Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Cruising the west coast

Now that I've complained about LA and all the cars I'll shock you with the following story. We hired a car for four days to see some parts of the west coast of California. I would have wished to do the tour some other way but the truth is that hiring a car is by far the best way to see the west coast CA.

So, I negotiated the best price for the car hire and considered the options according to our hostels recommendations. We got the car (three hours late - after multiple phone calls to the company - a good example of the service you get in LA) and headed south towards OC. On our way we passed Anaheim but we decided to see Disneyland on our way back from the south. The pacific coastal freeway took us along the coast and through many small surfing and beach towns. The road through the towns was quite tricky to drive as most of the times you couldn't find any roadsigns telling you the way through the narrow streets. I know, as long as you keep the shoreline on your right side you'll be fine but when the road goes up and down the blocks you'll have to slow down at every corner to decide which way to go next (dead ends and one way streets are the problem when driving through those small towns).

The sun was shining and the weather was warm on our way south. The hassle of central LA was easing up and I was already relaxing and enjoying my ride with the brand new 2007 Pontiac. Try fitting me (I drive '89 Micra back home) to the drivers seat of new Pontiac with the powerful engine and automatic gearbox. I can tell you I was really having fun when I stepped the accelerator and the automatic stepped two gears down and the engine roared with a sudden burst of strength. You should've seen me grinning for the next few miles or so.

After a while the freeway got wider and we were wheeling on the northern parts of OC. You could see the change on the freeway even if you wouldn't have known what to expect. The big and expensive cars are getting even more expensive. Was it a Porche you just saw? What the heck is that car on your left? Can you trust your eyes anymore? Is that a brand new Lamborghini? Suddenly my brand new Pontiac feels like an old shopping cart set loose on the parking lot. Man, these people know how to show their wealth.

I've never seen the TV series called the OC so I'm not the best person to tell you how reality differs from the series. I'll tell you the people on Newport pier and the beach around it are not the ones you would call rich. From time to time you'll see a limo, a Lamborghini or some other million dollar car but the rich people doesn't get involved with the common people. They have their own small private harbours and you can see their houses around OC but you're not supposed to get in touch of the ones with real wealth. Atleast that's the way I see it..

The day goes fast when you're having a good time so when we set our course back north it's already getting dark. We're hoping to see the famous fireworks at Disneyland just before the closing time but we're not so interested in the whole fuss around Disneyland itself. Perhaps we're getting a bit old or something. Anyway, it's weekend and the traffic away from the beach is heavy and we're running late. When we arrive in Anaheim and Disneyland we wonder if we missed the whole thing. No, we did not when we sit on the parking lot but the design of Disneyland is genious and we can only see some sparkles in the sky and hear some noise. Oh well, at least we've been there (and didn't care about the over prized fun park anyway).

The way back is just another typical west coast freeway. Four to eight lanes both ways, huge intersections with high rising bridges diverting traffic from one freeway to another. The speed limit is 65 mph and the lanes seem to be narrow when the cars are so huge (the new city jeeps you see in Finland are just like small shopping carts when compared to the ones here in CA).

1 Comments:

At 10:57 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hei matkaajat!
Taitaa se amerikkalainen maailma olla hivenen erilainen, kuin koto-Suomi. Ihmettelen, kuinka olette noinkin hyvin siellä selvinneet.
Äiti-Pirjo

 

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