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kernichadventures · 8 years ago

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The 100th running of the famous Indianapolis 500 Mile Race was scheduled for May 29th 2016 and I made the decision 2 years before to go to that race. I never thought I’d end up travelling to America, but I made it safely and left with a totally new impression.

I decided on a 3 week adventure taking in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Indianapolis, New York City and Washington. A fellow sim racer suggested I take in a 7th city, so I took a day trip to Charlotte as a late change, which ended up as the biggest drama of the 3 weeks.

I approached this trip mirroring a “Grand Tour” cycling race, using the first week to settle in, week two for the main event (Indianapolis), then being tired and expecting high drama in the third week.

After saving, planning and eventually spending a lot of money, it was time to go.

First task was getting to America, which was a onerous yet extremely exciting 18 hour task. Getting up at 4am on a Monday morning to catch the first flight of the day to Melbourne, then an expected 2 hour layover in Melbourne, then 14 hours to LAX. Walking into that international terminal for the first time, I literally stopped and took a deep breath, this was a big moment!

Clearing customs and immigration, I found myself in an international terminal, waiting for an Airbus A380 to arrive. Seeing the aircraft pull up was a sight to behold.

Arriving into LAX after an eternal flight, which felt like suspended animation for the last 6 hours, there was a strange feeling you get that you know you’re in a new country, but it doesn’t register. Taking 2 hours to get out of LAX and then taking a bus into the city (the only decent way) I made my way to my hotel (The O Hotel, a cool place, thanks for having me), stored my bags and realised that my adventure I had planned for was now officially underway. First stop was Expo Park, for the Science Museum and LA Memorial Coliseum. That place had the Space Shuttle, an icon of engineering.

Space Shuttle

LA Coliseum

Marvelling over the Space Shuttle, I marvelled at how that thing got up into the sky, orbited a bunch of times and landed again. The LA Coliseum wasn’t open for tours on the Monday, so I just had to look from the outside. The only stadium to host 2 Olympic Games (might be 3 if 2024 awarded), along with many other things.

Because I was 2 hours behind schedule, a city walking tour I arranged to take I had to cancel, so I was left to wander the streets of the city for an hour or so, taking in “The Last Bookstore” among other things, such as a trip to the supermarket to skimp on food. I had to get to my hotel and check in, then make my way to the famous Dodger Stadium for my first American experience – Freeway Baseball vs. the Anaheim Angels. What a magnificent sporting arena, I recommend it to anyone who’s in the city. The Dodgers lost in a 4 hour game, but I won’t forget that place.

Bus ride up there was pretty cool too, with red eyes and surrounded by Dodger fans.

To this point, I hadn’t slept properly for 36 hours (who can sleep in economy class??), getting back to my hotel just after midnight LA time. I collapsed.

I was originally going to go to the Getty Center on Tuesday, however my alarm wasn’t set properly and after sleeping into 9:30 am (woops) I made a schedule change. I had my breakfast inside the hotel and then took the Expo Line to the end of the line, then a bus to Santa Monica (the wrong bus, which took twice as long, woops). The Expo Line extension to Santa Monica opened 3 days later, which forced me to use the bus.

LA Public Transport was quite good for the services I used. The prices were good, services on time and took me to the places I wanted. Thanks to the city for making an effort to encourage more people to use it.

Santa Monica is a cool place, a massive beach with the famous Santa Monica Pier. I wandered around the pier and beach for a few hours, taking it all in. I was going to hire a bike and ride to Venice Beach, but decided not to.

After an all too short experience of that place, it was time to get the bus back into the city, for my LA City Tour. I ended up getting back to the hotel 20 mins late and my shuttle bus almost left without me! Thanks to Starline Tours for giving me a nice view of the city. I saw Sunset Blvd, Hollywood Bowl Lookout, Observatory and Downtown sights at night.

With Day 2 complete, it was time to get ready for Long Beach on my final day in Los Angeles.

My final full day was a trip to the coastal town of Long Beach, an hour away by train. A ride on the blue line took me through some pretty rough areas, so I kept my head down and waited for my destination. Arriving at Long Beach, I made my way towards Ocean Boulevard and took a walk along parts of the famous street circuit. I walked all the way round to the fountain turn for my boat tour. A 1 hour delay due to mechanical problems got me a complimentary entry to the famous Aquarium of the Pacific. Thanks to Harbour Cruises!

My boat ride around the harbour was very nice for the $12 I paid. I saw the famous Queen Mary up close, the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles and a view of the city from several miles away.

After the tour, I took a short bus trip back to the train and popped in for lunch at Johnny Rockets. Apart from accent problems, the experience was good. I was searching for a famous “In N Out Burger” but couldn’t locate one, so took another option.

Given my changes, the original Santa Monica trip was done a day earlier and I was left with a few hours to kill and decided to return to Hollywood, where I was 24 hours earlier. Saw a few weird people there, including a peg leg man crossing the street!

A short walk around the deserted Downtown area finished my first few days in America and it was time to get ready for the move eastwards.

An early rise on Thursday morning, to take the 8:30am bus to Las Vegas. The Greyhound bus station is in a rather dicey area in the eastern area of the city, but acceptable for me. I paid only $10 for the 3.5 hour trip, worth every cent! A ride to the eastern industrial sprawl, across the stunning Cajon Pass, through to Barstow (where I got a $5 USD 12 inch sub) and finally into Nevada and arriving at the Las Vegas bus station.

Next time I travel to America, I am touring by bus and Amtrak. My impressions of the network changed a lot in my time there.

Arriving into Las Vegas and getting off the bus, I walked into an oven! The temperature was nearly 38 Celsius and humidity quite high. I made my way to my hotel (Downtown Grand, an excellent place, only a few years old and good value) and checked in. My city view was quite nice from the 11th floor.

I then made my way to the famous Fremont Street Experience and a really cool place called “Banger Brewing”. I decided to take a tour of the place to fill up some time and my appreciation for the fine art of craft beer increased a lot. The beer itself was magnificent, especially their coffee flavoured variety.

After wandering around Fremont Street for a while and meandering into casinos, I made my way to the famous Mob Museum, which was right next to my hotel. A fine display of the mafia history of America, how prohibition affected the organised crime market and how famous criminals such as Al Capone were brought to justice.

It was now dusk and my first experience of Las Vegas at night was very good, I took in the Fremont Light Displays, casinos (again) and a cover band performance. I feel that Downtown Las Vegas has a much better atmosphere than the concrete canyon at the Las Vegas Strip. An experience recommended for anyone visiting the city.

Day 2 in Vegas would be a busy one and consisted of me taking a little road trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the iconic Hoover Dam in the morning and afternoon. I wanted to do some driving on the right and this was my opportunity. Getting the car itself was a bit of a mess, the attendant was washing cars and I ended up missing my 10am tour of the Speedway buy 5 mins and had to explore the gift shop for an hour. I am a big racing fan and I couldn’t pass the chance to visit one of the most modern facilities in NASCAR. Thanks to the Speedway for the nice tour.

Travelling to Hoover Dam took roughly one hour and the number of speeders on the road really caught me out. I couldn’t afford to be busted for speeding in a foreign country, so drove on the 65 mph limit. I reached Hoover Dam through a long winding road and police checkpoint. I was immediately blown away.

I decided on the power plant tour and I was taken down 500 feet to the power station, seeing how the Colorado River was diverted for construction and the generators themselves (which are much bigger than is visible).

After the tour was finished, I wandered across to the Arizona side of the dam and stood in 2 time zones simultaneously. Being an hour behind schedule, I couldn’t walk too far into the Arizona side as I had to return to the city to return the vehicle before 5pm. Bad traffic coming back made me miss that time! I returned the keys, but had to hold onto the GPS overnight for return the following morning.

Sunset was soon to fall and it was time to travel to the Las Vegas Strip to see what this city is best known for. First stop was the Stratosphere Tower and some nice views of the city, after navigating the maze at ground level to access the observation deck. A cool place to witness sunset.

After a bus ride on “The Deuce” I arrived at the Caesar’s Palace Forum Shops and took a wander through this Roman themed resort. One particular moment in this mall was a sighting of Floyd Mayweather, hiding in the back of an upmarket shop.

Coming out of Caesar’s Palace, I meandered up and down the north part of the Strip and saw a number of famous casinos, including Harrahs, Bellagio and The Venetian. One highlight was the famous Bellagio Light Display.

It was near midnight when I returned to my hotel in Downtown, ready for a busy final day on my west coast swing.

Final day in Vegas was devoted to the Strip and seeing as much as I could of this famous casino boulevard. A trip on the bus all the way to the end of the Strip saw me at the famous Las Vegas sign.

I then walked up the Strip and took in a number of famous resorts, including Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, New York/New York and the massive MGM Grand.

My main highlight of the south strip was a trip up to the top of the Paris/Las Vegas Eiffel Tower and a magnificent view of the city.

I decided to finish early, with an early rise required for the following day. It was time to head to Chicago!

Finishing my time in Vegas, I wandered the downtown area in the morning and then travelled to McCarran Airport via bus. Arriving an hour earlier than scheduled turned out to be a good move, the security there was far crazier than I expected. My flight to Chicago O’Hare would take me into the busiest airport in the world for aircraft movements and I expected chaos once there.

Aboard America Airlines Flight 1029, I left Las Vegas just before midday for a 4 hour flight to Chicago. The American Airlines experience for this flight was as expected and we were on time, in good weather with no turbulence. Thanks to American Airlines for this flight.

My arrival at Chicago O’Hare marks the end of Part 1, thanks for reading.

TBC …………………………………………

Three Weeks in the United States – An Unforgettable Adventure: Part 1 The 100th running of the famous Indianapolis 500 Mile Race was scheduled for May 29th 2016 and I made the decision 2 years before to go to that race.

#america #bucket list #california #la #travel #travelling #usa #vegas

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