Is This Baghdad?
A typical SoCal morning. 70 degrees, a little foggy, damp as we fired up the black bike, and took off on US1 for a ride from Oceanside, to L.A. via Laguna Beach, Newport Beach. Home to hollywood movie stars. Not many "for sale" signs on these high cliff properties overlooking the calm, aqua blue Pacific Ocean. Recessions are only for American working stiffs? At a gas stop, some woman warned us to use the interstate system instead of using it to get all the way to downtown. Thought she meant because of the traffic, this being a Sunday morning. After 90 minutes of stop 'n go, light to light stuff, the vague outline of downtown L.A. tried it's best to cut through fog, which, after comming down with a dull headache, (duh), knew this is smog, not fog, in fact, "smog inspection stations" dot corners. Buildings lining these city streets began changing along with the ABM headache's intensity. Beautiful landscape, palms, exotic flowers which were seen and smelled along the Pacific Coast Highway began turning a seedy side of industrial gray. Five hundred dollar window awnings morphed into 100$ burgular bars, and finally, vacant lots, trashed cars, cash-only gas... The difference is striking..you get the idea. Yeah, every city has a "seedy" side, but this town has a lot of displaced residents, some with signs saying... "I'm Starving".. Still, the L.A. air is much cleaner than another town we passed through...
Las Vegas:
Riding down & out of the southwest Utah mountains, 'Vegas looks like it's poised on the end of a giant tailpipe. Honest 'ta gawd, downtown is so obscured by smog, you couldn't stop to take a picture, because from the foothills, all that can be seen is the very top of the skyscrapers. Again, another headache. Thank your lucky stars that what goes on in 'Vegas, stays in Vegas. Going? Take a gas mask. If you really want to see a smog-infested town with it's pants down, look down at it from altitude.
A typical SoCal morning. 70 degrees, a little foggy, damp as we fired up the black bike, and took off on US1 for a ride from Oceanside, to L.A. via Laguna Beach, Newport Beach. Home to hollywood movie stars. Not many "for sale" signs on these high cliff properties overlooking the calm, aqua blue Pacific Ocean. Recessions are only for American working stiffs? At a gas stop, some woman warned us to use the interstate system instead of using it to get all the way to downtown. Thought she meant because of the traffic, this being a Sunday morning. After 90 minutes of stop 'n go, light to light stuff, the vague outline of downtown L.A. tried it's best to cut through fog, which, after comming down with a dull headache, (duh), knew this is smog, not fog, in fact, "smog inspection stations" dot corners. Buildings lining these city streets began changing along with the ABM headache's intensity. Beautiful landscape, palms, exotic flowers which were seen and smelled along the Pacific Coast Highway began turning a seedy side of industrial gray. Five hundred dollar window awnings morphed into 100$ burgular bars, and finally, vacant lots, trashed cars, cash-only gas... The difference is striking..you get the idea. Yeah, every city has a "seedy" side, but this town has a lot of displaced residents, some with signs saying... "I'm Starving".. Still, the L.A. air is much cleaner than another town we passed through...
Las Vegas:
Riding down & out of the southwest Utah mountains, 'Vegas looks like it's poised on the end of a giant tailpipe. Honest 'ta gawd, downtown is so obscured by smog, you couldn't stop to take a picture, because from the foothills, all that can be seen is the very top of the skyscrapers. Again, another headache. Thank your lucky stars that what goes on in 'Vegas, stays in Vegas. Going? Take a gas mask. If you really want to see a smog-infested town with it's pants down, look down at it from altitude.
Next: Remember the best trout fishing day you ever had, this could be better.
posted by americanbikerminute at 7:11 PM
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