...And the Wanderlust chronicles roll on. (pts. I, II, III, IV, & V)
My first memory of the day Kate and I spent traveling through Central California tickles me, in retrospect, of being so stereotypically Californian. It was an exceedingly sun-kissed late spring morning. While backtracking east from Fairfield for a bit in search of State Highway 99 (which we were advised to use as our gateway to Los Angeles rather than the beaten path of every other California traveler, I-5), we took a couple of wrong turns. I can assure you that being lost had never felt so downright pleasant. We happened upon some sort of small village that was straight out of any given Sublime song.There were people on bikes weaving around the moderate automobile traffic. Other people were yelling from competing fruit stands for our business. The streets, extremely narrow and devoid of any sort of guardrail, ran directly alongside a small canal. As in, instead of the roadway having a shoulder, it just dropped right into the canal. One shifty move and we would probably end up in that canal. We eventually regained our bearings, but only now did we truly feel like we had reached California.
As we eventually made our way over to State Highway 99, preconceived notions of California continued to be affirmed. Firstly, we quickly came to understand why California's official nickname is "the Golden State." This is what a significant portion of our drive through the heart of the state looked like:
FULL DISCLOSURE: We completely disregard the Gold Rush of 1849 and the existence of the Golden Gate Bridge as potential sources for the nickname. Sure, the above picture looks like it could easily have been shot in Nevada, but in California, shit just looked gold. We could feel a small transition from the West to the West Coast creeping in. We stopped at a fresh fruit stand directly off the highway in the early afternoon. I can still taste the fresh cherries I bought that day as we speak. Succulent. Juicy. Fresh. Californian. Safe to say my cherry had been popped.
We would observe more fruit along the way:
The best thing about driving on State Highway 99 was the immediacy of the surroundings. As opposed to driving on an interstate, which often operates as a bubble and can feel like driving through one really long, isolated tunnel, 99 just felt like a drive through California that we participated in. We were able to feel the Central California Valley and the abundant rows of fruit and the golden mountains.
99 did not go on forever, though. We couldn't even ride it directly into Los Angeles since it merges with I-5 about 60 miles north of the city. Late afternoon is when we merged, and shortly after the merge is when I could start to feel the West ending. The checkpoint I revisit in my mind is Pyramid Lake:
Up until to this point, it felt like Road Trip 2011 had been one big uphill drive. Yes, even-level plateaus are included in the sentiment of "uphill drive". But after Pyramid Lake, it was 56 miles of downhill driving straight into downtown Los Angeles. I had never experienced such a direct descent. And the farther we got from Pyramid Lake, the more familiar the surroundings began to feel. The clustered commerce. Exits that were less than a mile apart. Aggressive drivers.
 |
| Descent. |
A significant difference between coasts, however, is the sheer amount of space there seems to be to work with on the West Coast. Los Angeles was my first real experience with a sprawling city. The city's roads exemplify this. There just seem to be hundreds of traffic lanes everywhere you go. Luckily, Kate's ex-roommate Michelle, who we stayed with for a few nights in Huntington Beach, deftly navigated as we explored.
We were provided with a diverse tour throughout our short stay in Southern California. The usual stops of Disney Land and In-and-Out Burger (BEST FAST FOOD EVER) were included. We also surveyed the Hollywood section of the city, which was not at all what I envisioned as a child watching Disney films. Two adjectives that stick out to me about Hollywood, CA: dank and ghetto. I guess this is growing up. My personal Hollywood-related highlight was coming across a large crowd gathering for the premier of Jim Carrey's Mr. Popper's Penguins. I was unable catch a glimpse of one of my favorite comedic actors, however. Which obviously left me with a sour impression of Hollywood.
We also had a few run-ins with the Pacific Ocean; my first experience looking west at an ocean from the beach. Speaking of the beach, we also attended a drum circle on Venice Beach. For the unacquainted, it looked a little like this:
Front and center was the Kenny Powers of Venice Beach. I learned on that day that a drum circle is a bunch of hippies gathered on a beach "playing" percussive music, probably pursuing solidarity and unity. Safe to say I did not pursue those virtues on this day. The silver lining: Sunset over the Pacific Ocean:
Our last full day in the Golden State was probably the highlight for me. We spent it hiking through some lush mountains outside the Los Angeles sprawl. A common theme of Road Trip 2011: I fucking love mountains and deserts.
 |
| Kate and Mich wandering into the wilderness. |
_________________________________________________________________________________
BONUS MATERIAL:
Since I've Been Gone a Long Time from the pages of this blog, I wanted to throw the following tidbit into this post. Completely unrelated to the Wanderlust chronicles. Last year at the start of baseball season I wrote an extremely lengthy preview piece on the 2013 season. Although my love for baseball has been completely unwavering, it took a lot of time to write. And since I'm not a real sportswriter, I was not compensated for my time. So, the following is for the few readers that click on my sports posts. But mostly for myself to reference at the end of the season. It is currently May 15th, a full month-and-a-half into the 2014 MLB season, so I understand how tacky it is to post my season predictions now. But this is something I need to get off my chest. I apologize for this preview's tardiness. These predictions were originally posted on the message board of my Fantasy Baseball league, where I now get the majority of my sportswriting done.
My 2014 MLB predictions, originally posted elsewhere on the internet 3/31/14 (honest to God!):
AL EAST
1. Tampa
2. NY -Wild Card
3. Boston -Wild Card
4. Baltimore
5. Toronto
AL CENTRAL
1. Detroit
2. KC
3. Cleveland
4. Chi Sox
5. Minnesota
AL WEST
1. LA Angels
2. Oakland
3. Texas
4. Seattle
5. Houston
NL EAST
1. Washington, DC
2. ATL -Wild Card
3. NY METZ
4. Florida
5. Philly
NL CENTRAL
1. STL
2. Pittsburgh
3. Milwaukee
4. Cincinnati
5. Cubbies
NL WEST
1. LA Dodgers
2. SF -Wild Card
3. Colorado
4. Arizona
5. San Diego
PLAYOFFS
Wild Cards: NY over Bos, SF over ATL
Division: NY over Detroit, Tampa over LA Angels; Washington over SF, STL over LA Dodgers
Championship Series: Tampa over NY, STL over Washington
World Series: STL over Tampa