Day 5 - GOFDV takes a right turn

There aren't many things in life better than waking up by the ocean, especially when your home base is in a landlocked state. This morning Trevor & I answered the early alarm call and got outside when the air was still crisp. He was going for a run, but I headed for a leisurely stroll on the beach. I haven't been to Santa Monica before, so I'm surprised at what a thick hunk of beach it is -- quite a walk across the sand to get to the water. A workout in its own right.

There weren't many others out on the beach. A lady doing yoga. Some homeless people still sleeping. A couple other walkers. And a guy flying a remote-control, military-looking helicopterish thing. I was mesmerized by this odd UFO whirring around, and I watched him maneuver it for a little while. When it got closer, I got out my phone to take a picture.

 

I wonder if my rapt attention may have caused him to lose focus, because about 3 seconds after I took this photo, the odd airborne creature crash-landed and several propellers flew off. Good, because it was freaking me out a little. 

OK. Time to get our City-of-Angels Monday on. We knew our time here was going to be limited, so, much like our Arches National Park visit, we were only going to see 3 things out of about 2000. We picked a Warner Brothers Studio tour as one of them.

It's pretty cool to see sets and costumes used in movies and TV shows. Trevor really grooved on things from the Dark Knight movies... costumes and the Batcars and all. (Yes, Batmobiles. I know.) Nate--really, all of us--loved seeing the set of Big Bang Theory, although it's on hiatus from filming right now. Oh. And then there's this retired set. Recognize it? Oh my gosh I love it. 

After the WB tour, we planned to go to Grauman's Chinese Theater, or whatever it's called now, but it was all blocked off for construction/repairs/something. Traffic was horrendous. Abort! We headed for the Griffith Park Observatory for a great view of the city as well as the iconic Hollywood sign. (And a quick geocache find. These things are everywhere.)

Time for one more stop, and it was Trevor's pick. He wanted to see the former site of Sound City Studios, where many musical greats recorded albums... Fleetwood Mac, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Nirvana (we listened to their Nevermind album on the drive there to set the mood). The studio was in a warehouse-y area of Van Nuys, definitely not on any tourist maps, and Trevor was thrilled to just be in the parking lot. 

Soon on our way again, and this time we're heading a different direction -- north. Or north-ish, on the Pacific Coast Highway. One of the great drives of the U.S. Or of the world. So pretty. 

We were going to head straight to San Luis Obispo, until Nate spotted the "Golf & Stuff" minigolf off the PCH in Ventura, and thought a rematch from yesterday was in order. Sure enough, he had his mojo back today, and demolished us all handily. He's in a much better mood now.  

By sundown, we landed at our digs for the night, the darling Apple Farm Inn in San Luis Obispo. Grabbed one more geocache right next to our hotel, incidentally, at the site of the first "motor hotel" ("motel") in America. So that's fitting. 

From here on out, the pace slows down a bit. We'll head to San Fran tomorrow and stay there a few nights before hopping a train home. 

Today's mileage: 280. Total mileage: 2280.

Good night from SLO, elevation 300ft. 

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p.s. Here's something weird. We've (unintentionally, even) seen THREE Mystery Machines on our trip. The real one used in the movie (pictured below) at WB Studios, plus two knockoffs. One in Utah and the other in CA. I have no explanation for this.