Cannonball Run Day 8; this day in 1990

Woke up at around 6.45am absolutely freezing. Drove to a garage, had a wash and brush up, then to a restaurant for brekkies. Sorted the van out for license and smog check but it looks like we need a new carburettor.

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Well, the above was all written at midday. We sat in the garage until 7.30pm - a whole day wasted on absolutely nothing. We drove the van around for a bit and then it died on us again. We got it back to the garage and got ready for a nights sleep. I walked back to get some drinks and when I got back, George and Kim had hung all the curtains around the van, giving us a little more privacy.

An hour or so later, there's a knock on the window; oh oh, it's a cop! We explained our predicament, showed him some ID and he seemed satisfied.

A few beers and then sleep.

What a day!

p.s. - I had a 'cadenza' then slept like a rock. (note: although cadenza is a musical term, my travelling buddy used it when someone was freaking out or having a fit - can't remember why I was having one on that day, but had one I must've done!!)

p.p.s - fifty nine, seventy nine, ninety nine - our new theme tune. (note: it was the jingle for fast food diner Taco Bell. It played endlessly, regardless of which frequency we were tuned to in the van. When things got a bit tight financially, we spent a LOT of time - not to mention loose change - in Taco Bell)

p.p.p.s - phoned home at midday

Cannonball Run Day 7; this day in 1990

Woke up at 10am and hung around the house.

We've more or less agreed to buy this van off four Swedes; Christina, Lisa, Michael and Stephen; they got to Laguna Beach at about midday. The van is great - we've nicknamed it "The Milly Mobile".

We dropped the Swedes off at Upland and then drove to George's great auntie Margaret. What a COOL lady; 82 years of age and still bopping around in shorts and trainers. She gave us a big picnic dinner, we chatted for an hour and then we said our goodbyes.

Even though it was only 8pm, we were all shattered, so we parked the van and made the beds up in the back. Talked and laughed for an hour and fell asleep.

A good day consisting of; buying a Laguna beach t-shirt and buying a van for $1000.

By the way, Mountain Avenue is the LONGEST road I've ever seen - 10 miles long!

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Cannonball Run Day 6; this day in 1990

Woke up at 10.30am and got ready to go and meet Denise but everyone wanted to go and look for a van. Necessary, of course, but I was still a bit miffed all the same.

Got back into town late afternoon and I took the bike to see if she might still be on the beach. No luck!

Took a walk into town on my own - jeez, it's a hell of a long way and it is PITCH black - scary! Still no sign of the girl so I walked back up the hill at 2am and went to bed knackered.

A nothing day really.

(Note: a "nothing day"? How quickly I forgot that it was winter back home, I was young and carefree and I was just setting out on a walkabout - as Mick Dundee would call it - starting in California! What a dope!)

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Cannonball Run Day 5; this day in 1990

Oh well, up again at a ridiculous hour of the day - 8am (note: did I really think that was so ridiculous?) - and started lugging the crap out of the garage for the sale. We got the Honda 250R going and George and me took it in turns to cruise up and down, trying to look cool!

We hung around the house until midday and then hitched our way to the beach and started to bake. It was gorgeous.

George and me spent a good half hour in the ocean before forcing Kim to join us; she refused so we basically threw her in! we found out pretty quickly how see through her costume really was!!

We carried on throwing ourselves around in the water and bodysurfed for a while. The girls in Southern California certainly live up to their name; they are GORGEOUS! If only Paul was here (note; my brother). He'd have a ball. We left the beach at 3.30pm and went up to the cafe on the plateau where we had breakfast on Thursday.

Oh, by the way, I bought a pair of shorts from Claire's garage sale - pretty cool man! George and I have sand in our shorts which makes walking rather uncomfortable. We made sand models which proved to be a riot and then went for a 'pollo dog' which was like a curry inside a hot dog. We finally headed home and ate tacos with the family.

Then a shower and we went out at 10pm for a couple of hours. At the Mariner rooms, this guy was doing his very best to get talking to this girl. Luckily for me, she seemed to be looking at me instead of him. At about half midnight, she walked past the guy, came over to me and introduced herself. I chatted with Denise and we went for a drive in her Saab (very nice) and for a couple of drinks.

Anyway, she gave me a lift home and we arranged to meet tomorrow.

Went to bed and crashed.

Cannonball Run Day 4; this day in 1990

Woke again at 6.40am on the dot but this time went straight back to sleep. Sid woke us all at 8.45am and asked if we wanted to go to the Del Mar Grand Prix; a friend had given him free tickets and he invited us to go with him. Of course we said yes!

On the drive there we stopped off at two more of Sid's restaurants (I think he collected some takings!) and after about an hours drive, we arrived at Del Mar. The atmosphere at the race was incredible - loads of cars to look at including a 1974 Porsche 911 that had been converted into a 959 - wait 'till Dad sees the photos!

We watched a few of the races including one that had a three car pile up. One of the drivers had to be cut from the car after the fire marshalls had erected a screen so that people couldn't see exactly what was happening. We had something to eat and then made our way back home.

On the way home along the coast, we saw the most incredible sunset I have ever seen. It hung just above the sea for as long as it could before disappearing below the horizon. A bit further on, the sun (even though it was out of sight), sent up it's rays making the sky look just like a five-year olds drawing of the sun.

We got home and ate BBQ style on the patio and talked about our day and about how many photos we'd taken. Then we all headed into town for our first proper night out. We hitched all the way down, realised we had no ID (no ID, no drinks), so we hitched all the way back up, grabbed our passports, then hitched all the way back down again.

Had a great laugh with George (Kim stayed home), spoke with two very nice girls, before hitching a lift all the way home again and crashed out.

Totally. Like, TOTALLY!

(note: "totally" was quoted in just about every American film around this time. Actually, I think it still is!!)

Cannonball Run Day 3; this day in 1990

Woke up at 6.35am feeling wonderful after a fantastic nights sleep on a sofa bed with a quilt. Amazing!! George and Kim awoke at the same time and we chatted for about an hour before going onto the patio at the back of the house. The view of the sun coming up at 7 in the morning, just above the mountains was breathtaking. Kim stayed in bed and George and me sat out the back for about an hour and half.

we saw a humming bird coolecting nectar a few feet from where we were sitting and then a couple of young deer strolled past. A really lovely sight first thing in the morning.

Anyway, finally everyone in the house was awake and we were offered a lift into town from Sid. A quick shower and change later, we were strolling around Laguna town.

The first thing we all agreed on was breakfast!!

We had eggs (scrambled), sausages, toast served with grapes, strawberries and melon. And of course, a Michelob (note; this was my beer of choice for much of the late 80's and early 90's). It came to $48 altogether. We finished our breakfast and as we had already bought our postcards, we sat where we were to write them all, sat on a plateau overlooking the beach.

Then we went back into town, bought a beach towel, I finally bought my Ray Bans (yee-hah!) which were $68 and then hit the beach. After an hour of burning up, George and me decided to brave the cold Pacific Ocean. We ran straight in, then ran straight out again, then headed home.

We got changed and Sid took us to one of his restaurants and treated us to pizza and a beer. Then we drove to Donna's school to watch them beat another team at volleyball. A bit of college football foolowed (crap, although the cheerleaders were pretty good!) and back home.

Bit of TV, few beers and then to bed, absolutely shattered.

p.s. Sid's restaurants are called "Z-Pizza".

Cannonball Run Day 2; this day in 1990

Woke up at 6.45am 'cos it was bloody freezing. Met our roomate. Nice guy but a bit dodgy.

The view from our $8.25 a night dormitory was absolutely fantastic and the weather was gorgeous. Only a few clouds, and the sun was beautiful hanging over the sea.

Anyway, we didn't fancy the sights or sounds of San Pedro very much so we told George to get in touch with his Aunt in Laguna which he promptly did. She said it was fine for a few days, to go and stay at her place. No sooner said than done! We caught a bus to Los Angeles Amtrak train station and only just caught the train to San Juan Capistrano. An hour later we were there and we found ourselves waiting once again for a bus. After a trip on a No.91 followed by a No.1 we were in 'Laguna Beach, California'.

George's Aunt came and picked us up at the bus station. After a trip round the supermarket we finally made it to her house "On Top Of The World"; 3064 Nestall St.

We hung around the house for the rest of the day admiring the view from the back of the house, overlooking a valley, and met the rest of the family; Donna, Seth and Sid (not forgetting Kayla the dog).

George and me drank a few of the beers that we'd bought at the supermarket and realised that our jet-lag had caught up with us.

George and Kim crashed at 7.30pm and I followed at 9pm.

Shattered.

(confused? click here for an explanation)