Around The World: Part 21
Arriving in the US, the Bends head east from LA and explore stunning terrain in their Defender
From Compton to Big Bear City and Las Vegas, so far the Bends’ tour of the States has proved eventful
The current breakdown of roles and responsibilities within the Op Long Drive team stands with my job being to fly out to Los Angles, California, two weeks ahead of Me-an so I can see a very good friend who I served three tours of Afghanistan with, go surfing and get my Advance Free Fall licence at one of the best drop zones in the world, interspersed with some local beer sampling and war stories. Meanwhile, Me-an makes sure Jaguar Land Rover’s year-end books balance in the accounts department in Coventry battling the Beast from the East and earns some money.
That being said I do have one important job and that is to make sure the Defender clears US customs and everything is ship-shape after her five-week voyage from Melbourne to Long Beach. This turns out to be the most straight forward affair possible when it comes to shipping. Our agent does everything, I just turn up and pick the car up. Insurance is a little more testing as no one recognises our VIN, so it takes a little work, but it gets sorted after a few one-hour phone calls. I also give the Defender a good service and swap some parts out that I have brought from the UK, but it’s not long before I get back to enjoying myself.
After fighting through some award-winning traffic, I arrive at LAX to pick
Me-an up, I bundle my jetlagged but happy wife into the car and make a quick getaway. Me-an looks for a cheap hotel online for the evening and just picks a place on price alone. We pull up to a small, dimly-lit motel at around 7.00 pm in a rough-looking neighbourhood that turns out to be Compton, made famous by many a rap lyric. We lock the car up and head inside to enjoy a good night’s sleep.
In the morning, it’s time to leave the concrete and people of LA behind and head to Big Bear City high up in the Californian mountains. We need to pick up a new Trasharoo from Dave the owner of the company. He is kind enough to offer us a new one after we emailed him to say how useful his product has been. Ours is looking a little worse for wear after two years on the road so we trade it in. We spend a lovely night in the national park on recommendation from Dave but at an altitude close to 4000m it is a little fresh and the water in our drinking bottles freezes overnight.
Back on the road, we head for the warmer climes of Sin City, Las Vegas. This is not our normal type of destination but a must we think when in the area. We head to Lake Mead recreational park and purchase our federal/national park
pass for $80. With a single visit to a park costing around $20 and over 2000 parks to visit nationwide it is a no-brainer. We opt for a perfect quiet spot away from the RV’S right on the shores of the lake created by the damming of the Colorado river by the famous Hoover dam. In the morning we drive over the dam and marvel at accomplishment of the taming of such a mighty river back in the 1930s.
Before Vegas, we make a detour to another of Nevada’s stunning national parks: Red Rock. Wild camping or dispersed camping is forbidden below 5000ft, so we are given a pointer to a track that leads us to a good area but are warned that a Jeep had rolled there a few weeks previously. We head up the track without issue and crest the mountain and start heading down again. We then came to a bolderstrewn river bed that is going to take a bit of negotiating. With tyre pressures lowered and Me-an acting as a co-driver from the winch challenge we make it through the biggest rocks of the trip with only a side step damaged. We find a lovely camp spot and sleep dreaming of winning big in Vegas.
Vegas comes and goes with humour and much money spent. We enjoy a show; eat some great food and stay in a
fancy hotel. We leave still chasing that elusive big win. The box is ticked and we enjoyed ourselves but vow not to return any time soon.
On Route 66, we head for another big attraction in the area: the Grand Canyon. We hear it is possible to drive to the bottom of the canyon, so we do a little research and find out that there is a track that leads you to the Colorado River just before the famous south rim, so we opt for this before getting a view from the top. We enjoy a spectacular night camping on the banks of this mighty river with the white noise of the rapids complementing the crackles from the fire.
So far the United States has been a feast after our overloading famine of five weeks while back in the UK earning some money, waiting for the car to arrive in the US. There are few places like it for epic scenery and things to do. We have packed so much in to such a short amount of time and still have so many national parks and stunning landscapes to explore. Excited is the word, especially with a new sponsor coming on board.