Wheeler Gorge Campground, near Ojai, and Los Angeles, California
Nothing much happened during this period. I just don't seem to want to keep up the journal.
I went into L.A. the 20th. Went to Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Madame Taussards biggest wax museum (but not into it) and that small area. The head shops here sell papers. I was tempted to buy some but that would also lead to buying some grass. I don't think I'm ready to carry it around myself.
I also went on the Universal City Tour. They make pictures there. It was very interesting. They can do anything they want there. They made thunderstorms for us, had stunt men do tricks, etc. Even there you could hardly tell it wasn't real. As we passed by they pointed out some TV stars for us.
Then I went back to camp. Some kids came in and took the spot across from me. They had just been chased out of another camp by a bear. They were all young and frightened. They came over and talked.
The next day I went to Disneyland. If you ever come to California, be sure to go there. It's not as great as they make it out to be but it is very nice. To enjoy it the most you have to let some of your pragmatic, common sense, realistic self go. Part of it is like Coney Island, part is companies giving shows and part is pure Disney entertainment. Almost all of it is very commercial. Along Main Street U.S.A they have many small shops set up by the big companies, i.e., Timex, Coca Cola, Sunkist, Gaf Cameras, etc.
There were crowds of people all over and this was on an off day. On Fri and Sat and Sunday there must be hardly any room to move at all. You had to wait to get into almost everything. The people all around you are very interesting. It's best to go and stay till dark. The fireworks are nice but not great. It's better at night because it's cooler.
L.A. smog is terrible. On a good day you can see about 2 miles. On a rather normal day you can see 10 blocks. Its like a constant fog hanging over the city. The whole coast area of Calif is foggy but L.A. is especially bad. They don't have much fog. If they did, you wouldn't notice it anyway.
L.A. is just one huge suburb. It has no center. Its about 50 miles long and wide. All around the city are huge suburbs too. People use their cars constantly. They think nothing of driving 200 miles when looking for a house. They do have expressways all over but strangely this doesn't seem to interfere with the growth of the city. Roads are always crowded. I was on them 12 Noon, 7 P.M., and 3 A.M. Each and every time there were cars all around me.
After seeing Disneyland I went home. I was falling asleep on the road. I should have pulled over and just slept but I didn't. I finally made it into camp and stumbled into bed.
The next day I woke up (fortunately). Next door, where I had planned to move for 3 days now, were an old guitar maker and his wife. She came over and talked. Later that evening, after staying in camp and shopping, I went over and talked with them and listened to him play the guitar and banjo. It was interesting to learn how guitars are made and how to play them. He tuned my guitar for me which was nice.
Then, at 11:30 P.M. we went to bed. The next morning they took off.
It was Friday and a lot of new people came in. I washed and shaved and put on good clothes. However, as I found out, no eligible girls came in. I did need the wash and shave, however.
I stayed in camp and played the guitar a lot. Went shopping. Asked about the mail. It's a rather cool day here. There's a nice breeze.
