got situated in the trailer we took off. Dave has only visited Las Vegas once before, an overnight stay as he travelled through. This visit we need to introduce him to this city properly!

We spent most of the day travelling from casino to casino checking out the various attractions at each. We spent time at Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace, Venetian, Treasure Island, Wynn, Harrah’s and probably a couple of others throughout the day. While moving at a fairly good pace for most of the day we didn’t cover nearly as much of Las Vegas as we wanted. With this in mind we booked a third night at Circus Circus before we move on.

Long before we got to Las Vegas we did some research to find a good gourmet buffet for our big meal in town. The Bellagio has apparently long been known for just that. We took the car back to the RV park, gussied ourselves up (as well as one can in a trailer), and called an Uber to the Bellagio. When purchasing our meals the cashier asked if we would like to add unlimited drinks from the bar for $14.95. Not being ones to argue with a good straightforward economic windfall, we all purchased the drink ticket. The food was absolutely worth the price, but not as gourmet as we had hoped. The unlimited bar did, however, live up to expectations. We all left the buffet talking a bit louder and walking a bit less straight.

The rest of the evening, up until a bedtime of almost 4am, was spent walking Las Vegas leering at the spectacle that is this city on a Friday night when the temperature is nice. By the time his head hit the pillow, Dave had been up for 28 hours straight. Tomorrow is going to be rough. The last thing we saw before we closed the trailer door is the Circus Circus neon sign staring down at us.

We all should have swallowed a quart of water and two aspirins before we went to sleep tonight… but noooo…

Tripometer – 10,143 mi

Gas Gauge –  788.351 gal

Location – Circus Circus RV Park, Las Vegas, NV

Lodging – $31

Cans of OFF – 4

A late checkout was followed by a late lunch today. We chose a small local Mexican place in Yucca Valley with good online reviews for traditional Mexican. Pulling up to the establishment we noted that the restaurant was one of three businesses in the same building all interconnected on the interior – a bowling alley, a Mexican joint and a dive bar – Now THAT’s a business plan. The little Mexican place looked rough but we persisted. We were rewarded with the most amazing Mexican food we’d ever had. We didn’t get fancy dishes, we ordered burritos, tacos, and the like, but the flavor and consistency were everything you want your Mexican fast food to be but better! (NOT related to the Taco Place pictured above!)

Today’s drive took us to Las Vegas by way of the Mojave Desert. What an interesting and beautiful route. We had intended on travelling Route 66 for a fair bit of the day today but road construction had the entire road closed for several miles. An extinct volcano, Amboy Crater, salt mining operations and a ghost town were the highlights of our limited Rt 66 experience. Perhaps we’ll get a chance to travel the 66 again later in the trip. The picture advertising leather gear was too funny to pass up. Who doesn’t want a pair of gas station leather chaps???

As we approached Las Vegas we ran into two very different yet similar areas that were a pleasant sight for a couple of left leaning voters. At different points in today’s drive we were within sight of alternatively 1000s of wind mills and 1000s of solar panels in extremely large power farms. Las Vegas in specific and the southwest in general is running into problems using hydroelectric power to supply the power needs of the area, the Colorado isn’t producing the annual water supply that it has in the past due to climate change. It was refreshing to see the area turning to sustainable energy to meet future needs instead of other more traditional and dirtier power generating capabilities.

We have been absolutely awed with how far you can see in the desert. We fairly sure the effect has to do with both lack of humidity in the air and lack of trees. Being from the east coast we view long distances only when at the highest of points and even then only in the direction that has been cleared of trees. From a high place in the desert you can see for 10s and occasionally a 100 miles. We have had the experience several times during this trip of discussing where we are going by getting to a high place and simply pointing at the next hours travel. “We drive to that town there, take a left, drive along that mesa for about a half hour and then turn right on the I99 at that clump of trees over there…”

Arriving in Las Vegas in the evening we quickly unpacked and set up for a couple of days. The three of us, Paul, Kelly & Stratis went out for a hike on the town to reacquaint ourselves with Sin City. We quickly passed on Tacos El Gordo in favor of a place that has just a bit more focus in their menu. Seriously, who combines tacos, sushi, and BBQ on the same menu? Welcome to Las Vegas! We called it an early night when we realized that David would be waking up in an hour or so to catch his flight out here. It’s gonna be an early morning and a long day tomorrow.

Special Note: We were interested to see that some housing developments in the desert rake their dirt (as opposed to mowing their grass). I guess we need to walk a mile in their shoes, but in our eyes if you can’t grow grass then that’s one less chore you have to participate in. Honestly, a dry dusty front lawn that has zen garden-like rake marks is only marginally better than flat dirt. These people need better hobbies.

Tripometer – 9900 mi

Gas Gauge –  771.220 gal

Location – Black Rock Canyon Campground, Yucca Valley, CA

Lodging – $30

Cans of OFF – 4

Kelly is pounding out work today trying to get ready for our week vacation with Dave next week. Paul and Stratis spent a fair bit of the day doing laundry and trip planning for the next couple of weeks. Stratis is planning on staying with us for at least a portion of Dave’s visit as he also wants to tour Zion and Bryce canyon over the next few days.

In the early afternoon the call came from the tire dealer who FINALLY found the missing delivery truck full of tires and Stratis was off like a shot. When Kelly finished work, we again drove into Joshua Tree to do a little more sight seeing. The weather today was worse than yesterday, even though we managed to catch a double rainbow on ‘film’. It was actively raining as we drove in the east entrance to the park where we haven’t been yet. Stratis caught up with us at Skull Rock and we got a nice group photo with the help of a local. Due to the rain we ended up driving around to look at the rest of the park from our rain streaked car windows.

The most striking aspect of Joshua Tree N.P. to both of us was the rock formations, the Joshua Tree (again, to us) was more of a park mascot than the main point of the park. The mixture of easily erodible sandstone formations and the harder to erode base layers of volcanic and ancient rock makes for amazing stacks, spires, and shapes against the skyline. This evening on our drive we went through a couple of the other campgrounds in the national park. Two of the campgrounds, unfortunately without enough cell signal for Kelly to use for work, had campsites nestled in amongst huge boulders making for some amazing camping and a very different feel to both the campsites and the campground as a whole (Image above obviously stolen from the internet). When we come back here, and we almost certainly will, we will be sure to book a few nights in one of these campgrounds.

Driving out of the park around dusk all agreed that we were generally disappointed with our time at Joshua Tree. Kelly’s work, Stratis’ tires, Dave’s impending arrival in Las Vegas in a couple of days and the weather all conspired to keep us from experiencing Joshua Tree as we would have liked. Tomorrow we have to move on.

Earlier today the wind picked up rather suddenly in the campground causing us to scramble to put the awning in and catch the myriad of things sailing around the inside of the trailer. Tonight we watched the lightning cast silhouettes of the mountains in the distance from the appreciable valley view that we have from our campsite. We never realized how many mountains there are and how generally hilly the desert is. We now have a much different and greatly improved version of what the desert is all about in our heads. As we fell asleep this evening the gusty wind was rocking the trailer, frankly more than we’re comfortable with considering the hill our trailer is balanced on…

Special Note: Ranger and Cacti. We have an east coast dog. Up until the past week he had no idea what a cactus was. He may have had an interaction with a cactus when we were near Los Angeles earlier this week but at Joshua Tree we have a very large, very prickly, very tenacious, and very painful cactus about 6 feet from the front door of the trailer (Pic above). When we walk him we have to pay extra special attention to where his nose is headed. He runs nose first at plants at a ridiculous speed to assumedly smell for the last dog. He simply has no frame of reference for plants that bite back. We have both seen him nose a cactus and jump back but this doesn’t seem to have had a huge impact on his overall behavior towards plants. Ranger has always ventured off into the bushes to do his business. He rarely if ever goes #2 in less that 2’ of cover. In the desert he really has struggled to find the brush that he thinks he needs to relieve himself. At the end of the day we all know this is going to end in a yelping dog with cactus embedded in his fur, we’re just here to make sure he keeps both of his eyes during the learning process.

 

Tripometer – 9825 mi

Gas Gauge –  753.971 gal

Location – Black Rock Canyon Campground, Yucca Valley, CA

Lodging – $30

Cans of OFF – 4

We were approached by a ranger from the NPS this morning as we didn’t check in the prior evening. During the conversation we talked about the climate in the park and the differences that are being seen recently. According to the ranger, the amount of rainfall in the park has dropped dramatically over the past couple of decades. Paul poked a bit at the comment the ranger made to see how the ranger would discuss the issue, but try as he might, Paul could not get the ranger to utter the words ‘Climate Change’. (Even while wearing a blatantly democratically leaning t-shirt.) We were amused when she asked us to please keep a campsite free of garbage and food leftovers to protect the wildlife and our equipment. Curious, we asked what wildlife we should be concerned about getting into our garbage. The ranger was most concerned about chipmunks and ravens. Compared to the grizzly bears we’ve been worried about for the past couple of months we found this most amusing and nodded our heads dutifully.

We were somewhat dismayed at the condition of the campground roads as we drove in yesterday. The paved roads in our campground are being left to degrade back into the dirt. At this point only about 50-70% of the road surface is paved on all of the roads in the campground. Potholes and dirt patches are the norm. This is very different from any other national park campground that we have been to before. Typically national parks are impeccably cared for and one can expect the best of amenities at one of their campgrounds. The ranger explained that with recent budget cuts to the national parks they are focusing what funding they have on conservation and not worrying about visitors. We think that sounds like a great plan. The only way to ensure future funding is to ensure the park visitors see the full impact of the Trump budget cuts on the quality of their parks. Resist!

Stratis’ trailer needs new tires. He has made an appointment at a local tire dealer to have the two tires replaced but the tires have to come up from San Diego via delivery truck. While Kelly worked, Paul took some time to pound out a few blog entries and generally misbehave with Stratis in the campsite. The tires never showed up at the tire dealer so the day was largely spent in a holding pattern waiting on a call from the shop.

As the closing time of the shop approached and no tires were forthcoming, we climbed into one car and headed off to Joshua Tree N.P. for a hike. Arriving at the trailhead at dusk, most of the photography taken during our evening hike left something to be desired. We hiked around a trail on the floor of ‘Hidden Valley,’ a secluded valley the was largely protected from human use or development by natural rock formations until mere weeks before the national park was declared. Apparently a local cattle farmer blasted an entrance to this valley to graze his cattle within a month before Joshua Tree N.P. was created. We especially enjoyed the flora within the valley. The odd light thrown by the setting sun over the rock formations surrounding the valley cast unusual and sometimes creepy shadows over everything. Paul really got a kick out of the ironwood trees growing in the valley. There was one particular ironwood deadfall that if it were regular wood dried in the desert sun would have been easily liftable. This piece of trunk which measured around a yard and a half long was heavy enough that one person could barely lift it.

Ranger is not taking kindly to being kept in the trailer in the evening. We have decided that he can be with the group as long as he doesn’t sleep on the ground. He is now a permanent table dog at night. When the sun sets we invite him to fall asleep on the picnic table to stay out of reach of scorpions. He seems to be OK with this arrangement.

 

Tripometer – 9782 mi

Gas Gauge –  753.971 gal

Location – Black Rock Canyon Campground, Yucca Valley, CA

Lodging – $30

Cans of OFF – 4

Thousand Trails is an RV Club that sells memberships allowing members to spend as many nights as they wish at Thousand Trails campgrounds for one ‘low annual fee’ (~$500). Aside from the very high rate of $55 / night we had more than a few complaints about this campground. What we found is that the front of the campground, including the front office, sales office, and several of the up front camping areas were in immaculate condition. When we checked in we were directed to one of the back camping lots which were in deplorable condition. We had to search for a site with working electricity as many of the electric posts were somewhere on the scale from simply not working to completely gutted of copper to support somebody’s meth habit. The camp sites themselves were dirty with debris from several prior campers and the bathrooms were the bare minimum. Leaving the Soledad Canyon Thousand Trails RV Park this afternoon was not a hard thing to do.

The news for the past few days in the area has been focused on the impending arrival of Hurricane Rosa. This category 3 storm has slowly weakened over the past week to a tropical storm; however, we are keenly aware of what effect a storm of this size can have on the desert. We had planned to stay on BLM land across the highway from Joshua Tree National Park this evening, but the idea of putting our camper in a dry lake bed just before the remnants of a hurricane hits the area seems like less than a bright idea. As we drove towards Joshua Tree we could see the dark gray clouds crowding the horizon over the mountains in the distance. To be honest, we’re both relishing the idea of seeing a full blown storm in the desert, something we imagine most of the locals have only seen a few times.

At one point during this drive we did pass through a few rain bands assumedly from the remnants of the hurricane. What we found very interesting was the smell. The desert doesn’t have a strong odor… everything is dry… until it rains. Opening the car windows after we passed through a rain band yielded a very strong musty odor, not unlike what you smell when dusting furniture with a wet cloth – literally like wet dust.

Stratis joined us shortly after we arrived at Joshua Tree near dark. We all enjoyed steaks on the BBQ with all the fixins and drank in the sight of the moon and stars above the Joshua tree covered hills surrounding our campsite. Hurricane Rosa apparently decided that she would take a more southern path and leave us dry this evening.

We are very concerned about scorpions around Ranger. We have read several articles over the past week warning about letting dogs sleep on the ground in areas that have scorpions. Apparently scorpions will seek out warmth once the sun goes down and sleeping dogs provide the exact environment that scorpions desire. Ranger is in for several weeks of seclusion in the camper during the evenings. He’s not happy with this development at all and we are feeling quite guilty about the whole thing.

Tripometer – 9613 mi

Gas Gauge – 737.398 gal

Location – Soledad Canyon RV & Camping Resort, Acton, CA

Lodging – $50

Cans of OFF – 4

Neither of us are city people. We knocked out what we thought was important to see in LA faster than we expected and we have one more night in Soledad Canyon so we started the morning slowly, with 2 pots of coffee versus the normal one. The weather today is near perfect again. The high was in the low 80s and the night should be in the low 50s. We THINK the trailer is finally dry.

We have two campsites booked at Black Rock Canyon Campground in Joshua Tree National Park for the next three nights after Soledad Canyon where we will be camping with Stratis, who is now a lone traveler, Regina having returned home via plane. With this in mind, Kelly went to the grocery store in the afternoon to replenish our supplies while Paul put some time in on the blog.

We are both really enjoying listening to the yip and howl of the coyotes in the hills. Ranger finds them pretty distracting.

Special Note: The sheer number of crows and ravens in the area is remarkable. We’re used to seeing mostly crows at home with the occasional raven thrown in to support the NFL. Neither of us have ever seen so many in one area at a time. At any given time on a hot afternoon you can see up to a dozen swirling columns of crows and ravens circling lazily in heat risers across the canyon, each column with hundreds of black feathery bodies. The skies are frequently filled with them and we find we could sit and watch them swirl slowly through the skies all day.

Tripometer – 9569 mi

Gas Gauge – 737.398 gal

Location – Soledad Canyon RV & Camping Resort, Acton, CA

Lodging – $50

Cans of OFF – 4

Starting fairly early on Saturday morning we parked our car in between the Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach in L.A. There is a beautiful bike and walking trail that travels between these two locations and provides us with the perfect place for a nice Saturday afternoon stroll.

Santa Monica Pier was exactly as we’d expected, being more amusement park than anything else. The wandering performers of every type and skill level kept us simultaneously entertained and horrified. You’d think some of these folks would practice in a mirror or on a recording before coming out in public to demonstrate their skills (or lack thereof.)

The walk from Santa Monica to Venice Beach was beautiful. A constant stream of bikes and electric scooters plied back and forth beside us as we walked enjoying the beach air and sunshine, our cold bones finally thawing in the California sun. It is readily apparent why this boardwalk is so often featured in pictures and movies.

Venice Beach was by far the most interesting destination for the day. Known as a magnet for local artists and street vendors we had pictured an art festival type atmosphere to the boardwalk on Venice Beach. What we found was somewhat different. There is a striking wealth gap amongst the people on Venice beach, the haves and the have nots. The artisans spanned the range from the truly gifted to the truly mentally disturbed, many of whom were living and sleeping mere feet from their art on the sidewalk. The smell of marijuana was so strong that we both felt a little lightheaded before we began the walk back to the car in the evening. What we found to be most disturbing were the number of people sorting through garbage cans for their next meal. Our assumption is that the warm and consistent weather attracts the homeless to the area.

One of the things we have been looking forward to the most during our visit to the SW US is the food. We are both big fans of Mexican food and this is probably one of the best parts of the US to experience really top notch Mexican grub. Tonight was our first foray into local Mexican at the Cabana restaurant near the campground. We were richly rewarded with a fantastic dinner of chicken mole and cheese enchiladas. We went to bed tonight with warm round bellies and lots of leftovers.

Tripometer – 9458 mi

Gas Gauge – 737.398 gal

Location – Soledad Canyon RV & Camping Resort, Acton, CA

Lodging – $50

Cans of OFF – 4

Ranger woke up this morning a new dog. THANK GOD. Apparently we managed to break our dog with car rides and lack of sleep (he still will not sleep a wink while the car is moving). He is back to his old self again and acting like a full blown puppy.

After Kelly finished work this afternoon we jumped in the car and headed into L.A. Our first destinations were Bel Air and Beverly Hills. We both really enjoy looking at beautiful homes and properties and this looks to be one of the fanciest neighborhoods that either of us have ever seen. We found Bel Air to be interesting but most of the homes are relatively spartan on the street front, most of the value of these homes is in the location relative to L.A. and the tremendous views from the back of the houses. The streets we were driving down ride the ridges of several hills in Bel Air and all of the homes seem to be cantilevered over the edge of the hills to get the best view of the surrounding valleys. Most of the homes appear to be relatively modestly sized but we imagined the interiors to be fantastic.

Beverly Hills turned out to be all we expected. Having no taste for expensive for expensive’s sake, we weren’t looking forward to spending any time in Beverly Hills or in any of the shops along Rodeo Drive. We did enjoy some of the cars we saw driving through the area. It was like a car show watching Rolls Royces, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and even a McLaren drive casually down the streets here. We both really enjoyed the ‘Witches House’ pictured above. The house could well have sprung from the pages of a children’s book of fairy tales.

The homes in Beverly Hills were much more attractive to look at than those in Bel Air. Spaced farther apart with room for landscaping, these homes were spectacular. We saw a fairly wide range of ages on these homes. Some were from the early days of Beverly Hills in the 1920s, but most have either been refurbished several times since then or completely torn down and rebuilt. We were both shocked at the continuous buzz of maintenance and renovation companies working on these homes and yards. There seemed to be much more work truck traffic than residential traffic in the streets.

We discovered a little unexpected gem right in the heart of Beverly Hills. About 200 yards down from the Beverly Hills sign that Kelly and Ranger posed in front of was an amazing little cactus garden that is very lovingly maintained (I wonder where they get all of the money to pay for this??!?). We all enjoyed a nice walk through the garden looking at many types of cactuses that neither of us had ever seen before. We’re both very excited to immerse ourselves into the desert southwest. The cactus garden was a welcome start to this area’s ecology. Ranger is none too impressed with the prickly plants. As an interesting side note, the dog poop bags available just outside of the cactus garden were the uber-expensive, thick plastic, and perfumed type. Not just scented, these were highly-perfumed, likely with Chanel we joked. We grabbed a few of those tiny luxuries before we got back in the car to head on down the road.

Not finding enough to occupy ourselves with in the uber-rich area of Bel Air and Beverly Hills, we drove to Hollywood Boulevard in search of the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Hollywood sign. We’re not sure what we expected but we both quickly realized that all of the songs we’ve heard over the years referring to both Sunset Strip and Hollywood Boulevard as ‘dirty’ were not just referring to social and figurative filth. Hollywood is one dirty city. We had intended to walk the walk of fame looking at the Hollywood stars, but honestly the sheer quantity of in-your-face drug use and homeless people stopped us from looking for a place to park. Paul spent the drive trying to read some names on stars as we drove slowly down the boulevard. After exclaiming that he had found Betty Davis’ star Kelly remarked snidely that she was sure Betty would probably not approve of the homeless man brushing his teeth over a trashcan next to her star.

The highlight of Hollywood for us was the discovery of Hollywoodland. The Hollywood sign that we are all familiar with originally said ‘Hollywoodland’ as an advertisement for this housing community nestled up in a canyon just North of Hollywood Boulevard. We discovered the area when we drove into the neighborhood to hopefully grab a better picture of the Hollywood sign. The homes here were so much more interesting and comfortable feeling than any we had seen in either Bel Air or Beverly Hills. Many of the houses were in the Tudor style and made us both feel as though we were in the hills outside of London.

Tonight’s drive back to our canyon campground was our first experience with rush hour traffic in L.A. In the picture above you can see nine lanes of backed up traffic all not moving in the same direction. We won’t be griping about traffic jams in other cities for a while.