Moving from NJ to CA! (LA/Burbank)

[Oneud]

Congrats, and good luck! I'm originally from South Jersey(pretty close to where your starting pin is), and just made the drive from NY state to So Cal last year(and might end up making the drive back this year). I'm about 1.5 hours outside of LA, so I don't have any good tips about the city.

The weirdest change from living out here is how quickly I've adapted to the warm weather. I used to go outside in shorts and a light sweatshirt while it's 20 degrees out(and be fine), and now I'm freezing if it gets below 60!

 

[Derry Murbles]

Congrats, and good luck! I'm originally from South Jersey(pretty close to where your starting pin is), and just made the drive from NY state to So Cal last year(and might end up making the drive back this year). I'm about 1.5 hours outside of LA, so I don't have any good tips about the city.

The weirdest change from living out here is how quickly I've adapted to the warm weather. I used to go outside in shorts and a light sweatshirt while it's 20 degrees out(and be fine), and now I'm freezing if it gets below 60!

Very cool! I'm from right where Winslow, Gloucester, and Washington Townships all converge.

I think someone else mentioned the quick acclimation to the local weather as well. To be honest, even only being out there for a week on my last visit had me feeling for a brief moment how brisk it was at 60! I've been softening up the last 5 years when it comes to the cold anyhow so the milder temps ahead will be appreciated.

 

[pbass2]

Any gravel grinding route suggestions? Right now I've got road tires on my gravel bike, but I've been looking to get new tires and get on some rougher roads. Don't have a mountain bike though. One downside of LA is you can't afford more space for things like bike and bass collections lol.

Yeah--man, that route I linked to is great, and the whole foothill and mountain area literally minutes north from Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, etc. is chock full of fire roads, leading to lots of great singletrack. I use my gravel bike 90% of the time now--riding mostly fire roads but I also find myself using it on most of the same trails around here I use to only mountain bike on. One thing about around here though is I hope you like climbing! I have my bikes geared with that in mind--it can be pretty brutal at times!
You can find good trail/fire road info with MTB project: Invalid Link Removed
Cherry Canyon (La Canada area) is great on a gravel rig, Mt/ Wilson, Mt. Lowe, etc. I'm less familiar with the stuff more westside, but there's plenty of good stuff in the Santa Monica mountain area as well.

 

[bluesblaster]

Oh you're not lying there! Between my time in the woods hunting, and hiking up in British Columbia, I'm no stranger to big game/predator awareness.

Funny related story- While camping one night in the aforementioned British Columbia, I was certain that my friend and I were going to get mauled and/or eaten by what I wholeheartedly believed was a bear/mountain lion ambling around and grazing our tent. The knife and bear spray were at my feet, so I thought it wise to stay still and hope the beast passed by rather than startle or poke its curiosity further.

What felt like an eternity later (I'm feeling my nerves tense up as I type this), the noise subsided a bit and I mustered up the fortitude to get up and see what the hell was what.

Turns out it was the wind blowing the brush around the tent, and blowing a lose section of the rain fly against the tent.

I legitimately came to terms with mortality that night since I truly acknowledged and accepted that I may not have made it through the animal attac- I mean wind.

In any case though, I'll be sure to stay diligent while taking in the mountains!

I have spent many a night in a tent in the northwoods, I can totally relate. We don't have big cats there but plenty of bear and wolves, not to mention a plethora of other furry scroungers. Seems like your senses are always heightened to any little noise out in the dark.

 

[ashtray]

I learned how to drive in North NJ. I thought my high school was 45 miles from my house (private school) because the bus would take 80 minutes to get to school, and when I drove it was still 50 minutes. Rt 10, Rt 46 - didn’t even try Rt 80. Back roads that everyone traveled on so they were jam packed. I think I Googled it later in life and my school was only 15 miles away!

A NJ driver can do well in CA, but there’s still quite a few huge differences:
- Pedestrians! Ok, they will seem suicidal to a NJ driver. They cross parking lots without looking or pausing. They cross busy streets at corner crossings (with the “walk” sign) before looking! I swear, parking lots scare the carp out of me! In NJ, the car has the right of way. In CA, its all the random people who walk out from between cars and cross in front of you without looking. Seriously, use caution!
- Motorcycles. They lane split. You’ll be in slow moving traffic getting ready to jump in that upcoming gap in the lane next to you when some motorcycle will come whizzing by nearly clipping your side mirror, doing 40mph over your speed. You’ve missed your window to change lane, and you are white knuckled for almost killing someone. Seriously - at that speed difference, they are nearly impossible to see rapidly approaching your blind spot.
- On ramps. Ok, get this: people entering the highway DON’T LOOK! Seriously, they don’t turn their heads! You’ll be in the right lane with a bunch of other cars and see “some idiot” think he’s going to merge right in - but guess what? That guy WILL merge right in, and if you don’t give him space, he will just plow in to you! Its crazy! That’s why you’ll see the highway traffic either change lanes before an on ramp or hit their brakes! This probably leads to traffic issues on the highway - constant braking and lane changing for every car that enters. It makes ZERO sense, but don’t be caught off guard!
- Did I mention pedestrians? If they’re in the crosswalk, you CAN NOT go. Even if there’s plenty of room for your car or they already passed where your car would be, that whole crosswalk is theirs. Crazy.
- Cyclists. They wear the full racing get up and act like the next cycling champion, but then they blow through stop signs without touching the brakes. I’ve seen them get pulled over by police, but not often enough.
- Highways. 8 lanes of madness. HOV lane - you can only enter/exit it at certain spots, though its just a painted line keeping you from the next lane, Californians follow that painted line rule like gospel.
- Left turns: these are made from the LEFT lane. Sometimes 2 or 3 lanes turn left. Also, sometimes 2 or 3 lanes turn right at a light - and each lane can turn right on red. Of course you need to make sure all lanes you’ll be crossing are clear, so the far right turn lane is easier to turn right on red than the others. In my experience, 5:1. 5 cars will turn right on red in far right lane for every car that can turn right on red from middle lane.

Side note on speed limits: there’s cops. CHP. They’re out there. People speed. Try not to be an outlier. Go with the flow. It’s nothing as bad as NJ cops though who hide every mile down the highway (Rt 78, I’m looking at you!). 10 over the limit is usually ok.

 

[ashtray]

Re: weather. Wear layers. Keep a sweatshirt in your car. You’ll need it at night.

Also, sometimes it will be June and 85 degrees and full sun downtown. Then you head to the beach - Santa Monica, for example, and its 65 degrees and overcast. Grab that sweatshirt! Californians call it the “marine layer” and it eventually goes away - but that could be at 5pm when the sun finally comes out at the beach. Mostly this is a June thing but it can happen in other months too.

It’s all micro-climates around LA.

 

[bluesblaster]

Re: micro climates, as a Midwesterner we are a bunch of weather geeks by nature but its facinating to watch the weather report out there and all the different climates in and around the valley. That marine layer is something else too, when I was there last fall on my last day I wanted to go to the beach, so we drive down on a lovely sunny day till we got right into Laguna Beach , total fog bank and the temp dropped 20 degrees, we turned around a drove back up the hill 4-5 blocks and its a perfectly sunny warm day again, crazy stuff.

 

[Derry Murbles]

I learned how to drive in North NJ. I thought my high school was 45 miles from my house (private school) because the bus would take 80 minutes to get to school, and when I drove it was still 50 minutes. Rt 10, Rt 46 - didn’t even try Rt 80. Back roads that everyone traveled on so they were jam packed. I think I Googled it later in life and my school was only 15 miles away!

A NJ driver can do well in CA, but there’s still quite a few huge differences:
- Pedestrians! Ok, they will seem suicidal to a NJ driver. They cross parking lots without looking or pausing. They cross busy streets at corner crossings (with the “walk” sign) before looking! I swear, parking lots scare the carp out of me! In NJ, the car has the right of way. In CA, its all the random people who walk out from between cars and cross in front of you without looking. Seriously, use caution!
- Motorcycles. They lane split. You’ll be in slow moving traffic getting ready to jump in that upcoming gap in the lane next to you when some motorcycle will come whizzing by nearly clipping your side mirror, doing 40mph over your speed. You’ve missed your window to change lane, and you are white knuckled for almost killing someone. Seriously - at that speed difference, they are nearly impossible to see rapidly approaching your blind spot.
- On ramps. Ok, get this: people entering the highway DON’T LOOK! Seriously, they don’t turn their heads! You’ll be in the right lane with a bunch of other cars and see “some idiot” think he’s going to merge right in - but guess what? That guy WILL merge right in, and if you don’t give him space, he will just plow in to you! Its crazy! That’s why you’ll see the highway traffic either change lanes before an on ramp or hit their brakes! This probably leads to traffic issues on the highway - constant braking and lane changing for every car that enters. It makes ZERO sense, but don’t be caught off guard!
- Did I mention pedestrians? If they’re in the crosswalk, you CAN NOT go. Even if there’s plenty of room for your car or they already passed where your car would be, that whole crosswalk is theirs. Crazy.
- Cyclists. They wear the full racing get up and act like the next cycling champion, but then they blow through stop signs without touching the brakes. I’ve seen them get pulled over by police, but not often enough.
- Highways. 8 lanes of madness. HOV lane - you can only enter/exit it at certain spots, though its just a painted line keeping you from the next lane, Californians follow that painted line rule like gospel.
- Left turns: these are made from the LEFT lane. Sometimes 2 or 3 lanes turn left. Also, sometimes 2 or 3 lanes turn right at a light - and each lane can turn right on red. Of course you need to make sure all lanes you’ll be crossing are clear, so the far right turn lane is easier to turn right on red than the others. In my experience, 5:1. 5 cars will turn right on red in far right lane for every car that can turn right on red from middle lane.

Side note on speed limits: there’s cops. CHP. They’re out there. People speed. Try not to be an outlier. Go with the flow. It’s nothing as bad as NJ cops though who hide every mile down the highway (Rt 78, I’m looking at you!). 10 over the limit is usually ok.

Luckily, I've had to negotiate all of these types of situations/interactions in the relatively recent past, so thank you for refreshing me on what to expect! I used to live in a small town with a little Main Street/downtown area where people would literally walk right into the street without looking either way. Seems to be a pretty common practice these days, and while I understand most people today lack common sense and situational/spatial awareness, I still can't wrap my head around it.

I've seen some of those multi-turn lanes locally, however I didn't see a 3-4 lane turn until I visited Vancouver BC, which is a gorgeous region by the way.

Re: weather. Wear layers. Keep a sweatshirt in your car. You’ll need it at night.

Also, sometimes it will be June and 85 degrees and full sun downtown. Then you head to the beach - Santa Monica, for example, and its 65 degrees and overcast. Grab that sweatshirt! Californians call it the “marine layer” and it eventually goes away - but that could be at 5pm when the sun finally comes out at the beach. Mostly this is a June thing but it can happen in other months too.

It’s all micro-climates around LA.

You know... I had noticed this when I visited Burbank last, but I thought I was sort of nuts- or rather that I just looked at the wrong day/city on the weather app earlier that day. Duly noted!

Re: micro climates, as a Midwesterner we are a bunch of weather geeks by nature but its facinating to watch the weather report out there and all the different climates in and around the valley. That marine layer is something else too, when I was there last fall on my last day I wanted to go to the beach, so we drive down on a lovely sunny day till we got right into Laguna Beach , total fog bank and the temp dropped 20 degrees, we turned around a drove back up the hill 4-5 blocks and its a perfectly sunny warm day again, crazy stuff.

While that definitely could possess the potential to be irritating, it sounds like a little extra planning should keep me content and comfortable. I fancy myself a "contingency packer/hiker" so I ought to be gravy.

I'm looking forward to navigating the weather and traffic simultaneously!

 

[ashtray]

^^As long as you keep a sweatshirt in your car, you’ll pretty much be covered. In the winter months, you might need a rain jacket. I don’t own an umbrella. It rains, I’m inside. If I go outside to walk the dog or anything, I put my hood up on my jacket.

Use Waze and/or Google maps with traffic to see how the roads are and where the accidents are. Once you get to know areas, you’ll probably have some good hangouts to stop at if you’re stuck in traffic too long. Ie - “There’s a restaurant/mall/beach I know near this exit, I can take a break from this backup.”

Oh - and buy reusable shopping bags. Stores either don’t have disposable ones, or they’ll charge you 5 cents per plastic bag. Its silly.

 

[Derry Murbles]

Greetings from sunny CA, fellow brokers of thunder!

Well, we made it! We (my father and I) arrived in Burbank Friday morning at 7:30AM, after having departed at 11:30 AM eastern time on Wednesday. Yes, thats 47 hours. Even better, by 2:30PM on Friday I had my apartment things loaded in, the rest of the load off the truck and into the storage unit, and the truck returned: Total time of about 54 hours. Were it not for a one hour delay that we encountered in a slight gas miscalculation in Arizona, we'd have arrived at about 6:30AM, for a total drive time of 46 hours.

Long story short we went from NJ>PA>OH>IN>IL>MO>OK>TX>NM>AZ>CA. Or, 76>70>44>40>15, and into LA. The beautiful part about it was that we hit no traffic except for going out of Philly on 76 at midday, and once we got off of 40 as we neared LA. The trip went off almost entirely without a hitch. The only hiccup was us choosing not to fill up when we were at about an 1/8 of a tank, as signs indicated the next station was a completely doable 23 miles away.

Well upon pulling off the freeway 23 miles later with the gas light on for the last several miles of the ride, don't you know.... the damned place is closed. We hadn't noticed a trend of closed gas stations at the point in the trip, so we didn't think it unreasonable to go on without fueling up at 1/8 of a tank. Probably should have just hit the station that we saw was open

In any case, the next services continuing west were 56 miles, so further west was not an option. We naturally ended up doubling back to the last open station and made it without running out! I wasn't severely concerned about it though since the Camry was on the dolly and had a quarter tank herself. So worst case scenario was dropping the Camry and running to the station for gas had we ran out in the truck. But no harm no foul right?

Since arrival, I've gotten my room in the apartment about 95% set up; there are only some decorations to hang/arrange left on the docket. My work computer is also up and online so I'm ready to hit the ground running there tomorrow morning. Everything went essentially as smooth as possible for which I am extremely grateful- Couldn't have done it without my dad! We ended up averaging around 230-260 miles per fill up/tank (35 gallon), so you do the math.

A few shots once we got out here:

So far I've chowed down on pho for the first time, hit Neptune's Net in Malibu for some rather tasty sea food, and got a rather tasty burger from some billiard bar in Burbank (alliteration party, anyone?)

I haven't gotten out to hike yet, but will this week as the only thing I really need to get squared away is getting my CA license. However, I may just take a PTO day, knock it out in the morning, and use the rest of the day to go walking up some mountains. The weather has been fantastic (obviously) and everything's feeling pretty good. Looking forward to diving into CA headfirst and seeing where I come up!

 

[SLO Surfer]

Welcome!

Greetings from sunny CA, fellow brokers of thunder!

Well, we made it! We (my father and I) arrived in Burbank Friday morning at 7:30AM, after having departed at 11:30 AM eastern time on Wednesday. Yes, thats 47 hours. Even better, by 2:30PM on Friday I had my apartment things loaded in, the rest of the load off the truck and into the storage unit, and the truck returned: Total time of about 54 hours. Were it not for a one hour delay that we encountered in a slight gas miscalculation in Arizona, we'd have arrived at about 6:30AM, for a total drive time of 46 hours.

Long story short we went from NJ>PA>OH>IN>IL>MO>OK>TX>NM>AZ>CA. Or, 76>70>44>40>15, and into LA. The beautiful part about it was that we hit no traffic except for going out of Philly on 76 at midday, and once we got off of 40 as we neared LA. The trip went off almost entirely without a hitch. The only hiccup was us choosing not to fill up when we were at about an 1/8 of a tank, as signs indicated the next station was a completely doable 23 miles away.

Well upon pulling off the freeway 23 miles later with the gas light on for the last several miles of the ride, don't you know.... the damned place is closed. We hadn't noticed a trend of closed gas stations at the point in the trip, so we didn't think it unreasonable to go on without fueling up at 1/8 of a tank. Probably should have just hit the station that we saw was open

In any case, the next services continuing west were 56 miles, so further west was not an option. We naturally ended up doubling back to the last open station and made it without running out! I wasn't severely concerned about it though since the Camry was on the dolly and had a quarter tank herself. So worst case scenario was dropping the Camry and running to the station for gas had we ran out in the truck. But no harm no foul right?

Since arrival, I've gotten my room in the apartment about 95% set up; there are only some decorations to hang/arrange left on the docket. My work computer is also up and online so I'm ready to hit the ground running there tomorrow morning. Everything went essentially as smooth as possible for which I am extremely grateful- Couldn't have done it without my dad! We ended up averaging around 230-260 miles per fill up/tank (35 gallon), so you do the math.

A few shots once we got out here:

View attachment 2978077


View attachment 2978078



View attachment 2978080




View attachment 2978082


So far I've chowed down on pho for the first time, hit Neptune's Net in Malibu for some rather tasty sea food, and got a rather tasty burger from some billiard bar in Burbank (alliteration party, anyone?)

I haven't gotten out to hike yet, but will this week as the only thing I really need to get squared away is getting my CA license. However, I may just take a PTO day, knock it out in the morning, and use the rest of the day to go walking up some mountains. The weather has been fantastic (obviously) and everything's feeling pretty good. Looking forward to diving into CA headfirst and seeing where I come up!

 

[JKos]

Welcome!

the only thing I really need to get squared away is getting my CA license.

You may want to make an appointment before trying to just walk in as you may be in for rather long wait if you don't. And, have you studied for the test and looked up the required documents? They ask some rather specific questions on the test and if you don't know the California answer, it can be tricky.

- John

 

[Michedelic]

Yes, a trip to the DMV can be an extreme test of patience. If you are a AAA member, there’s a large office on Alemeda, across from a Starbucks, Denny’s, and Pavilions grocery store(an upscale version of Von’s); I don’t know if they can do everything for you there in the process of switching over, but I’d check with them first. It’s fairly close to the Viva Rancho place I mentioned, next to the Burbank Equestrian Center. At the BEC, you can go on group horseback rides over the Hollywood Hills and back, if that’s if any interest to you.

 

[Stevorebob]

Welcome to SoCal, my friend!

 

[goldenglory18]

Welcome to the party.....

 

[Derry Murbles]

Welcome!

Thank you much!

Welcome!


You may want to make an appointment before trying to just walk in as you may be in for rather long wait if you don't. And, have you studied for the test and looked up the required documents? They ask some rather specific questions on the test and if you don't know the California answer, it can be tricky.

- John

After chatting with some folks on the topic I did learn quickly how the DMV works around here. I was lucky enough to get an appointment for 4/19 in Pomona (about 45 minutes away if my math is correct), since EVERYWHERE ELSE AROUND ME didn't have an appointment until the beginning or middle of May.... WHAT?! I know there are a lot of people around here and the DMV is generally the model of inefficiency, but hell- over a month wait almost everywhere? Just for a license? Welcome to soCal I suppose!

I mean, I know I have 60 days to take care of it, but I don't like to sit on something if I have the ability to handle it sooner. I certainly wasn't chomping at the bit to invest (waste) four hours of my time on a walk in attempt if an appointment might be able to get me in and out in a couple hours, so we'll see how that goes.

RE the test- Thank you for pointing that out. I have some people out here who mentioned the written test and that it's prudent to utilize the practice tests available online. I'd like to think I should be alright, but it never hurts to refresh and make sure I'm familiar with any CA specific driving laws. I'll be doing some practice tests this week to ensure I nail it on the first go.

Yes, a trip to the DMV can be an extreme test of patience. If you are a AAA member, there’s a large office on Alemeda, across from a Starbucks, Denny’s, and Pavilions grocery store(an upscale version of Von’s); I don’t know if they can do everything for you there in the process of switching over, but I’d check with them first. It’s fairly close to the Viva Rancho place I mentioned, next to the Burbank Equestrian Center. At the BEC, you can go on group horseback rides over the Hollywood Hills and back, if that’s if any interest to you.

Thanks for the tip! I unfortunately am not a AAA member so they probably wouldn't be able to do much for me. And while I'm not currently into horseback riding, I don't have any specific aversion to it so perhaps I'll have to saddle up and go for a new experience!

Welcome to SoCal, my friend!

Thanks so much for the kind words! I'm definitely digging it so far!

Welcome to the party.....

Much obliged!

I went for a little hike to the wisdom tree on Thursday with my cousin which was very nice, albeit very short. I'm pretty charged up to hit the ridge on the other side of Burbank, and eventually make my way down to the San Bernardinos. My mind is ripe for a nice 7-10 mile hike for sure!

 

[Michedelic]

So....

I've mentioned this here and there over the past year or so, however in three weeks from yesterday I'll be driving out west in a 16 foot moving truck heading for CA.... Holy hell it's actually happening!

A bit of background- I've wanted to move west for about a decade but things had never quite materialized enough to make it happen. But recently I've been able to accomplish some short term financial goals and had a work opportunity at one of my jobs drop into my lap. These things, combined with some other personal endeavors I'd like to pursue, have inspired and allowed this move to finally come to fruition.

I have an apartment locked up in downtown Burbank with a guy who certainly seems to be normal and acceptable as a temporary housemate. The lease is month to month with 30 day notice which is fantastic as I'm looking to get into my own place within 6 months. This arrangement has a private bedroom and bathroom in a good looking complex, at quite a reasonable rent for the area- I'll take it.

Not being from the area (30 year NJ resident here), it became readily apparent that having your feet on the ground so to speak is extremely beneficial in finding ideal long term housing... not exactly a groundbreaking discovery but for some reason it was still surprising just how diluted the rental market is out there, and how much variation there is in areas/locales. Renting in the LA area seems pretty fast and deep, so to properly sift through potential long term listings I'd really prefer to be there. My only family out there is my cousin who has been in Burbank for about four years, so I do have a helpful resource close by... really close by actually- My apartment is a mere two miles from her house. Score!

I'll be loading up my storage unit which contains most of my 1 bedroom apartment into the moving truck (plus my bedroom now), strapping my Camry to a tow dolly, and put-putting 2,400 miles coast to coast. I have a couple options as far as routes:

View attachment 2951191

Since I'll be driving out the first week in April, I'm guessing (hoping?) weather won't be too much of a factor early on if I decide to take the North route. But even in April driving through CO could be a wildcard I'd imagine. If I take the southern route it appears to be more moderate weather-wise, plus I can sneak in some authentic BBQ along the way. I'm not stopping to smell the roses on the way, so taking the north route and potentially being impacted by weather just to drive through gorgeous CO/UT might be a bit more risk than I'm willing to endure. I'm leaning toward the southern route for utility's sake, but I'm certainly open to insight!

In any case, I'm unfortunately leaving my current band as a consequence of the move (you nay have seen my looking for bass player thread), but am looking forward to spreading my musical wings and getting involved in the local community. It will also be pretty cool to be so close to the Fender factory and have my next Sire order take considerably less time to arrive!

That being said, I'd love to hear any thoughts/tips/hacks/favorite spots/etc relative to the move!

-Hidden food gems along the way or in CA?
-Great local venues/spots to start networking for music purposes in Burbank?
-Favorite hidden hiking spots/trails in CA?
-Great experience with a moving truck company?
-Sweet local music shops/bass specific spots?

Thanks for reading!

So, how's the Mouse House and the Bunny treating ya? Give us an update...have you had fun at the 134/170/101 exchange yet?(yeah, I know, it's technically in NoHo). Did you go to Arroyo Seco Weekend? Have you been up to the La Canada/Flintridge/Tujunga area yet? Further up the 2? Any pleasant surprises?

 

[Derry Murbles]

So, how's the Mouse House and the Bunny treating ya? Give us an update...have you had fun at the 134/170/101 exchange yet?(yeah, I know, it's technically in NoHo). Did you go to Arroyo Seco Weekend? Have you been up to the La Canada/Flintridge/Tujunga area yet? Further up the 2? Any pleasant surprises?

Thanks for the follow up! I'm glad you commented because I've been slinking around here and there the last few weeks, knowing full well I hadn't updated this thread in in over two months, but meaning to sit down and type out a few words. Well, many words.

First and foremost- CA smog. Smog. CA. CA Smog.


.....Smog

Now, I have to admit up front that I really have no one to blame but myself for this whole experience. Long story slightly less long- Earlier in the year (winter) my car (04 Camry 4cyl) threw a check engine code P0420, which if you're unfamiliar with engine codes basically means there's something going on with the emissions relative to your catalytic converter. This could be because your catalytic converter (cat) is bad, or maybe the sensor in front of or behind the cat has gone bad (there are sensors in front of and behind the cat to measure the exhaust and ensure that the cat is doing its job of converting bad stuff to less bad stuff). Either way, my car threw the code and instead of addressing it properly, I allowed it to be cleared when I disconnected the battery to mess around with the automatic start in an unrelated troubleshoot. Disconnecting the battery resets the car's computer to some extent, and usually clears any trouble codes temporarily until the issue returns again.... First mistake.

Fast forward to two days before I go to the DMV to get my license done. I "fail" the smog test that I took for granted I'd pass, and was informed that I "failed" because my CAT monitor wasn't ready. Guy says to go drive around 40 minutes, sometimes it'll activate the monitor... wonderful! I oblige, return, but still no dice. Okay, time to do some homework. Also, second mistake for just assuming I was going to pass. I knew I BS'd my way into not having to stare at the check engine light earlier in the year, but for some reason I cavalierly expected to pass the smog test with flying colors, and just as smoothly knock out my license and registration in one visit two days later.

Brief sidebar if you're not familiar with CA smog tests and how they work, which I wasn't: To the best of my understanding the smog test entails hooking your car up to a computer to read what those little sensors before and after your cat(s) are picking up in the exhaust gasses to make sure everything is working efficiently to reduce emissions. If all checks out, you pass and go on your merry way. If you fail, well you stink and you need to get your car fixed. Or, if you "fail" like I did as a result of my CAT monitor not being ready, it means that your car's computer didn't actually even perform the test. The CAT monitor wasn't ready because the vehicle hasn't gone through it's initial "drive cycle" to prime and ready all of the little gizmos and sensors and monitors that keep tabs on your emissions and other parameters relating to your car's performance. If the monitors aren't ready, then the test can't be performed, hence not technically failing, but getting more of an "incomplete" as a result... a "fail."

Well, as it turns out, when the computer on a car with 160,000 miles on it is reset like mine was when I cleared the code, it resets that it's been through the drive cycle as well. Thus requiring you to complete it again before the car can read its emissions data and then actually fail the test anyway for the real issue that you avoided fixing in the winter. Here's an example of a generic and simple Drive cycle for you:

I don't own this image either.

It's basically a pattern of driving at specific speeds and/or RPM for specified periods of time, with other environmental factors that need to be right in order for the test to be logged. This drive cycle usually happens in the first few hundred miles or so on the odometer from that I understand since depending on the make and model, the sequence may not have to be exact, or other variations that allow it to happen naturally over time.

So that's CA smog in a nutshell, relative to my experience as it was unfolding.​

Back to two days before I go to the DMV. I "fail" my smog test as previously established, go to the DMV in two days, knock out my license and most of my registration in a total of 5ish hours. Under 2 for the license with appointment, three and change for not having an appointment for the registration. CA let's you file (and pay for, of course) your registration even if you haven't passed smog. They issue you a temporary registration while you square away whatever mess you have going on with the vehicle, then you go back with the passed result, they visually inspect and finish your reg, give you your plates, and off you go.

I'll spare you the grisly details of the "square away whatever mess you have going on with the vehicle", but the gist of it went something like this:

1) Go to (HIGHLY rated and reviewed) shop for diagnosis to see what's what: $160
2) Discover that one of the sensors (the one behind the cat) was recording numbers that were out of whack. I was advised the numbers are out of whack because the cat itself could be bad, or the sensor could be bad. Cheaper to do a sensor than a cat, so we shoot for the sensor. Job includes replacement of sensor, then drive cycle to get monitor to activate: $360
3) Now this is important- I was next advised that after the replacement of the sensor, that the cat monitor ran, but the car still failed. The technician was so specific that he had said it failed by "less than 1%." At this point, all signs point to the cat being bad. I asked for the smog test print out of the actual failed test just out of curiosity, and they came up with a very wishy-washy answer as to why they couldn't provide it. Instinctively, it felt kind of fishy but hey, what do I know? I'm just a mediocre bass player who just moved here from NJ.

Let's take stock for a moment, shall we? I was just told my cat monitor (that previously prevented the smog test from being completed) was active, and that the car failed the test by "less than 1%." I interpret this to mean that car's cat monitor is active, but the car failed ever so slightly. I thought this was a sound assessment of the situation.

4) After further discussion, the tech said that sometimes you can get the car to squeak by and pass a smog test with a few little tricks, but most of the time it won't work. There are conflicting anecdotes online for using fuel system cleaners, changing air filters, treating your gas otherwise with methanol or something, all of which theoretically could nudge you past that "less than 1%" by which my car failed.
5) I decide to try some of these little tricks over the next several weeks.
6) Return to the original smog facility where I "failed" the first test. Guess what? "Cat monitor not ready"

Pause. You can imagine my confusion when I'm being told that my cat monitor isn't ready, when just a few weeks prior the other shop told me they got it running and the car failed once.... by "less than 1%" no less!

7) I return to the shop to discuss, and learn that through a series of miscommunications apparently they had misadvised me. To compensate for the confusion (and multiple delays not mentioned above), they offer to replace the cat at a severely reduced rate, about $450 instead of the originally quoted $1,000. In addition, since my confidence in their operation was a bit compromised, they also throw in that if the new cat doesn't fix the smog issue and have the car passing, then I don't get charged for the cat at all. Sweet deal. We shake hands, I thank them profusely for the gesture.
8) A couple days later I get the car back, passing smog test and all.

And yes, that was sparing details.

I return to the DMV for my appointment to finish the registration, and get my tags in about an hour and a half start to finish.

..... CA smog


Moving onto more positive experiences

I've definitely gone through that 134/170/101 interchange a few times- generally unpleasant as expected. To be frank, I've been on the more favorable side of traffic far more often than not in my travels around here. Between taking the canyon roads off of the 101 to get to Malibu, taking the 134/210/15/10/57/71/60 into SBNF, etc, I've been pretty lucky. I admittedly haven't done much north and south on the 405, or the 5 very far except for a couple airport trips to LAX, but even then I was on the lighter side/direction of traffic except for once or twice. I've driven much more east west, and more east than west since I started volunteering with the PCTA. I've been out toward Idyllwild, and Phelan a handful of times for hiking/camping, and actually might go this weekend to hike San Jacinto.

I also haven't even been on the other side of the Verdugos, sad as that is. However, I did find a reeeaaallll serious east coast style pizza shop in Thousand Oaks. I got a slice one afternoon after volunteering in the Santa Monicas and it was incredible. Like, actual real pizza. I haven't ordered a whole fresh pie from there yet, but it's coming soon and I'll be sure to report a final verdict.

Also, I ended up buying a camera to get back into photography and start working on that as a career. I picked up a Nikon D810 with a couple lenses (50mm 1.8G, and an 18-35mm 3.5-4.5G) to get started as I didn't want to hemorrhage TOO much on the purchase. I'm used to an old film Canon AE-1 from '81 so the dSLR has a lot of.... buttons. But I love it and using it is becoming rather intuitive. I've taken some alright shots here and there, but nothing too spectacular. I'm in the marker for a tripod (among other accessories) to start working on some particular landscape/astrophotography projects I have in mind.

There has been some other cool stuff I've done but I'll toss that in another post since this one is getting quite lengthy.

OH! I did stop by the Dunable Guitars shop for a few and chatted with the owner in May. He was a cool dude- He let me tinker on of the of the basses he had hanging up and shot the breeze for a little while, so that was cool.

 

[Jeff Scott]

...I'm in the marker for a tripod (among other accessories) to start working on some particular landscape/astrophotography projects I have in mind...

Gitzo or Manfrotto, for anything good for reasonable money. I had the latter, still have two of the former, and I also have a couple of Ries tripods.

 

[SLO Surfer]

Ahh, you’ve gotten a good introduction to CA DMV! Gotta go listen to Les Claypool’s “DMV” tune now.

The smog test shop pulls your car onto a dynamometer

Interesting. After 30 years of driving, registering, and smogging cars in California, I have not once even been to a smog shop that has a dynamometer.