Nick, if you’d like to meet up let me know when you’ll be passing through LA. Although it’s more memorable for its graffiti and “fauve” lettering, LA is big, so it’s got everything.

BTW, if you time it right (and you use your mirrors well) the freeways here allow you to cover a huge number of miles very quickly, so you can probably make a side-trip to Vegas. It’s signage central baby. And there’s really nothing like barreling through the desert in the summer.

hhp

If you time it wrong in LA you can sit on the freeway for hours and hours. Avoid rush hours, 7-10 and 16:00-19:00 at all costs. Eat sleep photograph but do not drive. Have fun!

In fact the afternoon rush hour can start as early as 2:30pm! But the morning range is actually complex: depending on the freeway and direction, there are 15-minute windows that are amazingly smooth. Also, on Fridays the evening rush hour is more spread out: it starts earlier and ends later, but/so is gentler.

In terms of Vegas the good news is that if you’ll be going there as you approach LA County, you’ll skirt the top rim of LA, largely avoiding traffic. But when you come back into LA from Vegas your timing is critical.

hhp

We were actually thinking of avoiding LA as much as possible (well, Santa Monica to Hollywood and back down the coast.) for exactly the reasons above. We come from a very crowded island, and sitting in traffic is the last thing we want.

Hrant, after reading a few threads I’m a bit apprehensive :^{ Just tell me you’re not too scary in the flesh!

Ps. any areas in San Francisco with old signage? there must be surely.

Certainly most of LA is flat, topographically as well as existentially. Or rather, most of LA is only interesting in its contribution to the fascinating texture of the whole. But that degree of subtlety is neither interesting nor viable to appreciate in passing.

Your plan of coming down the coast is solid. If you have time come straight down Pacific Coast Highway, through Malibu to Santa Monica and Venice (don’t miss all the loonie beachwalk performers!) and then down through all the beach cities until you end up in San Diego; if you’re short of time come down the 5 Freeway (where you’ll get a fringe glimpse of desert driving) switch to the 405 and then cross over to Santa Monica using the 10. And if you go inland from Santa Monica your safest bet (although decidedly toursitic) is to use Wilshire Boulevard to go through Beverly Hills (Rodeo Drive etc.) and Melrose Avenue. These are not “fake” things to see, they’re just one aspect of the reality of LA, which I feel is a breathtaking microcosm of the world. Now, if time and mettle permit, at least get yourself to a King Taco*, where you’ll be afforded a small peek into one of the other realities of LA. The last time I took some visitors there (from Singapore) there were three armed guards, and ironically enough one of them was missing an arm! But of course, les goûts et les couleurs ne se discutes pas.

* http://www.kingtaco.com/
Caveat: some of the locations are boring.

SF: It’s an older city, and has paid more attention to preserving itself, so it certainly has more old signage, and much more densely packed. But overall I’ve come to find the city boring - too touristic. LA doesn’t really care about tourists; the tourists have to do the caring in order to make it worthwhile.

Me: virtually everybody who has ended up meeting me in person after experiencing me online expresses shock at the difference in apparent character. Whether the existence of this difference is good or bad is arguable.

Anyway, I’ve become quite proud of my city, after all these years of ambivalence and even periodic anim