Planes, Trains and Automobiles...

[MikeO]

It’s remarkable how lightly you can pack when you’re not toting a load of motorcycle clothing about. In the last few years, I’ve struggled to keep my (huge) checked bag beneath the 25kg limit, but last night I zipped my (smaller) bag up and it weighed in at 16kg.

I’d taken Harry, my French Bulldog...

...to his holiday home (with my housekeeper Vikki) on Saturday evening, which left me to have a last breakfast at the Horkey Kitchen with my friends Kate and Adrian…

…before returning home to start packing.

I booked and paid for my flight and rental car sometime in February. At the time, the flight was scheduled to depart LHR at 1500. Unfortunately, British Airways saw fit to move this forward to 1010. They recommend you arrive three hours early, to be sure to get through security, etc.

Heathrow is two and a half hours away on a really good day…

So, as I pad about the (weirdly empty and quiet) house, gradually finding stuff to pack, I reflect on the fact that I’ll be setting my alarm for 0400...:bluduh

I’m done packing by about 2100, but don’t feel remotely tired - this is often the case when I’m about to travel. I leave a couple of things in the tumble dryer overnight and switch the light off at 2230 or so.

I wake, needing a wee, at 0330.

Dammit.

Hey Ho, I decide to get up and have a leisurely shave and shower.

Suitably abluted, I have some grapes for breakfast, then put all the perishable stuff from my fridge in the bin - and am just taking the bin bag to the dustbin, when Adrian arrives.

We load my two cases into the boot of his car, lock the front door and we’re on the road at about 0435.

As has been my practice when on holiday, I’m having some work done at the house whilst I’m away. This week (in fact likely right now, if it has stopped raining), my mate Dale is painting my fences. The week before I come back, I’m having the brick weave and patio (which is most of my garden) pressure washed and - once dry - re-sanded and treated with an anti-algae/lichen chemical. The weekend I return, my neighbour Nick is draining my heating system and fitting thermostatic valves on all the radiators. He’s also going to fit two shutters in the kitchen (if they get here in time - they’re in a container from China at the moment).

Vikki is going to keep the lawn looking tidy and give the house a thorough clean and put new bedding on, ready for my return on 2nd July.

It’s a miserable, drizzly day - exactly what you want when you’re leaving the country.

Google Maps is initially fairly optimistic - our ETA at Terminal Five is 0718.

We make good time to Thetford, where we join the A11 towards London. In fact all is well until we reach the M25 - the London orbital motorway whose traffic patterns it is impossible to predict. We join straight into a 50 limit, the left lane being closed. Traffic is moving very slowly and Google keeps telling Adrian of one delay after another, with our ETA being pushed further and further back, whilst reassuring him that he is still on the quickest route available.

Eventually, we reach Terminal Five and Adrian jams his car into a space and we unload my bags.

This operation costs £5. :bluduh

It’s okay - I paid it in advance last night online.

Heartfelt thanks to Adrian (who has to do the reciprocal route now), and I’m wheeling my bags into the terminal.

I checked in online yesterday and have printed out my boarding pass, but this doesn’t seem to make much difference to my check in experience. I still have to queue up to check my bag in at the counter. That done, I make my way over to security and join the queue…

…until eventually it’s my turn to put the laptop, iPad, and the contents of my pockets in one tray, and my carry-on bag in another. Didn’t need to remove shoes, which is a pleasant improvement - and when I told the lady that my trousers would fall down without it - I was allowed to keep my belt.

All screening successfully completed, I start the long trudge towards the distant Gate C63. The whole terminal seems to be crammed full…

…and the autonomous Dalek cleaners have to pick their way between people.

Getting to my gate involves descending to below runway level in Schindler’s Lift…

…and boarding a shuttle train which takes you to another part of the Terminal.

My A380 FatBus awaits. I get a text from my BA benefactor, saying that the captain of my flight has said that there’s likely little chance of an upgrade, as the flight is completely rammed.

My ‘group’ is boarded last and, sure enough, I wheel my carry-on through a packed Club Class cabin as I make my way to my Aisle seat - 24H.


I jam myself into the seat and watch the safety brief. I have an empty seat next to me, which my fellow Row 24 traveller and I both take advantage of as soon as we’re airborne, piling it with iPads, phones, etc.


This is my second trip in an A380 - I flew out to LAX in one on the way to New Zealand in 2017. They are really quiet and smooth (my seat is directly over the wing). Apart from being too tall and fat for the seat, it’s all good.


I scroll through the available films - nothing really catches my eye. I wanted to watch Civil War, as Adrian recommended it and it has been well-reviewed, but alas it’s not on the list. Neither’s Barbie, so I make do with rewatching Oppenheimer instead…

After a while, the cabin staff bring us lunch…

I chose Chicken and Mushrooms with Polenta. It didn’t taste of anything. The brownie thing was nice. Wooden cutlery!

Cabin staff are excellent - the ever cheerful Faye consents to my using her pic in my journal, I assured her it wasn’t anything dodgy…

Just after our lunch trays had been collected, a new member of the cabin staff - Geoff - turns up and says, “We were hoping to upgrade you, but unfortunately we’re completely full today - anyway, here’s a glass of champagne and a personal wash kit to make up for it a bit”.

What a cool gesture…


Having finished watching Oppenheimer, I scroll through the rather lacklustre menu of available movies, before settling on Hot Fuzz, which I haven’t seen in years - excellent.


Faye tells me that this aircraft can carry up to 480 passengers and crew. Each of whom gets two hot meals and a snack during the (11-hour) flight. It's quite an operation. I idly googled the maximum capacity of the A380-800. It is certified for up to 825 passengers... 7


About an hour before top of descent, our final meal is served. This time I have Chicken with Gnocchi - which was piping hot and tasty (not as good as your gnocchi, Jane ).

With a limited time left, I put on In Bruges - a brilliant dark comedy.

After the cabin staff had cleared up, I start getting all my various bits I need to get through Immigration, and then get my rental car. I also switch my watch and phone to Pacific time. It is 2030 as I type this, according to my body’s UK clock, but it’s only 1230 in San Francisco.

Twenty minutes to landing - time to put the iPad in the seat storage area.

More later...

 

[Monsieur]

A concise journal indeed
I have fascination with reading tales of travel and yours do the job! Always a pleasure Mike, enjoy your holiday

 

[Micky]

I'm in

 

[LOLGEOFF]

Hurrah! Another start of a trip to foreign lands. What sort of clothing do we need? Will it be hot?

I'm a bit disappointed that your first leg wasn't clockwise around the 25 as we could've had our first Bridge photo.

Have a good trip.

 

[MikeO]

10th June 2024 - continued

The Airbus was completely full. The Department for Homeland Security had reacted to this by putting the standard number of officers on duty. The queues were huge. When I eventually got to the front I was photographed (normal), but not fingerprinted (not normal in my recent experience). The very pleasant officer basically asked me to convince him that I was a tourist, and not someone who was about to go into the USA as an undocumented immigrant. The idea was so laughable that I almost did – but I’m aware that uniformed staff in the USA have no sense of humour that they are aware of. So, I told him I had a return ticket, a (part-time) job to return to – and a house in the UK. He seemed satisfied with this, and wished me a great holiday.

As it turned out, the delay at Immigration was pretty irrelevant, as it was a further 45 minutes before my checked bag arrived on the carousel.

With both bags on a trolley, I wend my way to the arrivals lounge and asked a random uniformed chap if he could direct me to the AVIS desk. After a round of asking me whether I had brought any fruits, seeds or vegetables with me, he directed me to the fourth floor and told me to catch the Blue Line Train – Yay! Second train of the day!

I follow his (accurate) directions and board the driverless train with a bunch of other travellers. Right at the end of the line is the Car Rental stop. There’s a long queue at AVIS - natch…

Whilst moving slowly forward in the queue, I became aware of a middle-aged bloke getting quite het up about some complaint he had. She said, "I’m sorry sir – I’m not going to have you raise your voice at me". He then swore at her and she said, “Okay – that’s it – goodbye”. He continued to follow her along the counter his voice getting louder. So, I tapped him on the shoulder and told him to sling his hook and stared him down. He went off towards the elevators mumbling.

The lady then asked me to the front of the queue and dealt with my rental. I bloody hate people who take their frustrations out on staff – and very often the staff have little they can do about it.

Anyway, she got all my details sorted and then directed me to Level 3 Bay P3

…And there it is, resplendent in white.

Actually, for a hire car, it’s quite rough – 43k miles and I would imagine it’s doing its last summer with Avis. It’s quite grubby – like it has been parked here for a while. I go through a comedy of errors trying to work out how to open the boot (trunk) – turns out you use the “keyless” key – blip it twice and it pops the latch.

Getting the roof down is another matter. Having been used to push button operation on every modern convertible I’ve driven, I was surprised to see a big, spade handle thing, which you turn, before using buttons nearby to lower and raise it.



I try – and fail miserably to connect to Apple CarPlay – even though the system is clearly capable. I need to get to my hotel, so I jam my iPhone with the route in Waze displayed into the cupholder and that gets me there.

It takes just over an hour to get to my hotel.

With a name like The Aqua Pacific Hotel, on Ocean Street – you just know there is a zero chance of a sea view – I wasn’t disappointed…

I check in to my pleasant room – have a shower that was like a religious experience – then write up the first part of today’s journal (I’d written all of it on the plane, and just had to sort the pics out etc). I also received a text from Adrian saying he’d had a much better drive home.

I want to stay up until at least 2130, so I don’t wake in the early hours. I go back to the car and get CarPlay to work!

It needs to be connected via the USB port – no problem as it will charge the phone whilst it’s doing it.

I have heated and cooled seats. Something I have never tried before, but you can definitely feel it, the car is equipped with cruise control, natch, and a weird lane control. If you begin to cross a lane marking and you’re not indicating, it will nudge the steering wheel to get you back in the lane.

I have no idea what engine is in the Mustang – I suppose I ought to open the bonnet (hood) and have a look, but it certainly has sufficient power for my requirements…

So – I’ll need no rocking to get to sleep tonight – where to tomorrow?

 

[LOLGEOFF]

Great to hear you're a lot more "upbeat" than last years inspection of the colonies.

 

[Traffic893]

Enjoying this. Cooled seats, I like it.

 

[MikeO]

I wake twice during the night - 0230 and 0530, but get back to sleep easily each time. I eventually wake at about 0800 and decide to get up. I have a shower to wake myself up, then randomly start packing stuff into bags. I’ll gradually get into a routine over the next few days - I’m still in mild jet lag fog…

I check my messages and find I’ve drawn Scotland in the Euro soccer sweepstake ‍( sorry Catherine).

I walk down to the car and put the bags in the back. I’ll be coming back this way at the end of my trip and will likely stay here again -it’s clean, quiet and convenient

There’s a light mist in the air, not connected with the dog-poo disposal bin I’ve parked by - this is quite a common phenomenon in the Bay Area. I decide to deny this reality and substitute my own - and put my sunglasses on.
I do keep the roof up, though.

I follow Agnes’s directions south, through Tuesday rush hour, heading broadly south…

I’m looking for somewhere to stop for breakfast…

Wait a minute - what’s this? Points available for make model and year…

…he’s not alone!

Regrettably, the restaurant they were advertising was closed.

I join Route One south…

… where the sun is slowly burning off the morning mist.

I see a sign advertising a restaurant at the next junction and turn off the freeway, much to Agnes’s concern, and park in a parking lot - which has an escalator leading to

…the Red Apple Café…

Where the lovely Veronica…

Tempts me…

…with…

Country fried steak and eggs

This is a lovely café - great tasting hot food and coffee that tastes too good to doing me any good. I pay my (substantial) bill and take the normal stairs back down to the car.

It’s now a good, sunny day. I motor the hood down and reapply my SPF50 (you can get seriously burned in a convertible and not realise it at the time).

I rejoin Highway One, much to Agnes’s relief, and head south.

More later

 

[MikeO]

11th June 2024 - Continued

So, the inner man satisfied (almost to bursting), Agnes directs me south and west toward my first stop today...

This is farming country - I see lots of fruit and veg pickers busy in the fields that line the road. There are also fruit & veg stalls set up every few miles - the cheapest ripe avocados I saw were 10 for a dollar...

Soon, Agnes has directed me into Monterey. I am visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium, at Jorge's suggestion (and a very good one it was

). Everything here is ludicrously expensive. I park in the recommended parking garage, about a quarter of a mile from the Aquarium, then hoof it, initially through the pedestrian and bicycle street...

...and then along Cannery Row...

Does anyone else find it amusing that a world-class aquarium is sited on Cannery Row?

Look at that. As long as a cricket pitch and greener too. Someone has spent a lot of time making this behemoth look like this - points available for make/model/year...

This place is a massive tourist trap (face it - it got me ), and the city has spent some money on artwork. This is next to a bust of John Steinbeck...

The Bubba Gump shrimp restaurant is on the waterfront...

Soon I arrive at the Aquarium, where there are queues to get in...

Lots of kids having fun here - it's a great place to bring children...

I get my eticket scanned and enter the building...

There are large pieces of aquatic artwork hung all over the place...

It's still relatively cool, but I've worked up a bit of a sweat whilst walking, so I relax and cool down on a bench overlooking the ocean. People are being trained to snorkel and SCUBA dive to the left of the pic; telescopes on pedestals to watch whales with on the terrace to the right.

Shags (or cormorants - I'm not sure which) stand atop a rocky outcrop, occasionally extending their wings to dry them. Apparently, they have yet to evolve the oils that many aquatic birds have, which would make this unnecessary.

OK - lets go and see some fish. This is an orange one.

The way they have the various species displayed is remarkable. You would think you were watching UHD TV - but you're actually looking through about an inch and a half of plexiglass...

This is a purple-striped Jellyfish. Not someone's productive sneeze into the water...

These Crystal Jellyfish light up - but can turn the luminesce off when a predator approaches...

There is a huge variety of fish and other marine life...

Some of them (like these anchovies) tearing around, but mostly very sedate in their movements...

The Red Pelagic Crab - just like in Finding Nemo...

Time to go and look at the Coral Reef exhibits...

...by walking over the first bridge of the report!

More artwork - beautifully done...

All sorts of creatures live in the kelp 'forests'...

There's even a petting zoo...

The curve of this arch shows how thick the plexi-glass is. It has to hold back tons of water...

These chaps looked very grumpy...

There's a chap in a wetsuit working in the tank - doing various maintenance things. That must be some job...

It took ages to get this pic - because I had to wait for every parent to take a pic of their child in front of Nemo and Dory...

Parents and kids were oohing over the penguin enclosure. I know for certain that none of them had ever visited a penguin colony. The smell never leaves you - this the only way to see penguins - with a plexiglass screen between you...

I wander back to the big tank, where a Leopard Shark eyes me lazily...

...and then it was time to go. I've just covered part of what they have here, and I'm told it changes all the time. If you’re going to be in this part of the world, it would be high on my list of recommendations...

Walking back to the car, I feel the need for some rehydration - so pop into the Salty Seal...

...where Anna, the jovial barkeep, makes me welcome and brings m an iced water and then a lemonade...

She asks where I'm from and where I'm going. "Tonight, I'm booked into a motel is Paso Robles" she says, "Ooh! Real hot then"...

Sure enough, I check on my phone...

Hey-ho. It may be that the roof has to come up and the AC switched on...

This is a sports bar and micro-brewery, and they have an interesting range of beers that I might try, were I not driving. I ask for the tab to settle up and Anna says it's on the house - she's enjoyed talking to me. I'm a bit gobsmacked - especially given the prices in this area. I leave a tip, thank Anna and walk to the car park...

When you unlock the car, it emits a light to welcome you...

I pay my extortionate parking fee and, as I head out of town, see this gorgeous Porsche Speedster (didn't Kelly McGillis have one of those in the original Top Gun?) (without the tree growing out of it)...

Following a prompt from Jorge, I ask Agnes to take me to Carmel Valley Village. This will be a pretty way to get over to US 101. I stop and liberally reapply SPF 50, then set off...

It's a great route - the road often in shade of trees, which allows me to keep the roof down for a while...

The suspension is a bit crashy on the poor road-surface - but that's par for the course on a car like this I guess...

It's a lovely route, though...

First barn pic of the report!

As I get back into the car, I decide it is time. I turn the AC up to max and close the roof...

Lots of agriculture here - I think these are vines...

Suddenly Agnes gives up. The Waze app now just gives me a position on offline maps, but no search or directions. Thankfully I'm only a few miles off joining the 101 South...

I travel down the 101 until I see a sign advertising food off the highway. I follow the signs and find...

This little place, which has an extensive menu...

...from which I select a cheeseburger - just to wind up Jorge...

It arrives quickly, is piping hot and delicious. I buy a couple of bottles of Gatorade from their fridge and then am on my way back to the road...

It's pretty quiet. The car has a neat gizmo...

...that lights in your mirror when someone's in your blind spot...

I get to my motel in Paso Robles at around 1745, and try to coax the 1950's vintage air conditioner into life...

Not only is asthmatic but it's situated effectively in a wardrobe (to the right of the writing table). Eventually, it brings the room down to a reasonable temperature.


I plug everything in to charge, upload the pics, and try to feel cool thoughts...

 

[Arsey]

Looking good

 

[Doc]

Looks fantastic.

 

[LOLGEOFF]

Huggy Bear's nineteen seventy something Lincoln Continental?

Did you see any Sea Otters? They look like a very relaxed, if not damp, Gordon the Gopher.

 

[snelly]

Frank Canons 70s Oldsmobile sprayed and pimped,

 

[MikeO]

12th June 2024



I sleep pretty well, despite having to leave the ac on all night(something I never generally do). If you didn't move too quickly, the temperature was fine...

These Mom & Pop motels are dying out - and when I find one I like, I try to support them with my custom.

I had a nightmare time sorting the report out last night - in fact at just after 2230 I gave up and didn't cross-post onto UKGSer as it was giving mea headache and I was tired.

Turns out I posted a duplicate of the previous day's post on UKGSer, which Paul kindly deleted for me and PMed me to let me know he'd done so.

I wake a couple of times during the night, but decide to declare the day open at about 0800, when I ablute, get dressed and pack the bags.

I look outside and see - as expected - it's a beautiful sunny day, with no sign of a cloud. It's also 20deg C already. I load the car up, then finish posting on UKGSer.

Today's going to be boring. I'm positioning to avoid the heat and will be on Freeways most of the day. I put the roof down and pull out of the Motel at 0925.

The early part of today will be like this. I follow the route Agnes supplies me, which I also rode two years ago. We pass James Dean memorial junction - just as lonely and dusty as it was when I was last here (and probably when James Dean was, too).

Having not breakfasted, I stop for fuel at the East of Eden James Dean themed gas station and shop...

Putting eleven and a half gallons in, at $6.30 a gallon for Shell ExtraSuper Premium Nutter. I make a note of the mileage (car doesn't seem to have a trip meter) so that I can work out how many mpg this thing does.

Okay - car sorted - let's eat...

I asked the lovely, but camera-shy, Juanita what she recommended. She said the Breakfast Burrito was good, so I said OK. She then gave a list of ingredients and I said, "Yep - all of that"

Whilst this was being prepared, I went to the front desk and bought some lemonade and coffee...

The burrito arrives and is excellent

- I wasn't brave enough to try thehot sauce...

I have my lemonade in this bottle...

...and my coffee in this neat Nespresso cup. It keeps stuff warm for hours, and the top seal allows it to be stored anyway up until you're ready to drink. It's great and I've given some away to friends...

Okay - back on the road. But with the hood up and ac on now because it feels brutally hot after being inside (it’s actually 28, but - hey - I'm a Brit)...

I drive for hours through prairie grass like this...

...before Agnes points me to the Interstate and I start heading south, towards distant Los Angeles...

It's not bad, as freeways go. I pass time by listening to a new (to me) audiobook - Desert Star, by Michael Connolly. It's slightly unusual as an audiobook, as it has several cast members performing - most notably Titus Welliver, who stars as Harry Bosch in the TVseries...

Like most of Connolly’s writing, it's an entertaining listen.

As I near LA, the air quality just seems to get worse, with a smoggy haze spoiling any view. Once I was in LA's sprawl of urban freeways, traffic got really busy and I gave up trying to take pics, and concentrated on following Agnes's instructions.

This works, and at about 1400 I arrive at The Hampton Inn at Chino.

Carla, at the front desk, doesn't bat an eye at the fact that I'm at least an hour too early, gives me a couple of bottles of chilled water and the keys to my lovely room.

I used to stay at Hampton Inns whenever I could back in 2004 - but they're often out of my price bracket these days. I decided,"What the hell - can't take it with you".


More later (perhaps) - need a snooze...

 

[simondippenhall]

Mike: great report and thanks for the obvious effort you put into sharing your experiences. I am going for a mid 1970s Cadillac Eldorado …a coupe version of the 1976 convertible one I owned when I lived in New Jersey in the 1990s

 

[Traffic893]

Great report. Monterey bay aquarium brought back memories. We had visited there because of the Star Trek film, Voyage home.

 

[MikeO]

13th June 2024

I get an early night and finish listening to my Harry Bosch book - pretty good.

I sleep fitfully and don't awake feeling well rested. I wander down to reception at about 0900 and have a very pleasant breakfast (Hampton Inn Breakfasts are great).

I'm not feeling 100% (you can tell because I didn't take a pic of the breakfast - left my phone on my bedside table ) and take a coffee back to my room. I extend my stay by a day and decide to snooze this morning and see how I feel by lunchtime. I've got a mild temperature by the feel of things, so I take a couple of paracetemol to knock that down.

My plan is to go to the Planes of Fame Museum here at Chino - but it may have to wait until tomorrow, unless I feel better.

More later...

 

[MikeO]

Mike: great report and thanks for the obvious effort you put into sharing your experiences. I am going for a mid 1970s Cadillac Eldorado …a coupe version of the 1976 convertible one I owned when I lived in New Jersey in the 1990s

We're going to need to see a pic of that Simon!

 

[MikeO]

Mike: great report and thanks for the obvious effort you put into sharing your experiences. I am going for a mid 1970s Cadillac Eldorado …a coupe version of the 1976 convertible one I owned when I lived in New Jersey in the 1990s

I think you're right - it's difficult to tell exactly what year without looking at it carefully. It has been extensively worked on. The driver randomly jacked the front nearside suspension up by about two feet and dropped it back down while I was watching...

 

[Hairnet600]

agnes

checker cab a
thought lincoln but no
ford customline? early 50s?

the mustang is a v8 (10 speed transmission )

thanks mike