The U S of A
Howdy folks! Well has been quite a while huh? Everyone has wifi here so hard to find internet places for those poor souls that dont carry around a laptop...
Well started in San Fran - California is jolly chilly - even in summer! Brrrr! We met up wtih Will/Bill - guy from the Central America tour who lived in San Fran and was there visiting his folks while we were there. Was great - he gave us a tour round the Bay - across teh Golden Gate and over a couple of other bridges, went to Berkley and a few other places - incl a few select chocolate shops (fellow choc lover!) along the way.
That night mum and I went to Alcatraz - it was great to see 'the Rock' - was a really good tour - the audio guide was like a whole series of stories and had the prision guards talking etc...
We got an upgrade on our hire car so driving around in a Pruis - one of those hybrid cars - dont need to use a key for anything - bit bizarre but really good on petrol!
We made our way down the coast road - very pretty, went to Pebble Beach (meant to be very famous), we went to the Monterey aquarium (meant to be in one of the best) and it was really good - had the most fantastic jellyfish exhibits! We stayed in los Banos, then made our way to Yosemite... yosemite was so beautiful - it was an absolutely huge park - with loads of pine trees then amazing rocks everywhere too. Did a few little walks to Sentinal Dome, Taft Point, mirror lake etc (the ranger talked me out of doing half dome by myself). We had 2 nights there at this little B&B - very quaint. Then on our way to Death Valley we went along Toulimine Meadows... Death Valley was very cool - amazing colours in the sand - and we saw a road runner!! Temperature went up to 122 degrees F. Been around 110 most of the time - so have limited wanderings outside of the a/c.
Then Las Vegas - had brilliant scenery on the drive there - the Sierra-Nevada Mtn Range, and we stopped at Mammoth for the best hamburger I have ever had ('well gee, it is cos the beef is ground fresh every day maam') and the most delicious choc milkshake as well! Las Vegas was everything Iimagined - all the bright lights and tackiness - was great to see! Had fun checking out the different casinos and watching the water fountain at the Bellagio. We stayed at Excalibar so everythign was medieval themed - and we got an upgrade to deluxe room that was meant to be $870/night (yeah right! - who pays full price in vegas with all the offers flying about?!)
Anyway right now near the Grand Canyon and just about to go and check it out... - very exciting! Doing a helicopter flight tomorrow.
Hope everyone doing well...
Seeya