So there you have it, the trip is nearing its end. Tomorrow the car gets dropped of at the shippers and I fly out to Auckland, New Zealand to start a new life. If there�s time Alan is going to cap it all off with an inside tour of the Warner brothers studio.
Thanks for having the idea of sharing your wonderful trip Ian. Hope to do it myself some day.
And good luck with your new beginnings.
Sounds like a great trip, overall.
Antique vehicles generally don’t have to meet any emission standards here in the States. Each State is a bit different, however. Same for front plates - each State has say on if they are required.
Leno is a good guy - I usually run into him during the Pebble Beach Concours each year.
Sorry about this, just when I thought it was over�
Epilogue.
It ain�t over till it�s over�
Another glorious day dawned in L.A as I rolled over to find myself face to face with Alan�s rabbit that thinks it�s a dog staring at me. The plan was to do the tour of the Warner Brothers studio, then drop the car off at the shippers as late as possible since my flight out was late in the evening. Part A went according to plan, the tour was brilliant the realism they can achieve with wood and fiberglass is remarkable.
[image]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/iwilson/Road%20Trip/5007.jpg[/image]
Although Friends finished filming last year, the set has been preserved.
[image]Photobucket | Make your memories fun!
We took the long way back to Alan�s place and I grabbed the ultimate Hollywood shot (could do with a bit of photoshopping but I haven�t got a clue). I guess this pretty much sums up Alan�s life the only thing missing is his rabbit
[image]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/iwilson/Road%20Trip/5021.jpg[/image]
With time running a little short, I grabbed my gear and made a run for the car. Only to discover someone had got there before me�.
[image]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/iwilson/Road%20Trip/5023.jpg[/image]
Can you believe it! I�ve be hit twice in three days. Eight years of ownership without a mark and I�ve been hit twice in three days in L.A. It makes you wonder if L.A driving licenses come as a free gift in cereal packets. Alan was beside himself, since he had assured me the previous night that nothing ever happened on the street. I enjoyed seeing the look on his face when I broke the news to him
Alan should be realizing around about now that he didn�t get away completely Scot-free, although I�m not sure how much use I�m going to get with Alan�s parking pass in Auckland�
[image]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/iwilson/Road%20Trip/PC060001small.jpg[/image]
The shippers were great and the formalities were completed within 15 mins. What was interesting was what appeared to be a junkyard outside. Rotting carcasses of cars littered the place. In amongst it all was the entire front end of a Ferrari from the steering wheel forward. Alan had visions of turning it into the ultimate gaming console and shot off to see if he could buy it. It transpired that what we had thought of as a pile of junk was actually all destined to be shipped somewhere in the world. It was hard to imagine why anyone would bother with the expense of shipping most of it.
Alan kindly dropped me off at the airport and I got lucky by scoring a seat on the emergency aisle, so the 12 hour flight was bearable especially since I�d been hoarding a couple of sleeping pills specially for the occasion.
Staying at my Dad�s place tonight, Internet access has been interesting. He�s got a 300mhz PC which belongs in a museum. Since he�s forgotten the password for his ISP and only has a floppy drive (I don�t) the only way I�ve figured out of transferring this report to the internet is to load the file onto my digital camera and then hook the camera up to his computer. Thought I�d mention it in case anyone else ends up in a similar spot. Speaking of hot tips here�s another. The first night at Alan�s had been a bit nippy, rather than waking Alan up I came up with the idea of using my laptop as a hot water bottle.
I also want to thank everyone who has emailed, U2Ued or posted I really appreciated it particularly when things were not going my way. Special thanks to Patrick and Alan for putting up with me in L.A � Patrick in particular was seemingly on call 24 hours a day for my frequent calls for help.
I�m hoping this really is the end now, but with the car still in L.A I guess anything could happen�
Ian - I think we need weaning off gently - perhaps just a couple of weekly reports once the car has landed…
Cool write up Ian!!!
Good luck!!
Sean…
Thanks Ian, an all time classic thread. I think you may have amended many of our ‘Things I must do before I die’ lists.
All the best!
Ian
I only have one question:
on the pictures, which one are you? (sorry, never met you)
the one with the dodgy body language car-jacking the lady and her 5 year old son
![http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/iwilson/Road%20Trip/5007.jpg[/image]](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/iwilson/Road%20Trip/5007.jpg%5B/image%5D){kind=link}
![http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/iwilson/Road%20Trip/5021.jpg[/image]](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/iwilson/Road%20Trip/5021.jpg%5B/image%5D){kind=link}
![http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/iwilson/Road%20Trip/5023.jpg[/image]](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/iwilson/Road%20Trip/5023.jpg%5B/image%5D){kind=link}
![http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/iwilson/Road%20Trip/PC060001small.jpg[/image]](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/iwilson/Road%20Trip/PC060001small.jpg%5B/image%5D){kind=link}