One of the best aspects of doing astropysics is the fact that it means a lot of free travel to telescopes all over the world. During August 2001 I was in California (visiting Big Bear Lake) for a month and took the oppurtunity to visit Los Angeles, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. There were a lot of strange things about LA, but two stick in mind best.
Firstly I go half way round the world to find a rare car, which was built just down the road from where I was born. DeLorean originally desired to have his car built in the United States, but financial options made Puerto Rico a possibility. The Republic of Ireland was also interested inhousing the DMC factory. He was just about to make a deal with Puerto Rico when Northern Ireland rushed in with a better offer. The DMC assembly plant would be located in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. 6539 DeLoreans were produced in 1981, 1126 in 1982, and 918 in 1983 before John DeLorean was arrested for drug trafficking, of which he was later acquited. But not before the company was declared bankrupt. It is still the most recognisable, yet one of the most rare cars in the world. More details can be found at this website
Secondly is this strange town close to Las Vegas, where they seem to use all the useless letters of the alphabet to make a town I think I'll call "Swizz-six". Let me know if I'm pronouncing this wrong.
