Trip 9 - California Dreamin'
On this trip we set out to immerse ourselves in the culture and the nature of California. To discover its textures and see some of its natural wonders. We discover that California is very big. It is not a state that you can just pass through, it is, more than any other place we have visited, more like another country. It is a land dominated by mountains, the spaces between and like nowhere else, water.
Our start in the heavily populated area to the East of Los Angeles, known as the Inland Empire, is crowded into the lowlands surrounded by magnificent mountains. The feeling is of a cauldron which is trying to boil over the mountains to the fresh air of the rest of the state.
To the South is a band of Desert, which is the buffer to Mexico, which we did not explore on this trip.
We travelled North through the mountains (everywhere in California you can see mountains) to the desert, and on again to the huge Central Valley, mile after mile of intensive agriculture. Culture here is dominated by food, flatness, low income and trying to impact on the 'sameness' of the flat lands through music and festival. It is the communication and administrative corridor that links all other areas of California.
To the East is the huge mountain chain of the Sierra Nevada which clearly demonstrates the magnificence of the natural world, both in its geology and nature, reflected in the pysche and pride of most Californians. It is Eldorado, dominated by Gold!
To the West of the Central Valley are the coastal mountains, San Francisco and the magnificent coast. More isolated cultures, from mixed resources, communities seperated by mountains.
To the North of the Central Valley more mountains and a culture which looks more North towards Oregon than South to Sacremento.
This blog details our journey through California, where we pick and choose, or just scratch the surface, of this diverse and beautiful state.
We're Back
We are sitting in our motel room in a Rodeway Inn in Riverside. We had a safe, trouble free journey, though it was very long. The only problem came when I left my rucsack with the Laptop in it on the shuttle bus from our Travelodge Hotel to Heathrow T5, fortunately the shuttle just did a short loop and we were able to retrieve it within a half hour. As usual the views of the mountains and deserts as we flew across UT,NV and CA were spectacular. It was lovely to walk out of the airport and feel the warmth of L.A. and that characteristic smell of the tropics (I think it may come frm the palm trees). This morning we will continue via Wal-Mart to Banning and turn round our truck and trailer. Then decide where we want to go from there.
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