Blurt's Great American Post-Labour-Day Road Trip

[Lily]

Great pics! Love them...you all covered a lot of territory.

What did you like the best, did anything disappoint you? Any other observations you want to make?

 

[Blurt]

I guess, being the urban sort, I really enjoyed the major cities we visited. Loved San Francisco. Seattle, too. I would've liked to spend more time in L.A. but, unfortunately, we were already racing with the clock by then as we lingered on the Pacific Coast all the down the 1 and the 101.

Folks are.surprised when they learn we didn't make it to Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, nor to Yosemite (which, thanks to your former Commander-in-Chief, I now cannot help but pronounce as "Yo Semite"). In truth, this was just a first dip for me. A summary exploration of the American West. I'll be back. My passport expires in 2028. I have time. Id also like to do a tasting tour of Napa Valley. BC has some great wines, but Napa V. is legendary (this, from someone who's participated as a hired hand in the viticulture of the Bordeaux and Cahors regions of France).

I found the price of gas ridiculously cheap in some places and ridiculously expensive in others. That wild variation in the cost of fuel is puzzling, to say the least. I mean, $3.95 a gallon?!??! We pay $8 (CN) for a gallon of gas up here. The Republican focus on the price of gas seems based on a fiction to me.

Speaking of cheap. Our local grocery store had a sale on avocados last week: 2 for $4. Going down the central California coast on the PCH, I kept seeing roadside stands with signs enjoining driversby to come grab a basket of avocados fkr $1. Yeah, that's eight or nine avocados for a dollah. I thought it was a misprint, first time I saw such a sign.

Big Sur was amazing. We even went 40 miles down the PCH while knowing we'd face a dead end and would need to backtrack, just to admire the coast down there (the 1 was closed just past Big Sur, no reason given; we went anyway, especially seeing as gas was so cheap).

A lowlight? Eureka, our first city in California. Not a fan. Early morning (when we up and left), the downtown streets are peopled with the (extremely insistent) unhoused. We skedaddled outta there right quick.

Oh, yeah. We stopped in Santa Barbara, parked around the corner from the Visitor's Center just to pick up a bit of local info there. Came back around the corner to the car to find a traffic cop in the process of leaving a ticket on the windshield not two minutes after the meter expired. Two minutes. We tried to hail the guy but, when he saw us hurrying toward him, he hopped into his little traffic cop tuk-tuk and fucked off. Oh well. Another trip souvenir, I guess. (The ticket, US $63, was paid this week.)

These are quibbles, though. The trip was quite enjoyable. Trip odometer (from the BC-Washington border crossing and back again): 5,850 kilometers (or 3,635 miles in American numbers).

Next time, I'm taking a month off, not just ten days. So much to see.

 

[Lily]

I guess, being the urban sort, I really enjoyed the major cities we visited. Loved San Francisco. Seattle, too. I would've liked to spend more time in L.A. but, unfortunately, we were already racing with the clock by then as we lingered on the Pacific Coast all the down the 1 and the 101.

Folks are.surprised when they learn we didn't make it to Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, nor to Yosemite (which, thanks to your former Commander-in-Chief, I now cannot help but pronounce as "Yo Semite"). In truth, this was just a first dip for me. A summary exploration of the American West. I'll be back. My passport expires in 2028. I have time. Id also like to do a tasting tour of Napa Valley. BC has some great wines, but Napa V. is legendary (this, from someone who's participated as a hired hand in the viticulture of the Bordeaux and Cahors regions of France).

I found the price of gas ridiculously cheap in some places and ridiculously expensive in others. That wild variation in the cost of fuel is puzzling, to say the least. I mean, $3.95 a gallon?!??! We pay $8 (CN) for a gallon of gas up here. The Republican focus on the price of gas seems based on a fiction to me.

Speaking of cheap. Our local grocery store had a sale on avocados last week: 2 for $4. Going down the central California coast on the PCH, I kept seeing roadside stands with signs enjoining driversby to come grab a basket of avocados fkr $1. Yeah, that's eight or nine avocados for a dollah. I thought it was a misprint, first time I saw such a sign.

Big Sur was amazing. We even went 40 miles down the PCH while knowing we'd face a dead end and would need to backtrack, just to admire the coast down there (the 1 was closed just past Big Sur, no reason given; we went anyway, especially seeing as gas was so cheap).

A lowlight? Eureka, our first city in California. Not a fan. Early morning (when we up and left), the downtown streets are peopled with the (extremely insistent) unhoused. We skedaddled outta there right quick.

Oh, yeah. We stopped in Santa Barbara, parked around the corner from the Visitor's Center just to pick up a bit of local info there. Came back around the corner to the car to find a traffic cop in the process of leaving a ticket on the windshield not two minutes after the meter expired. Two minutes. We tried to hail the guy but, when he saw us hurrying toward him, he hopped into his little traffic cop tuk-tuk and fucked off. Oh well. Another trip souvenir, I guess. (The ticket, US $63, was paid this week.)

These are quibbles, though. The trip was quite enjoyable. Trip odometer (from the BC-Washington border crossing and back again): 5,850 kilometers (or 3,635 miles in American numbers).

Next time, I'm taking a month off, not just ten days. So much to see.

Highway 1 just south of Big Sur is closed due to landslide repair. The mountains there are prone to landslides. It happens fairly frequently along Highway 1.

Big Sur is breathtaking. I would recommend more time in LA as well, so much to see, including world class museums, and the La Brea Tar Pits. And if you do take a month off include San Diego and instead of Yosemite, consider Kings Canyon and/or Sequoia National Parks. They get about 1/10th of the amount of visitors. Last time I was at Kings Canyon we were by a large creek/small river when we encountered a lovely French family. It was notable to me because I immediately recognized they were speaking French but lamented that I wasn't able to communicate with them. They were also all thread gingers, which I didn't expect in a French family. They looked like they were from the UK (Scottish) or maybe Irish.

San Diego's zoo and wild animal park are worth some time and you're just a hop, skip and a jump from Tijuana, which has grown up a bit to offer some world class fare from what I understand. It's been years since I've been there. And Ensenada, Mx is also just a little bit from there.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, we are still a pretty terrific country in spite of our challenges.

 

[Blurt]

You are, I agree.

I tried pushing for San Diego and Tijuana, but, again, the clock, the clock.

Next time, though.

Thanks for the suggestions, Lil.

Still to see: the American Midwest and the Deep South.

 

[Murdy]

Big Sur and the Oregon coast are some of my favorite spots. Amazing photos!! @Blurt

 

[The Prowler]

There are a few nice pictures in there.

The ones with the Mustang make me laugh. Hahaha!

Who is the old, bald guy?

 

[cw_]

That's one CLEAN car!! (awesome pics!!! thx)

 

[Scooter]

Looking good, Blurt. Are you smoking Marlboro Reds?

 

[Lily]

Looking good, Blurt. Are you smoking Marlboro Reds?

Oh, he is a smoker. Well, no one is perfect...not even you @Blurt ;)

 

[Scooter]

I'm not criticizing. I'm a filthy motherfucker and Blurt knows it. LOL

 

[Lily]

I'm not criticizing. I'm a filthy motherfucker and Blurt knows it. LOL

I know you're not. It was me thinking "Oh no".

 

[Blurt]

Looking good, Blurt. Are you smoking Marlboro Reds?

Marlboro Reds, yes. 100's, to boot! Didn't even know those existed.

Been a pack-a-day smoker since I was 14. It's my one vice, I guess. I don't do drugs (not even pot), I rarely drink (the occasional glass of red), and I don't grab women by the pussy.

@The Prowler : "the old, bald guy" is yours truly.

 

[Lily]

Marlboro Reds, yes. 100's, to boot! Didn't even know those existed.

Been a pack-a-day smoker since I was 14. It's my one vice, I guess. I don't do drugs (not even pot), I rarely drink (the occasional glass of red), and I don't grab women by the pussy.

@The Prowler : "the old, bald guy" is yours truly.

That's not bald...

You have a receded/ing hairline.

I think the male pattern baldness that is unattractive looks like the images below and often starts when a man is young.

 

[Blurt]

Thanks, Lil. But my hairline, receding or not, is the least of my concerns. I'm 62. There are things about which, say, Hollywood, and I part ways; participating in the cult of eternal youth/beauty is one of them.

Sooner or later, everybody ages, everybody wrinkles up, everybody sags. I know it's not a very politic thing to say this publicly on a forum where everyone likes to pretend they still look like they did thirty years ago but it's the truth. The boys suck in their gut and comb over their ear hair (ha! good one, Lil!) and the girls put on their most fetching duck face, but time is the Master of us all and the grave our only destination.

In the meantime, I say "Have fun, be kind, make a difference where you can, try to leave the place better than you found it, and never be afraid to be a Bastard when the context calls for it."

 

[The Prowler]

In the meantime, I say "Have fun, be kind, make a difference where you can, try to leave the place better than you found it

Those are good thoughts.

Saying it and doing it are two very different things.