Freaked Out in L.A.

Hertz kindly provide a free shuttle bus from the terminals to their LAX HQ. It’s actually on site, within the airport complex, but it was still about a 20 minute ride. My first inkling that this place is just a wee bit bigger than we are used to at home.

The bus driver was a very friendly, and chatty lady, who was about 2 axe handles wide across the stern. Yes folks, everything is bigger in America. She was (I assume) giving us lots of helpful information over the PA, but I could only make out about one word in ten. As it turns out, my kiwi accent seems to be equally unintelligible to some of the locals too. Talk about Nations separated by a common language!

My first little win was with the rental car. I had booked a bottom-of-the-line model, but got a free upgrade to a nice little Corolla. Now to brave L.A. traffic. This is where the ‘freaked out’ bit starts. First off, dealing with intersections took some very careful concentration, as my instincts were totally at odds with what was required. Secondly, I don’t know where in hell the concept that kiwi drivers are bad came from. These people are lunatics! No-one uses indicators to change lanes, and everyone exceeds the speed limits by 10 to 15 mph. Only one scare, and I still maintain it wasn’t my fault!

First stop, as planned, was at the nearest ‘Staples’ (think ‘Warehouse Stationary’ on steroids) to pick up a copy of Microsoft Streets & Trips to install on my trusty R2H. You can keep your ‘Rand McNally’ maps. This mapping and route planning application interfaces with the R2H's GPS receiver to provide real time route guidance.

From there I headed on out to the Pacific Coast Highway, through the coastal suburbs of Santa Monica & Malibu. The weather was in the mid twenties, and clear (apart from the smog), and beach bunnies were everywhere. Once I got comfortable with driving on the wrong side of the road, and traffic started to thin out a bit, I stopped at the Malibu Inn for a Corona, and the biggest Club Sandwich I’ve ever come across. Interesting old bar, lined with photos of old movie stars, going back to the ‘30s and ‘40s. That was about when the place was last redecorated too, by the looks. However the food was good, the beer cold & the staff very friendly.

The next challenge was to find my hotel, another 30 miles or so west, in Oxnard, Ventura County. I nearly made it, but got hopelessly lost in the last couple of miles. I eventually resorted to pulling over in a nice shady spot, and installing my new software. Once that was up and running, and a GPS fix obtained, it was simply a matter of going where the computer told me to, and 10 minutes later I arrived at the Casa Sirena Hotel & Marina.

Dinner then bed was the order of the day at this point, as by then I was absolutely knackered. Tuesday had stretched out to be 43 hours long, and apart from a couple of cat-naps on the plane, I had been up for something like 31 hours.