Wish you were here
Margot and Steve in 'murica
Jet lag? Not an issue zzzzzz
Sep 25, 2017,
We have arrived. LA is pretty much as expected from Grand Theft Auto, a bit less gratuitous violence so far. Surprised at the number of homeless people and crazies on the street. We have done lots of wandering today trying to take it all in. Decided to have a nap this arvo and try catch up on some sleep. I advised Steve there would be no need to set an alarm as I never sleep during the day…woke up 6 hours later. We have just had dinner and a beer and finishing off the evening with a Budweiser on our balcony overlooking the Santa Monica Pier.
Gridiron? Wtf…just as confusing as AFL.
Sep 26, 2017
Spent the day sight seeing. Santa Monica Pier, Bubba Gump’s and downtown.
The day started with fire and police sirens. A medical emergency across the road. Three fire engines and about four police. We could see the paramedics doing CPR on someone… no big deal apparently everyone just went on with their day, including us.
Thoughts for the day
The amount of homeless people is shocking, even by Kalgoorlie standards. Where are they all from, what happened to them, and how are they all so clean and well fed?
The amount of obesity is very disappointing. We are the fattest people we’ve seen.
Stuff is really expensive, especially when you add tax and tips.
The ads are really different and intriguing …lots of health ads.
We really need to stop daytime drinking!
Last day in LA
Sep 28, 2017
Today like so many hopefuls before us we took the bus to Hollywood.
It was surprisingly cheap and tacky, The walk of fame on Hollywood Boulevard is pretty overrated.
There was allegedly a shooting while we were there, one of the streets was blocked off, with cops everywhere…dunno it might have been a movie?
We went for the ultimate tourist experience and took the “Homes of the stars” tour. It came complete with aging actor/writer who knew some people. (Debbie Reynolds once asked him where he thought she should plant a tree, when he was conducting a tour).
We say Beyoncé and JZ’s new crib, Katy Perry’s home and The Bieber’s ( neighbours hate him because he is a party animal) and lots more.
The views in the Hollywood Hills were amazing. Looking out over the San Fernando Valley and the Hollywood sign.
Beverley Hills is pretty flash, lots of very xxxx real estate.
Now we’re in New York
Sep 29, 2017
What an amazing city!
Central Park in fall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art , Macy’s Department Store, The subway.
I tried a pretzel from a street vendor, Steve braved a hot dog.
Up to 17753 steps so far today and will get some more soon when we go out to find pizza and beer.
Thoughts:
New Yorkers seem pretty friendly and laid back, not what I expected.
The food is incredible.
Steve would not be my first choice for a shopping companion,but he is very good at navigating around the city…left to my own devices I could be lost in the subway system for days.
Wow, The Met was fabulous, I could easily spend another day there..
20426 steps for the day! Yeah boi!
This is James Stuart (my Dad), I only noticed it because of the smooch pooch.
Plumb tuckered out.
Sep 29, 2017
I'm watching a TV show about alien conspiracy’s while Stavros has a bit of a kip….the old boy is a bit knackered. Today we did the Museum of Natural History, which was great, especially the dinosaur exhibits. NYC was a bit chilly this morning, apparently this is the start of the cold weather and more typical for this time of year.
We spent some time in Central Park again, which is beautiful and very entertaining.
Took the subway for the second time, all bored and casual like the locals, because we know what to do now, there was a brief bout of hysteria when we thought we were on the wrong train (I didn’t think we were on the wrong one because I have no idea where anything is, I just follow along blindly) but we managed to get a grip, dried our tears and boarded the one we needed. Went to Manhattan Mall for a while. I still haven’t bought much, Steve on the other hand is pretty well single handily supporting the US economy.
I’m surprised at how expensive clothing is.
After shopping we hung out in a bar for a few brews and a snack.
Only around 15 000 steps so far today, if Sleeping Beauty wakes up and feels like venturing out again we will try and hit the 20k again. We need to burn off all the calories.
I
Top of the Rock
Oct 1, 2017
Last day in NYC and no thank you I don’t want to hire a bike,take a carriage ride through Central Park or go on a bus tour, but thank you for asking 7658 times street vendors.
Today we climbed to the top of the Rock (Rockefeller Tower, when I say climb , bit of an exaggeration we got in a lift). Amazing, slightly terrifying views , well worth it.
We went to Times Square and walked along Broadway.
Out on the street a lovely Buddhist monk stopped us and wished us peace and then gave us both a bracelet, he gave Steve a notebook and asked him to write down his name, and then fleeced us of $10 or let us donate to peace and love, depending how you look at things.
We stumbled on some awesome markets, about 10 city blocks closed off to traffic. Loads of interesting stuff and best of all the sellers just let you take your time and look, no pushing you to buy.
Went to another city mall, lots of high end stores, this dude and his missus guarding the door.
Somewhere in our rambling we passed a man in a wheel chair walking two little dogs, while his cat (who was wearing a puffer jacket) sat in his lap looking bored. No one except us looked twice..
Just been for drinks at a bar. The barman told us ” oh I really want to go there but I’m scared of shocks”. We were like “What? The power’s fine” No sharks! Ohhhhhhhh
The Big Easy
Oct 2, 2017
Arrived today about 5pm.
New Orleans is easily the best so far!
The people are lovely and the accents are gorgeous, from the waitresses who keep checking
” Can I get y’all anything” to the guy telling a story on the street that finished with “Lordy,Lordy, Lordy!”…love it.!
I tried crawfish, jambalaya and gumbo for dinner, Steve had blackened red fish, all delicious
Looking forward to our foodies tour in the French Quarter tomorrow.
The hotel is awesome too, half the price of the NYC room, but twice the size and really nice, with a great lounge bar.
Quick update from the Big Easy
Oct 3, 2017
Didn’t get time to update yesterday, l bet my audience of 3 were devo! Loving this place, we met lots of people on our foody tour yesterday, it was really nice talking to everyday Americans. The tour was awesome. The local accents are just beautiful The bar Steve is holding up here is the oldest standing bar in the USA.
The rain was torrential yesterday, but everyone just carries on, most of the shops have plastic bags available to put your wet umbrella in.
Going to lunch with Hugh in a minute and a wander through the french quarter to check out some voodoo and art. When we were getting coffee this morning the waiter was amazed because he thought Steve sounds just like Hugh Jackman. He was calling over other staff, “Y’all come listen to this”. LOL
YAY! Real tea!
Oct 4, 2017
Noice! Got Liptons tea at the airport waiting to fly out to Denver, Colorado. Ordered a cheese omelette for breakfast and could have fed a family.
NOLA New Orleans Louisiana was brilliant, a really laid back mix of cultures Lovely people, great climate, street drinking not only permitted, they encourage it by offering you plastc cups so you can take your drink with you. that’s the rule, drink whatever you like as long as you use a plastic cup.
Denver, Colorado.
Oct 6, 2017
We arrived in Denver still in New Orleans mode….big mistake. This is the biggest, fastest and most confusing airport I have ever seen!
We had to walk a half marathon in the terminal and then catch a train to the bag collection, then get a shuttle bus to the hire car area. Bloody hell Jacko!
The driving was a bit hairy at first (I’m sure those finger marks will come out of the dash), but Steve did extremely well.
Yesterday we drove from Denver to Glenwood Springs.
Easily the most amazing scenery either of us have ever seen. Will post some pics when we get to our next stop as the internet is dodgy here.
Go West
Oct 6, 2017
We left Denver on Thursday and headed West. OMG it really was amazing, the scenery is unbelievable.
A gold mine on the side of the road. Steve is hoping this means he can book this trip as a work one!
Creek at Silverthorne. people were fly fishing. There’s a trout in the pic.
Lake Dillon
Copper Mountain ski resort.
Moab, Utah – Arches National Park
Oct 8, 2017
Arrived yesterday. No check in here until 4pm so we went to the National Park, it took about 20min to get in, there were two lines of cars banked up. Entry is $25 per vehicle (Pronounced with the “h” here).
Ghost town of Cisco
Colorado RIver
Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. A few westerns filmed around here,
Today we did the big trek 4.8km to Delicate Arch, gaining 150m. It was hard going but well worth it. The USA doesn’t go over the top with safety precautions like we do, so no safety rails and no restriction on who does it. There were all body types, fitness levels and ages. Everyone was very friendly, probably for fear of having a heart attack and needing to be carried down… well that was my reason. I ate my own body weight in lollies just trying to keep going.
When you pass people here someone has to go on the outside and risk falling to their death. Several times I feigned intense interest in the rock face to avoid eye contact.
Then we ruined it all with lunch!
Pulled pork burger and baked potato and roasted beet and goat cheese salad with chicken washed down with a pint each of the local brews.
Monument Valley, Arizona
Oct 10, 2017
Looks like the set of a western movie. This area is owned and run by the Navajo Nation, so you have to pay entry and it is alcohol free, but you can byo for a discreet drink on your balcony taking in the view. VERY touristy. Lots of mass produced souvenirs, lots of old car bodies outside the residences. With that and the red dirt it could be the ‘goorl in some ways.
Coincidentally, the view from our room is the one I chose for the blog.
Daytime temp was about 14 and got down to 0 overnight.
Heading to the Grand Canyon today 287kms.
Grand Canyon, Arizona
Oct 11, 2017
We got a bit hysterical trying to take a selfie, people kept offering to help us, but we got too much amusement from the near misses. This is one of our first attempts.
We got there in the end!
We got here just after midday, it was ridiculously busy. We had to park miles away and walk to the hotel. The lobby is done up like an old hunting lodge, lots of dark wood and dead animal heads. Outside there are signs everywhere warning you not to feed or approach the wildlife. (Squirrels, elk, deer and coyotes). This little cutie didn’t seem too vicious, although one of the warnings was that they may carry bubonic plague, rabies and other nasties.
The GC is huge. I was considering doing the trek to the bottom until l saw it. You can also go on a mule trek to the bottom of the canyon, but Stavros voted a firm no to that suggestion.
Once again, no safety fences or signage, you can literally stand on the edge of the canyon.
By evening we were a bit disgruntled having seen no rabid wildlife, except the healthy looking squirrel, we were considering a strongly worded complaint to the management, but then on the way back from dinner elk everywhere grazing on the lawns!
Tomorrow (Wednesday) we have an hour or so drive to Flagstaff and a trip to Walmart planned, fingers crossed the crazies are out.
Flagstaff and Sedona, Arizona.
Oct 14, 2017
We had two days in Flagstaff, which is a really quirky University town. The hotel we stayed at was awesome, they have a free cocktail evening every night, three drinks each and a meal. Pets are allowed in most places here so people had their dogs with them in the hotel, very cool! Today we drove about 50kms west to Sedona. The drive is stunning through forest and canyons. We stopped heaps it was so scenic. At the top of Oak Creek Canyon there was an Indian art market with beautiful hand made jewellery, I finally got some turquoise at a reasonable ptice. We loved Sedona, which is full of gemstone and fossil jewellery, lots of art and very laid back restaurants. Early start tomorrow to dive 180kms to Phoenix and then fly to Los Vegas, which is about an hours flight.
Walnut Creek Canyon, Pueblo Indian dwellings from 1200 AD
Pancake bites, nom ,nom,nom.
Oak Creek
Slide Rock Park
Can’t stop eating!!!
Vegas baby
Big first day in Las Vegas We left our hotel room after breakfast in bed and a lie about 8hrs ago for a quick look around, still going strong. We’ve checked out the strip, done some shopping, had lots of drinks, had some luck at the roulette wheel (Steve) and recklessly wasted some money (me). All in all a great first day! Pretty sure I can win the money back …
San Francisco
We arrived here yesterday (Tuesday) after a bit of a delay at the airport. Lots of flights to California were delayed due to the smoke haze from the fires.
We checked out Fisherman’s Wharf., tried Clam Chowder, the local delicacy (Well I did and it was very good!)
Our story
Wednesday we took the ferry to Alcatraz which was really interesting, but a bit bleak to think of all those men incarcerated in 5 × 9 foot cells.
Surprised me to hear that the guards lived on the island too with their wives and kids only metres away from the worst criminals in the USA, the island is only 1.2miles from SF, so the inmates could see what they were missing out on every day.
Our story
This arvo we took an open double decker bus tour which was awesome, but bloody freezing. we had to go and sit downstairs when we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge for fear of frostbite. The architecture was stunning and the super steep streets are amazing.
We went through an area called The Tenderloin, one of the roughest neighbourhoods. Will Smith made a movie there with his son about being homeless. apparently it got the name because cops were paid more to work there so could afford tenderloin instead of cheaper meat.
I couldnt take any photos because I didnt want to disrespect the people, but there were literally hundreds of homeless people, some loaded up with shopping trolleys full of their possessions just living in the streets…it really was shocking I’ve never seen anything like it.
It’s obscene to think some NBA players here are getting 72 million over a 3 year contract when there is such a huge homeless population, but I suppose that is for Donald to sort out.
Highlight of the tour for me was when the very American tour guide tried to claim tv was invented in San Francisco, a nuggety old Scottish bloke on the bus soon set him straight!
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