Los Angeles!

[boogydown]

Sooooo.... I ended up taking a random, impromptu road trip to LA with my cousin. She wanted to surprise her boyfriend who is here on a business trip.

It has been quite an adventure!! And I must say, the Westy van I have is an awesome camper, but it does come with its own kinks. Highlights, so far:

Lots of rain

Fixing (temporarily) heater right after leaving

Stocking fridge right after leaving

Camping in Brady, TX and cooking Spaghetti for dinner; COLD!!

Lowe's in San Angelo to get stuff to fix the heater

Roswell: Poor Boy's Metal Works of UFOs, Wally Burger, and auto parts

After Socorro, NM, drove into a headwind as we ascended into the mountains

Camped and it got into the 20s; had to get a jump start in the morning by a man named Peter who had an old, huge 1966 school bus decked out with RV gear, who was returning from a 35-day road trip from Guatamala!

Saw the VLA: it was this big array of satellite dishes; nay, a Very Large Array... ;)

Poor Westy was getting its ass whooped driving uphill in a headwind at 7000ft.

Ran out of gas outside of Springerville, AZ; got a ride by Mack and Kim who pushed back their dentist appointment to drive me back and make sure I was back on the road okay.

Came across snow before Show Low, AZ!

Tried replacing CV joint on the side of the road after Show Low; but the one I had was too short!! Lubed the old one and put it back on...

Came across MORE snow between Heber and Payson AZ. STILL very windy!

Found out I had somehow overfilled my oil so had to drain some of it in Payson.

Cruised on downhill (FINALLY!) through perhaps the most beautiful part of the trip (unfortunately it was DARK!), on into the "Valley" (Phoenix).

Camped along I-10 (running out of time; had to take interstate) and made yummy Ramen/Egg Drop soup!

Lubed up CV joint, again, and drove on to LA.

FlyingJ's ROCK: Shower = good; wifi = good; food = crappy. Finally found a VW parts place in LA.

Went to salvage yard in Pasadena to get used driveshaft (to get home!); old driveshaft gave out less than a mile after picking up the replacement (talk about fortuitous timing!)

Finally made it to Jake's hotel..Barely on time...and successfully surprised him!

Soooo, now we're off to eat, see the Hollywood sign, check out the ocean, check out some autoparts stores, etc... :)

More to come...with pictures!