4-7-10

HELLO GOLDEN STATE

VENICE BOARDWALK SUNSET

With almost 4 full hours of sleep under our belts, we departed Vegas and crossed the border into California. A straight desert burn through Baker and Barstow and we entered the congested metropolis that is Los Angeles. Certain things immediately stole our attention: the high speed and reckless nature of drivers in addition to the sheer volume on LA freeways, and the fact that gasoline prices were over 50 cents higher than in every other state we have driven through. Driving on LA freeways is exactly like driving at night on the FDR, and by that, we mean it is precisely like playing a video game. The danger is very real, but somehow, when you drive on these beastly stretches of highway, you have this very blasé, sort of fake "whoooa" scream going through your brain. You tend to just push the limit, knowing the entire time there is a "RESTART" button awaiting your touch. But is there?

Two days and counting until the wedding we came to Southern California for. We intend to pass the time the way we have passed it so far: walking around, looking around. We ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant with Ericka in Studio City the night of our arrival, and the following day lunched with Jess in Beverly Hills, and dined with Morgan for dinner on the beach in Santa Monica. Between meals we shopped in West Hollywood, cruised the boardwalk on Venice Beach, and drove back to Agoura Hills, where we are staying, via the PCH at night.

LA and NYC are often lumped together as the definitive cultural and artistic epicenters of the Unite States. Both cities have a tremendous amount in common, like the way neighborhoods change from one corner to the next, like the way business is cut throat, like the way there are cross town baseball rivals, where one team is clearly dominant. But the oceans they border literally and figuratively make them polar opposites. The attitude is drastically different here. You can take a man out of New York, but you can't take the New York out of the man. We J-walk here and no one else does, partly because every soul is driving (an SUV), but also because everyone is in some sort of sun baked daze. Hard to pinpoint what is unattractive about this palm tree lined paradise, but give us a few more days and we'll nail it.