LOS OLIVOS, CALIF. — Ever since Michael Jackson died, Al Williams' family had begged him to take them to Neverland Ranch. And each day, Williams, 42, a roofer from San Bernardino, said no, that there were too many people crowded outside Neverland's gates.
On Thursday night, he finally gave in.
Williams, his wife, Josie, and their two children woke up at 4 a.m. Friday and piled into their burgundy Scion for the roughly three-hour drive to Jackson's fabled Santa Barbara County hideaway.
When they arrived at the two-lane, winding Figueroa Mountain Road in the hills of Los Olivos, they passed news trucks with huge satellite dishes parked on both sides of the street and vendors selling commemorative T-shirts and bottled water, and joined throngs of fans who wanted to pay tribute to the late pop star.
The Williams family took a picture in front of Neverland's black gates and Josie Williams, 40, a child-care worker, said, "Just knowing that there's where he was living, it was exciting to be there."
Since Jackson's death June 25 in Los Angeles, dozens of journalists and hundreds of fans have traveled to his 2,600-acre estate.
At Corner House Coffee in Los Olivos, clerks kept a list of countries journalists had come from -- including Belgium, Germany, Poland and Venezuela -- to poach their wireless Internet and eat their sandwiches.
While CNN's Larry King interviewed Jackson's older brother Jermaine on the ranch grounds Thursday, fans left flowers and wrote messages such as "Michael, You gave us Magic, Love, Dreams!!! I'll love you eternally" on large whiteboards.
Some pitched tents and sat on fold-out chairs watching the action, while others posted signs that said "Your Mexican fans will never forget you," "Gone too soon" and "Spain loves you."
"We brush our teeth right here," said Belen Morales of Lincoln Heights, who was standing on a slope of grass near the ranch Friday.
Belen, 14, her older brother and a friend drove to the ranch in a 1988 pickup truck and arrived at 2 a.m. Wednesday.
They said they did not believe media reports that there would be no public viewing or burial at the ranch.
"We're still thinking that they're going to bring him here," she said.
(A spokesman for the ranch said Neverland would close its gates to the media Friday evening and conduct no events until after Tuesday's memorial service.)
