Beach camping at Point Mugu had been uncomfortable the night before. It helped a little to get some morning coffee and tea in us. Breaking camp, we grumbled in the cold mist, unable to have gotten a good fire going in the provided steel pit. The only showers available to us were at Leo Carrillo campground seven miles further on towards Malibu. Mid-to-late morning we stopped for breakfast in Santa Monica, and Joe and I parted ways for the day. He had a date to visit Dreamworks Studios in Glendale and I wanted to visit other spots. The TARDIS rolled on to Venice Beach, always a cool neighborhood to visit, where I scouted out a long-lost shooting location for the cult film Vanishing Point on neighboring Silver Strand.

https://youtu.be/Z45btFs5AWM


On account of lost time and it being Friday in Los Angeles, I only got to Clockwork Couture and Not A Burger Stand in Burbank, where I got a free drink just for showing up in a TARDIS. By early evening I was back at the Santa Monica Pier, hoping to regroup with Joe nearby, but he'd already planned to go onward to our motel in Corona where we made our rendezvous.

Saturday morning was an urban challenge to return Joe's rented car to Santa Monica, then resume the road trip east. Saturday midday traffic eastward out past Corona again was truly awful. I was determined to visit one point of interest, the Pines to Palms Scenic Byway and Seven Level Hill of Highway 74 on the way to the Coachella valley. This stretch of road, largely in this direction, was the shooting location for the first half-hour of It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. I couldn't pass that up!

https://youtu.be/0hDvLqyovqI


Early evening we headed south for the I-8 expressway, passing the Salton Sea. We'd run out of time to stop and explore the failed beach resort ghost town on the lake's polluted shore, so it had to be skipped. To make matters worse the TARDIS began acting cranky on this last leg of the day's journey. To lighten the load on her systems I switched off the air conditioner and we sweated our way east, the sun setting behind us and the Highway passing within 1000 feet of the Mexican border. It was dark by the time we reached the Knights Inn in Yuma, Arizona and its swimming pool, which the desk clerk graciously let us use past its closing time. Finally, had a good burger and fries at The Crossing Grill next door and slept in air-conditioned comfort amidst the Arizona heat.