Driving to Las Vegas - Palm Springs - Santo Barbara
San Francisco-Santa Clarita-Las Vegas-Palm Springs-Santa Barbara-Pismo Beach.
Probably, if one of our fellow citizens is asked offhand to name the cities of the United States, then New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles will be included in the list... These cities are “well-known”, they are talked about, they are visited. I also visited them, and yet, I wanted to drive through their streets, play in the casino, wander along the Pacific coast. In October 2011, I already drove along the west coast, and this route is almost the same as the previous one. So the story will be short. Only the purpose of the trip has changed a little. I wanted to relax more, watch shows, “drink” by the pools, just drive around the cities, and not rush from one end of the state to the other to see something. So - 3.04 2012.
San Francisco! There are a lot of things in this city marked "the most". I don't even remember how many times I walked it on foot from east to west. It seems that in 2007, when I visited it for the first time, I was fascinated, and immediately fell in love with it. It reminds me of my native Kyiv, but not now, but 50 years ago, with the same beautiful lanterns, trees, and benches under them, parks where music plays... In this city, unlike mine, everything has been preserved. I once read that the city was conceived to stop the advance of the Russians from the north, and from the west they had already captured Hawaii. Apparently not in vain!
You can move south along the ocean, where beautiful towns are scattered, I have already described in previous stories. Yes, and the first stop is planned in Santa Clarita, a beautiful cozy town that I really liked on my last trip. Films and shows are filmed here, TV series stars live, festivals are held. Mountains and lakes, golf courses, shops of famous brands, cleanliness and silence. Yes, and a two-year-old boy in the back seat of our car likes to ride trains here. Oh, how we didn’t want to leave such beauty, but Las Vegas was already waiting for us. There is nothing interesting further along the 260-mile highway, only Mount San Bernardino on the right is pleasing to the eye. Outside the utter heat - the desert. And then Primm showed up, with a casino and a roller coaster. Almost arrived. . .
The “Stratosphere” can be seen from afar, I planned to visit its observation deck, look at the city from a height, at desperate jumpers down from a great height. 110 dollars per jump did not bother me, I was afraid of age and trembling in the knees. I must say right away that it didn’t come true to visit, although I saw the jumpers from below. Well done! We booked a room at the Vdara Hotel. We needed a suite, no casino, but a smoking room, on / off the Strip. With all the variety of hotels, as it turned out, the choice is not great. The hotel is excellent, new, clean, connected by a small bridge to Bellagio. Kitchen, living room, 2 bathrooms, 2 TVs, free Internet, parking, monorail to the City Center. By the pool you can order separate cabins, even with a large TV. Very quiet, no sounds. Our room was on the 50th floor, 003. From the hallway, a magnificent view of the dancing fountains, and the Strip. If you order the 006 room for yourself, you will get such a spectacle right from the bath. Super! I must say right away that the suites are expensive, and the higher the floor, the more expensive, and by a lot. But you have to pay for the pleasure. Returning late from the casino, I stood at the window for a long time, looked at the curving jets, the lights of the city and received peace from what I saw. The hotel was lucky. We had breakfast in the room, as the baby had to cook porridge, etc. For four days I watched 2 shows, 5 hotels, Lake Las Vegas, and Fremont. I rode a gondola in the Venetian, climbed the Eiffel Tower, raced down the slides in the Circus. I highly recommend the lake, silence, beauty, you can ride water bikes and electric boats. After a noisy city - paradise. Dinner was on the terrace of an Italian restaurant on the shore, and the Italian pianist played the accordion at the table for us, almost the whole evening, Russian songs. After 5 dollars received from me for playing the piano and having learned that I was Russian, he almost did not leave us. Taking into account a few more thanks to him, dinner exceeded a little over 200. But a lot of pleasure and positive emotions. I think Ross's Moon was the restaurant's name. You can eat more modestly without buying $45 wine and desserts, but it just happened. We are Russians, walk, walk like that. I like this city, and during this second visit, much of what was planned did not come true. Perhaps this is a sign, and I will visit it again. Oh, I wish. . .
The next stop is Palm Springs. If you ask "why there" I can't answer. I've been there before when I went to Arizona. Climbing San Jacinto, drinking date shakes. It lies at the foot of the mountains, on a plain, built up with one-story houses. Hot, green, clean, beautiful. Every street is a feast for the eyes. It's like attending a vernissage. Looking at the canvases, you get aesthetic pleasure. This is what happens to me in this city. Hollywood stars, retired presidents of the country, politicians, etc. rest here. A few words about the hotel - Vista Mirage. By the mountain, in greenery and flowers. 2 bedrooms, large, 30 meters - 40 square meters. living room - studio with kitchen, 2 balconies, internet, 2 bathrooms. Clean but modest. Noisy air conditioning. Just right with small children. Clean swimming pool, tennis courts, bicycles… We climbed the mountain again, the view is awesome, but there was a “haze”, you can’t look at 100 miles. I tried to go deeper into the camp, but abandoned this venture, realizing that I could not push the stroller with the baby back up the mountain. Fresh air, birdsong, sun and forest. And all at an altitude of 1.5 km. I had a viewing fad in Palma. The former villa of M. Monroe. Not that I'm chasing celebrities, but this woman fascinates me. I went specifically to about. Coronado, where the film "Only Girls in Jazz" was filmed, wandered along the beach where she ran... To die voluntarily at 36 years old, this requires courage. The street turned out to be beautiful, a charming house could be seen on a hillock. At the same time I decided to look at the house of B. Streisand, and the former villa of F. Sinatra, where the famous parties took place. What else to see? We drove along highway 111, along which satellite cities are located: Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, famous for tennis tournaments and an abundance of Indian Wells millionaires. Dinner at the sushi restaurant Okura in this city was not very pleasant, despite drinking sake. But the place is popular, a decent queue. What can I say... I would probably exchange my native Kyiv, which has become a stranger and uncomfortable, for the eternally sunny, green, quiet town of Palm Springs, where you wake up to the singing of birds, and at 7 pm the sun hides behind the mountains and the streets are filled with coolness, smells of flowers and open restaurants, happy friendly people. Just two nights, two nights in paradise! There is also a handsome airport, and horseback riding through the gorges, and balloon flights, and water parks, and jeep tours... An active person will find something to their liking here. We were limited to two days and a two-year-old baby.
On the morning of the third day, we took the direction to Santa Barbara. On the highway, you can call in San Bernardino and see the First McDonald's, now a museum; drop by Disneyland for a couple of days; listen to a lecture at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; or drink coffee in the Hollywood hills - all this without much deviating from the course....The central street "State" in S. Barbara, as it were, begins with a wooden flooring that goes into the ocean, and the other end rests against the mountains, penetrating the city. Lots of restaurants and shops around. Homeless people sitting on openwork benches. But the main trump card is the ocean. This time it seemed to me warmer, and small children splashed in the water. As usual, it was windy, but warm. Next to the artists selling paintings, all sorts of trinkets. Hotels along the promenade among palm trees. A cool bus, without windows and doors, running from the center to the ocean for 25 cents . . It was somehow dumb to ride it, I held my grandson tightly by the hand. In general, a decent resort town. It still doesn’t work out to travel through its hills, the eternal lack of time.
I recommend leaving not on 101, but on highway 154. A two-lane road winds through the mountains, between blue lakes. Here is an Indian reservation of the Chumash tribe, who inhabited these lands even before the Spaniards. A kind of American outback. Very picturesque and historical place. Then we get to 101, the Los Alamos winery, and then Santa Maria, where a rodeo will be held from May 31 to June 3. Cowboys, world champions will come, there will be a carnival, clowns. I think there will be something to see for both adults and children. Tickets are already on sale. The real spirit of America. Well, do not miss such a city - Pismo Beach. It is not hyped, but picturesque. I have been to California many times, passing by and not paying attention. But in vain. A town on the ocean, wide beaches, dunes, festivals, fairs, all kinds of entertainment, excellent wine, weather, nature. So, what to do: fly on an open plane of World War II for 100d; go kayaking; surfing; diving; drive through the dunes on a quad bike; skydive; for extreme sports – kiteboarding; horseback riding; golf; fishing; bowling; theatre; from November to February, you can watch an incredibly beautiful spectacle - monarch butterflies make a stop in their migration here, painting eucalyptus groves with themselves; whale migration; this city is also famous for its huge shellfish, which can be collected after low tide, though you need a license. It all depends on your wallet, time and preferences. Amazing, little known place.
Further, on the way to San Francisco, there are colorful towns, beautiful landscapes, which I partially described in previous stories. I can't quite find a campsite in California, on the ocean, where tents are hung from trees. Very romantic. Perhaps who knows? This is how the journey turned out. The route could be changed, and go to Vegas through the north, which is almost the same distance. See Napa, Sonoma - famous wine-growing cities, very beautiful, hilly, green; the former gambling capital of Reno; Great Lake Tahoe is a favorite vacation spot for many Americans. Probably next time. California is very big and interesting. I once came here for Christmas. After slushy, gloomy Kyiv, 25-degree heat, green mountains, flowers and the ocean are perceived as something fabulous. This is how the journey turned out. I would be glad if someone helped to determine the route.
