L. A. Road Trip Final Words

Well, my big adventure to Los Angeles and points between is over. The Ride performed well, and was a joy to drive. Even though I had a nasty cold the entire time, I managed to have fun. But the quality of the photos were a disappointment, so I'm going to take a do-over some day. If/when I do that, I'll fly out and spend at least a week, so I can hit all the places I missed this time.

You may notice that my last post was from White Sands, and that a few days have gone by since then. To be honest, I just wanted to get home, so I didn't take any photos after White Sands. Actually, there probably wasn't much to shoot anyway, so no big loss.

Now for the geeky part. As you may have gathered from the theme of this blog, travel is a great hobby of mine. Well, so is financial management. That means this trip had a budget, and I hit the numbers pretty close. Here is a breakdown. Notice I even estimated the number of miles I would drive overall...

Yeah, I didn't budget for some items, so I went over a little on cost. Not by much, though. And check out the miles - I drove 15.9 miles more that I had planned for. Now that's taking your budgeting a little too seriously!

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

On my way from Tucson to Roswell, I stopped at White Sands National Monument, which is about 15 miles southwest of Alamagordo. I've placed a link to the National Park Service's page for White Sands in the Landmarks I've Visited section.

Wide open spaces

Rippled Dunes

Dunes and Sky

Pedestal

Pedestals

Ripples in Sand and Snow

Sand Road

Saguaro National Park, Tucson

My final Tucson destination was Saguaro National Park. For language perfectionists out there, Saguaro is pronounced 'Sa - WAH - ro'. It is amazing how many of these cacti dot the landscape. Seguaro National Park is also a featured link in the Landmarks I've Visited section. Here are a few photos of the park, and yes, they're covered by the standing quality apology.

Rugged terrain

Dry creek bed

Saguaro cactus

Another Saguaro cactus

And another Saguaro cactus

Ah, a barrel cactus!

Another Saguaro snuck in

Dry creek bed

Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson

After spending a few days in sunny southern California, it was on to sunny Tucson, Arizona. If you haven't figured it out yet, I am a huge aviation buff, so a required stop in Tucson was the Pima Air and Space Museum. Here are a few pics of some of the planes they have on exhibit. Make sure to check out the link to Pima in the Landmarks I've Visited section.

My standing apology is in effect for the quality of the photos taken during this trip.

Tail Number 86971. This was not used as Air Force One, as it does not carry the Presidential Seal. It was used for presidential staff and secret service.

Early version of Air Force One


SR-71 Blackbird. There is a sign in plain sight the commands the visitor 'Do Not Touch The Aircraft'. Of course, I saw the sign well after touching the aircraft.

SR-71 Blackbird

SR-71 Blackbird

Another view of 86971

Boeing YC-14. I took this photo because of the deep contrast of the plane against the sky.

Bomber Engine. Unfortunately, I do not remember the model.

TWA Connie, or Lockheed Constellation. The Connie is one of my favorite planes because it was so far advanced for it's time.

More Los Angeles

Here are some additional photos from around Los Angeles taken during the L.A. Road Trip of 2002-2003. Again, I apologize for the poor quality - the weather was uncooperative and my film camera was on it's last leg. Oh, did I mention I was sick the whole time? I believe a do-over vacation with a digital camera is in order (hint, hint).

Pepperdine University, Malibu

Looking west toward Point Dume, Malibu

Beachfront property, Malibu

More beachfront property, Malibu

Morning in the Park, Malibu

Neighborhood near Griffith Park. The Ride is visible in the lower right.

Hollywood Sign from Griffith Park Observatory

Hollywood Sign from Griffith Park Observatory

Griffith Park Observatory

Sepulveda at Lincoln outside LAX

San Fernando Valley from Topanga Canyon Blvd

Hollywood Freeway with downtown in the background from Mulholland Drive, above the Hollywood Bowl. This is 'the shot' all the movies use when they're blowing up L.A.

Hollywood Sign from Mulholland Drive

Hollywood to downtown from Mulholland Drive. A tighter shot of what they show prior to blowing up L.A. in the movies.

Griffith Observatory from Mulholland Drive

Hollywood Sign from Mulholland Drive

East edge of the Valley from Mulholland Drive

Interesting architecture - home on Mulholland

Venice, California

After spending Christmas in Las Vegas, I moved on to my next, and primary stop, Los Angeles. During my three days in the L.A. area, I stayed at the Inn at Venice Beach, quite a nice hotel just a couple of blocks from the beach. As I said before, my photos on this trip were a complete disappointment, but I have included some of those from Venice here.

Canal near the Inn at Venice Beach

Venice Beach from the pier

Looking north from the pier

Venice Beach from the pier

Late afternoon near the shops

Near the Venice boardwalk, late afternoon

Skate arena near the boardwalk, late afternoon

Shops on the boardwalk