L.A.

From Santa Cruz we drove down to Los Angeles where we spent 4 days. As we arrived we had to drive on the freeways and man, are they crazy! I now know that there is something scarier than going 220km/h in Germany, it is going at 80m/h on a 6 lane highway with cars criss-crossing infront and behind you, while most of the drivers chat on their mobile phones. There are heaps of crashes too. The day we arrived there was a 6 car pileup on the freeway going the opposite direction to up, and one car was on it's roof. Luckily we avoided that giant traffic jam. The next day a crane somehow flipped over the barrier and crashed onto the other side of the road stopping traffic for most of the day.
In LA there is not really any other way to get around. There are a few buses, but LA is such a big sprawling place that if you want to do a lot of things in a short amount of time driving is the only way to go. It seems that most people are of the same opinion. There are cars everywhere, and as such there is also smog everywhere.
I have to say that when we arrived in LA I thought it was a complete dump. I found New York much better and easier to get around. I could not see any attractions to the place at all.
It was only when sunset came that I saw how gorgeous LA can be. The smog leads to extra nice sunsets!
We were staying on Venice Beach where we got a great view of the sunset. The beach itself is not that great. It stinks and the water is full of rubbish. The top picture is of Venice from the pier.

Although we never really started liking LA (the minute we did we drove somewhere and hated it again after being stuck in traffic) we did have fun. We didn't go to Universal Studios or Disneyland - I'm not interested in any of that, we did go shopping (things are so much cheaper here) and we went to the Walk of Stars. I just couldn't figure out why advertising guru Singo had a star....
I felt like the movie 'Speed' was an acurate portrayal of LA and I spent a good deal of time looking for a cop as hot as Keanu.
We tracked down the Hollywood sign in Beverly Hills. It was surprisingly hard to find.
We also saw Rydel High, from Grease, it is Venice High School and we drove past it every day. I thought it looked familiar so I googled it, forgot to get a pic, but then I think everyone remembers what that looks like. It is painted blue now.
On our last day we went to a LA Kings NHL (hockey) game and it was fun. I would really like to play hockey - if you didn't get slammed and tripped and beaten with sticks regularly throughout the game. The Kings lost.
After the hockey we drove to Palm Springs which is about 2 hours away and met up with Brody and Ron again. We were only there for one day to have a look at Joshua Tree National Park, on our way to the Grand Canyon. It was nice to get out of LA again and back onto the relaxed roads.
We went on a horse ride through the park. It is a strange place. Desert, but with funny yucca-like trees. I saw a taratula and was creepy.
We bought these hats from Walmart for $2 each! Cool!

Brody being a lone Cowboy.
Joshua Tree. Click on this pic to enlarge and see the trees.
A yucca at twilight.