So, we finally met up with Priscilla after lots of sticks being thrown in the cogs. She rolled up in her brother's Audi S5 - a very impressive way to make an entrance. It was great to see her, and both of us have been through a lot in two years, so there was a lot to catch up on. Dave and I were also looking forward to having familiar company. It's lovely meeting new people, but you always have to put your best foot forward. As Cills had seen some of very worst feet pointing backward, it was going to be nice to just chill out.
She took us back to what she rightly calls the Ivory Tower - an LA pad just off Venice Beach owned by her brother. It was on the 6th floor and commanded a view over Venice and the sea. With my description of the events that follow, please bear with me as the memories are a little hazy. A lot of drinking was done, but hell, we were on a holiday away from our road trip. You know life is hard when you have to take a holiday from your holiday!
Our first day was spent down on Venice Beach. As we walked out of her apartment for the first time, we walked straight on to a movie set. What a first introduction to LA! Apparently this had never happened to her before, so they obviously rolled it out just for our benefit. Thanks LA. We walked past the muscle gym on the beach where there was a gentleman wearing a saggy pair of red speedos and carried a bam bam style stick. We put our heads down through all the guys trying to sell you a CD. We sat down at a sidewalk cafe and had a pitcher of beer. It's a nifty little area, and prime for people watching. Tourists and locals alike provide great viewing entertainment. Every other store is a medical marijuana office where anyone can pick up a card for $40. Not only cheap, but the purveyors of these places are annoying persistent. But with 20 other shops in competition with you, I guess you have to be memorable. From what I can remember, that was pretty much the first day - drinking and people watching. We didn't plan dinner very well, so we had mashed potato and gravy (of course I remember what we ate!).
Priscilla was very accomodating to our desire for doing tourist stuff. She has had to do this several time before, and it was much appreciated. The next day we went out to see Hollywood and the Walk of Fame. Turns out you don't need to be all that famous to get onto the Walk of Fame, I probably recognised a quarter of the people who had stars. While waiting for Dave to use the bathroom, Cills and I had wandered into a candy shop and ended up making our own chocolate bars. Dave and I made one with pretzels, sour patch kids, and some other interesting things (not interesting enough to remember obviously), which was surprisingly delicious. We had drinks in a place called the Rusty Mullet, and had someone try to sell us weed through the window. Although, this courtesy wasn't just extended to us - he tried us and everyone else on the street - including a guy filming to which he just held the bud in front of the camera lens. For a bit of culture we were taken to the observatory where you can see the Hollywood sign and the whole of LA. Cills, meanwhile, is hopping everywhere due to a dog bite on her foot acquired before we got there. When I left her 2 years ago, she was hopping due to a sprain. I guess some things will remain the same. We drove back through Bel Air and Beverly Hills. This is the first time in my life I have felt acutely like I wanted to be rich. I've always thought it would be nice, but have never craved it. LA makes you crave it. Ostentatious wealth is everywhere, and it feels so tangible. It feels like you could wake up tomorrow and be in the right place at the right time and become a trillionaire. I kept thinking what niche product I could invent, or what person I could befriend to introduce me to someone who wants me to be their first hand man. It was a weird sensation, and both Dave and I succumbed to it.
The next day Cills told us of plans to go to Reno to see some friends. It turns one of them was someone we had met in Belize when traveling, and I just so happened to remember him. After much debate and discussion, we found a place to store the RV for a couple of weeks while we took another vacation from our holiday within a holiday. We hit the road the next day (I think) and embarked upon a journey that was to take around 10 hours. It was a long journey, around about 550 miles, in a small but beautiful car. We were thankful of the wine waiting for us at the end and I'm pretty sure that's the only thing that helped digest the large amounts of fast food consumed on the way. We had our own room in the boy's house in the basement set up with a single blow up mattress. We even had our own toilet! Our main purposes for heading up to Reno were to attend a Halloween party and go hunting another 6 hours up the road in Nevada. So the next day we set about finding ourselves a costume from the boxes of outfits owned by Cody, the guy we met in Belize. Dave dressed up all in animal print, put on a pair of sunglasses and called himself Blind Leppard (pun on Def Leppard for those of you not so swift). I found a lifegaurd costume that had been made with built in pubic hair hanging over the side, stuck a jet pack on my back and went as that. Don't ask me what it was called - it was a problem I never encountered as no one asked what I had come as. The party was on an army base, and it is a pretty weird sensation walking around in fancy dress, not quite in your right mind, on an official army base. They took our ID and all. It was an interesting night, most of which I don't remember. Dave has a few collected memories, the most distinct of which are being hit on in a hard way by an army guy (not in fancy dress but on duty) and getting into an altercation with one of our own crew. This kind of marred the rest of the Reno experience for him, which was a shame. Although we did get to try antelope (fucking delicious) and watch a dog catch a mouse.
The next day I pretty much just threw up and watched TV, and I was not alone. There was a lot of down time here as the boys went out to work so we decided to hit up another guy we had met whilst traveling who lived in Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately he was not at the house, but was kind enough to let us use his amazing chalet, complete with jacuzzi. We had a great time despite being there for only 3 days. We drank, we hiked, we hot tubbed. Although, I don't think we ever got the hot tub just right...
When we got back to Reno, Dave started to feel a bit sick. We were meant to be going to Jarbridge for some good old fashioned hunting the next day, so we hoped it would just go away, work itself through. But it didn't. We ended up missing out on Jarbridge, which was a real shame. We have our own gun and haven't managed to shoot it once on this trip, and this was going to be our opportunity. We had also heard how beautiful it was, and that it had a population of 40. But we tried to make our own fun in Reno once Dave felt better. My Dad very kindly used some of his points to put us in a hotel while Dave got better - the single mattress in the basement wasn't doing him any favours. Turned out the hotel was a little further away than we anticipated, and not one of the glitzy ones in the center, so we moved ourselves to the Eldorado. The Ramada had peeling, paper thin walls and we were privy to both a baby crying and a couple arguing 2 nights in a row. The Eldorado, on the other hand, was garishly appointed with fountains, lights and themed restaurants. We spent our first afternoon getting stoned and walking around the casino. If you ever attend one of these places, I suggest you do the same. We got on a shuttle which had no destination written anywhere in sight. It took us around the corner of the building. We walked for what felt like hours through 3 different hotels which were all connected and all with their own theme. I found myself in what felt like the set of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in the hotel Circus Circus. We found a cool little pub called The Brewer's Cabinet, which had great beer and great service. We went for walks around Reno and tried to find cheap places to eat, but we were just killing time really until the guys got back from Jarbridge. Although it did snow while we were there and it was great to see it, and to be cold for a little while.
We made our way back to LA the day Cills got back as her boyfriend was to be arriving any day on his bike. It was another long journey, but it was good to get back to the Ivory Tower. The next day was purely a drinking day. We were leading up to the anniversary of Cills and I meeting for the first time. It was pure coincidence that we were together for it, but it was awesome to celebrate 2 years of being on the road and 2 years of knowing each other. We had a great drinking day which took us to Venice Beach, the canals and ended up with me in a tellytubby costume roaming the halls of her apartment building. Her boyfriend arrived that night and joined in the fun. Yet another day was spent on the sofa recovering and watching a whole season of some trash on Netflix. We managed to fit in some more touristy stuff - a trip to a Malibu beach, piss off an LA local in the car and got railed at for it in a cafe, and visited Santa Monica Pier. For our last night we had dinner in a nice restaurant to celebrate our 2 years and to say farewell.
It was a sad parting, but Dave and I were eager to get back on the road. It was great to have company, but we were looking forward to being a duo again. We picked up the RV, which was in a state. We had left some stuff in the fridge, which had turned to mold. The toilet stank, the fridge and freezer stank, the place was a mess. It felt like our maiden voyage. But, we were cooking for the Burney's that night, so we left it as it was and set about our homemade Chinese Takeaway - sweet and sour chicken balls, egg fried rice and spring rolls. Yet again we had a lovely evening, and hope we have made some lasting friendships. The oldest daughter left a note on our windscreen with very touching sentiments inside - it made me feel quite warm and fuzzy inside.
Now we are on the road again, but I think this is enough for now. I've been blogging for about 4 hours now, so it's time to go out and explore a bit. Luckily, life come first!
Piccies!!
Los Angeles
Reno
Lake Tahoe
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