Cambria to Brea (Los Angeles), Friday, 3 August 2012, Day 60

Hearst Castle

Well I made it to Hearst Castle and as expected I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I spent all morning there, I did the Upstairs Suites Tour as I had been here twice before so I thought I try to see another part of the castle this time.

Hearst Castle

              

      

      

I love this place the pure decadence of the place is amazing and obscene all at the same time. I managed to get away at 2pm and I started making my way to Richards in LA. The GPS reckoned I would get there at 6.30pm so I thought at a leisurely pace should be there by 8.30pm with a stop for lunch and any shiny objects I saw along the way. It turned out slightly different as I did not calculate on LA Friday night rush hour traffic. Bloody hell after driving around on empty roads for nigh on 2 months this is a complete mind f**k I am trying to following the GPS which is telling me I need to be in the left lane of 8 lanes and I am in the right lane of 8 lanes and traffic all around me in total grid lock. You are allowed to filter in the state of California but with all my luggage on the back I have a huge arse on the bike so this is quite difficult so I am not getting anyway fast. The trick I find is to ride aggressively and just to hammer it like the locals do and that seem to work but it needs a lot of confidence and the road surface are also crap with lots of banding so I am fighting that as well.

I get to Richards at 8.30pm right on schedule except the schedule was completely different from the original plan. Its time to fall of the wagon after that experience and Richard had a cold beer waiting for me it will be the first of many as I have been dry for 60 days so there is a lot of catching up to do. Cold Beer mmmm lekker! We headed straight out to a Chinese for dinner and then we hit a few more bars before crashing on the Richard sofa at about 2.30am ish I am knackered , slightly pissed and happy a good night of catch up with Richard the perfect host Mi casa est tu casa 🙂

Brea (Los Angeles), Sunday, 5 August 2012, Day 62

LA Mural cool

Wow another kip in I have got the place to myself as Richard has gone to take his son for swimming lessons so I am just hanging round the flat doing some work on the PC and uploading and downloading photos not realising that I had used all of Richards bandwidth allowance for the full month in one morning oops sorry mate presumed it was unlimited. Richard got back at 2pm so we decided to hit LA downtown first the market for some Mexican tacos for lunch and then wandering all over LA downtown just being a tourist. I have been to LA a couple of time before but I never stayed or went near the downtown I always hung out in Santa Monica Hollywood etc. which I think is what most people do which is a shame as downtown LA is a great place as well and spent a great afternoon in some weird and fascinating bars and just wandering around.

Downtown LA

That evening we went to free open-air concert in Pasadena to see the famous saxophonist called Ernie Watts yep you guessed it I had never heard of him either but a cool venue and pleasant way to spend a Sunday evening. Then we hit another bar so you could say I have officially fallen of the wagon but the company is excellent. Another late night as we pulled out the maps when we got back to Richard trying to figure out where I am going to go next still I am still not sure other than

Las Vegas Baby 🙂

Downtown LA

 

Brea (Los Angeles) to Las Vegas, Monday, 6 August 2012, Day 63

Las Vegas Baby 🙂

A slow start I wonder why? and its hot, hot, hot breakfast at Kimmi’s again and I said Tata to my wonderful host Richard. Thanks for a fantastic weekend and letting me hijack your weekend at such short notice I had a great time and I loved LA. We covered some miles but I appreciate that and thanks for showing me your LA I loved it I am not sure I want to leave I am totally regenerated and ready for the rest of my trip Las Vegas here I come.

Traffic a lot easier than on Friday but god it is hot the thermometer just hit 100 Fahrenheit, which is 37 centigrade later in Baker it rose to 114 Fahrenheit which is 45 centigrade in full bike kit bugger me dehydrated (Could it be all that beer I have been drinking? I will blame the heat) I decided to drive straight to Las Vegas as I had no energy for scenic roads so Freeway all the way. I found a cheap Motel just of the strip with a pool, which I needed so as soon as I had checked I did my beached whale impersonations in the Pool. Still hot but it’s a dry hot so did a small walk into town to get my first flavour of Las Vegas. More later