Road trip,and back to Tucson

Ok, this post has been pending for a long time. I got to enjoy a holiday. :) I had not thought (rather was not in the mood to) step out of Tucson and it just turned out that even after some last minute hesitations (becoz of things beyond my control) which nearly made me drop the idea of a road trip......I finally joined the group.
So where do I start ! From the bus stop a few blocks away, to the downtown Greyhound bus station. The greyhound would be the USA equivalent of the APSRTC or KSRTC buses which took me from Hyderabad to Bangalore and back. A two hour trip to Phoenix........and believe me after the small town I felt like I had jumped some decades into the future. High rise buildings, unending swerving bridges and fly-overs .......... forget that, the sheer scale of the buildings, the airport, the parking spots, the traffic........ after my laid back life in Tucson, it was quite a few gulps to get accustomed. We made our way to ASU (arizona state university) and the apartments near that.
Our group was a team of 5, and where we were going, what we were going to do...all were last minute decisions except that Priya and Abhishek had already booked the tickets to Universal Studios and the hotel in Los Angeles, and the rental car. We got a red Dodge as our car and it was a good car .....more so becoz the color could be identfied from far. :)
I was the shutter bug from the minute we got started, which was December 29th morning. Sunrises and brilliant skies, trees on the roadway, everything and anything which seemed to make a good subject ......... and as for the number of snaps ...keep guessing ......... well all together, there were three cameras and the number crossed 400.
What was amazing about the journey was the diversity in the scenery, the desert changing to greens to amazing lawns of a green I cannot describe. Beautiful houses lining the streets and pn the hills which rose up from the highway..........USA seemed to have been blessed with the most amazing diverse geography that I have ever seen ........... at each moment that some thought cropped up in my head, I felt like clinging on to it but I did not get the time to jot it down ..... so they just became like ships passing in the night (if thats the correct saying.....I apologize for writing the way I am and I am sure its going to be a bit difficult to follow........I am trying to capture the then moment in the now and that is always a difficult task.)
Once the city started it was actually very like any of the metros in India. The roads were narrower with lesser lanes and much more traffic and more honking and it was really difficult driving.......... any mistake and you were being glared at. There were traffice queues quite reminding all of us of back home. Our hotel was the Hollywood Inn in Hollywood itself. We also caught sight of the Hollywood sign on the mountain while we were searching for our hotel.
We probably owe a great deal to Google and Yahoo by the way. Those were the only maps we carried thruout and at every hotel stop, we would be browsing for directions from hotel to beach, from universal studios to beverly hills. ..............
That evening we made it to Santa Monica beach just in time to catch the sunset. The sunset was beautiful but it was windy and cold. But then there is something so soothing about the waves just moving in towards you, lapping at your feet and retreating that you can stand and watch for hours. There were seagulls which were flying around in groups and I got a lovely snap.

I missed out that we visited Beverly Hills before this and no...we were not lucky enough to see any of the stars out jogging or walking their dogs but the houses were beautiful. All we could gape and dream about was how expensive it would be to own a house there.

Later from the beach we made our way to the UCLA campus. It abruptly starts ........ and you cannot make out where the city ended and the university started. But somehow I liked it. We spent a lazy night chatting at Starbucks. (me with Mocha with whipped cream). After that, me with the least stamina wanted to drop out of a plan to go visiting the Hollywood walk of fame but I ended up going anyways. The Hollywood walk of fame is a long pavement of engraved stars, each bearing the name of a famous actor, actress, singer, director etc. I got a snap with Vanita and Keanu Reeves(his name was on the star). :) The best thing were the christmas lights ... it looked like a Durga puja festival back home ......only a little different. :)

We came across the Chinese theatre where "Rumor has it" was being screened. We wanted to see the inside of the theatre...its supposed to be the best there so we decided on watching the movie as well. The inside of the theatre was beautiful with gold designs on red wall hangings and a beautifully engraved ceiling. I cannot speak much in praise of the movie though.

Tired and sleepy as we made our way out, we got to watch a street performance. A group of 6 or 7 guys showing off their acrobatic dancing skills. They were good and in the cold night, it was great standing there just watching them.

We finally trooped back to the hotel to settle in cozy blankets for the night. Tomorrow Universal Studios was waiting and we wanted to get there early to beat the queue.

:) ......to be continued...................................