Day 36 | Phoenix to Los Angeles
This morning we reluctantly left Phoenix and the Westin Downtown. Unfortunately, this was a great stay with a fantastic room especially the shower. Still, westward ho. This brings us from Arizona to California.
Again, the drive was pretty interesting with the Agricultural Station in California (what are they looking for?). The four lanes of the highway are directed in to two and deviated under a roof where everyone is waved through. In the merging process this ute (or "truck" as they refer to them here) in front of us swerves out of the slower land into the quicker one. Officer waits for them to get to the front of the queue and points them off to the 'inspection area'. Suddenly I think the fast lane may be the slow option for him.
Last segment - Phoenix to Los Angeles - a short Six hours
Passing through the Indian Reservation at Cabazon we stopped in for some food (In N Out) and fuel and a look through an outlet mall for some shoes we didn’t get yesterday. We watched the sun set here behind the range of hills that overlook the Palm Springs and Coachella.
Making it across Los Angeles took time but the GPS has us skirting around to Hollywood from the north so there were few slow bits. The Interstates and Freeways in Los Angeles are like a crazy grid that follows the geography in the valleys. Doesn’t make a lot of sense and has huge wide multi-lane interconnections. There’s no signalling, seems to be no time. Its not unusual to be pounding along at 75 mph (normal ‘motorway’ speed, 120 kph) and have a car pass you and cross your lane to get to an exit. Not for the faint-hearted.
At the hotel we got them to take all the luggage from the car to the room so there’s hardly room to stand. We still felt like we should tip!
Strange thing. After dinner there was a note with the invoice that the hotel pay wait-staff proper wages and an additional 12% has been added to cover them in addition to the menu prices. We’ve yet to check this with the staff.
Highlights
Rosie | Shopping of course and our hotel in Phoenix
Angus | In n Out
