DStilled

Goin’ To California

July 6, 2007 on 12:48 pm | In Blog |

Sunday morning I woke up late and went to Phoenix.  I drove through Sedona and very quickly understood why William loves it so much.  It’s a forrested area with red rocks jetting out everywhere.  They also have little egg houses and pink Jeep tours.  When I reached Phoenix, I called Bryan Powers again and still no answer.  I then found out where they live from Sam who had to track that info down.  So I drove around Phoenix and saw the city before going to their house.  Phoenix is a sprawling metroplex spanning dozens of miles and it’s almost all flat and gridlike.  The rich areas are really nice and I can understand why so many people retire here.  I felt like if you were to wipe this large metroplex off the map, then the average debt per person would drop alot.  People are really big into status symbols here, which of course doesn’t mean you have status.  There is also a huge percentage of hispanics.  The little suburb town of Guadeloupe is like a little piece of Mexico surrounded by America.  Then I showed up at the Powers’.  They were surprised to see me and we chilled for a small bit.  Then, being Sunday night, we went to one of the churches Bryan is involved in.  Afterwards we came back and hung out at house with some other friends, I updated, and slept on the couch.

Monday morning I woke up and hung out at house.  We took the old truck Bryan is rebuilding to a mechanic to have its exhaust system fixed.  Apparently it’s putting out as much polution as 20 of my Sentras.  On the way back I got to see the big Mormon temple in Mesa.  Mesa is becoming sort of a second headquarters outside of Salt Lake City.  Bryan and I went to a in process climbing center that will be one of the best in the nation.  Climbmax, as it’s called is partly being built by a good friend Mike and the place is awesome!  Part of it is finished so Bryan and I did some bouldering.  I felt pretty strong but with virtually no endurance.  Then we picked up some jet skis, had dinner, and I went up the south mountains.  You know that view in movies where people sit on the mountain top as sunset and watch the city below?  That’s what I was doing.  I stuck around for over an hour to also see the city lights come alive.  I was very cool.

Tuesday morning I woke up and hung out at house.  Because Phoenix is so ridiculously hot (115 degrees), everyone has pools and people like going to the lake.  There really aren’t very many lakes, and they are very dirty, but it’s water.  We had one jet ski that worked so we spent some time at the lake.  Jamie and Dallas stayed on the shoreline most of the time while Bryan and I took turns out on the water.  Riding on the back of a jet ski is not very fun and due to something that happened, it became much more difficult.  Bryan took me out first to show me the ropes and get me acquainted with the craft.  I discovered a nice strap to hold on to so the constant jostling wouldn’t throw me off.  Bryan got progressively more aggressive and in his head, he wanted me to take a fall.  I had determined that I was not going to. So on one particular maneuver that actually hit Bryan in the stomach, I fell.  But it didn’t go quietly.  I held on to that strap and as the g forces grew, so did my curling grip.  I ripped the screws straight out of the jet ski.  The strap popped off as did I.  I got back on and we headed back and then I noticed a discoloration on the side of the craft.  I thought it was the rust from the screw.  Nope, totally blood gushing out of my finger.  Turns out that when the two screws came out, they scraped along my pinky nail and then caught the flesh of my ring finger ripping a nice sized gash in it.  It looks much worse than it feels.  I just didn’t worry about it since I was in the water and took the ski out myself.  The first time I felt very sheepish and wary of the craft but the second time I went out was actually fun.  I got the hang of how to turn hard but not dangerously and speeding along the sides of cliffs at 35 mph is always fun.  We went back home and I said my goodbyes.  Next up for me was to drive to Joshua Tree.  I got there before sundown but the visitor centers and everything were closed.  I could get in the park though so I drove through it.  The side I came in on was the boring and huge part so I’m glad I did it first.  All the campsites I saw were sadly closed So I drove a mile out of the park and found a cheap motel.  This one had a carport right next to the room!

Wednesday morning I woke up and watched a few episodes of Gargoyles.  I miss them and my computer needs more free space.  All the pictures I’m taking are eating up gigabytes.  I drove into Joshua Tree again but this time I was on the North side of the very large park.  I talked with some folks who noted I was one of the few Americans they had seen that day.  They told me that the main vista was closed for construction but because it was July 4th, no one would be working there so I should just go ahead.  You know how mountains and hills are normally one large rock with dirt on it?  Well, JT doesn’t really have those.  JT has large piles of smaller rocks.  They look like they would be awesome to climb around on with some friends, but all my friends couldn’t come play.  Ergo, I took pictures.  Joshua trees themselves look like a mad scientist (aka GOD) crossed a cactus with a palm tree.  After eating lunch at the really cool lookout point, I headed toward my next location.  That was of course after I had listened to U2’s Joshua Tree twice.  I had held off listening to any U2 until I got there kinda like I’m waiting on Pearl Jam and Nirvana ’til I get to Seattle.  Anyway, I had heard on the news that LA had one of the best fireworks shows in the country at the Rose Bowl.  Since LA was practically on the way to San Diego (San Diego was my next stop) I decided to take advantage of the timing and go to Los Angeles first.  This is a decision that I would regret whole-heartedly.  I did not like the city.  So far LA is the first city that I almost hate.  One of the reasons why I think I can understand a city quickly is that I anthropomorphize it.  I search for what in the city touches me, I calculate demographics, I see the people and what they have made their city to be.  LA I felt was the first city I couldn’t get my head around.  I was intimidated.  The city layout vexed me, the topography made everything screwy, smog decreased my vision, affluence overwhelmed me, poverty saddened me, and I had nothing to do except be at the Rose Bowl around 7:30.  Words cannot descibe how big this city is.  I know New York is significantly bigger, but it feels very sectioned and therefore tangible.  LA’s downtown is actually quite small.  The Pacific (FIRST TIME!!) is a nurturing barrier to the city, something I’ve never really felt in a city.  It is a city of cars, of freeways, of hispanics, of the uber-rich.  LA has the entire range of human existence, with its extremes further out than I’ve ever dreamed to touch.  I felt its hurt but couldn’t do anything about it.  LA was like being forced to learn a new language that you don’t want to learn.  Maybe I could get used to LA, but I would need a very good reason to stay and someone to show me the ropes.  As of now, nuh-uh.  So I went to the Rose Bowl, got a seat and settled back for the show.  There was a carnival going on the grounds as well; this was a very big deal.  The fireworks were pretty good, very detailed and large.  Once it was over, I decided I would leave this accursed town and find a hotel closer to San Diego.  About an hour into my drive I stopped to get some gas and I noticed I didn’t have my wallet on me.  I searched the car and nothing.  I drove back to the Rose Bowl.  By now it was 12:45am pacific time and I was tired.  Nothing.  I had my driver’s license, my insurance, my national parks pass, my debit card, my credit card, and a few other less important things all gone.  I still have my passport and very little cash at this point and my food.  So I won’t die or get stranded…yet.  I hate LA.

Thursday morning I woke up in my car and immediately called the police to see if they had my wallet show up.  Nope.  The Rose Bowl people?  Not a chance.  Next call was my mom.  I had some theories on what needed to happen next but I figured I’d consult wisdom first.  Cards canceled, Western Union, live off of cash until Jeremy can bring my new credit card when he joins me in a couple of weeks.  I still have my passport for ID, I have my receipt for the parks pass, and my mom emailed a copy of my insurance.  So I’m down but far from out.  This was supposed to be a self-contained/self-sufficient trip.  Oh well, yeah for parents.  I love you!  I think some parents would have said, that’s it! come on home.  Or some wouldn’t have done anything at all.  Mine helped me get back on my feet (without losing any days of the trip no less!) and even encouraged me to finish strong.  So I drove back to San Diego and went to the Zoo today.  Can I say, what an amazing place.  It made every other zoo I’ve ever been to look cheap.  It had almost every animal you’d want to see and the exhibits were just wonderful.  There were bus tours, sky tours, tons of animal shows, live bands from around the world, and an atmosphere of research and care for the animals.  The main attractions are the giant pandas, gorillas, orangutans, elephants, polar bears, sun bears…well you get the idea.  This was the first zoo I’ve ever been to where you couldn’t really do the entire park justice in even a whole day trip.  Can you tell I enjoyed it?  Then I found one of the cheapest hotels in this lovely city.