I don’t even know where to begin on writing this entry. I have a mixture of feelings from this trip. Some sad, some good and some feeling of accomplishment. I was lucky enough to have my baby girl join me on this trip. I don’t think it would have been the same without her, I’m glad I got to share a little bit of my UE life with her. She’s my Bonnie and I’m her Clyde on this journey.

On Sunday morning we set off to Cali, down I-15 passing some of my longtime UE destinations as we made our way through the Mojave Desert. What awaited us was a busy agenda planned out by my longtime friend Big Dave. Buss and Alek would be joining us for the day with Shockwave and Earthworm later on that night. When we arrived to the hotel, I quickly realized I forgot my precious Nikon DSLR never fear, Big Dave was there. He Loaned me his Rebel XT DSLR and I had a good 2 days worth of shooting on a Canon DSLR. It was a big change from the Nikon I was so used to. So, all of my shots didn’t come out the way I really wanted but, for the most part I was happy with em. I was telling my baby that it felt like the Canon was the girl I was cheating on my Nikon with.  You know your girlfriend well and what she can and cannot do, and well the new girl is a whole new experience that you have to get to know. I know what your thinking, weird analogy right ?

First on the list was a visit to our longtime friend MCAS ElToro  or better known as Marine Core Air Station El Toro to be exact. You never know what your going to get at Eltoro, with constant changes going on there due to Orange County’s “Great Park” project. We have had days where we seen so many things and there have been days where it was nothing but complete failure. We realized quickly that there had been some new fencing put in place that prohibited us from going to where we really wanted to go.  We moved on back to a hangar I had never been into before, and it is always a trip in time to see all of the squadron logos everywhere and feel like your walking in their shoes.

What I didn’t know was in the next hour it would be my last & final trek around the base. Next we moved onto the double hangars. I had been in them before previously, but was rushed so I didn’t get to take as much time as I wanted. This time, I made sure to see it all. I now have the memories from ElToro I was hoping for.  I made sure to see the hangars from top to bottom including the roof. My SoCal UE group had planned a campout once @ ElToro that never happened. Being on the roof gave me hop that we could possibly still do it. I continued to walk around looking for things I missed before and snapping pics here and there and reliving memories of my past trips there.

We finished up, and noticed through the small hangar door two IPD cars were awaiting us. Damn. Well BD had parked in a easy to see spot earlier(as shown in pic) that was easily noticeable just incase this were to actually happen. After a conversation with the officers and a records check, and them understanding we didn’t see any trespassing signs and we weren’t vandals or scrappers they escorted us off the base. I wouldn’t doubt it my name now made it to some list they have.  The previous trips were fun and my memories and pictures will live on from the base that once was.  Goodbye ElToro.

(keep out filler)

After ElToro, we were bouncing from site to site looking for another diamond in the ruff. Without much luck happening and several failed attempts at various sites that should have been a green light we were down on our luck. Sites had been more secure, Sites had been tore down. Hell Alek even ran into Dog security. Thanks to the worm, we did have one last chance to score our WIN for the day. One place that is always a winner. We also made a quick stop to the Walt Disney Concert Theater. Last time I was in LA I had wanted to shoot the building due to its curvy architecture.

We had some time to kill until later that night and thanks to a member in our group, we had got drive-in access to the LA River. With nearby vagrants watching us, we had to just get some snapshots in and take off. More than likely they were forming a plan to overtake us and grab everything we had. Thousands in camera gear and a nice lifted UAV (Urban Assault Vehicle). Thankfully, we got some shots and didn’t get robbed.

We made a quick stop to grab Shockwave, and we were on our way to meet up with the Worm. After touring the Worms warehouse full of art, we loaded up and make our way to the bank.By this point, it was already pretty late and I was tired, but had to keep pushing until we rooftopped the bank. We also were able to get a nice photo op with the Worm and his girl in an actual dentists office. We didnt leave until about 2:30am. It really made me realize how awesome my girl is for her willingness to do everything we did that day, she really deserves the title of  “Bonnie” for it.

After all of that, Day 1 was over. It was time to rest up and enjoy tomorrow.