drey skipped out on work today (she's being laid off in two weeks, so she doesn't have much trouble doing this), and we headed out first to culver city for brunch. she'd touted the hashbrowns at this place, and indeed they were quite good, not frozen, soft inside and crispy on top, no over-seasoned. i also had a delighful light and fluffy waffle with boysenberry syrup. delicious.

we went on to venice, walked along the canals and pretty houses and bridges, then on to santa monica to the pier and then shopping. it was nice to move and walk around, we did both manage to get sunburnt however! in the afternoon we were lazy, sat around their pretty house; drey watch a kurosawa movie and i worked on the photos from saturday, boring her a little with details about the cars.

after rich got home, we went out for cuban food, delicious fish, rice black beans, and fried plantains. (yes-- i actually ate beans and bananas! though not much of either.)

two myths about LA: everyone drives everywhere, and no one gets a sunburn.

Thursday, June 21: LA to Mountain View, CA via the TVA store in Brea, Ca

i guess i relaxed too much at drey & rich's house; i couldn't get my usual jackrabbit start in the morning, and it was 11 am by the time i finally made it to the TVA store in Brea. Randy came in while i was there and we chatted a little, i got a few pictures, and took off northward into a pall of yellow-gray smog.

the smog never seemed to end. i was travelling up I-5 with mountains on one side, through perfectly flat citrus groves. i am kind of disgusted that they grow fruit in that air.

i had left LA so much later than i wanted to that i felt a little rushed, since jan would be expecting me up in mountain view, but decided to cut over to 101 in the hopes that it would be prettier, even though it meant adding some time to my trip. it was a bit better, still tan sunburnt grasses and little green bits of scrub with mountains off in the distance, but the air was clearer.

i came up to the san jose area and started seeing signs for cupertino (apple!) and silicon valley... yep, there's a big green highway sign for silicon valley. i wonder how long that's been there?

i arrived at jan's shortly thereafter and parked the spacepod neatly beside a white vw camper van. he showed me his two vintage vw's, a split window bug and a barndoor bus, and then inside he showed me his extensive collection of vw models, the result of 20+ years of "sickness" (his word :)

mike arrived during the collectable tour (which spans several rooms) with his brother, brother's girlfriend, and a girl named deni who works at new dimensions. deni was driving her bright yellow corrado, and mike was of course driving emma, his silver V6 passat. Jan's son Andrew arrived shortly thereafter.

Jan of course also owns UFO TDI, a silver '98 TDI New Beetle which has been... modified. I've wanted to ride in this car ever since he told me about it last year at Roswell-- tonight, I finally got my chance. Oh my goodness! UFO feels completely different from Spacepod. In addition to a box that improves engine performance, he's made some modifications to the suspension as well. The ride is a lot rougher and a LOT faster. Of course, the way Jan drives could also have something to do with that :)

we all went to dinner; we talked about a lot, but mostly i remember jan telling me about his involvement in the VW clubs in California and other things VW related.

After dinner mike tried to convince me to stay the next day, at least for lunch, but i said i needed to keep moving. then he turned to me and said, "Are you a Krispy Kreme girl?" oh yes, of course, i am a good southern girl-- but there's no KK in california-- right? Wrong! Mike successfully convinced me to come by his workplace in the morning; he lured me with krispy kremes.

i spent a pleasant night in jan's guest room, to the sound of roaring fans (no a/c needed here) with cool breezes coming in the window. In the morning, we visited Mike at work for the promised doughnuts. His office is of course a geek office, white board with things like "inet" scribbled on, little koush balls and other toys, cd's glued to the wall in an abstract pattern surrounding a mounted fish.

i headed north toward seattle.

Friday, June 22: Mountain View, Ca to Eureka, Ca

you can tell a lot about a town by sitting in a pizza shop, waiting on an order.

sitting in the eureka domino's, it was easy to tell that i was not in durham. in durham, the papa john's is humid and tense. the phone, which is covered in a dirty, yellowed plastic sheet, rings constantly. the staff, of which there are many, appear to be completely exhausted at all times. i've had more than ample time to obeserve this since it usually takes at least thirty minutes to complete an order.

in eureka, the dominos is cool, crisp and clean inside. the minimal staff smile, chat, and bounce from one side of the store to the other. the phone never rings. the only other customer in the store picked up pizzas for a local high school. the staff told him that they'd made larger pizzas than he'd ordered, for free. my pizza was ready in less than ten minutes.

i also noticed that the lamps in front were fitted with compact flourescents which were not turned on. as i left, i noticed a sign on the door that said, "Please forgive our low lighting. We are trying to conserve due to the extreme energy shortage." I felt bad for leaving the lights on in my hotel room while i went out for the pizza. When i got back, i noticed that they were compact flourescents, too.

the trip to eureka was stunning. after clearing the bay area, i cut over to highway 1, which hugs the coast. this road twists constantly, goes through mountains and forests. it's the kind of road that you have to respect, because it's full of surprises, 90 degree turns and sudden cliffs. of course, it's fun as hell to drive if you really love driving, and stunningly beautiful-- one of the best times i've had yet on this trip. certainly one of the best drives.