Mojave - Redondo Beach (LA) Journey Day 18

Well, it’s the last day of the journey. It has been great, ups and downs but surprisingly few downs and massive ups. A “Journey” it really has been and it feels very odd to throw our bits into the Jeep for the last time in the auto-pilot manor that has developed. We have never agreed who does what but it now just happens. The same items are thrown into the same positions in the Jeep and we’re ready to go.
It is clear that we are now approaching ‘civilisation’, indeed, Mojave seems to be a stopping point associated with aircraft Indus; Edwards Airbase is very close to here.
As we head West, the ground appears fertile though it looks sandy. There are fields of orange groves and for some reason acres of tree nurseries, row after row of young slender palms and all sorts of other varieties. Fruit farms abound and the inevitable Pick Your Own strawberries. In some flatter sections of the valleys there are large areas turned over to turf, either ready to be cut as rolling lawns or ready to seed looking like wide flattened sandy motorways. I am guessing that all this feed an appetite in LA for gardens and landscaping.
We pass over a Small mountain range and then we are heading directly to the Pacific. The land is a bit scrappy and there is little investment. It is around here that we pass the 5000 miles mark.
At a rest stop, the local mileages are hand written on a scrap of paper and there are no free state maps. California doesn’t seem interested in spending money on visitors. There again, we have been hearing on the radio how the state is broke and there are strikes due to state workers having their pay reduced to the legal minimum wage.
Our initial Pacific coast fall is actually not very nice. The sky is greyish and scruffy crumbling cliffs fall to the sea. The sea looks dirty but it IS the PACIFIC. Elated but at the same time a little disgruntled at the location, we continue a couple of miles south and reach a pleasant beach with families playing. Off come the shoes and into the water we paddle for our feet dip shots. We have our Pacific arrival shot of the two of us taken by a nice guy with his two young kids building sea defences and channels just like we did with ours when they were young.

Carrying on south, the money becomes apparent as we reach Malibu, with the vast expanse of clean beach and lovely houses you can see why people would live here; though it seems the real moneyed live up on the boundary with the hills behind us.
We run down the coast maybe 40 miles including working our way through the outskirts of LA. Being in busy traffic (Friday afternoon 3:30), the six lane urban interstates are taxing after the last two weeks and following directions and traffic is a challenge.
At 4:00, we drive into the Redondo beach Sunrise Hotel. It’s a great spot, recommended by friends (Thanks Gill & John), and our luck continues are we get a room on the 2nd floor looking out to the Marina.
For the first time, we do a total unload of the Jeep and settle into the room; our home for the next 4 nights.

Journey’s End:
I would love to get around to a summary of our journey, but I may not manage it. I have written this piece on our final day in LA. On Saturday, we visited our Niece and her family in Santa Monica and yesterday spent all day in Universal Studios amusement Park. Today; we’ll probably drive to down to Long Beach for a look around, we’ll see.
We are finding it very odd, not packing and going each day and whilst I am not eager to go home, I am ready to move on again and I guess home is where it has to be to. We fly out of LAX tomorrow afternoon; 10.5 hours to London Heathrow then to Manchester for lunchtime Wednesday.
The Blog:
I have enjoyed writing the blogs though it has been time consuming and at times difficult what with Internet connectivity etc. It has been made worthwhile by the feedback from some of you so anyone – please leave comments because it’s nice to know that others got something from it. Any Photo’s still not uploaded will have to wait till then so come back later in the week and have another look.

FINAL Statistics:

Miles today: 200 miles; Journey Miles (Boston Hotel to LA Hotel): 5,082; Fuel used: 258 gals (between 14 and 20mpg); States visited: Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California (total 14); Journey Duration: 18 Days; Time Zones crossed: Eastern (UK-5), Central (UK-6), Mountain (UM-7), Pacific (UK-8). Vehicle: Jeep Commander.