So I went to LA this past weekend to see some racing. I had a damn good time, here is my story:<br/><br/><b>Day 1</b><br/>Dulles to Phoenix, 15 minute delay, to LA. Get to rental place, upgrade to a covertible Sebring only to realize it is one of the worst cars ever. Drive south to the Long Beach area (see a flipped Grand Cherokee on the way) to visit <a href=”http://www.autobacsusa.com/” target=”_blank”>Autobacs</a>, and ultimately get kicked out for taking pictures inside the store. I then head north to Beverly Hills and Hollywood (see a NICE 4 car wreck), take some pics of stores and street signs, get lost, and end up sitting in about an hour of traffic right outside UCLA. Rodeo Drive made me feel more out of place than I do in downtown DC. Young girls driving 80k cars, everybody in at the very least a Benz (as Gerald said, the Camry of LA), straight up crazy. I had planned on being at Malibu for sunset, but getting lost in Beverly Hills killed me, I instead witnessed sunset on Sunset Blvd. Cute, eh? I drive through Santa Monica, hop on Route 1, and head up to Malibu. Not much to see in Malibu as it was dark and when it gets dark you can’t see the damn ocean. I get to the end of Malibu, stop at a Jack in the Box that luckily had a hotty latino cashier, eat my meal, and head back to LA. Now about 8pm, I hit traffic again. An hour later I get to the hotel to meet Gerald and spend the night. It had been planned that we’d go out, but after 6 hours of driving, my flight, and the jet lag, I hit the sack and don’t awaken until the morning.<br/><br/><b>Day 2</b><br/>Head to the track, get my Jagermeister and 6-pack of Newcastle taken away by security because I didn’t know they were searching cars. I really hadn’t planned on drinking it at the event, and I had no other place to put it. Hopefully whichever security guard pulled it out of the trash had a fine night getting wasted on my dime. Watched racing, ate at Jack in the Box again, watched more racing, catch one of the driver’s hats as he threw it at the awards ceremony, Ryan showed up around 10pm (he got his plane ticket for the wrong day) and then finally retired to our hotel. Unfortunately, the Marriot had oversold and we begrudgingly were forced to tote our things across the street to another hotel. Gerald tried to get with the front desk girl, but she rejected him. Gerald then finds out that some girl he has been talking to is going to a club in Beverly Hills so we freshen up and head there. An hour later, we arrive on Avenue of the Stars at the Century Club. $8 to park, $20 to enter, and $10 a drink makes me a poor person. I have two rounds of “Crown on the Rocks” and feel pretty good (we pregamed heavily before leaving our hotel). Unfortunately, the place is filled with fat asian, lation, and white girls and not a thing even spark my interest. They are all rich, they are all fat, and I can’t dance like the asian and latino guys that were there. Lame night, Gerald’s girl doesn’t show up, bleh. We head back to the hotel, pass out, and day 2 is history.<br/><br/><b>Day 3</b><br/>Wake up, head to track, watch racing, get a bunch of free shirts, eat at <a href=”http://www.in-n-out.com/” target=”_blank”>In-N-Out</a> (turns out to not be better than <a href=”http://www.fiveguys.com/” target=”_blank”>Five Guys</a>, but is cheaper), watch more racing, watch drifting, watch a fight, go back to hotel, sleep.<br/><br/><b>Day 4</b><br/>Wake up at 3am, leave for LA, fill car up with gas after trying several stations that had broken credit card systems, drop car off at Enterprise, go to airport, LA to Phoenix, 1.5 hours in Phoenix (I really grew to love Phoenix after spending so much time there – I actually took pictures of the scenery through the terminal windows), Phoenix to Dulles, and home.<br/><br/>Good times, good friends, will be heading back next year.<br/><br/><center><a href=”gallery/?dir=track_events%2F2004_12_XX_JGTC_in_LA”><img src=”gallery/?preview=track_events%2F2004_12_XX_JGTC_in_LA%2FIMG_0935.JPG”/><br/>Click here for Race Gallery</a><br/><br><br><a href=”gallery/?dir=vacations%2F2004_12_15_LA”><img src=”gallery/?preview=vacations%2F2004_12_15_LA%2Fhollywood_sign.jpg”/><br/>Click here for General Gallery</a></br></br></center>