Road Trip at the West Coast US

Tuesday July 3rd we were ready for our trip. We are Ida, Ellen and me. The flight was pretty early in the morning so we had to get up at 4 am. One of the guys from the summer camp (Alexander, the one we were visiting in Amsterdam) joins us for the trip to Amsterdam. Then we were off to the US. One stop in Washington DC ( some trouble with the luggage here, but in the end it got fixed) then to LAX, California… We had been up more then 24 hours when we landed in LA, and then we had to get the rented car from AVIS and find our way to the hotel. We couldn’t have driven anywhere without the GPS, it was one of our best friends together with the car in the US. I was the first one to drive… At first we had some problems just to get the car to drive…. Hehe not used to the automatic cars, we drive a stick here in Norway. It was dark, a lot more cars then we are use to, and more lanes then I was used to…. But we made it, with help from everyone to watch out for red lights, cars on the side and where to go.

Wednesday, July 4th. The US Independence day. First day with American breakfast for this trip, we found the closest store – McDonalds. The breakfast in the states is a little different than what we are used to. For the most at our stay in the US we had pancakes for breakfast, in Norway we usually have darkish bread with different toppings, jams, hams, cheese, etc. or just cold cereal.

Idas turn to drive and we start out our day in Hollywood to look at the “stars”, Kodak Theater, and just the life. We join a limo trip to see the famous houses in LA, like Robbie Williams, Paris Hilton, the Playboy Mansion, George Michael etc. At the same tour we went to a sightseeing place to spot the Hollywood sign and the guide told us that once someone had climbed up there and change the two o’s to e’s: Hollyweed…

After Hollywood we headed out to the coast, Santa Monica Beach (Original Muscle beach) and Venice Beach (Now Muscle beach). Little more chilly here than in Hollywood. We went out to the Santa Monica Pier, and we ate at the Sidewalk café at Venice Beach. We were pretty disappointed that it was no firework on the beach that day. Big signs telling us they have cancelled the show…

July 5th, Thursday, we went to Universal Studios! Fun day. We started out at the horror hours, little too scary with people walking around dressed like horror people from movies, almost touching you. The Jurassic Park was awesome and very nice on a hot day;) (You got wet). We got to see an animal show, with animals they use in movies, i.e. Evan Almighty (we watched that one later the same evening at Universal Studio – City Walk). We got to see some of the sets they use in movies and some of the effects. There was a Shrek 4D show, a lot of fun!! We saw how they used some effects in movies, sounds, horrors, light, etc.

At the end of the day we ate yummy food (pesto, pasta and chicken) and watch the movie at the theater at Universal Studios.

July 6th, Friday, we went to Venice Beach for the first part of the day. Little chilly, but ok. No bathing, the water was as cold as Norwegian Sea at summer. Got a little tanned and we had lunch at the Sidewalk café again. Ellen had a wish to go shopping in the afternoon and that’s what we did. We drove in to Hollywood and parked at a valet parking place for an hour.

We all bought something at a store that sold any item for $ 15. I got me a black dress. That day we ate at Pollo Loco, a place close to the hotel.

July 7th, Saturday, we drove down to San Diego. On our way we stopped at Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach. We drove through Newport Beach so Ida got a look at the OC place;) At Huntington Beach we stopped by a Starbucks for some ice coffee – Java Chip Frappuccino for me. That day we ate at a 50’s-styled diner. Ruby’s Diner it was called. Very good food and it had cars outside from the 50’s and the whole building was decorated like a 50’s diner outside and inside.

When we came to the hotel in San Diego, we decided to make a trip to Tijuana, Mexico. A sign that said “the most visited city in the world” welcomed us. We didn’t do much there, looked around and Ida found her shot-glass she buys for every country/state she is in. We could walk right into Mexico, but back to the US we stayed about 3 hours in a passport control. Mexico was totally different; you could really tell it was a poor country.

In the evening we ate at Denny’s and I had Biscuit and gravy!! Haven’t had that since my US high school stay.

The next day, Sunday the 8th, we went to Sea World – little problems with the GPS to find the directions, but luckily we can read signs as well;) we saw three animal shows; dolphins i.e. Dolly, killer whales i.e. Shamu and sea lions. Awesome shows, and so cute animals. We got the chance to touch he dolphins if they would swim up to us, and we also got to touch bat rays – really weird and interesting. We walked through the shark encounter, sharks swimming above and around you while you walk in an acrylic tube. Ida and Ellen took one wet ride; the shipwreck Rapids. We all took the Sea World Sky Ride – awesome view! We spent the most of the day at Sea World. I hope the park treats the animals alright, and they have the space they need, we got a little worried about the polar bear, if they have it cold enough.

Both the Sunday and the next day Monday the 9th we ate at Aunt Emma’s Pancake house for breakfast, and it was yummy pancakes there. We drove to Las Vegas the 9th. We watch the temperature go higher and higher as we came closer to the dessert and Vegas. I think we were up to 113 F / 45 C once. We read signs on the road about turning off the A/C because of the heat – something that was new for us. A lot of cars don’t even have A/C here, at least the older ones. We stopped at Starbucks (one store we don’t have in Norway), Subway and McDonald for breaks on the way. The roads were pretty nice to drive on, just straight ahead. Little faster than what we’re used. No car problems so far and we were getting used to driving in the states.

We stayed at MGM Grand in Vegas, the biggest hotel – more than 5000 rooms! We stayed at the 28th floor!! At MGM Grand they even got live lions! Hopefully they have more space than we can see. At The Mirage they got a white Tiger, and in another hotel they got a shark reef. The beds at MGM were soo good, the best we had the whole trip and we even got real beddings, not just a sheet, but a comforter.

That evening we did some playing at the slots, Ellen even tried the Black Jack table and won! Ida and I got tired of gambling so we went outside to look at the water-show at Bellagio and we went inside the Ceasers Palace. The water-show was beautiful and we went back several times to watch it.

The next day, Tuesday the 10th we spent at the swimming pool, and we really needed the swimming pool. In the afternoon we went to the Stratosphere tower. Highest tower west for Mississippi River; 450 m / 1476,38 feet. And the fastest elevator at least in the States. Ida took the Big Shot, one out of the three thrill rides they offer at the top of the tower. After that we went to Roxy’s Diner to eat, live entertainment with songs from the 50’s. We planned to go out that evening, but we weren’t home before late so we decided to just stay at the hotel and relax and walk around there.

Wednesday the 11th we drove to Red Rock Canyon. Different landscape, but beautiful and interesting. At one of our stops in the dessert out car didn’t want to start. We tried several times, but nope nothing happened. Luckily there were two guys who could help us out and finally it started and we got back at the hotel, but it died again. We had to spend several hours to get the AVIS people to come and help us, but in the end we got to the rental place and they gave us a new car at once. The old one was a Chevrolet and bigger than the new Chrysler we got. I think I liked the big one the best, but that’s probably because I’m used to bigger cars. The good thing is that we got a full tank of gas included when we got the new car!

That evening we went out. Ida and I bough one huge drink (strawberry daiquiri) each (I think is must have been almost 1 liter) and one jelly shot (never tasted one before, and oh it was strong). All three of us went to Studio 54. Ok place, but I would like it to be more mix of music. In Lonely Planet it said girls go for free, not true, we had to pay $10.

July 12th was out last day to relax at the swimming pool. In the afternoon we walked around at the different hotels at “The Strip”. We actually were out like 6 hours or so. We had to go inside from time to time to cool down.

July 13th, Friday, we were headed back to LA to return the car. Our first plan was to take a detour to Zion National Park, but we figured out it would be a too long trip. So we drove by Hoover Dam, and got another state to visit as well! The two last days we found a place which sold cold cereal for breakfast!! Yay, we were a little tired of the American food.
We stopped by TGI Friday before we returned the car at AVIS, awesome food, we all ordered Alfredo pasta with chicken. We spent the last night at a hotel close to the LAX. We renamed the hotel type to mostel – mix between motel and hostel – we didn’t really like it there, looked shabby and one of the beds were not whole, it was actually possible to fall through it. But we were only staying one night so it was ok.

We got to sleep in a little the next day before our flight home. Direct flight from LAX to Frankfurt, wait 2 hours and then the flight home!! Idas parents were flying in that day as well, so we waited at a pizza place for them to come about an hour later.

Well all together it was a fabulous trip. The driving was ok after a little while when you get use to the car and the traffic, and it’s always nice to help each other out. It was a great experience and I got a ton of new pictures!!

A thing to remember for next time, is that Lufthansa has bad entertainment for long flights. You need KLM or British airlines. You need GPS when driving in LA if you don’t know your way around. Different rules when driving that we figured out: you can turn right on red light if no ones coming. They pass you on both sides, not just your left side, they got a lot of stop signs and less yield, no roundabouts, a lot of double yellow line that we didn’t like at all…

I got more pictures at Facebook for the ones who has that...