This morning, April 1st (April fool's day), I had a look at the airplanes landing at LAX from my hotel room. Quite fantastic, lots of B747 from JAL and Qantas. By the way, yesterday, I saw the red "Wunala dreaming" B747 from Qantas when my plane was taxiing to its gate. It's a special body scheme, made with aborigenal paintings (just google the name "wunala dreaming" to see images).
Then I took the shuttle to LAX airport. LAX is a large airport with some 7 terminals. But everything is clearly indicated so you can’t get lost. There, I took another shuttle to the rental car company “Alamo”. This time, I have booked a full size car. Normally I book a compact car (well compact for the US means the size of an Opel Astra, which is not so compact for me) because it’s a little bit cheaper. However, I had a compact car in November 08 (a Chevy Cobalt), and I was rather disappointed because I had huge issues when I had to accelerate on a road going uphill… Quite embarrassing. I think there was a big problem with the car, because I had a Chevy Cobalt when I was working here, and it was fine. Anyway, the only solution I found was to set the cruise control ON and use the control on the steering wheel to manually adjust the speed. Not a natural way to drive. So this time, I have decided to book what they call a full size car, i.e. a Chevy Malibu or a Chevy Impala (this last one has a 3.9 liters engine!!!).
The Alamo facilities in Los Angeles are huge compared to San Diego. At Alamo San Diego, you are assigned a specific car. Here, you have to opportunity to choose yours between two dozens of sedans. There were different models: Ford Fusion, Chevy Malibu, Chevy Impala, Toyota Camry, one hybrid Toyota… and a super cool red Mitsubishi Galant. I immediately saw her: she was waiting for me, glowing and shining at the end of the garage. My engineer’s eyes were fascinated by such a metallic beauty (OK, I like cars. And mine in Belgium is very small, a little Nissan Micra, so I only get the chance to drive a big one when I’m in the US…). I think it’s what people call “love at first sight”. So I loaded my bags in the trunk, adjusted the mirrors and promptly left. There were other people staring at my luxurious limousine, waiting for me to leave the car unattended so they could take it. Sorry guys, you had to run faster… The car is rather long so have to be careful not to scratch anything when I turn!
I drove to Santa Monica and went to walk on the beach and the Santa Monica Pier. The water was very cold compared to Hawaii, but it was fun, and the sand was very soft.
Then I walked along the Third street promenade. And it was already time to drive to San Diego.
I took the I-405 then the I-5. There was a lot of traffic jam, so it took three hours instead of two to drive 120 miles. I arrived in San Diego around 8PM. It’s always great to drive to San Diego via the I-5: you can see the wonderful skyline shining when you approach. And sometimes, an airplane passes just above your car when you’re on the highway (the airport is located in the city): so you are surrounded by the noise of roaring engines. I like that! I’ve seen this magnificent skyline every day when I was returning from work: I was working in La Jolla, 15 miles north of San Diego, but I was renting a studio in downtown. So I enjoyed the view every night when I was driving back home.
It’s good to be back!!!
