No 56k: How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us or public goes america (photodump)

[public]

GREETINGS

A little while ago we did the long-awaited bookings of tickets and ended up in LA via Copenhagen, accommodated by the amiable altoid. Since I had my camera with me, along with my phone, I ended up taking some 2000 photos during the ten-day trip. I whittled it all down to less than 80, and here are the ones I figured were worth posting with comments. There's a ton of pics, but you have a scroll bar, right?

Copenhagen first:

Then, after a 12-hour layover and a ten-hour flight with included airport serious business (and a good night's sleep):

Beautiful In'N'Out!

Bagels, yes please. We had them all, with *small* cups of coffee.

The police station from Last Action Hero...

And a post office.

Altoid and his lovely girlfriend. They were the kindest people.

BAYWATCH

This is the Aveo we got. It's even a manual one.

Boats. Birds. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.

A BLARO

With some Swedish chemical weapons. We all nearly died.

Nakatomi Plaza!

This is the view from there.

Then we drove north.

The Yalama Beach Caf? in Lompoc was lovely. Just the kind of diner I wanted to go to.

San Simeon Bay.

Sea elephant dudebros.

Pacific Coast Highway...

Some RV:s in there, too.

We wanted to go to the lighthouse but couldn't.

Lombard Street, San Francisco.

I did have the chowder in a bread bowl.

TRANSAMERICA

CISAMERICA?

Tasty oysters. I had the cheapest ones.

The following day was kinda grey.

Hipster breakfast.

Golden Gate, in the fog.

A quick drive via I-5.

Hollywood, here we are.

Swapped vehicles and drove to the sunset.

LA as seen from the Griffith Observatory.

Griffith Observatory as seen from the balcony.

Modesty!

The brilliant human being that is altoid.

Mediterranean lunch and Throwback Pepsi.

Borrowing altoid's miatoid for a little while.

Culver Hotel, Culver City.

Inside Flynn's Arcade.

The other compact car we got.

Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach.

America means motion blurred ambulances in action.

We did go there.

Ah, nice beers. I had the 90 Minute by Dogfish.

Tender Greens is the best.

So is In'N'Out.

Perhaps a coast-to-coast drive in a camper next?

 

[altoid]

 

[CraigB]

Very cool. What did you think about driving the 1-ton Ram dually?

 

[public]

Unladen, it's a bit bumpy on an unevenly surfaced freeway like the I-405 at 60mph. By a bit bumpy, I thought I was going to catch air. But it's awesome, it's such a huge thing and yet picks up speed without complaints. This one had the 6.7-litre Cummins turbodiesel and the Aisin 6-speed auto.

 

[Dr_Grip]

Nice pics! Anna and I did almost the same trip in 2012, except for us meeting skidd and Emarline instead of altoid and Blake.

Our next US trip will be Chicago -> St. Louis -> Mempis -> NYC in October.

EDIT: I also approve of your girlfriend's haircut.

 

[public]

Nice pics! Anna and I did almost the same trip in 2012, except for us meeting skidd and Emarline instead of altoid and Blake.

Our next US trip will be Chicago -> St. Louis -> Mempis -> NYC in October.

EDIT: I also approve of your girlfriend's haircut.

"They're ok, I wouldn't say they're nice."

I approve of the haircut too! And your trip idea sounds pretty dang excellent. I think we should fly back to SF at some point and drive north from there...

 

[Heathrow]

Great shots, thanks for posting!

I hope you had a run down Lombard St., I did when I was there but only as a passenger.

Also, I think that the Griffith Observatory has featured in some movie too, maybe a 1950s James Dean one or something. :?

 

[altoid]

Also, I think that the Griffith Observatory has featured in some movie too, maybe a 1950s James Dean one or something. :?

As you may expect, public was well aware of this: http://www.jamescamerononline.com/TheTerminatorLocations1.htm

 

[public]

Good job I didn't care much for the other locations, we wouldn't have gotten anywhere else

I hope you had a run down Lombard St., I did when I was there but only as a passenger.

We just walked there a bit, it was kinda crowded already early Thursday morning.

 

[Heathrow]

Probably a bit of a tourist trap, hence lots busy.

As you may expect, public was well aware of this: http://www.jamescamerononline.com/TheTerminatorLocations1.htm

Ah that one too and many others it seems.

This one that was lurking in my memory:
(I had to look it up.)

Film
The observatory was featured in two major sequences of the celebrated James Dean film Rebel Without a Cause (1955), which helped to make it an international emblem of Los Angeles. A bust of Dean was subsequently placed at the west side of the grounds.

 

[Viper007Bond]

I think we should fly back to SF at some point and drive north from there...

Come say hi!

Big Sur and all of the Northern California / Oregon coast is absolutely beautiful: http://www.viper007bond.com/tag/san-diego-road-trip-2012/

 

[CraigB]

Unladen, it's a bit bumpy on an unevenly surfaced freeway like the I-405 at 60mph. By a bit bumpy, I thought I was going to catch air. But it's awesome, it's such a huge thing and yet picks up speed without complaints. This one had the 6.7-litre Cummins turbodiesel and the Aisin 6-speed auto.

That's always been the trade off with heavy duty trucks, the ride can be pretty bad without some weight in the truck.

 

[altoid]

Big Sur and all of the Northern California / Oregon coast is absolutely beautiful: http://www.viper007bond.com/tag/san-diego-road-trip-2012/

This guy knows his shit.

California in and south of the Bay Area is what people think of the most, and is kind of the "heart" of California. However, going north yields amazing views, all through Vancouver, BC (and probably even further, but I've never been). Both Oregon and Washington have stunning views that are worth seeing unless you hate nature.

 

[M3lover]

I think we should fly back to SF at some point and drive north from there...

My parents did that last year (SF -> Seattle) and were pretty happy with it. But do it in August or September since the weather is much nicer that time around. My parents went in June and had a lot of fog, so they didn't get to enjoy the views as much.

 

[sifu]

great dump!

 

[_HighVoltage_]

Excellent thread! How good is In'n'Out though, right?

 

[public]

Excellent thread! How good is In'n'Out though, right?

For the money, for the service, for the experience it's very good. My GF has a hard time deciding what to order, anywhere: but in In'N'Out, there are three burgers to choose from and that's it.

I didn't tell her about the secret menu.

 

[_HighVoltage_]

I've been to restaurants that serve $10 burgers that taste a lot worse.