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| THE END OF THE ROAD |
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| BEVERLY HILLS BUS |
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| HOLLYWOOD SIGN IN DISTANCE |
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| MY FAVOURITE FILM STAR |
The terrain changed from desert to mountainous as we approached San Bernardino. From there it was a relatively short drive past Pasadena and along Santa Monica Boulevard to the Pier, where Route 66 ends. Short in distance, maybe, but not short in duration as we became embroiled in the notoriously dense Los Angeles traffic. Cars were just nose-to-tail all the way in. Traffic this bad usually only occurs in the UK when there has been an accident, but here it's normal. I was just thankful that I wasn't driving. When we finally got to Santa Monica Pier, we just did a drive-by as there was nowhere we could park.
Damien took us to our final hotel and we shared a celebratory bottle of Californian 'Champagne' to celebrate our arrival. Later that evening we said our farewells before going our separate ways.
My 'separate way' was to be picked up by bus at 8.30am next morning for a tour of LA. Serendipitously, the tour started at Santa Monica Pier, so I was able to take a picture of the 'West End of Route 66' sign that we had failed to get the previous day.
To avoid confusion, the tour-bus driver made clear that LA is a county that contains 88 cities, and one of those cities is also called LA. Other cities in LA County include Beverley Hills, West Hollywood, Burbank, Paramount, Claremont and Bel Air, etc. The total population of LA County is 10 million and they have about 7 million cars, less than I would have thought considering the congestion.
Leaving the pier, we drove up Sunset Boulevard to Beverley Hills to look at the outside of homes in which the stars live or have lived. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Shirley Temple and Charlie Chaplin all got a mention. I found this a bit of a yawn, but judging from all the oohs and aahs coming from others on the tour bus, I was probably in the minority here.
Next, we drove to a place where we could get a good view of the famous Hollywood sign. We weren't that close so I wasn't very impressed with that either. Finally, we went to have a look at the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I liked the Bugs Bunny 'star' best.
So, I had a spin around LA and had seen the essential sights, but why anyone would want to live here beats me. The bus driver dropped me off at the airport in the afternoon to catch my flight to San Francisco.
The flight took an hour. The security and baggage collection processes each end took about four. I noted that security staff had opened and rummaged through my checked-in luggage from the fact that they hadn't done all the straps up afterwards. Nothing missing though, and they did leave an apologetic note inside.
I got from San Francisco Airport to the city centre using the Airtrain and BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) which is what they call their subway system. My first impression when I came out of the station was not good. Lots of down-and-outs, some begging, and a smell of pee.
I walked to my lodgings for the night - the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway. Tomorrow I would be picked up for my second multi-day tour which would involve camping in the National Parks.
