Day 4

We headed out for a L.A driving tour at 9am with Jess as our tour guide. Traffic was light, as it was early on a Saturday morning, which made driving around L.A much more desirable! We saw the popular sites of Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica Pier, Beverly Hills, Hollywood Sign, Sunset Blvd, Mulholland Drive (gorgeous views from top of hill and could see Justin Timerlake's house), and the Walk of Fame. We wanted to check out IN and OUT Burger for lunch as we don't have them over on the east coast. Wheeler informed us of the secret orders you can make that are not on the menu such as the “Protein Burger” which instead of the bun has a lettuce wrap. After enjoying our chow we hit the road bound for Death Valley!

The drive to Death Valley was one that I have always wanted to do. Civilization, Mcdonald's, traffic, dwindling in the dust. The quick transition from L.A's hustle and bustle to desolate desert was impressive. Before you know it you are surrounded by hills of desert rock, sparse towns, and a sense of calming loneliness. As you enter the Death Valley region, the land around you becomes extreme. Beautiful mountains in the distance, windy roads, extreme elevation changes, and blistering heat make this drive quite the experience. I can say without hesitation that Death Valley was one of the most unique, but extraordinary, places that I have ever been. I love extremes. I have always loved world records so to experience Death Valley, one of the hottest places on the planet, let me feel the extreme. We stopped at the small town of Stovepipe Wells, which was at exactly sea level. The temperature was 120 in the shade. You feel like a giant blow dryer is engulfing your whole body. It scorches your being but in way feels very good as well. We were as high as 9,000 feet above sea level and as far below as 280 feet below sea level. We all felt like we were on the moon or another planet because of the way the rock formations looked in their shape, composition, and color. We also passed some impressive Sahara-like sand dunes that enhanced the landscape as well. Leaving Death Valley, I felt thoroughly satisfied of my experience on this trip, but also excited that the lights of Vegas would soon be shining through on the horizon!

Love or hate Vegas, it is so stimulating, and there is a buzz in the air that eliminates "boredom" from your vocabulary. We arrived in Vegas at around 10pm and checked into the Flamingo, which is centrally located on the strip, but also has an 80's Miami Vice feel to it. We were pleasantly surprised by our room, which appeared to be recently renovated with a nice flatscreen tv, stylish bathroom, and unbelievable view of the Strip. The lack of the Flamingo-themed pink also helped! We walked around casinos a bit and decided to play some Roulette. Learning from past experiences I quit while I was ahead, and ended up $50 for the night! Woohoo! Great Day!

Day 3

We awoke at 7:30 and showered/dressed/checked out of our motel. Breakfast was on our minds as we stumbled into the Cowgirl Cafe in a neighboring town of Pismo Beach. Bacon, Sausage, eggs, pancakes, and coffee provided the fuel that would power me through the day. Our next stop was the Cottonwood Canyon Winery off of Route 101. We enjoyed a tasting of many different wines ranging from Chardonnay to Pinot Noir to a Port-like dessert wine. The wines were quite tasty, although I never can distinguish between all of the subtle flavors in each taste that they advertise. I bought a bottle of the 2001 Chardonnay to enjoy at a future hotel on road trip USA! We left the winery and headed to Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara is a great town! It has nice beaches, a clean vibe with a lot of Spanish influence in its architecture, and nice people. We decided to walk along the waterfront for a bit but quickly changed our mind when we saw that we could rent surreys! Surreys look like golf carts but with no floor and instead pedals are in place so they look kind of like a Flinstones car. We rented one for an hour and had a ball riding up and down the bike path along the beaches. We had a hard time maneuvering it at first but got the hang of it. Despite the fact we looked like foolish idiots, we had a great time! After finishing, we took a quick walk up the main street, and then headed back to the rental car and left for L.A. We stayed on route 1 so we could stay along the coast and drive through Malibu. Malibu was disappointing as it just seemed like a generic beach town with no character. We arrived at our friends Jess and Wheeler's place and went out for a nice Italian Dinner. After a refreshing dessert of Gelato, we headed back to their place for some R&R. It was great to spend time with them and we think they should move back to Boston ASAP!

Day 2

We woke up early to start our trip down the Cali Coast on Route 1. After a nice breakfast provided by Uncle Paul we were on our way. The drive from Redwood City to Route 1 on the coast was a gorgeous drive through groves of Redwoods, hairpin turns, and dramatic elevation changes. The girls were a little nauseous because of the constant turns. Once we made it to the coast, we stopped at Bean Hollow State Park and dipped our feet in the Pacific Ocean (felt like Maine water!). Southward we meandered, driving through Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Carmel before entering the famous Big Sur area. Considered one of the gorgeous coastal drives in the world, it did not dissapoint!! Breathtaking views of a rugged coastline, dramatic hills, and treacherous curves made it a unique experience. Recent wildfires showed their punch by huge areas of burnt forest as well as a smoky smell in the air. We enjoyed a lunch of PBJ sandwiches at Phiffer Beach which had some cool natural arches, big waves, and unique rock formations. We then made our way down the coast and stopped at SLO (San Luis Obispo) which is a very cool California coastal town. They close down their main street for a Farmer's market/live music/vendor event every Thursday evening which coincidentally was when we were rolling through! Indulgence was my crime here as I stuffed myself with BBQ ribs, beans, garlic bread and then some Frozen Yogurt with a plethora of candy toppings! The frozen yogurt place was called Yogurt Creations and I will be starting my own when I get back to Cambridge. You can take as much yogurt as you like and add any combination of toppings/sauce as you would like and you pay by the weight. Nonfat yogurt and the self-service touch would make this place a hotspot in Cambridge! After dinner we drove down the coast a bit further searching for a motel for the night. We ended up staying at Shell Beach Motel in Pismo Beach. This room was a little tight for 4 of us but adequate for these tired road trippers! There was a little sign on the door that said “Siren information: If you hear a siren sounding for 3-5 solid minutes than tune to the radio to 900 or 1500AM. The funny thing is that at 11pm what should we hear blaring outside but some kind of siren/alarm. We had NO idea what that sound meant but it definitely perked our interest! Dan and Emily threw on some clothes and headed out to the car to investiage via the radio. Of course all they heard was Opera/ Talk radio and the alarm stopped after 5 minutes so it remains a mystery the purpose of the noise! Dan and I think that the liquor store next door was just getting robbed or something.

Day 1

After a 4:30AM wakeup call, $40 dollar station wagon taxi ride, painless check-in/security, Dunkin' Donuts breakfast sandwich, and fun in the airport convenience store, we boarded our Jetblue flight bound for Oakland, CA at 7:10am! The flight was fun for me as I love flying and tolerable for my less-enthusiastic companions. After 2 hours of Saved by the Bell repeats, Sportscenter, napping, window-watching, and other mindless activities, we landed on time to begin our adventure!


We got our luggage and boarded the BART bound for the Civic Center San Francisco to track down our rental car at Alamo.....Here is where things were not so easy. We spent the next hour walking around a not-so-tourist-friendly area of SF with all of our luggage trying to find Vilencia Street and our rental car! Calls to Alamo proved to be unsuccessful as they were the national operators and had no clue how to navigate the streets of SF. We assumed the agency would be located next to the Civic Center as its name had Civic Center in its title! Nope! After an hour trek, Monica, dropping her vibrating neck pillow probably claimed by on of SF's homeless, countless wrong turns and conflicting information from local residents, we found our Alamo! A 2008 red Ford Fusion was waiting for us. We had requested a Nissan Altima but they say they provide that vehicle or a "comparable" one so I guess the Ford Fusion would have to suffice! It was roomy enough, had an AUX port for the ipod, big trunk, and drove smoothly.



Our first order of business was LUNCH. Had a great Crab Cake Sandwich to satisfy my lack-of-a-meal-onboard hunger. We then explored Fisherman's Wharf, which is San Fran's tourist trap. With views of Alcatraz, tons of shops and restaurants, the famous Sea Lions, and more, it was fun to explore despite the throngs of people. We then walked down the embarcadero and headed to Ghiradelli Square (mmmm chocolate) to enjoy heaping mounds of ice cream even though we ordered smalls. Thoroughly exhausted, we decided to get back into the car and head to my Uncle Paul's for the night in Redwood city, which took an hour with the rush-hour traffic. Paul fed us a great meal of Venison Stew, salad, ice cream with mango for dessert and some delicious wine. Sleep invaded my brain as my head hit the pillow and thus ended our 1st day of Road Trip 08!