Featured Touring In The Land Of Stars And Stripes

@joe mc donald:
Not at all. The US president wants to reactivate it. I do not know the actual status of the inner US discussions.

 

@Stramasher:
Many thanks to you! You are right! I love this driving through the nature. Nearly 90 percent of my photos are shot on the move, because we are two drivers.

 

Day 13/16:
Today we started at 0800 our long run from San Jose to Los Angeles. After reaching the highway number 5 we did a real "straight" tour. On more than 200 miles we had only about 5 curves. In sum we drove 380 miles today. For our second visit of LA we entered the city from the North and headed directly to the famous "Hollywood" sign. In the internet and on Google Maps you can find some points to get a good view of the sign. So we "climbed" up in the right direction and ended up in a villa district. Lots of expensive houses are situated there. In between dozens of walking and driving tourists to reach one of those points. If I would own a house there, I won't be happy about this disturbing activity. But it is like it is.
Afterwards we drove down to the "Hollywood Boulevard" and parked our car in the parking garage of the famous "Dolby Theatre", where since 2001 the Oscar's ceremony is hosted. Beside it is a premium cinema with high end cinema equipment. When you leave the building you are standing directly on the "Hollywood Boulevard" and can explore the more than 2.818 stars on " The Walk of Fame". On both sides of the streets are many gift shops, restaurants and different show options represented. I was wondering about the condition of the whole area there and especially of "The Walk of Fame" (TWOF). The range was from brand new to completely destroyed and neglected.
We were searching along "TWOF" for some of our heroes. It was quite interesting who was honoured there with a star since it had been started in the 1960's with Joanne Woodward.
Afterwards we needed for a 20 miles distance to our "last" accommodation on our US tour more than one and a half hour. We got trapped in the daily traffic jam of LA. Up to 6 lanes were crawling at a snail's pace.
But we made it and enjoyed our late afternoon in our new accommodation.
Tomorrow we will leave to Santa Monica again.
Meanwhile we also checked in at our airline for our return flight back home. This flight will last for 12 hours again, but will also be a "time travel" due to the loss of 9 hours at our arrival.

One.of the great lakes next to the highway.


The "Pyramid" of the "Pyramid lake".


I found this lovely Ford T at a fuel station in the middle of nowhere on our way.


A "Highway selfie".


The famous sign from a different view.


Some impressions of "The Hollywood Boulevard".






The "Hollywood First National Bank Building".


Some of my heroes. Except the last one!

 

Day 14/16:
Today we made a recreation day in LA. After our breakfast we drove to Santa Monica and did there a long walk along the seaside and enjoyed the upcoming nice weather. We passed the famous "Muscle Beach" with all its equipment for bodybuilding, but sadly no real bodybuilder showed up. Only some tourist tried to get healthy. Afterwards we spent some time on the "Santa Monica Pier" and consumed an Italian espresso and a delicious cinnamon roll.
In sum we walked about 10 kilometres and then came my last point of my "virtual bucket list". A visit of an real US "Diner", as I know them from many films. Therefore we drove some minutes to "Mel's Diner". This company is nowadays a franchise branch but it's existing since 1947. There we had delicious sandwiches and burgers in an "historic" branded environment. Our location opened in 2018 in the famous "Penguin Building" from 1959. Inside it is full with historical items.
After this event we drove back to our accommodation and prepared ourselves and our luggage for the upcoming journey.

A view from the Santa Monica Pier along the beach.


Some nice looking houses directly at the beach.


A view of the famous "Muscle Beach".


We cooled down our hot feet in the refreshing Pacific.


The "end" of the famous "Route 66".


Lots of seagulls are in this area.


I was so impressed therefore again the same photo.


The sign of the "Mel's Drive-In".


After our meal we found this Triumph next to our car parking.


Even apple's "surf" here!

 

Day 15/16:
Today we started at 0930 our last usage of our rental car to the airport and the rental car station. Due to some usual morning traffic jams in LA we took 40 minutes to get from our hotel to the airport. The return of the car went super fast.

In sum we did on our “roadtrip” 2.800 miles/4.500 kilometres. The average fuel consumption was about 34 mpg/6,9 l/100 km.
The car was fundamentally nice to drive, but I would never buy it for my own usage. The overall built quality doesn't fulfill my expectations for a car at this price level! The vehicle's handling is very nervous and in the car it is in comparison to my private Mazda very loud. In strong winds, handling is questionable and I had the impression that some wind was coming into the car too.

At the airport we had to wait an additional hour for the opening of the luggage lift and boarding pass control because there was a delay. Afterwards everything went in the planned way and we got some refreshments in a nice snack bar.
The flight should have started at 1505 but we received a delay of 15 minutes. - Until this delay we never had any issues due to the official “shutdown” here in the USA. - After another hour of waiting we received a new departure time of 1740. Our plane which was estimated to fly from Austria directly to LA was re-routed to Las Vegas before picking us up in LA. Due to the delay the airline sent each of us via email an $10.- voucher to keep us in a good mood. But finally at 1605 our plane arrived in LA. Afterwards we had to wait for our departure. To keep us in good health, the gate was switched to another terminal too. Therefore we did a 20 minute “LA Airport exploring walk” to the new gate.

At 1705 we started our “time travel” back home with a “boarding group queue building”. Each boarding group had to group in a long line. I have never reached a plane like this before!

Our travel time in reality will be 12 hours but with the 9 hours time difference it will virtually last much longer.

In the following three more pictures of yesterday and the rest from today.
A view of the “Santa Monica Pier” and its rides.


A look into “Mel's Diner”.


A very special guest of the Diner.


In the airport pick-up bus on the way from the car rental station to our first terminal of the day.


Our luggage and all the other stuff is waiting for the “missed” plane. The ground team of the airport had to put all of this to the other terminal afterwards.


A big transport airplane.


A cool airshow maneuver “especially” for us to keep us in a good mood. Both airplanes were moving.


Our “snack destination” to use the received vouchers.


A view of the new terminal.


“Our” plane arrived after its detour from Las Vegas here in LA.

 

Day 15/16 Part 2:
We made it! We are in the plane! Local time 1730.

 

Day 16/16:
At 1400 our "odyssey" ended successfully at the airport in Austria. After an additional train ride we reached our home at 1600 hours.

We really enjoyed our "roundtrip" through four US states, six National Parks and three big cities.
It was a great experience which we will remember the rest of our life.

In the following a picture of our "collection".



I hope you enjoyed my reports and photos.

 

@Sandi T:
Many thanks to you! I am looking forward to your upcoming reports of your new trips.

 

@joe mc donald:
Many thanks to you Joe!