United States trip - Part II

L.A. Sun. Babes. Beaches. Trash. Gangs. Dirty streets. Rude people. Nothing like New York and nothing like Dallas. New York had surprisingly nice people, after hearing all the horror stories of travellers gone by and Texas was the friendliest place I've ever been to in my life.

In fact, Dallas was a bit like Singapore. Clean as a whistle. Not a hair out of place. New York had its filth, just as Sydney does. But L.A. takes it to a whole new level, and some of it was from the attitudes of people.

Sadly, this was the image I remembered from 20 years ago. Nothing had changed at all. However, we were going on a short trip from the Greyhound bus terminal to Union Station. A marvel for me, since the last time I lived in L.A. there was no rail system. This was new, and it was good.

Clean, fast, and on time.

It took us just less than an hour to get to Santa Clarita. And when we got off the train we were immediately greeted with my cousin. YAY!

My favourite cousin. The sister to the other cousin I stayed with in Dallas TX. We drove to her factory where she runs her business Safari Straps. I have to plug her business. She makes the best 4X4 Off-Road straps there is. I watched, and helped with some of the manufacturing. So if you buy one you may end up with a strap made by a Fair Dinkum Aussie. They do take extreme pride in their workmanship. Each strap is hand made and inspected thoroughly. The slightest imperfection in a stitch is redone. They don't put band-aids on it. They pull it apart and do it again, right.

After half a day in the shop, it was time to get going to dinner. We had Mexican and then went home for a much needed shower. 36 hours on a Greyhound bus isn't exactly the cleanest of travel methods. As I stood in the shower and got wet, the water coming off me was murky, grey. Like the bus. I guess they live up to their name.

The following day we were on our way to the Mojave desert. The 4X4 was loaded up and ready to go. Coffee for breakfast, in the true American sense and served with this powered cream thing.... there was no milk. I'm not sure why. Milk is pretty much a staple here in Australia.

On the road again. This time we were on our way in comfort, and to somewhere special. The Mojave Desert.

My cousin's 4X4 wasn't small. Bigger than most 4X4's here in Australia. But comfy and powerful.

Part 3 coming soon :)