Who knew horses could parallel park?

Hello,

So our final, slightly delayed post. New York was our last stop and after a fairly turbulent flight we arrived at 4am our body clock time, 7am NY time.

Arrived in the Big Apple

After taking the air train and the subway into downtown Manhattan, we walked a few blocks to reach our hostel for the next few days, the YMCA. We checked in our luggage and found the nearest cafe! It then started to pour it down outside and we decided it would be nice to go and meet Barry and Felicity at the airport as they were coming to NY for the week too. Chris did a lot of working out of how to get to Newark airport and we made our way there.

Macy's = x1 happy Laura. Macy's + no money = hours of 'just looking' and x1 bored Chris

Later on we got our room key and found our extremely tiny, bunk bed, air-conditioning-that-sounds-like-it-is-about-to-take-off and 2 toilets/3 showers for 50 people room.

Laura's happy face

After an afternoon nap we went out to Byrant park where there was a ‘starbox’ with people queing to go and see who was inside, luckily we are not that sad and just waited on seats nearby to meet with Barry and Felicity. We all went to a bar as there was a storm brewing (excuse the pun) and we had some tea and beer. The storm was immense, nearly a match on Melbourne, but not quite.

NY at night

The following day, after a surprising lack of fighting for the showers, we caught the underground to The Bronx area and got off at the Yankees stadium. It was a great stadium. We bought a big foam finger each, blue for Chris, pink for me of course and Chris got a hat too!

Outside Yankee Stadium

The New York Yankees game was against Kansas city and had 9 innings. In the end it was a pretty tense game in the last innings, but unfortunately Yankees lost with the final score of home runs 7-4.

Lets get ready to rumble...

We both really enjoyed it and I bought a t-shirt with my favourite Yankees guy on the back (the one who scored the most home runs!). We then went out for tea to O’Neills, an Irish pub and had some yummy food and beer with live music where a stag do was having a good old sing and dance. We then settled into our lovely hostel for the night.

Its rude to point

We began the following day with brunch at Starbucks and then caught the underground to Brooklyn bridge/city hall. We walked along part of the Brooklyn bridge which was made out of wood and had fairly big gaps looking down onto the road below, but it was so hot so we decided to turn around once we reached half way.

Brooklyn Bridge

We walked through city hall park where there were lots of squirrels who we fed. We decided to do a lonley planet guide walking tour so began by following Broadway and went into St.Pauls chapel. It is very old and inside is really moving with many dedications to the September 11th victims as this was a refuge place for the 9/11 workers. It then started to rain and it seems with NY that when it rains it really pours so we called off the walking tour and went into Century 21, a huge discount department store, where surprisingly Chris was in his element! After nearly 3 hours shopping, no joke, we caught the metro back to Grand Central station and walked to the hostel picking up a ‘slice’ on the way (pizza).

Steamin'

The following day we began our walking tour from where we broke off from it yesterday. Our first stop was at the World Trade Centre visitors centre. We signed up for a tour and had a look around the museum with all memories of the WTC and the destruction of September 11th. Our tour was lead by a lady who was a reporter for CNBC news on the day of 9/11 and a man who was security guard inside one of the towers when the plane hit and guided as many people as he could to safety. His story was particularly moving. They took us outside and around the building site where the twin towers once were, told us their story of that day and what is planned for the area where the towers once stood.

Reflecting

We then continued our walking tour. We went into the Trininty church, walked down Wall street to see the NY stock exchange and went to bowling green where Chris had his picture taken with a charging bull ( you may remember seeing a similar one in our Shanghai pictures).

Found t'other one

Next stop was battery park where they had a monument that was originally based next to the WTC and survived their collapse, all be it a little worse for wear, so they erected in battery park as a memorial to all those lost on 9/11. From battery park we could see across the water to the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get tickets to go across and up the statue as they are sold out 3 months in advance, much to our disappointment. We were going to catch the Statton island ferry but it was so busy as it is a free service that we decided to give it a miss.

A choice between the Statue of Liberty and a bird on some wood, we chose the bird.

Our next stop was Union square, which is a small park. After relaxing in the sun, we walked down 5th avenue, bought some souvenirs and stopped to watch the filming of a capital one tv commercial with the guy out of King of Queens in – we were both very excited!

On set

We then met up with Barry and Felicity in Bryant park to wait for the sun to set and watch an open air screening of Monty Python and the holy grail.

I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.

It was an early start the next day as we had to check out of our YMCA hostel and catch 3 underground trains to get to New York Penn station. We had a bit of waiting around here as the platform number for the trains are only released 10 minutes before leaving so it is a massive squash and rush!

On our way to DC

AFter 3hours and 15minutes we reached Washington D.C. We boarded the underground at Union station to Farragut North station and found where James works.

Made it in time for tea with Mr P.

James is one of Chris’ friends from uni who was letting us stay with him for the time we were visiting. He took us to get some Mexican lunch which we ate in a park just behind the White House. We did the usual picture opportunities in front of the White House, before saying aurevoir to James as he had to go back to work. We then embarked on our touristing for the day. Forst stop was the front of the White House. It was very well protected with a sniper on top of the roof and lots of police. After walking quite a long way we reached an obalisque war memorial and then carried on to the Smithsonian museum where we had to walk through the National Mall (a grassy patch). Our first museum stop was at the American history museum. As soon as we got through the security checks we were approached by a lady for us to get involved with the opening and showing of the American flag, replicating the star spangled banner that was flown 100’s of years ago. We felt priveledged to br doing it as lots of people were watching and once it was opened out everyone began to sing the National Anthem and put their hands on their hearts.

What the?

After helping to fold the flag back up we saw the original star spangled banner and the history of the American presidents. Unfortunately, we were short on time so we moved on and walked to the Air and Space Museum.

COOOOOOOOOOOOOL

Chris was very excited! It was interesting to see the capsules that had been into space and especially seeing the Appollo 11 capsule. Chris was also very happy with his souvenir from the museum shop – space food (dry frozen food)!

...they never moved...

We met back up with James and caught the underground with him to Columbia Heights. AFter plonking our bags and having a beer we got back on the underground to Chinatown. Here we had yummy Thai food and a huge power tank full of beer. Unfortunatley Chris didn’t feel so good so he couldn’t enjoy it to his maximum potential! We then went to the cinema to watch Inception and then nipped across the road to a bar where we played shuffleboard before getting a taxi home for a hot nights sleep.

The following day our first stop was the Pentagon. It doesn’t look like that shape from the ground! It is very well protected by security so we could only go to certain places. We went to the memorial for the 9/11 victims. This was a very moving area; it had a bench with water running underneath it for each victim, the youngest being 3 years old.

In the memorial garden outside the Pentagon

We then caught the metro to Arlington cemetery. This is massive and contains the grave of John F Kennedy. We also went to the area of the unknown soldier where we watched the changing of the guard ceremony.

Changing of the guard

Next stop was President Lincoln’s memorial. This was very busy and actually a lot smaller than I imagined, but still very impressive.

Lovin' the Lincoln

We got an ice cream as it was so hot and made our way down the steps to the rectangular lake which looks over the big obalisque. We took a few pictures and Chris dipped his toe in. At the other end of the lake there was a huge memorial with all the different states and fountains. Next we walked up to the obalisque, people were filming a tv show here. Apparently you can go up the obalisque, but we didn’t know and the tickets were all sold out.

Toe swimming is the way forward

To get from the obalisque to the Capitol building we had to walk along the national mall. The Capitol building is beautiful and I swear every time I’ve seen it on tv I’ve thought it was the White House! We took a lot of pictures

Prettttty, prettttty, pretty good

It was then time to meet up with Jocelyn, my friend from my childhood who I hadn’t seen for about 12 years. It was great to see her.

Reunited at last

We met up with James too and then went back to the White House to have one last look at it.

Needs a paint job - Laura suggests pink

Chris and James then hung around to meet their friend Nikki from Univerisity. We all met up in a bar to have a beer and a good old catch up! After a while Jocelyn and Nikki left and myself, James and Chris decided to go to happy hour. We went to one bar called Madhatters that had live music where we stayed and had a couple of beers or five! We had a great night and I had a good old boogie!

Outside James' pad

Getting up the next day was not easy but it was time to say goodbye to James and to get the train back to New York Penn station. We checked in at a different hostel. The room was ok and better than our first hostel in New York, not that that’s hard! We headed out and caught the underground to Macy’s. I was so excited and celebrated when I stepped over the threshold! After a lot of looking around and no purchasing, we caught the underground to Bloomingdales, woohoo! Here I got a 10% off for voucher as I was foreign! I bought a little brown bag for my Mum and a big canvas bag for me, plus a gift card which I put $1 on as I just wanted the cool gift card! The lady also gave me some free paper brown bags as she could see how excited I was! We then went to an Australian steakhouse for some tea. After our food we went back to our hostel with our fingers crossed that our bags were still there.

The next day we woke up feeling sad as it was our last full day of travelling. Tomorrow was our flight. Our first stop for the day was a metro ride away to Central Park even though our hostel was on the cuff of the park we headed to a more popular area on the west side.

The Stealth Slug

We walked around and the first place we stumbled on was strawberry fields, a place where there is a mosaic dedication to John Lennon. We moved on and managed to get lost as we were trying to follow a Lonely Planet walk. We stumbled across the reservoir where there was a random fountain and runners were all going in one direction. We made our way back to the start after spending some time on some swings.

Sad to be going home, but nothing a good swing wouldn't fix

We then went in the other direction where we found the theatre, the belvedere castle and sat on a bench to have brunch infront of the Great lawn. We continued our walk and passed turtle pond. We went to explore an area where there were lots of tents. It turned out to be Korea day at Central Park. It was really good. There was a group playing all different types of drums and then some young children came on to do Taikwando.

Where's Laura?

We went out of Central Park, but not before oohing and ahhing at the beautiful horse and carts which would take you for a tour at a big price $50 for 20 minutes. Chris then got very excited as he spotted an Apple store, so of course we had to go in! We had a quick Starbucks stop and walked into Times Square. It was mentally busy but so cool with all the big flashing advertising tv screens. We went into the M&M shop and then to the Hard Rock cafe. We didn’t have any food here, but we did buy souvenirs.

Some good parking

We then caught the subway to Greenwich village and visited the block on the corner of Bedford and Grove Street. The building here was used in the Friends episodes. They were actually filming in the same location that day. We took lots of pictures and caught the metro to the United Nations.

I'll be there for you...

There wasn’t really that much to see and Chris thinks that it was under renovation. We then walked to the Rockefeller centre to go the observation deck to look over New York city. We went up to the first observation deck on floor 67, then to floor 69. From here we got a really clear view of the Empire State building, all of the other high rise buildings and on the other side, Central Park – such a vast space of greenery.

Top of the feller, looking out north

In the distance we could just see the Statue of Liberty. We sat down on a bench and watched the world go by. I had a few tears as I was upset about leaving. After a while we went up to the top observation deck on level 70. Here it was more open and we took lots of pictures.

...and then south

Chris also realised that there would have been a much easier way to take pictures of us both together – bit late since it was our last day! After a couple of hours, we decided we should go down and get some food. We wondered back into Times Square and checked out Planet Hollywood, TGIs and Hard Rock but decided they were too busy, so we went to a pizza place and got two slices each and took them to Bryant park. This was our perfect evening and we loved it. We then left after pretending no to speak English to a homeless man! Back at our hostel we stayed up and reflected on our travelling, wrote blogs and I sewed my English badge on my back pack.

Home time

Home time. We couldn’t believe it had arrived. We got up and packed our things, I had to sit on my bag to get it shut. After working on the hostel computers for a couple of hours we left at about 1pm to get the underground and airtrain to get to JFK airport.

Last bit of non-English sunshine (we were there for a while until I was forced to drag Laura into the darkness)

We got to the airport at about 3pm and checked out duty free (the first proper time as we haven’t been able to carry anything before). Our flight boarded early and as per usual I didn’t like the flight, but after a couple of bottles of wine (small ones) and tv I nodded off. We were running 30 minutes ahead of schedule, but at the London end we had to circle 3 times before we could land.

...and the last rays of sunshine in general

Flying over England was so wierd and we could see some of the iconic places.

Thankfully its not the start sequence to Eastenders

The big wheel

We got off the plane and stepped on English soil for first time in nearly 9 months.

Surprisingly empty London underground

Home sweet home.

Family

The End.

Face plants and a killer dog

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks staying with Laura’s Uncle David & Auntie Linda in Vancouver.

We drove up from Seattle to Vancouver and dropped off our faithful Troy,  3300 miles as smooth as you like. Picked up by David and Linda, and after a short drive pull into their drive way, knock on the front door, front door swings open and then BOOM; Anne (Laura’s mum) is in the doorway.

Bye Bye Troy

What a great suprise!! If only there had been a camera to catch our faces, priceless. Some tears and hugs later and then we settled back into a bit of home life.

Dinner with the Corbs

Not too much time to settle though. The next day we headed to their cabin by Whatcom lake in the USA. Back over the boarder we went.

Back over the boarder

Laura had been to ‘the lake’ before but it was my first time. We pitched up a tent right by the lake, and enjoyed BBQ’d breakfast, lunch and dinner, campfires and going out on the boat. Very easy to see why they’ve been going down there for 20 odd years! Bocci ball was just a bonus.

It's the one on the right

Cappy!...is stood right behind me

The Cappy!..no actually

Laura and the twins at a high school grad party

...and back over again...

Back in Canada and over the next week we visited different areas of Vancouver and British Columbia. In downtown Vancouver we saw the Olympic cauldron, the steam clock in Gastown, the big White Sails and the float planes taking off from the harbour below.

The Gastown clock

The Big White Sails

By the Olympic cauldron

On the Spanish Banks looking out to Vancouver skyline

That evening it was David and Anne’s birthday (they are twins) so we all celebrated with a few more family members, lots of alcohol & a Chinese takeaway. Best of all however was the ice cream birthday cake!

Getting harder with age

Killer Kala, she never really sleeps...just waits

Another highlight of the week was our visit to Whistler. The weather had stayed glorious so the views were perfect.

At the Inukshuk on Whistler

We got a cable car up Whistler, and after a quick trip to the summit got the new Peak2Peak cable car (which is really impressive, longest unsupported span) from Whistler to Blackcombe.

Chair lift down from the Whistler summit

A belly full of snow

Still pulling a smile

Some beers in the sunshine later and we jumped onto a chair lift down.

If only it was skiing season

 Halfway down we hear some shouting from a few chairs infront to look left. Walking down the hill below us was a black bear with two cubs. Laura was very excited, and they were pretty cute. Before reaching the bottom there was two more lone black bears prowling around. Bear adventures were not over yet however, on the drive home a brown bear decided to cross the road infront of us. Seems it was the day to go down to the woods..

Beautiful brown bears

Friday came around and Anne headed back to England.

At White Rock on Anne's last day

That weekend we again went to the lake. This time we got in a bit of wakeboarding, didn’t do too bad, apart from the odd face plant. Also discovered the addictive game of speed.

Big smiles

Riding the wake

That's as far as Laura got out of the water

BBQ by the lake

It was sometime on Monday that we got our brains in gear and realised our flight to NY was infact Thursday rather than Friday night. Oops!

Tuesday we got the ferry from Twassan to Sidney on Vancouver Island to visit the capital of BC, Victoria. Just spent a day here wandering around the harbourside city. On the return ferry we were lucky enough to see a pod of Killer Whales making their way past the ship.

A totem pole in Victoria

For the rest of our stay we explored more of Vancouver including Deep Cove & Lynn valley, got in a round of golf and many games of Yahtzee before it was time to move onto New York.

Wobbling on Lynn Valley suspension bridge

We were very sad to be leaving, easily one of the most enjoyable parts of our trip. Can’t thank David, Linda, Mark, Matt, Katie and not quite to the same extent Kala, enough for making us feel so welcome!

Sad farewell from the Corbs

Onto the Big Apple…

Hit in the face by an American flag

The next day in SF –
After a quick cable car ride that turned into a long one due to a chatty San Francinian (?no idea if that’s right) we got back on the road north.

Pull the other one

We spent a lot of the day on the drive through the walk of giants at Humboldt Redwoods National Park. This road takes you through the redwoods with the Eel river snaking alongside. Stopped for many picutures at, in and around the huge trees and made our way to the ‘giant tree’, which was indeed large. 

Can't see them for toffee

One big climb for Laura, one average climb for anyone else

Ultimate tree hugging

Back onto the freeway 101 our place for the night was at the town of Eureka. We got there lateish so shops were shut and not many people around but found a great sweet place and the waterfront was pleasant. 

The next day was our 6th year anniversary. Shortly after setting off we got distracted by a field of deer which had one huge stag but soon after that we were over the boarder into Oregon. 

Trevor 'The Pimp' Regonald

Drove on coastal road through Brookings, Gold Beach and Port Oxford. This stretch is called the Samuel H Boardman state scenic corridor. 

Joys of another new place

Stopped at various points; House Rock, Thomas creek bridge, Natural Bridges cove, Arch Rocks. All of which provided stunning views. 

Doing the Monroe

Then it was onto Bandon. Very windy but the fish and chips more than made up for it! Full up we carried on up to the Cape Arago highway until just south of Charleston where we made our way to Sunset Bay state park. Opened the car door and could hear the roaring of sea lions. Made our way to the view point but turns put they’ve made their home on a plate rock off the shore, from what we could see they were having a whale of a time. Then it was up through Coos Bay to Florence and our nice B&B that we’d treated ourselves to. Greated by the owner Marv and given the Autumn room. B&B’s are certainly a different experience to what we’ve been used to but not a bad one. 

An easy 10

Walked into Florence centre which was decked out in preparation for the July 4th celebrations the next day. To watch the sunset we picked up some champagne and headed to the expansive sand dunes that look out over the Pacific. 

Happy 6th to us!

Twas V V windy, which led to sand in glasses and thus drinking out of bottle, but still enjoyable and dare I say romantic (think Lauras statement was – over the howling wind – “but it’s ok because i’m with you”, aww). 

...and 6 was enough, I'm off (she caught me)

Anyhow, enough of that. So the next morning we were treated to a 5 course breakfast with all the other guests. The food was exactly what was required and the conversion interesting. Guess these communal breakfasts can go either way but we liked it. 

After breakfast we set out to find somewhere that rented duneboards. The first place we tried didn’t but we were tempted by the mini golf. Laura got possibly the best hole in one ever in the long and noble history of mini golf. 

Warming up to the masterstroke

 On a hole that was undergoing renervation she navigated the concrete floor, uncut wooden boundaries and a giant bear (there was no bear) to sink the putt. On our second attempt we found a duneboard and a sledge and hired them out for the day. Honeyman state park was recommended as the place to go and it did indeed provide some huge sand dunes surrounded by a forest and lake. 

Getting started...

We only had one go to try them out (fun going down but sadly no chairlifts up) then it was back into Florence for 4th July celebrations; pie/watermelon eating contest, duck race on the river which we think went wrong as they all just drifted off in no obvious race formation. Atmosphere was good though even if the American flags lining the road were unusually aggressive. After some lunch it was back to the sand dunes for more sandboarding. Stayed at the dunes for quite a while, sand everywhere (including the camera) by the end but we got the hang off it. Not much corner turning but lots of speed : D. 

...and after a lot of sand in face later...

...we got the hang of it!

Returned to Florence for the evening Independence Day celebrations. Finally found out what clam chowder is (creamy seafood soup), watched some live music by the harbour and then, once dark, the fireworks over the Siuslaw river. If not spectacular they were long and consistent with a more energetic ending. 

Chris dancing (yes I am stood still)

All danced out, time for fireworks over the river

The next day we left Florence and continued north. After about 11 miles were the sea lions cave. Apparently the worlds largest sea cave. Contained big bulls and smaller cows, also lots of guilimots with their red feet. 

At the sea lions cave

Doing a bit of caving

Random fact; a sea lion head is the same as a grizzly bears apart from one bone. From the cave you could see the Heceta lighthouse in the distance which was to be our next stop. 

Eureka had rubbed off on me

Walked up to what is meant to be the ‘most photographed light house in the USA/world’ (forget which). 

'The' lighthouse

Laura suddenly got really excited

Then it was up Cape Perpetua for more views of the coast. For lunch we stopped in the nice town of Newport before going onto the Otter Crest scenic loop to Depoe Bay. Then another scenic route; this time the Three Capes from Pacific city to Tilamook. 

At Devil's punchbowl

Stopped at Cape Mears with it’s octopus shaped tree, then it was through Garibaldi to Cannon Beach. A very tranquil seaside town. However our stop for the night was to be Seaside a little further north. Seaside can best be described as a scaled down Blackpool and worst as Blackpool. To be fair it wasn’t bad and we got an absolute bargain on a room. We walked around for a while, played some arcades and then watched the sunset on the massive beach, which apparently boasts the last point of the Lewis and Clark trail. 

At Blackpool, sorry, Seaside

Sunset at the seaside in Seaside

Next day we de decided we’d be keeping our car in Seattle and to head that that day. We finished off our drive up the Oregon coast at Astoria. Here we went up the giant column that gave fantastic views.

Astoria column

Randomly it was a thing to buy and then throw little wooden planes off the top of the column. Ours didn’t go too bad; a decent flight and then slowish spiral to the ground, Laura decended to rescue it. Shortly after her departure and miffed labrador was half dragged up the final few steps to the top, from its expression I don’t think the climb was worth it. 

View from the top

Left Astoria and crossed the bridge into Washington. For our drive up to Seattle we were accompanied by a huge snow capped mountain, think it was mount Olympus.

Heading north on the 101

Only stop on the way was at Westport. Never did find the town centre but spent a good while chilling/napping on some drift wood on beach. 

Drifting asleep

Our first day in Seattle and we headed into the center. Parking not so bad near space needle, kinda feared the worst from what we’d been told.

Doing the needle

Went up the Space Needle, which gave great views of mount Rainer to the south and Baker to the north, walled by smaller mountains, and the CBD/harbour inbetween. We’d also heard bad things about Seattles weather but we were greated by clear blue skies.

Seattle skyline and Mount Rainer

After the space needle we walked to and then along the harbour. Stopped at Miners Landing for lunch and Ye Old Curiosity shop for stuff (stuff turning out to be a 2ft extendable fork), also had for reason a mummified women from early 1900s. Further along the front we stopped for a while at some live music, and then ventured onto the adorable Pike Market.

Making another getaway.

 Watched some strange fish goings on and then Laura had her nails done (good nap for me : D). Did a little shopping the the retail part of town and then caught the Monorail back to the needle. 

Drove out of the city to Kerry park for the Fraiser view of the Seattle skyline, and then briefly to the Arboretum. 

The 'Fraiser' view from Kerry Park

Next day up and into Seattle. Monorail to center and finally it was time for a haircut. After the trim went to find the original Starbucks. Don’t even drink much coffee but still tempted by the merchandise and of course a quick coffee.

Where it all started

Spent some more time exploring the area and then headed off to Arki beach. Nice enough beach but as it’s the only one around was very busy. Then went on the hunt for a post office to send yet another box home. After much searching found one in a suburb and packed our box. Almost didn’t get sent though as the seemingly slightly stupid server said the computer wouldn’t let him do it without a sent from address in the states due to a fault in the software. He spent ages going on about it as though it was our fault until we finally got the attention of another guy who sorted it in a minute. 

Anyhow… the West Coast of the USA is done sooooo… 

Time to head over to Canada…

At the corner of John and Mason

Our journey after the Grand Canyon began with a 500 mile drive back to LA. Chris drove the entire way & we only stopped once in the middle of the desert to get petrol.

My cactus

Off into the distance

Once in LA we stayed in a motel in Pasadena. Our aim was not to re-visit LA, but simply to get a good nights sleep before embarking on the long journey to San Francisco.

Our journey to SF was a scenic one. Our first stop after a couple of hours was at Santa Barbara, a lovely town on one long street which leads to the sea. We walked along the pier & watched lots of fisherman with their buckets full of fish.

We continued driving & made our way up north on the California coast line stopping at numerous viewing points along the way. We drove to Cambria, a small town, & then on another 11miles to Hearst castle. Unfortunately we couldn’t go in the castle as it was up a big hill and involved long tours which we didn’t have time for. We did, however, have lunch in the visitors centre looking over the vast grounds of the castle. Just down the road we stopped again at an elephant seal colony viewing point. At first we spotted one and thought we were lucky, but just down the beach were lots of them. They were huge and were all sunbathing. Apparently the males come to this same beach every year to shed their winter fur & that is what we were witnessing. There were also some little squirrels all around which were cute & we fed one an apple core.

Snoring in the sun

Sorry Meggy, the squirrel ate your apple core

Driving further up the coast it was cloudy but luckily it cleared just in time for us reaching the Big Sur area of the coastline which is supposed to boast the best views on the Californian coast line. Driving around this area took forever as we stopped so often to take pictures.

Happy times on a cliff edge

A fantastic view

Yet another beautiful view, Chris of course!

Our next stop was north of the Big Sur at the Bixby bridge which apparently is very famous for numerous car commercials, so naturally we had to take a picture in front of it!

The Bixby bridge

We then drove to Carmel where we embarked on the 17-mile drive, famous for the location of golf tournaments at pebble beach. Chris was very excited about this. We parked up and went to the course where we could stand on the 18th hole where the American open had just concluded a few days before.

Excitement at the 18th hole

We were running out of time to reach San Francisco so we had to go straight up to the city crossing the Bay bridge without paying the toll by accident & arriving at our hotel 5 minutes before reception shut!

We were up bright & early the next day to have French toast & waffles at Pats cafe. Our hotel was on Mason street so the novelty of taking pictures of Chris infront of street signs did not wear thin, in fact it got more exciting when Mason street crossed with John street!

Mr.Mason with his beloved sign named after him

Post-breakfast at the cable car turn table

We walked to fishermans wharf not far from our hotel.

Posing at the wheel

From here we could see Alcatraz in the distance. We tried to get ferry tickets across but unfortunately they were sold out 6 days in advance so we had no chance.

The distant Alcatraz

At the wharf we walked along the long road where lots of piers led off. We briefly stopped at pier 39 where a lot was happening with numerous restaurants & shops. Once we reached the end of fishermans wharf we turned inland to visit downtown SF. We made our way through the financial district to union square where we chilled & listened to live music. Our next move was a steep climb up nob hill which when at the top gives fantastic views of the city & the famous cable cars that transport people all over the city.

San Fancisco from nob hill

We walked over to Grace cathedral, apparently where Monica off Friends got married in real life. After absorbing the peacefulness of the cathedral came the mammoth task of walking back down nob hill which is almost harder than walking up it! On our way down we stopped off at the cable car museum which was actually very interesting and all in working order, running the cable cars that are on the street today.

We walked out to aquatic park where there is a beach, possibly man-made. Still it was nice to sit on for a while before walking to Fort Mason. Another Chris pleasing moment and posing in front of the sign!

Sunning by the sea

A joyous occasion

The following day we got up and went straight to the Golden Gate Bridge viewing point. It was a good job we went early as by the time we came back from our walk on the bridge is was unbearably busy. The bridge is very picturesque, but after seeing many pictures of it over the years I was still shocked to see it painted in the colour international orange. We didn’t walk the entire length of the bridge as it was surprisingly very long, but we got a good feel for it an many many pictures.

The beautiful Golden Gate bridge

A light stroll across the bridge

It was then time to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge to go to the Napa Valley, an area famous for it’s wineries. Our first winery was at the north end of the district called Beringer vineyards. Here it was very posh & we did feel a tad out of place especially when the stuck up receptionist asked us what type of wine we liked & we proceeded to tell him white & red when he was getting at something a little more detailed! We quickly moved on & went to the highly recommended & extremely popular V.Sattui winery. This was much more our cup of tea. We dis some wine tasting & then bought some cheese & other deli foods to have a picnic in the winery gardens. We loved it & did not want to leave. But, unfortunately sight seeing calls and we made our way back to SF.

Enjoying a yummy picnic in the winery gardens

Chris basking in the sunshine

Back in SF we visited Lombard street – the crookedest street in the world, & then we drove down it. It’s a beautiful street actually with so many flowers surrounding it.

The bottom of the crookidest street in the world

Our next stop was the at & t park where the SF giants (baseball) play. After driving through the rest of downtown we headed back to our hotel & went to an Internet cafe.

To be continued……

It’s just like looking over the Edge…

After Las Vegas we embarked on the 5 hour drive to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. This was one long stretch of road through the desert, so we had to make sure our petrol was topped up!

On our way we stopped off at the Hoover dam. It is an impressive sight at 726 feet high and it stretches across the Nevada/Arizona border. Lake Mead is lovely and blue & calm compared to the base of the dam where the water comes rushing out. It was so hot, around 40C (that is about 110F), same as Vegas, and very dry.

A stop off at Lake Mead

The Hoover dam

Looking over the edge

We arrived at the Mather campground in the Grand Canyon national park on the south rim at about 7pm and had about an hour to get our tent up & a campfire going before sunset. Our tent progressively made it up quite easily & only took about 20 minutes.

Flat as a pancake

Problem, will it stay up?

It's up but bets on how long until a collapse

Ta da, sleeping bags in and we are good to go

We went to the little store & bought all our various types of wood to build a good fire (not meant to collect your own) and we bought the ingredients to make Arizonas famous campfire treats – honey biscuits, chocolate & toasted marshmallows with a biscuit on top, yum! Our fire got going pretty easily and we toasted the marshmallows & ourselves on the fire whilst playing card games with the Vegas cards; much cheaper way of doing it! The temperature dramatically dropped in the night at the Grand Canyon, especially compared to Vegas which didn’t get lower than 30C. The late night 5 minute walk to the toilets was not fun!

The following day Chris was up bright and early at 5:30am to drive out of the national park to go to a bar in Tusayan to watch the world cup (England Vs Germany). I decided to stay for extra sleep. They lost so he was a little devastated for the rest of the day. Once Chris got back we drove to the Yavapui viewing point. The first sight of the Grand Canyon just blows you away, it is so……….grand! (but according to Laura just like looking over the edge at Alderley…) It is so vast with many rock layers, formations and colours.

It's just like looking over Alderley Edge

We went into the visitors centre which had a section on the geology of the canyon. The base layers are the oldest at millions of years old with the Colorado river now flowing through the them. It is 277 miles long and averages 10 miles wide. We had lovely clear weather giving great visibility over the canyon. Went for a wonder around and took loads of pictures. There isn’t a great amount of fencing around the edge and a lot of people risk it for a biscuit just to get THE picture.

Chris slightly risking it for a biscuit

A guy asked us if we wanted him to take our picture & it made us laugh, it went like this:
“Y’all want me to take your picture” in a Texas accent.
“Say Harley Davidson!”
Very funny!!!(especially tickled Laura)

NOT Y'all want me to take your picture mans picture as that was pretty rubbish

It was quite crowded here so after lunch we drove about 20 miles to get to a much quieter viewing point with only a couple of people. In fact the view was far better displaying a clearer view of the Colarado river.

Deep thought about the actual grandness of the Grand Canyon

The Colorado river

Back around the national park we said hey to a wild deer (apparently they have wild bears and cats here – not nice when you’re camping!) and we stocked up on our campfire supplies.

What do you call a deer with no eyes? No idea!! What do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs? Still no idea!!! Hehehe

Our forest home

After some food we went back to our favourite viewing point to watch the sunset. It was stunning with the rays shining down into the canyon and Chris took too many pictures.

Life on the edge

Sun setting after another day to add to the millions of years old Grand Canyon

We went back to our campsite, played cards & had some Grand Canyon beers before tucking up in our tent for the night.

We were up early the next day to demolish our tent and then drove back to the Yovopai view point to say bye to the canyon.

One final smile with the sign

We then started on the 9 hour drive back to LA.

Keep reading as we have posted the Las Vegas blog below too.