around usa with happy travel

17.10.16

The next morning, we surrendered our tank and took a Dodge Challenger for a day – so drive around Hollywood;) We said goodbye to Kira, Yura and those we saw in the morning, but this was not the end of our journey. That day – we four had tickets for the long-awaited tour of Universal Studios. We got into our fancy car and drove to Universal Studios. The scale of the studio is huge, there are a lot of people, but we did not stand in lines. “The most important thing is not to lose each other and have time for everything in 4 hours,” we thought. Andrei took control of the organization of the program: he quickly navigated according to the schedule and distributed the show by importance. The first to go were those that we should never miss. Thus, we visited:Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™ , King Kong 360 3-D , Special Effects Show , Water World , The World-Famous Studio Tour .

We had a snack at the Simpsons and before leaving I really wanted to look into Harry’s castle. There was a tour on which I accidentally dragged everyone until they had time to come to their senses, and it turned out to be magical. Incredible effects really gave us the feeling of riding on a broomstick, the pursuit of Quidic and a meeting with dementors. I, as a big fan of Harry Potter, was incredibly delighted. Andrei and I were at Warner Brothers at Harry Potter in London and I can say that we did not get particularly vivid impressions.

Straight after the trip on a broomstick, we needed to quickly drive Ruslan to Ukla, where he met with other travelers. Farewell was not easy. For 17 days we spent everything together, drove several thousand miles, never conflicted, and made great friends. We had the coolest team for the whole tour and I say this with full confidence. They said goodbye to Ruslan, but not forever.

On the first day, we missed several attractions, so after parting with Ruslan, we decided to fill in our gaps and went to the points that Kira had sent us earlier. I already as a boss moved to the front seat to Andrei and we flew to watch Los Angeles under the roar of our Dodge’s motor. Driving on such a car in Beverly Hills was especially nice. Drivers support cars of the highest class – miss.

We drove along the avenue of stars and the ambassador of what I saw, I can confirm the words of the guys,
there’s nothing to do there: it’s dirty, there are a lot of homeless people and some strange shops. I did not want to get out of the car, so we drove on. We visited the observation deck here – it’s an awesome view, and went to look at the former legendary Zephyr shop , that is now called DOGTOWN COFFEE.
We arrived at the closing, we weren’t allowed to go inside, but even standing next to it and looking through the windows was very cool.
Visiting the legendary building is a must, so I know for sure that we will be back in LA. Here I have left a few unfinished business. Near the former Zephyr we went to the local organic supermarket. Bought yummy. In it, we found a local drink from the so-called “grandmother’s mushroom”. Tasteless, but the utilities listed on the label were a bunch. Thus ended our last evening in Venice and in LA.

The next morning we went to rent a car by 10 in the morning. Transfer from there
It turned out only at the airport, so we drove to the airport without things and called a hotel transfer to the airport to return to the hotel for things and already meet the airport. The switch was still there, well, in general we are not used to it. In the end, after a long time spent looking for the right bus to our hotel and lots of calls, our bus found us, we got it. Having safely reached the hotel, we took our bags and drove back to the airport. So our wonderful and unforgettable tour came to an end. We said goodbye to Lena and flew home to London.

Here is a story.
Of course, I hope that our experience with the guys described above will be interesting to the reader and useful to those who are thinking of such a trip or are already going on a tour with Kira and Yura.

In short, I want to make a small summary and give some tips:

We chose the tour as a honeymoon and, believe me, I can’t imagine better. I want to clarify that Andrei and I are not fans of a banal all-inclusive holiday. A wedding is a special event, therefore we also wanted a special and extreme adventure.
Riding alone is completely safe, but I am sure that every sane person understands that no one will give you the guarantee that you will find a wonderful common language with travelers who will share the car. No matter how trite it may sound, but be easier and people reach for you.
Double risk of dissatisfaction – if you are driving alone and without a driver’s license / driving experience. You immediately become dependent on the driver, so it is better to establish good relationships with drivers right away.
Driving the whole tour alone is insanely difficult. Yura drives him alone, but this is absolutely not heroism, but a stupid experience. If you do not have such a driving experience, then one will be difficult. Two drivers, I think, for the first time are simply necessary. I am not a driver, but even I was tired on the road, not to mention our guys. Out of habit, my back and ass hurt.
Inform in advance about the places you wish to visit on the road. It’s not a fact that they will change the route because of you, but small deviations are possible, especially if there are like-minded people.
When highway 66 begins, I mean small, almost abandoned towns, there will be a lot of American national cuisine on the way. If you are on a healthy diet, stock up on apples, other fruits, bars and nuts in supermarkets, if possible, in advance, but don’t resist too much fast food. If you don’t sin much in ordinary life, then some things are still worth trying. As I wrote on arrival, my weight has not changed a gram, but we tried a lot;)

In conclusion, I want to say that with the guys from our “Dastarkhan” we became very close. Chat from time to time only becomes silent. For the holidays, we exchange congratulations, gift cards. In July 2017, we went to visit Lena in Moscow, were going to see Dali, but it didn’t work out. Our Ruslan now lives in San Francisco and to him we also soap skis. In October 2018, I visited with Lena (read the story about my trip to Russia here). That was our #happywaytravel trip.