Roadtrip! SF -> LA -> LV

Day 1 ~ 3:

Got into SF.  This is a strange city.  It's simultaneously advanced and backward at the same time.  Nouveau dotcom millionaires abound but so do fecal stained homeless.  I've been to lots of places where income disparity is far and wide but SF is the first place where the millionaires and the homeless dress more or less the same.  EVERYONE has an iPhone out here.  Sad ruins of the 90's tech bubble are scattered about the city.  Loud futuristic architecture mesh with minimalists designs combine with years of neglect to create landscapes both vapid and sanguine. 



Day 4, 5:

Drive down the famous PCH down the California coastline.  It's like driving on the edge of earth.  To your left are desert mountains bold and mighty which hint of death.  To your right are hazardous cliffs that drop down to torrential ocean swirls.  Jagged rocks come out of the sea like the tail of a Stegosaurus.  Waves crash violently upon black earth.  The beauty of Big Sur makes you fear God.

We take a rest in Cambria.  A charming little town whose residents seem about as old-fashioned as the 150 year old hostel  we stay at.  We eat pot-pie for dinner and wake up to Ollaliberry jam in the morning.  One funny note - the first hotel we tried to negotiate the price down.  The guy says "Sorry.  Can't give you a discount.  It's spring break".  Not to sound sarcastic, but if I was a young frat boy looking for some "Girls Gone Wild" action, Cambria California might be the last place on earth I'd go.  I sure hope that guy isn't counting too much on the Cancun crowd. 



Day 5, 6:

We go to L.A. I used to watch TV shows like "Blind Date" and listen to bands like "Sugar Ray" and I would think, WHERE do these people COME FROM?  Then I went to L.A. and suddenly it all made sense.  I have to give L.A. this.  As mainstream media as L.A. is, this is the place where mainstream is born.  If other cities could broadcast their vibe worldwide as good as L.A., then by definition they'd be mainstream too. 



Day 7:

Las Vegas = The Palms hotel.  When we checked into the hotel we saw "The Playboy Club" and were hesitant.  What sort of crowd does "The Playboy Club" attract on a Sunday night?  Sounds like a sucky party until you realize ... yup ... it's Spring Break and you're in Las Vegas.  Almost as wild as Cambria California.  Almost.

A road trip for the ages.  I love you America.