Day 4: Hollywood

It was very humid when we woke up as the reality of sleeping in RV hit us in the face. I staggered outside in the need of the fresh air when I saw two things. Firstly we were parked in a very dry vineyard hence the heat and secondly, we were ironically parked next to a RV campsite with a swimming pool and showers.

We decided it was a good opportunity to carry out a little maintenance work on our RV so we paid ten dollars to make use of their maintenance services so we emptied our sewage waste which only can be done at registered campsites which have an authorised dump site. The dump site is actually a hole in the ground closed by a latch.

We emptied our waste and grey water tank which is a tank for used water (Ashley was appointed first waste cleaner), filled up our water tank and we were good to go expect for the women decided to took an importune shower! James then took this one step further when he had a dump in women toilets as men toilets required a pin to access!

We then departed for one of the most eagerly awaited tourist spot in our trip- Hollywood sign itself! Unfortunately, our route to there was not exactly stellar. It began pleasantly enough as we drove through a lovely valley then we arrived in Los Angeles and it was when all chaos began. We drove through gridlocked traffic looking for directions to Hollywood and eventually we found a car park.

Oddly enough, there were no signposts plastered all over place providing directions to Hollywood sign that you would expected from any cities promoting their top attraction. However we ignored our gut feelings and began our trek. The trek was a hard slog as we walked up rolling hills with dusty paths. It was boiling hot and we can't see Hollywood sign anywhere.

Eventually we stopped at a vantage point where Julie had enough and sent Stuart scrambling down the hill to fetch RV to complete our trek up the hill. It was a very amusing sign to see Stuart running down throwing a trail of dust in his wake. Eventually Stuart arrived with his RV and signalled to us that we should follow him until he found a parking spot where we all can get on so we all followed him around the next bend to our horrors.

The Hollywood sign was in the sight and an observatory called Griffiths Observatory which were one of popular vantage point for the Hollywood sign was few minutes away so Stuart's efforts was in vain! However at least we did not have to walk a long way back to our RV!

We arrived at the observatory and had our photos took with the Hollywood sign. It was not close as we would have liked but we were grateful to be able witness it in the flesh. We deduced that if we were to get closer then it requires careful planning and a day's trek. We do not have time for that so we have to move on.

We were supposed to drive to the inner city for tourist hotspots such as Rodeo Drive and Walk of Fame however we got lost once again and we had to carry on to Santa Monica our next destination.

Though it was exhilarating to see Hollywood sign, Los Angeles turned out to my biggest regret of the trip as we hadn't set out enough time for sightseeing. Hopefully I will be afforded another opportunity to visit Los Angeles and to fully experience the city.