On Friday August 25, 2006 I left Austin at 11am CST and drove for 13 hours. I stopped 57 miles outside Tucson, AZ at a rest area and slept in my truck for 7 hours. Then I woke up, stretched, and then got back in the car and drove for 11 more hours til I arrived here in San Pedro, California at 6pm CST (4pm PST) on Saturday August 26, 2006.

The Trip:
I have to thank my mother for the Evil Eye that she gave me. It did its job, and nothing bad happend to me along the 1,500 miles that I travled alone across the desert to reach the Pacific. No muggings, no flat tires, no wrong turns, and I even got a full 7 hours of sleep in my truck. I'm not a superstitious person, but I'll take all the help I can get.

After I left my great friends, who helped me pack my truck and wished me on my way, I stopped at the local 7/11 to fill up on gas. I decided to keep a log of the stops for gas that I made. Below is a chart of the collected data.

Location --------- Odometer --- Gallons --- Price per Gallon

Austin, TX................76,247............. 12.715.............. $2.79
Junction, TX............76,398..............7.760............... $2.99
Ft. Stockton, TX.....76,247..............10.896.............. $2.95
Sierra Blanca, TX....76,247...............8.416.............. $3.09
Deming, NM............76,947...............9.674................$3.05
Tucson, AZ..............77,177...............11.242.............. $2.71
Yuma, AZ.................77,405..............11.849...............$2.87
Oceanside, CA.........77,621..............11.071................$2.87
San Pedro, CA.........77,700..............-------...............-----

So, a few stats...

Total Distance: 1453mi.

Total Gallons Purchased: 83.623

Average Miles per Gallon: 18.9

Average Price per Gallon: $2.925

This trip was my first long distance road trip alone. I don't have a CD player in my truck, and unfortunately I didn't have any cassettes to listen to. (HA!) I had to rely on radio. As you can probably imagine, most of the time there weren't many radio stations to listen to (except near major cities), so I had a lot of time with Bryan's brain; thinking about where I was going, what it would be like, and what I would do when I got there.

Some of the interesting things I noticed along the way included: Texas doesn't seem to ever end, and when it does it's obvious. New Mexico is better to drive through in the dark. Arizona really looks like the picture on the license plates. There was a really cool cartoon like, mile long stretch of desert outside Yuma, AZ, giant sand dunes and all. Right before you get to San Diego on I-8 you have to cross a small mountain range with the craziest mountains I have ever seen. It literally looked like a gigantic pile of boulders. No kidding. Southern California, from San Diego to Los Angeles is just one huge stretch of civilization. It's truly an incredible testament to Urban Sprawl.

After 24 hours of driving, and a 7 hour sleep in the middle of no where, I arrived at my destination, San Pedro, CA. I am currently staying with Shelley Smith, a reporter for ESPN. My dad was friends with her when they both lived in the Denver, CO area during grade school. I went to visit my grandfather (who still lives in the Denver area) in July at the same time that my dad was in town for his 30 Year High School Reunion. I got to meet a lot of my dad's old friends, including Shelley Smith. I mentioned to her that I was planning on moving to LA in a month or so and she was very gracious to offer me a place to stay while I look for employment. I have to say, my dad really hooked me up on this one. This is one of the best things that has or could have ever happend to me.

After waking up on the second day of my drive all I could think about was how nice it would be to take a shower once I got here. I really hate being dirty. I don't know how the europeans do it. Once I got through Arizona though, I started thinking about how I hoped to god she has the internet. I have a serious addiction to the internet and that was a very big concern of mine. Once I arrived I saw a computer. Sitting there in all its glory, next to it the beautiful blinking lights of a cable modem router. I put the shower idea on the back burner and checked my email, chatted with some friends, and checked out the recent news before I did anything else.

I went to In-N-Out Burger for dinner, a West Coast favorite. It was delicious.

Also, Shelley has 2 cats. An older grey cat named "Buster" and a little tabby kitten named "Tatum." Like most animals, they love me.

Life is grand.

Day 1 (August 27th, 2006):

My first full day in LA was a very eventful one. A friend of mine, Stephanie, moved out here right after we graduated in May. She lives in Sherman Oaks, near Burbank, CA. I figured she'd be a good person to start off with. We chatted online and she told me that her and her roommate, Debra, had planned a day of events. They invited me along and I was more than happy to come.

The first thing we did was visit the Animatronics exhibit at the Academy of Motion Pictures in downtown Hollywood. It was really frickin' cool. I got to see the original Yoda, the animatronic mask used in Harry and the Hendersons, Doc Oc from Spider-Man 2, as well as various other props from movies you've probably all heard of.

After we left the exhibt we went to Cabo Cantina on Sunset Blvd. They have a happy hour every day from 4-7pm that includes a buy one get one free on every drink. I had 2 margaritas and 2 beers. MMmmmm!

Then we made a really brief stop at a bar in Hollywood (I think it was called I Bar). It was only 6:30 and the friends that Stephanie was looking for weren't there, so we left. (Plus they gave me a hard time for wearing shorts and sandals. Listen to me door men across the globe, when I am wealthy enough, I am going to make a point to always wear shorts and sandals to bars. So be prepared.)

After leaving the retardo bar we went to a Comedy Club on Ventura Blvd. Stephanie and Debra knew another girl who was performing in an improv show. It cost us $7 each, but it was 2 hours long, I was laughing, and so it was definitely worth it.

Finally, after the improv show we visited another friend of their's. We watched the end of the Grammy's and then I drove home. (I also saw the craziest car wreck ever on the ride home. One car slammed into the back of the other and burst into a huge ball of fire.)

Day 2 (August 28th, 2006):

My second day in LA was a little more relaxing. First of all, before I did anything else, I figured I would try to get a job interview. There is a good website on line, EntertainmentCareers.Net, that has all kinds of jobs. I found 3 that I applied to. (Thanks to Stefan for helping me update my resume.)

I visited another friend of mine, Courtney, who lives in Huntington Beach, CA which is about a 45 min drive from where I am. After making my way down into Orange County, Courtney and I went to a bar called Sharkeez in downtown Huntington. We had some margaritas, chilled out for a bit, did a little shooting the shit, and headed back to her place.

At her place we played some Ping-Pong and watched Bill Mahr (who is really on the top of my "Very Happy With You" List right now.)

After that I went to the grocery store, VONS. Picked up some food and headed back to Shelley's. She hadn't been home the first 2 nights I was there and she left me a key under the mat. She must have arrived while I was out, because she was there when I got back. We talked for awhile, but then it got kind of late and she went to bed. I fed my internet addiction for a bit, but then I too had to retire.

Today I haven't really done much. Kinda putzed around on the internet, took a nap on the porch, and I am going to have dinner (Steak!) with Shelley here in a minute.

This blog post has probably been the most time consuming thing I have done all day. It's a long one.

Also!! I got a job interview for tomorrow. World Race Productions, the company that makes the Emmy winning reality series The Amazing Race, called me back after I sent in my resume. I am to meet with "Chris" at 3pm in the China Airlines building in El Segundo, CA near LAX. I am interviewing for a Production Assistant position. You can find the posting here.

Well, that's it for now. I'm sure that I will read over this and realize I missed something, so I'll be updating in the future. Comments please!