Day 2 Highlights
11:10pm PDT, 61 degrees
Miles driven since I got the rental car: 75

The rain finally came about 10:00 tonight. The morning was cloudy and cool. Late in the afternoon the clouds let the sun come out for a while.

I've done a lot of driving and walking today. My dogs are barkin'! But today has been a good day. I made a nice round-trip tour or the western LA area. First off was a drive around Santa Monica, ending at the pier.

I took a walk around the place, snapped more pictures than I should have, and did some barefoot walking on the beach. The sand is a grainy, cinnamon and sugar combination. Noting like our sugar white sands on the Emerald Coast. But it doesn't stick to you like our sand does. It brushes right off.

A gentleman of the Asian persuation came up to me as I was putting on my socks and shoes and asked me a question. 'Walking in the sand with no shoes, is it better?' It took me a second to realize what he was asking. I smiled and said 'yes, it is better.' 'Does it make you feel better?' It took only a second more for me to say 'yes, it makes you feel better.' 'Thank you,' he said and took three steps away from the boardwalk and took off his shoes.

I left him to discover the feel of beach sand on his feet and went about my way. I saw him a little while later walking back to the boardwalk. He was still barefoot. I hope he found the joy of having sand between his toes, and didn't think the guy he just spoke to was well on his way to the loony bin. I'd like to think I helped brighten his day.

Back to the pier, it is set up as an amusement park first and a pier second. Think of putting the most popular rides at a fair on a pier while leaving the last third open for the fishermen. Kind of like relocating part of the Miracle Strip Amusement Park to our county pier. It is definitely a unique experience.

Next up was the drive to Hollywood. I think the great philosopher Dave Matthews sums it up well with some words from the song Too Much: 'Ooh, traffic jam! Got more cars than a beach got sand ...'

Hollywood was a letdown. The city of dreams is a tourist trap of the worst kind. I suspected it going in, but this was unreal. I didn't have the time or money to go to the museums or exhibits, so I walked Hollywood Boulevard most of the afternoon. People watching has never been so weird before. Openly gay couples, openly straight couples, the homeless, the tourists, the residents, the shops, the street performers, they were all there. And it all jumbled together. By the way, Hollywood and Vine is no longer the happening place it used to be. That intersection has been left behind in favor of Hollywood and Highland. This is now the happening place. It is also the site of Mann's (or Grauman's - it depends on who you ask) Chinese Theater. The most sought after movie theater in Hollywood for studio premieres. The plaza out front was full of people trying to either get in or get their picture taken with the movie characters in full costume out front, so I didn't get a chance to see the hand and foot prints of movie stars in the theater's forecourt.

Two things about Hollywood didn't disappoint me: the sign and the stars on boulevard. More on the sign later. The stars on the sidewalk were great. I noticed George Burns' name three times. I think they space them out and duplicate a few so people can have a better chance at seeing them. I took a few, but the best one by far belongs to The Three Stooges.

If you do find yourself in Hollywood there is one thing you should do. Drive down Hollywood Boulevard, turn on to Laurel Canyon Boulevard and take a right on to Mulholland Drive. This road takes you through the Santa Monica Mountains and the Hollywood Hills. The views you are offered from the tops of the cliffs are breath taking. The Hollywood Vista Park overlooks Los Angeles. You see the Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, and the rest of LA from one side of the overlook. The other side gives you a great view of the Hollywood sign.

For the trip back to Santa Monica I drove Sunset Boulevard at sunset. It was getting dark and traffic was bad so I couldn't snap any pictures. I couldn't tell much from the road aside from the fact that I could never afford to live in any of those houses. Yeesh, the money it would take to live there is mind-boggling!

After returning to Santa Monica I went back to the pier for some night photography. The pictures didn't turn out too bad.

Well, that wraps up most of what I did today. At least that's the interesting stuff. Today was a good day, I'm looking forward to where the road takes me tomorrow.

Seeya,

AL

Even the weather is different here ...
8:25am PDT, 63 degrees
Day 2 officially begins.

I just woke up and checked the Weather Channel's website. Tonight's forecast has the first real rain for the Los Angeles area in months! Check out parts of the weather advisory:

... FIRST SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL OF THE SEASON EXPECTED FOR SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL CALIFORNIA ON SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY...

RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ACROSS MOST COASTAL AREAS SATURDAY NIGHT... SPREADING INLAND THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. PRELIMINARY RAINFALL TOTALS ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE BETWEEN ONE TENTH AND ONE HALF INCH ACROSS COASTAL AND VALLEY AREAS... WHILE FOOTHILL AND MOUNTAIN AREAS ARE EXPECTED TO RECEIVE BETWEEN ONE HALF AND ONE INCH.

THE LAST TIME MEASURABLE RAINFALL OCCURRED AT DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES WAS APRIL 18TH... WHEN (.01) INCHES WAS RECORDED. AS A RESULT... THE 181 CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF NO RAINFALL AT DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES WILL LIKELY COME TO AN END. THIS WOULD BE THE SIXTH LONGEST TIME PERIOD OF CONSECUTIVE DRY DAYS DATING BACK TO 1921. FOR MORE SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL AT DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES... ONE WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK TO MARCH 2ND... WHEN (.27) INCHES OF RAIN WAS RECORDED.

SINCE THIS WILL BE THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL OF THE SEASON... ROADS WILL BE VERY SLICK. MOTORISTS SHOULD REDUCE SPEED AND USE EXTRA CAUTION ON WET ROADS. THE RAIN COULD ALSO CAUSE SOME DEBRIS FLOW OR MUD SLIDES IN RECENTLY BURNED AREAS.

That's a long time without rain. I drive carefully as a rule, but I'm thinking that I'm going to drive with a little more caution than usual. We're used to seeing rain a few times a month, but less than a half inch of measurable rain from March to October is amazing.

I made it to LA! But it wasn't easy.
1:30am PDT
Day 1 is now behind me.

Things got off to a rough start. After getting the confirmation email from AirTran and double-checking the departure information we loaded my luggage into the car and hit the road to Pensacola/Gulf Coast Regional Airport. When we get to the unloading zone and unload my suitcase the skycap has some bad news for me. My flight to Los Angeles International Airport had been canceled. All of AirTran?s evening flights out of Pensacola had been canceled. And they had been canceled for some time without notice to their passengers the skycap told me. Naturally we call up the customer support line and ask about the flight. Wonder of wonders, good ole AirTran had scaled back their flights from Pensacola to two a day. I had been rescheduled to Saturday afternoon?s flight. Without my notice. Talk about an inconvenience! Well it turns out that the company did try to call me, and they did leave a message on the answering machine at home. But they called after we had left the house to go to the airport. A lot of good that did me, I?m standing at the airport with a car rental reservation in LA that had to be picked up that evening, with no flight out, with no way for AirTran to even place me on another airline?s flight out, and my parents telling me to ask for a supervisor and demand my money back while I was trying to let the poor man on the other end of the line explain things and look for other alternatives.

After he said that all he could do was guarantee me a seat on the Saturday flight I asked if I could get a refund if I could find another flight with a different airline. He said yes. ?Great, I?ll call you back when I find out something,? I replied. So the helpful skycap directed us to the Delta booth while he checked fares at the other airlines. Delta wanted $499 for a one-way to LAX. The skycap came back and said that Continental could do better than that, much to the Delta guy?s dismay. So off to the Continental counter we went.

The lady at the Continental counter was very helpful, and quoted a reasonable fare. $289.70 one-way to LAX with a $10 counter purchase fee. I took it. I called AirTran back, canceled my ticket with them ($164.20) and got a full refund. Continental Airlines: 1, AirTran Airlines: 0.

So I?m not happy with AirTran at all. The gentleman at the customer service line was courteous and helpful, but AirTran?s lack of follow up after cutting service was unacceptable. I can?t say I will be flying with them again or recommending them to anyone. Continental, on the other hand, has impressed me and I will definitely look to flying with them again. And at only a difference of $135.50 between flying on the cheap and actually getting to where I want to go, I think I can safely say that I will fly mid-priced airlines or better from now on.

Here's an important piece of information: If you purchase a ticket prior to your departure date you are randomly selected for screening at the security checkpoint in airports. But if you purchase a ticket for a flight that same day you're automatically flagged for the 'deeper screening' as the security guys lovingly call it. It's not a big deal, they just go through your luggage thoroughly and then go over you thoroughly. No body cavity checks, though! Just the security wand and a pat down. It didn't bother me one bit. If that's what it takes to ensure I get to where I want to go in one piece, then I'll do it every time. And I made it a point to thank the security guys when they finished with me. I think it made their day. And it helped that we shared a few laughs at AirTran's expense.

The rest of my little jog to LA went off fairly well. I had window seats on both flights, despite being near the lavatories. Yech! My rental car was waiting for me at Hertz, and the Comfort Inn I wanted to stay at in Santa Monica had a room open for me. Not too bad, even if I almost didn't get to leave on time.

Well, I've written a lot and it's really late. It's almost 1:30am Pacific time, which translates to 3:30am Central. Well past my bedtime. I'm going to sleep. Maybe tomorrow I'll have some nice pictures to post.

Seeya,

AL

Departure creeps closer ...
Roughly two days left. I'm getting excited. I've started to try and pack everything early to avoid that last minute rush.

You know, it really is hard to try and pack a decent amount of clothes, extra shoes, the camera, a jacket and those 'personal necessities' in one suitcase and a carry-on for a ten day trip. And the laptop takes up my second carry-on bag. But I think I've got it under control. I will pack less shirts and count on hitting a laundromat about halfway home. And you can't rule out an 'I Survived Route 66' or 'The Grand Canyon: America's Most Famous Hole In The Ground' t-shirt. That will free up some room for the camera's tripod.

I'm sure my folks will love that one.

Seven days and counting ...
A week to go. Time is moving fast. I'm looking forward to this trip. Fly to California, rent a car, drive back. Most people think I'm crazy. Maybe so, but I'm doing something that I will remember for the rest of my life.

It's funny, but it always seems that the weeks leading up to a vacation are always extrememly busy at work and around the house. You've go to get things packed and make sure that everything is taken care of before you leave. And you've got to make sure that your co-workers can keep your stuff from going to pieces while you're away. Sometimes I think it takes so much work to get away from work that unless you're doing something big it almost doesn't seem worth it. But hey, you are getting away from it all. So a little extra effort in preparation for your absence makes it all worthwhile, right?

Route 66, I will see you soon.

12 days to go ...
Well, departure is only 12 days off. Time sure moves. But I have to confess that I have one worry. I may have a financial 'something' happen that prevents me from leaving. We'll see what happens. In the meantime I'm counting the days until I leave!

Route 66 Bound
Well, the time has almost come. Soon I will be taking a little road trip. I'm gonna drive down Route 66. I'll be leaving on October 15 and run the road until about October 24.

I'm so excited. I just can't hide it. I'm leaving on a jet plane. Then I'm gonna head out on the highway.

I'll fly to LA and then drive as much of the old road back as I can. I'll keep you posted on the countdown and the trip.

Seeya!