The Manifest Destiny Tour - Day 14

San Francisco to L.A.

486.7 miles/142 songs

Neil Young – Harvest
Okkervil River – Black Sheep Boy
Rolling Stones – Through the Past, Darkly
Eisley – Room Noises
The Blow – Paper Television
Dave Matthews Band – Stand Up
Colin Meloy – Colin Meloy Sings! Live
Low – The Great Destroyer
Simon & Garfunkel – Greatest Hits
The Smiths – Louder Than Bombs
The Beatles – Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Spring Break Mix ‘06

9:27 pm

California intimidates me. I’m not sure why. Could be that I’ve never been here before. But I had never been to Nevada or Utah either, and they didn’t intimidate me. Maybe it’s because I expected all Californians to be beautiful and intelligent and rich and socially conscientious. And while the requisite handful might match that description, as I look around me, they all appear fairly average. Maybe it’s because of the Pacific Ocean. That might actually be part of it. We drove down California 1 today, from Monterrey to San Luis Obispo. And there was certainly something awe-inspiring about those cliffs and beaches and mists and endless blue off to our right. But I don’t think it should be enough to be intimidating. I don’t think there is anything physically intrinsic in California to make me feel this way. It’s more of the mythology surrounding the place. It’s the names and stories, the movies and celebrities, the music and fashion, the Steinbecks and Kerouaks, the Hepburns and the Nicholsons, the Merle Haggards and the Beach Boys and the Dr. Dre’s. I think maybe it’s how others might feel when visiting Texas for the first time. At least I hope so.

Of course, we still have L.A. to experience. If California is mythology, then L.A. is Mount Olympus. It may yet live up to the hype. We have several days to find out.

“Now let me welcome everybody to the wild, wild west
A state that's untouchable like Elliot Ness;
The track hits ya eardrum like a slug to ya chest
Pack a vest for your Jimmy in the city of sex.”
“California Love” – Tupac (featuring Dr. Dre)

[I had fogotten about this ridiculously awesome video.]