Wednesday, October 28, 2009

27 October


San Diego, CA


Route 66 was our 'mission' in coming to the US this time. We've had a few side trips and distractions along the way, but yesterday we finished the 2400 mile trip from Chicago to LA with a long hard haul through more than 140km of LA 'burbs from San Bernardino to the official end of old Route 66 at the corner of Olympic and Lincoln in Santa Monica. Not much of a spot this 'real end' of Old 66! A bit sad really. The more popular way to end the trip is at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd and Ocean Ave, near the Santa Monica Pier. So we did that too.


The trip from East to West across LA 'overland' (not on freeways) is an experience in itself. Not as difficult a drive as one might imagine, just a slow, 4 hour slog through hundreds of traffic lights, it was a bit like driving from the Valley in Brisbane to Chermside along Gympie Road, for 140kms. Or, for Sydney folk, imagine the same distance along the inner city parts of Paramatta Road!


With a few hours left in the day, we decided to head off towards San Diego, to visit the Wild Animal Park at Escondido - freeways this time and altogether another thing, with seven or eight lanes, packed with traffic, moving at anything from 0 kph to 140 kph! Given that we drove out from LAX north to Sacramento on our arrival, we have now traversed LA from East to West and North to South. Betcha not too many people can say that!


Tonight, we are in a dodgy area of inner San Diego just under the enormous bridge that spans the harbour. We began out day at the Wild Animal Park, a most worthwhile experience, like Dubbo, except we were able to get a bit closer to the animals by taking the guided “train” tour through the Park. Having ticked that, we arrived early afternoon in San Diego, so walked into the city, through an area occupied by homeless people. After a tour of the USS Midway (Aircraft Carrier) and a stroll through the Gaslamp area of Downtown, (Woo! Hoo! – an alive Downtown!) we ran the gauntlet of the rapidly darkening streets and the homeless, who now were setting up their tents, to reach the relative safety of our motel.....


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