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Introduction

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2002 saw my first ever major club trip with the European Coaster Club  to the American West Coast. With just 3 days notice that someone had dropped out and an invitation to attend I found myself with little time to prepare and I just showed up and went along for the ride, or 70 of them. 10 years later and the club had decided to repeat the trip, visiting the majority of the parks visited a decade ago. There were some new ones and a decision to end the trip in Utah rather than Vegas as we did previously. Whilst I had ridden a lot of the rides, there were still plenty of reasons to revisit. Aside from the parks and rollercoasters I also planned to do some sight-seeing and to feed my other OCD, take some photos of Banksy pieces following his graffiti tour of the US to promote his "Exit Through the Giftshop" film. and here's the report of that trip, including parks, coasters, elephants, graffiti and random, and sometimes completely made-up ramblings of a madman.
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Santa Monica Pier

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After a fairly lengthy multiple stop flight that took us to LA via Detroit and a fairly bumpy landing into LAX we got to the hotel, collected our bags and headed straight to the first park on Santa Monica Pier. At this point a 24-hour day had become a 36 so we were all fairly tired. This was the hotel, a stones throw from the pier as long as you've built up your arms on the nearby muscle beach before attempting the throw that is. The hotel, being in heart of Santa Monica was perfectly located for checking out the area, but at night-time meant you had the ambient sounds of club music, fighting and on our visit a man trying his best to throw up for 20 minutes at 5 in the morning. There's the pier, which has been around for around 100 years and as well as being a popular movie/TV landmark is also a popular attraction for the locals who enjoy it's amusement park, food establishments and, for those who wish to get away from their wives, fishing opportunities off
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Universal Studios Hollywood

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After a fairly well rested night, in as much as I could with the noise outside, it was time to head off for the first of the big parks: Universal Studios. The obligatory spinning globe as exists at every park, however this one looks a little more historic with it's metallic effect. Prepare to have to jump in in front of other visitors to get the shot. The main entrance into the park has you walking the red carpet, a nice touch although it would be cool if they had used the park photographers as paparazzi here, rather than have them swarm on you inside the park like those charity muggers that you find ways to avoid back home. Inside the park there's a nice statue to the art of good boom mike control, although I do like the odd occasion where it appears in shot. It's a sign of the bad movie making that I enjoy. Another photo opportunity but you have to be quick with this one as countless crowds of people also want their photo taken here. Quick tip
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