USA, Pt. 4 - Los Angeles and Yosemite National Park (CA)
We had 10 days in California, enjoying the sights of Los Angeles as well as fresh snow at Yosemite National Park.
Flickr Album - USA, Pt. 4
Welcome to our final chapter in the United States
Capping off our time in the U.S. we were once again welcomed into Los Angeles by friendly faces: Alex's uncle and aunt, who spoilt us with their hospitality and generosity over the 10 days we spent there.
LA is also home to Alex's cousin Pam and her husband Noel and 1 year old Diego (who we got to meet for the first time!). It was special to have some time in the city to spend with these guys as we don't get to see them too often!
Los Angeles
Alex's uncle and aunt, cousin Pam, her husband Noel and baby Diego - helping us pack!
In the end our time in LA was very short, made seemingly shorter by the heavy rains we experienced which limited what we could do. Having said that, we still managed to pack in a few sightseeing days and got a good feel for the city. Here's a recap:
Downtown LA
Walt Disney Concert Hall
We began our tour of downtown LA where it all began, at the Avila Adobe, the city's oldest surviving residence built in 1818. Around this house was the historic city centre, where the Spanish first settled. At Avila Adobe we watched a video that told the history of the city and how the Spanish, Mexicans, Native Americans and even Chinese came together over the centuries to build the LA we know today. It was a great introduction to the city, as our perception of it was very much limited before knowing the history.
Our tour continued through Downtown LA, where we saw the incredible Walt Disney Concert Hall, which could only make me think of that Simpsons episode, and walked through the famous Grand Central Market, filled with every type of food.
The Oldest Part of Downtown Los Angeles
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Six Flags attempt number 1 & 2
High on our list was to go to the Six Flags Magic Mountain, a roller coaster-only theme park. We both enjoy the thrill of it and even though we visited Universal Studios in Osaka and Disney Magic Kingdom in Florida during our trip, we were keen for a shot of adrenalin.
Whilst in LA we were pretty unlucky with the weather, though: we experienced an usually heavy amount of rainfall for the short time we were there. This meant on the day we went to Six Flags, heavy rainfall actually shut down the park so we had to go back the next day. The weather was beautiful the next day, and we enjoyed a full day of adventure. Because it was a weekday, the park was running on a very low capacity, which meant the queues were incredibly short and we managed to go to all the roller coasters and thrill rides before 4pm. We were a bit dizzy and definitely done for the day.
Hollywood and Observatory Point
"Glamorous" Hollywood
We often talk about making a list of the "most underrated" and the "most overrated" places we've visited in this trip. I would definitely put Hollywood in the latter category. Growing up in Brazil, I had this image of Hollywood being this glamorous place, with the shiny stars of the Walk of Fame lining up on the Boulevard, and bumping into Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on the streets or at the local cafe. In reality, Hollywood Boulevard is quite a dirty place, full of sex shops, dispensaries and homeless people. Still, it was worth it to see it for ourselves. Not all is bad there though, we had a delicious and reasonably priced lunch at Thai Town just up the road.
"Glamorous" Hollywood
One of the cool things in that area, though, was to drive up to the Observatory Point. It's a vantage point up in the mountains where you can see the Hollywood sign and, of course, the Observatory. Because it was already the end of the day and we did not want to pay USD 6 for parking, we just pulled the car over, ran outside for a quick look and some shots and drove back home. Yep, life on a budget.
Observatory Point
Santa Monica & Venice Beach
Cycling Along Venice Beach
We really wanted to cycle along Venice Beach before we left LA, so we braved the rain on our last day in town and headed out to Santa Monica. Thankfully we only experienced mild sprinkling while cycling but it did mean the whole atmosphere of the beach was very different. Instead of a sunny day, filled with family and kids running around, we found an almost deserted Venice Boardwalk, except for a few other tourists like us and a number of homeless people. It was quite a confronting experience to see all that poverty right in front of some of the most expensive houses in LA. We even saw a fight breaking out next to us - glad we were on our bikes and just pedalled away.
Santa Monica Pier
We also had time for a last family dinner and a few drinks with Ying (Alex's cousin) and Noel - now, without the baby. They took us to this really cool American cabin-themed bar - the Bigfoot Lodge West - where we enjoyed some live music, a good chat and a few early birthday celebration drinks. A great way to wrap up Los Angeles and our time in the US. Thanks for taking us out, guys!
Farewell drinks at Big Foot Lodge
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Although we enjoyed our few days checking out LA, the highlight for us was definitely the trip to Yosemite National Park. Whilst we were unlucky with the weather in LA, we couldn't have been luckier at Yosemite - on the drive there the area experienced their first snowfall for the season, and a good amount too. So when we arrived at the lodge we were greeted with fresh powdery snow covering everything. It was a truly magical sight and something we relished greatly.
We had three nights staying at the Yosemite Valley Lodge, located right on valley floor, you'd step out of your room and be looking up at the Yosemite falls, seriously incredible. It was low season in the park, which meant less crowds but also less areas were open. We couldn't really do any hiking as most trails were closed for the winter season, but with our lacking winter gear I don't think either of us were too keen for any serious hikes out in the snow anyway!
Yosemite in winter is a photographer's paradise, and apart from freezing our butts on -3ºC days, we managed to snap some of the best landscape shots of our trip there.
Driving up to Yosemite
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
The gang at Yosemite National Park
We have vowed to come back to Yosemite and see it in another season, but for now we will settle with the memories of our time there with the beautiful snow covered views. We have to say a huge thank you to Alex's uncle and aunt, Keong Q and Wen Wei, who not only looked after us in LA but took us on this incredible trip, it was such an amazing experience that we are so grateful we could share with you both.
Final thoughts
Goodbye, USA! And thanks for everything!
All in all, we were very impressed by the US and I (Fernando) completely changed my perception of it. I always thought it was all about New York, Miami, Hollywood and the big cities, but our 3 months there made me reassess my very limited views. It is such an immense country, with so many different landscapes, cultures, customs and weather, The national park scene is just amazing, and you can easily spend 6 months there and not see everything.
This now wraps up the North America leg and brings us to the last quarter of our trip, with another 3 or so months to go. We are still collecting amazing experiences, but the challenges are also changing: we are both getting a bit tired, starting to seriously miss home and routine. We've been around people all this time and also craving some alone time. Money is getting short and our credit card bills racking up. Life on the road is still amazing, of course, but we are accumulating - and working through - an ever increasing amount of emotional stress. With Christmas and New Year approaching, it is also an incredibly hard time for Alex to be away from her family. But hey, this is all part of the challenge and what we signed up for. I'm sure we'll look back to all this with a lot of love and happiness.
Next stop: Brasil! Yes, with an S. Fernando will be turning 30 there, we'll be back to summer and ready to welcome 2019 with open hearts and minds.