The time has come again! After last years very successful and highly anticipated road trip to Indio, California my friend Dave and I have finalized our plans for a return trip this September. This time we're spending more time down there and taking an alternate route home - something there simply wasn't time for last year.
From Salt Lake to Vegas to Indio, LA, Hollywood, Long Beach, Palm Springs, the Salton Sea, and ending with a trip up the coastal highway for a stay in San Francisco, this is going to be one epic journey. If my edits for Indio Outio were any indication, this second excursion will prove to be even more dynamic and diverse.
I'm also excited that we'll be revisiting places that are now completely different from how we saw them just a year ago. The North Shore Yacht Club at Salton Sea will be the biggest change. Renovations over the last year have been completed and the abandoned site we explored is now a restored museum and community centre - see the post I did about that here. Also, we've planned to check out the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway again, but this time earlier in the day so we can see more of the landscape. Riding the tramway at sunset we caught a glimpse of the city lights through the valley on our last visit - the video I edited captures the euphoria quite well.
I'm anxious to get away again and am just as inspired by the potential edits I have in mind to create. While last years trip fueled some upbeat travel clips, I want to make more of a statement this time around by creating poetic vignettes of the experiences. Likely all to be narrated, I'm going to push myself to create bolder, more weighted, interpersonal presentations. A reworked mashup of last years footage from Indio is also in the works and should be a gauge of what I hope to accomplish.
Once again it seems a road trip has presented itself as the ideal escape. Dave and I both seem to have quite defining memories of the random locales seen last year - with the extra money and time already put forward, I think we're going to be amazed again at how much we see and do.
What else can I say? Our California trip has been jokingly referred to as our skewed version of Sideways. We shall see.
Mar 11, 2010
Cabazon Dinosaurs: Indio Outio
Day Three (08.25.09) As the sun started to set, bright oranges and yellows stretched across the Coachella valley. The strong shadows created depth and empahsized the sea of windmills that began to surround us in all directions.
Dave and I were cautiously scanning the road ahead to spot the giant dinosaurs, not quite sure where along the interstate they were exactly. I think we listened to the campy single 'Send Me An Angel' about 10 times in a row just so that it would be playing when we finally did spot them on the horizon.
Made popular by The Wizard and Pee Wee's Big Adventure, you get the feeling from those movies that the Cabazon dinosaurs are a roadside tourist trap standing in the middle of a blank desert. This isn't the case anymore. Cabazon has expanded around them, and not only is the area landscaped now, but there's a Burger King right out front.
When we finally did spot the dinos we didn't have an exit to take so we had to to make our way back again. It actually created a great reveal because of how the sun silhoutted the T-Rex. Call it childish, but I was pretty excited to see those giant tourist traps.
Our stop at the dinosaurs was brief, but somewhat surreal. This had been an image that I'd had in my head for quite a while leading up to the trip, so to finally see the landmarks in person I was able fill in the blanks left by my imagination. We took pictures, some of the best from the trip of ourselves, and generally just wandered around to let the moment sink in.
Since the gift shop inside the Apatosaurus was closed, we made plans to return the next morning on our way to Newport Beach, which would also give us a view of the dinosaurs in a new light. The revisit also lead to Dave buying a rubber T-Rex head puppet. It came in handy, allowing me to make more of a scene when I wanted to poke fun at Dave for hitting the rumble strips on the edge of the highway.
Regardless of how much time had been spent in the car, there were a lot of reasons to celebrate at this point. Indio was just around the corner. We'd made it.
Dave and I were cautiously scanning the road ahead to spot the giant dinosaurs, not quite sure where along the interstate they were exactly. I think we listened to the campy single 'Send Me An Angel' about 10 times in a row just so that it would be playing when we finally did spot them on the horizon.
Made popular by The Wizard and Pee Wee's Big Adventure, you get the feeling from those movies that the Cabazon dinosaurs are a roadside tourist trap standing in the middle of a blank desert. This isn't the case anymore. Cabazon has expanded around them, and not only is the area landscaped now, but there's a Burger King right out front.
When we finally did spot the dinos we didn't have an exit to take so we had to to make our way back again. It actually created a great reveal because of how the sun silhoutted the T-Rex. Call it childish, but I was pretty excited to see those giant tourist traps.
Our stop at the dinosaurs was brief, but somewhat surreal. This had been an image that I'd had in my head for quite a while leading up to the trip, so to finally see the landmarks in person I was able fill in the blanks left by my imagination. We took pictures, some of the best from the trip of ourselves, and generally just wandered around to let the moment sink in.
Since the gift shop inside the Apatosaurus was closed, we made plans to return the next morning on our way to Newport Beach, which would also give us a view of the dinosaurs in a new light. The revisit also lead to Dave buying a rubber T-Rex head puppet. It came in handy, allowing me to make more of a scene when I wanted to poke fun at Dave for hitting the rumble strips on the edge of the highway.
Regardless of how much time had been spent in the car, there were a lot of reasons to celebrate at this point. Indio was just around the corner. We'd made it.
Mar 10, 2010
California Roads: Indio Outio
Day Three (08.25.09) Blazing sun and miles of interstate in front of us, we left the neon of Vegas behind for the scorching heat and stark beauty of the Mojave desert. It was blistering in the middle of the afternoon, but in my mind this is exactly how I had pictured the road to Indio.
We played Send Me An Angel by Real Life and You Don't Get Much by BoDeans, both songs becoming the undisputed theme songs for the trip thanks to a not-so-classic-movie called The Wizard. You may remember it starred Fred Savage, a Nintendo Power Glove, and featured a scene with the infamous Cabazon Dinosaurs (coming up next).
Dave and I couldn't help but use The Wizard, a piece of childhood nostalgia for each of us, as inspiration during our own trip. This often lead to us quipping about Jimmy running off or one of us slowly pronouncing every syllable of California like he did in the movie. As Joshua trees started to appear we also had to play, no surprises here, U2's Joshua Tree album to further remind ourselves of our location.
Of all the road time we had, this was probably the most defining. We knew we'd be in Indio by the end of the day to relax, drink, swim, and shoot the breeze. At the same time we had already seen some pretty memorable things in both Salt Lake and Vegas, which only helped to fuel our conversations and keep us guessing about the remaining days ahead. The foreign landscape around us created a rare ambience, and with good (or campy eighties) music playing and a willingness to explore, there didn't seem to be anything to distract us from being in the moment.
I had made it clear early on that I was interested in picking up some kind of Route 66 souvenir, so as we reached Barstow we stopped at a roadside convenience store and I picked up a shirt. Not quite satisfied, I actually found a large wooden Route 66 sign the next day in Newport Beach that was more in tune with what I had in mind. There's nothing quite like a stereotypcial memento to mark the occassion.
As we headed further west it wasn't long before the terrain started to change. We hit the Cajon Pass and the expansive desert was replaced with richer hues of lush vegetation and a steady increase in traffic; the pass itself acting as a funnel between the populous of southern California and the desert to the north. We were just barely skirting the greater Los Angeles area, but as tall palms, overpasses, and billboards appeared, the interstate became expectantly urban.
Through the pass and San Bernadino, the traffic cooled somewhat as we changed direction, heading southeast towards the entrance of the Coachella valley. It was all happening pretty fast. The signs and sprawling urban landscape became a quick reminder that over the last couple days we had traveled across the USA, north to south, roughly 1500 miles (2400km) and 22 driving hours. And then there it was, the first hint of our destination clearly marked - Indio 64 miles.
We played Send Me An Angel by Real Life and You Don't Get Much by BoDeans, both songs becoming the undisputed theme songs for the trip thanks to a not-so-classic-movie called The Wizard. You may remember it starred Fred Savage, a Nintendo Power Glove, and featured a scene with the infamous Cabazon Dinosaurs (coming up next).
Dave and I couldn't help but use The Wizard, a piece of childhood nostalgia for each of us, as inspiration during our own trip. This often lead to us quipping about Jimmy running off or one of us slowly pronouncing every syllable of California like he did in the movie. As Joshua trees started to appear we also had to play, no surprises here, U2's Joshua Tree album to further remind ourselves of our location.
Of all the road time we had, this was probably the most defining. We knew we'd be in Indio by the end of the day to relax, drink, swim, and shoot the breeze. At the same time we had already seen some pretty memorable things in both Salt Lake and Vegas, which only helped to fuel our conversations and keep us guessing about the remaining days ahead. The foreign landscape around us created a rare ambience, and with good (or campy eighties) music playing and a willingness to explore, there didn't seem to be anything to distract us from being in the moment.
I had made it clear early on that I was interested in picking up some kind of Route 66 souvenir, so as we reached Barstow we stopped at a roadside convenience store and I picked up a shirt. Not quite satisfied, I actually found a large wooden Route 66 sign the next day in Newport Beach that was more in tune with what I had in mind. There's nothing quite like a stereotypcial memento to mark the occassion.
As we headed further west it wasn't long before the terrain started to change. We hit the Cajon Pass and the expansive desert was replaced with richer hues of lush vegetation and a steady increase in traffic; the pass itself acting as a funnel between the populous of southern California and the desert to the north. We were just barely skirting the greater Los Angeles area, but as tall palms, overpasses, and billboards appeared, the interstate became expectantly urban.
Through the pass and San Bernadino, the traffic cooled somewhat as we changed direction, heading southeast towards the entrance of the Coachella valley. It was all happening pretty fast. The signs and sprawling urban landscape became a quick reminder that over the last couple days we had traveled across the USA, north to south, roughly 1500 miles (2400km) and 22 driving hours. And then there it was, the first hint of our destination clearly marked - Indio 64 miles.
Las Vegas: Indio Outio
Day Two (08.24.09) As we hit the Vegas city limits I was both excited and stressed out. Half of the interstate seemed to be under construction and the traffic was fairly chaotic. I was still driving, and I have to say that even after being to Las Vegas twice before this, the experience of driving myself around was still nerve-racking. However, it also broadened my view of the place as I hoped it would.
Dave was actually shooting footage as we drove down the strip while I was busy trying to navigate our way to the entrance of Harrah's. I had both my HDV and mini cam with me on this trip, which is why throughout many of the videos you'll notice a transition between widescreen and a smaller fullscreen image - I emphasized the difference for effect and because the quality isn't nearly as high. You'll also notice that the footage for each location is often a mixture of what I captured both coming and going, the Indio sign on the dash is often a giveaway. Anyway . . .
There was nothing about Las Vegas that was really surprising after having fully explored it before, but that's not to say it wasn't awesome to be there again. That night we had some drinks, went to Beatles Love (purchasing the tickets was the first thing I did to confirm with Dave that we were actually going to Indio) and then had some more drinks as we tried our luck.
Our stop was brief, but memorable, and my night ended with me laying drunk in the bathtub of our room just to use the little TV in the bathroom.
To complete the stay we picked up a few souvenirs, and this was the moment that created a new running joke for the trip. Telling me about someone who he forgot to get a birthday gift for, Dave picked up a Chihuahua-sitting-in-a-birthday-cake ornament sculpture thing - it was pretty ridiculous, but a funny gag gift anyway. Well the gag gift had no price tag and actually ended up costing $20, which was fairly ridiculous when it looked like something from the dollar store. Dave still got it. For the rest of the trip if we happened to be looking at the things we had picked up we'd have to comment on that stupid dog.
"Do we have our map?", "Yup". "Do we have our money?", "Yup". "Do we have a Chihuahua dog with a party hat coming out a birthday cake sculpture that cost $20?" (groan) "Yup".
Before leaving the next day we explored the Forum Shops, toured our hotel once more, and walked around Caesar's and the Bellagio to get in a bit of last minute gambling. It was fun, it was quick, and then it was on to California.
Dave was actually shooting footage as we drove down the strip while I was busy trying to navigate our way to the entrance of Harrah's. I had both my HDV and mini cam with me on this trip, which is why throughout many of the videos you'll notice a transition between widescreen and a smaller fullscreen image - I emphasized the difference for effect and because the quality isn't nearly as high. You'll also notice that the footage for each location is often a mixture of what I captured both coming and going, the Indio sign on the dash is often a giveaway. Anyway . . .
There was nothing about Las Vegas that was really surprising after having fully explored it before, but that's not to say it wasn't awesome to be there again. That night we had some drinks, went to Beatles Love (purchasing the tickets was the first thing I did to confirm with Dave that we were actually going to Indio) and then had some more drinks as we tried our luck.
Our stop was brief, but memorable, and my night ended with me laying drunk in the bathtub of our room just to use the little TV in the bathroom.
To complete the stay we picked up a few souvenirs, and this was the moment that created a new running joke for the trip. Telling me about someone who he forgot to get a birthday gift for, Dave picked up a Chihuahua-sitting-in-a-birthday-cake ornament sculpture thing - it was pretty ridiculous, but a funny gag gift anyway. Well the gag gift had no price tag and actually ended up costing $20, which was fairly ridiculous when it looked like something from the dollar store. Dave still got it. For the rest of the trip if we happened to be looking at the things we had picked up we'd have to comment on that stupid dog.
"Do we have our map?", "Yup". "Do we have our money?", "Yup". "Do we have a Chihuahua dog with a party hat coming out a birthday cake sculpture that cost $20?" (groan) "Yup".
Before leaving the next day we explored the Forum Shops, toured our hotel once more, and walked around Caesar's and the Bellagio to get in a bit of last minute gambling. It was fun, it was quick, and then it was on to California.
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