August 23 (Day 28) …
… was about completing what we failed to do the afternoon before, drive the Angeles Crest Highway, and complete what we started the day before, visit sites where two of our favourite TV shows of all time, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, were shot. Yes, we’re total geeks.
We tried to tackle the Angeles Crest Highway on Day 27, but were forced to abandon it due to the traffic congestion on the roads between us and it, but this time, we were not to be thwarted.
We started from the west end of the road and headed up (elevation) and east, but we were forced to detour into Big Tajunga Canyon by a road closure. Turns out this was a great twist of fate as I got to compare the actual road to the simulation available in Assetto Corsa. Bottom line: It’s pretty true to life once you put aside the fact that crashes are costless and you can cross the centre line with impunity in the game.
Our elevation peaked at around 8,000 ft above sea level (the lowest we’ve been is at sea level) before we reached Wrightwood, the small town that houses the Grizzly Cafe, where we grabbed some sandwiches for lunch before continuing west to hook up with major highways for the return trip to LA. Even on those roads, the scenery was remarkable.
It is a bit unfair that Californians have such a variety of landscapes in which to live, work, and play, not to mention such amazing roads a stone’s throw away from the teeming metropolis that is LA.
Buffy Sites
Sometimes when it’s dark, and I’m all alone I think, ‘What would Buffy do?’
Xander, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
We’re huge fans. We’ve watched Buffy and the spin-off, Angel, from beginning to end too many times to count, and the characters and situations are routinely referenced in our casual conversations as if they are real people that actually do these things. Yes, kinda sad, but also kinda cool. Either way, we don’t care what you think, so there.
Seriously, if you haven’t watched these shows, try it! Start with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 1, Episode 1, and stick with it through the first few episodes as the cast and show find their legs. It’s not random chance that these shows have a massive following and were on air for seven and five seasons, respectively. In fact, Buffy is the subject matter of academic research and university-level courses.
Anyway, the night before, we had already hit the Santa Monica Pier, site of many events on Angel.
Holtz’s hideout 
Where Fred and Gunn fought vamps planted by Holtz 
The spot where Angel felt the sun
Earlier that same day, we managed to stop at Glory’s apartment, located in Pasadena (Buffy, Season 5)
Before the hitting the Angeles Crest Highway, we found this place! It’s the Hyperion, Angel Investigations HQ. The building is the Los Altos Apartments.
We also passed through the Rosedale Angelus Cemetery, where the graveyard shots for BTVS were done. Photos were not permitted there so we respected that. It’s cool that the cemetery bears the name Angelus. Wonder if that’s the source of Angel’s name.
On our way back from the Angeles Crest drive, we nabbed our last two doses of Buffy-ness.
That’s the window through which she snuck out 
Yes, that’s the Summers house! We also found Sunnydale High, which is actually Torrance High, not far from the house.
Sunnydale High 
The courtyard 
How many plans to save the world were hatched in these halls? 
Photobombed by Mr. Griffin
While strolling the grounds, we ran into one of the teachers, Mr. Griffin. He was super welcoming when we described ourselves as ‘Buffy Fans from Canada’. He talked to us about the school, the parts that were used in the show and invited us to walk around, which we did.
Unfortunately, the library from the show was a set on a soundstage, not part of the school. That was our only disappointment as we headed back towards Hollywood, which is when we had the tire problem…
… we inflated the tire a couple of times to see how it quickly it would lose air and it was not serviceable, so getting that repaired was going to be our focus for Day 29…
Day 29 (Aug 24)…
… began with, you guessed it, a visit to a tire shop. Discount Tire and Service in Burbank, CA, is where we ended up, and they were amazing. They quickly found the leak, which was unfortunately in the sidewall, making it unfixable. Yup, we needed to find two Michelin Pilot 4S.
Discount Tire didn’t have stock and wouldn’t be able to get it until late afternoon so they pointed us to other possible suppliers (see how great they were?). The first one we called had two tires in stock so that got us on the road again, albeit at a cost of over $600USD. Ugh.
I can’t give the same glowing commentary about the installers as the tires were pricey; one tire wasn’t properly inflated before they sent us off, creating another inflation warning/panic; and they tried to upsell us rear brakes, citing cracks in the rear disks.
I wanted to say, “Uh, those are marks from the parking brake, dude. I’ve seen cracked rotors!”, but a simple, “No, thanks. I’m OK with those.” was sufficient.
We’ve now made it to Vegas. We skipped the run through Death Valley in favour of Interstate 5. We figured this was the smart thing to do given the uncertainty about the tire needlessly created by the shop not putting enough air in one of the two, and my limited interest in swapping to the spare in 40+C weather. Also, Trish kept reminding me that she ‘could die’ if we broke down in Death Valley. Thankfully, the air added to the new tire stayed in the tire, and we had no other pressure warnings.
The transition to desert happened well inside California and it is striking. While the visuals might not be for everyone, I find them appealing. T can’t see the environment as anything other than a threat to her survival. 🙂
The number to note is 41.5C 
Some lonely clouds doing their best to cast some shade 
A solar farm from a distance. 
Same farm, but closer
It’s 41.5C where we are and that wasn’t the high temp for the day. Katja coped with the heat like a champ. At 85MPH cruise, A/C set to 22C, water temp stayed at 90C and fluctuated between 106C and 112C.
This evening, we took a drive down the strip to see the lights and the visual drama.
We leave Vegas tomorrow AM, continuing north through the Valley of Fire.