Back where we started

15th Nov. Day 40
Breakfast in our motel cafe and fantastic waitress with “attitude”. Single black girl out there because of “all the nice boys in the military”
We walked around to the Alamo which is the most popular tourist attraction in Texas and very well preserved. In 1836 the Mexican general Santa Anna attacked the fort and after a 13 day siege and battle all 189 defenders were killed. Some women and children hiding in internal rooms were spared. Among those killed were Davey Crockett and James Bowie. Hence the cry “remember the Alamo”.
After that we walked to the riverwalk and took a boat around the loop. Absolutely fantastic area where the river winds between cafes and shops with footpaths alongside. The guide was great and one of the hotels overlooking the walk is the Hilton and it was built in record time. The rooms were prefabricated and fully furnished then lowered into place by crane. Another point of note is that the Hyatt was not allowed to be built over 16 stories so as not to block the sun from shining on the Alamo.
After all our touristy morning we had an appointment with Kelly Kenne who is a real estate contact and she took us around to show us some typical investment properties. The city is the 9th biggest in the US and is growing rapidly northwards. It has a large military presence as well as huge biomedical industry and tourism so I think it has great investment potential. Went back to riverwalk for dinner and had fairly ordinary Mexican food. Slept well except for the noises coming from the trains tooting away during the night.

16th Nov. Day 41
Biggest day on the road and we were up and going by 5am. Very cold. First part of the drive was 700 kms to El Paso on the Rio Grande and the Mexican border. It was greenery at first but quickly gave way to desert and the most noticeable crops around the Rio Grande were pecans – probably a hundred miles of them all the way up the river bank. Very noticeable border patrols presence around El Paso and a dirty not nice city. The drive from there to Albuqurque in New Mexico was much more interesting but we got to the motel in the dark after 1350 kms and back onto mountain time. It was on Route 66 and we had an excellent meal in a Vietnamese restaurant. Less than $20 for the two of us.

17th Nov. Day 42
Another early start and headed west through New Mexico. Fabulous drive through mesa country which is the home of the hopi Indians and the Navajo. Wish we had more time as there were some great places to visit where they had carved dwellings out of the cliffs. We crossed the continental divide and it is only around 7000ft here so lots of trains and trucks use it. The trains were very long and lots of them – following behind each other. We went past Winslow Arizona (Eagles song) and turned off at Flagstaff to head for the Grand Canyon and drove along the south rim to the main visitor area. What can you say about it? Neither words nor photos can portray how huge this thing is and the spectacular colours in the rocks and the Colorado River a mile below. We saw lots of deer in the park and 5 bighorn sheep happily grazing away on the cliffs of the canyon. If we had an extra day I would have loved to have taken the mule ride to the canyon floor - $120 but I reckon it would be well worth it. We were there till sunset then drove out to Williams on the main road and stayed the night. Another 700 kms for the day. It was the last town of Route 66 to be bypassed by the freeways and only 3000 people but to our absolute amazement we drove into town and it was ablaze with Christmas lights in a way that was beyond anything I could have imagined. For the last 4 years the town has done this and they have a train called the Polar Express that takes people (lots of kids) on a 1 hour journey to the “North Pole” and Santas workshop. The station was blasting out Christmas carols and there must have been millions of lights everywhere. Horse drawn carriages were taking people on trips and the atmosphere was fantastic. Unfortunately my video camera has chucked it in and I couldn’t get it on tape.

18th Nov. Day 43
I had the shits cos the woman decided we needed to do the laundry and guess who had to go out and do it at 7am. Might the temperature have had something to do with my attitude – it was -18?F which translates to about -6 in centigrade. I had to get the ice off the windscreen first – magnificent clear morning but oh so cold!! Steph owes me big time and has promised to be 100% nice for 2 days. We’ll see!
The town is at 7000 ft so that is why it gets cold and the drive west was a long drop down to 2,500 ft at Las Vegas. We crossed the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead which was built in 1936 and very spectacular site. Huge amount of work going on as they are building a new bridge to cross the gorge and amazing to watch the construction going on. We’re back onto Pacific time again so gained yet another hour (4 time zones in the US) as we drove into Las Vegas around noon. Again until you have actually experienced “the Strip” it is hard to describe. It is 6 miles of the most enormous casino hotels in the world and the first thing we did was go to the Stratosphere which is an 1149 ft spire and we took the elevator to the 106th floor – spectacular views and this is the 4th one of over 100 floors that we have experienced. The amazing thing about this though is that on the roof are 4 “roller coaster type” rides that even swing out over the edge! I didn’t go on any as Steph wouldn’t be in it. We did the casinos at night and saw the Bellagio and the fountains playing to music, then Caesars Palace where we had our best meal on the trip. It was at Spagos and my jambalaya was sensational. It was in a courtyard with covered roof that had sky and clouds painted on it and they change color to give different aspects. These places are so big that it is easy to get lost and finding the way out becomes difficult. We then went to the Mirage and watched the volcano go off, the to the Venetian where gondolas operate on the ground floor then when you go up into the hotel there are more gondolas operating on about the 3rd floor with lots of waterways and singing Italian gondoliers. It also had huge frescos painted on the ceilings. We walked back to the Aladdin where the car was parked and again it too ages before we could actually get through the casino to the car park. By this time it was past midnight and we were foot sore and knackered so flaked – didn’t even put one coin into a slot machine!

19th Nov. Day 44
Easy day today. Left Vegas and headed west through the Mojave Desert. Nevada continued to amaze as just before the border with California there were yet again more huge casino hotels just sitting in the desert but lots of shops and people around them. Where do they all come from and where does the money all come from? Nothing spectacular about the day and got to our motel in San Diego late afternoon. We’ve almost done the full circle and tomorrow it is an easy drive up to Los Angeles to catch an early Mon flight to HAWAII. So far we have done just over 16,000kms and have seen more of the US than most Americans. Can’t believe how the time has gone.

Cruising in the Caribbean
30th Oct. Day 24
Yet another clear day but again very cold. Also the end of daylight saving so got to sleep in – not that time means much to us.We wanted to have breakfast at historic Georgetown and then to Arlington but got tangled up with the Washington marathon and walked to the Capitol but the traffic jam from then on was horrific. Didn’t help that Rosa Parkes had died (the lady who would not give up her seat on the bus and started the civil rights movement in early ‘60s) and was lying in state at the Lincloln memorial so the traffic jam was added to. We missed breakfast and Arlington so just headed south to Virginia Beach to stay with Tim & Tania Oldfield. Easy drive of about 3 -4 hours and we passed the Norfolk naval base where we could see at least 2 aircraft carriers + lots of other warships then got to their place at dusk. 829 Vanderbilt Ave – just behind the beach. Three story house with an elevator. We had takeaway Italian which was great and had a great sleep in their downstairs room.

31st Oct. Day 25
This is our half way point. Had an early walk along the beach and saw dolphins & funny little sandpipers running around on the waters edge. We headed out to Yorktown which was the sight of a major war of independence battle and saw all the sights – well restored and brought home the war so vividly.
The drive to Williamsburg was just gorgeous through the Autumn colors and we had lunch at the old town. Well recreated but a bit too touristy. Missed out on Jamestown as we got there a bit late then bought prawns (shrimps) and chicken to cook a curry that night. Got back to Tim & Tans as they were finishing up the Halloween thing with their girls (Renee, Chelsea & Olivia). Good fun and we cooked a great feast.

1st Nov. Day 26.
Lots of noise from navy jets practicing overhead and from the firing range nearby. We’d had a fantastic gift from Tim of 2 nights & 3 days at a resort in the mountains (he’d bought it in an auction but it expired 1st Dec and they couldn’t use it so offered it to us) so packed up and took a short cut (whoops, got lost and Steph not happy!) and headed west. Stopped at Monticello which was the home of Thomas Jefferson and toured the site – beautiful. The drive to Massanutten Resort was through the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge (remember the John Denver song “West Virginia”) to the resort and got there on dark.

2nd Nov. Day 27
Decided to stop and smell the roses. An incredibly beautiful day and one the locals said they rarely experience. We walked down to breakfast then I had a game of golf (part of the package) and the scenery was superb. Played on my own and not too interested in the score and the scenery and animals was more interesting. The course was too hilly and huge slopes on fairways and greens so easy to lose balls under autumn leaves. I saw lots of squirrels, deer and groundhogs.
After that we had lunch (Steph had read and relaxed while I was golfing) and a nap then spa, swim, sauna, steam, bottle of wine in the room and off to dinner.

3rd Nov. Day 28
Time to burn rubber again as we have to be in Miami to catch the cruise and we have 2000kms to drive. We left the resort early and tried a new breakfast joint – Waffles and it was a great feed so will keep an eye out for others. Another magnificent drive down the Shenandoah Valley with the Blue Ridge Mts on the left. Incredible autumn colors and rolling countryside. We allowed ourselves time for a stop at Natural Bridge, one of the so called “wonders of the world” and up there with Niagara. It was special and is over 200ft high but the Monacan Indian Village was the most intriguing as the guy giving the info was a total believer in his work and full of knowledge on the history of the tribe. Got a text from Angie while we were there to say she’d had a prang on the way home from work but seems all is ok.
From there it was over the Smoky Mtns of North Carolina and through the middle of Charlotte – very impressive high rises in the centre. Traffic became very heavy with hundreds of trucks all traveling at over 120 k/hr. Through South Carolina – bit of a shame we had to miss Charleston and Hilton Head but made it to Savannah Georgia by 7pm and just over 1000kms.

4th Nov. Day 29
What a day – one of those days you can get while travelling.
Steph bit on some peanuts yesterday and lost a filling so first thing we landed on a dentists doorstep in Savannah. Heavy fog when we woke up but made it to the surgery by 7.30am and actually got the job done within a couple of hours. We suspect a bruise will be the result! Breakfast was in a caf? on the river in Savannah and it was a spectacular spot. The town is steeped in history and with the cobblestone streets, tramways and great river aspect as well as the historic homes and parks we would have loved to spend more time but we were behind and Miami beckoned. As we drove down we did as we had done everywhere else and started calling places for accom on the cell phone but nothing. Decided to wait till we got there and find something. We forgot about the hurricane (Wilma) 2 weeks before and many of the motels were wrecked – many trees down, busted signs, lots of water and to top it off the boat show was on. The traffic was absolutely horrendous and we crawled along interstate 95 at 20mph the spent 5 hours looking for somewhere to stay. Nothing anywhere so we eventually booked in to Fort Myers on the west coast so at 1am we headed north through the Everglades at 80mph and arrived at 3am. Good motel and slept well.

5th Nov. Day 30.
Slept till 9.30 and although the area had potential we could not face doing any exploring so went to the outlet shops and supported the local economy. Ate in Mels Diner, did the laundry and hit the hay.

6th Nov. Day 31
Cruise day!!. Back through the Everglades to Miami airport and got lost in a labrynth of roads but eventually found Alamo to drop off the Chev Malibu after 3,500kms – great car. As I filled with gas I spoke to another guy dropping off a car and he was an Aussie now living in Bermuda. Turned out he was also on the Carnival Victory. Name Graeme Seaton. Got the shuttle to the port and joined a huge queue and who should we be next to but Graeme & Rhonda Seaton. Small world. Took 2 hours to board and the ship is wonderful. 4 other luxury ships alongside ours and we sailed out of Miami first right on dusk with a magnificent red sunset. Great cabin on the 6th deck with our own balcony overlooking the water and just below the bridge. Beautiful dinner at night then the welcome show and slept like babes. Don’t think Steph will need her sea sick stuff as the ship hardle moved.

7th Nov. Day 32.
All day at sea and pure bliss. I actually read a whole book – Lance Armstrong’s book It’s not about the bike and I got into it so much I got very emotional especially as he went through his cancer experience and it must have touched a raw nerve as the tears did flow. Great day though and we met up with Graeme & Rhonda for pre dinner drinks, missed the captains cocktail party, went to the show and hit the hay.

8th Nov. Day 33.
The Sea Princess passed us last night ( a huge ship) and it was in Costa Maya before us. We were supposed to go to Cozumel but it was wrecked by the hurricane. This is a new port built purely for the tourist ships and it had 3 ships of 2,000 passengers each so the locals were busy. We took a tour to some Mayan ruins at Chacchoben and that was excellent. Cost $69 ea and we could have got it for $45 ea at the beach! Steph did some shopping (surprise!) and I had a massage. Not so sure about this place as it’s built purely for the cruise ships and is really just a place to take the tourist dollar.

9th Nov. Day 34
Another day at sea. The ship has 3000 passengers, 1002 staff and weighs over 100,000 tonnes so it’s a floating hotel. We just lounged – ate, slept and drank cocktails.

10th Nov. Day 35
My idea of the perfect Caribbean Island. We got into the Caymans around 8am and had to anchor offshore as did 6 other cruise ships. The tenders were busy going backward and forwards all day. We got a taxi with some other people and did a short tour to the turtle farm, the town of Hell and then stopped off at a beach and actually had a swim, some lunch lay around and then back into town (George Town which is the capital and has over 50 banks) then in yet another queue to go back to the ship. Great day except I don’t like being part of a 12,000+ throng who descend on a place, spend as much as the locals can extract from them and then leave.

11th Nov. Day 36
Early into Ocho Rios on the northern side of Jamaica mon. We were followed in by the Arcadia so only 2 in for the day and that’s about all it will take. At least we were tied up to a pier. Big difference between this and Cayman. A lot more pressure to buy and we ended up with a guy in an old car to take us around. He was good and took us up into the hills to look back on the town and he was full of information about plants and what they were all used for. The roads are stuffed and the place has a seedy run down feel about it. He dropped us off at a beach for a couple of hours and we had to pay $3 ea for deck chairs and it was nice but again lots of people and everyone trying to extract another dollar. He came back, picked us up and took us into town. Somehow we ended up buying him lunch and finally he went and Steph could do a bit of shopping on her own. Could have bought bottles of Jamaican rum for $7 and dope or tee shirts but didn’t bother.
Great show on that night and a buffet at midnight with magnificent ice and chocolate carvings and incredible food presentation but we couldn’t be bothered. Met up with Graeme & Rhonda and had a dance – got to bed at 2.30.

12th Nov. Day 37
Another day at sea and as usual just lay around reading and doing very little. We have walked 2 days around the prom deck and 1km each time – great exercise. My back and sciatic is really playing up and I’m looking forward to some good massages when we get home.

13th Nov. Day 38
How sad – back into port and it’s all over. The ship tied up at around 6am and after much queueing again we finally disembarked at around 11am. Got the shuttle to the car rentals and hired one for a day to go exploring to Key West. Got totally lost in the maze of Miami traffic. Many of the street signs are gone from the hurricane and traffic lights are often blown away so very difficult to navigate. What should have taken us 1.5 hours to get to Key Largo took 3 hours and some heated discussions about navigation!!!
We then decided to bite the bullet and go the extra 200kms to Key West and eventually got down there on dusk. Its an amazing drive as all the small islands are joined by bridges till Key West. One of these bridges was 13 kms long!! The town of Key West itself was fantastic with lots of history – great old houses and heaps of atmosphere. We would certainly go back there again but only as long as we could bypass Miami.
The road down was littered with piles of rubbish from the hurricane and 100s of whitegoods were piled in heaps to go to the dump and even large boats still wrecked and sitting on the edge of the road. We just don’t realize the damage these storms do and the aftermath. People are still without electricity and thousands are homeless still. We stayed in a nice place in Key Largo for the night – very tired after a long day.

14th Nov. Day 39.
Had an open air spa then breakfast on the edge of the water and even hand fed the squirrels. Back on the road (freeway this time) to Miami airport and caught a flight to Houston in Texas. Our luggage is getting a lot more substantial and another suitcase has been bought and filled! No way we will weigh the same ourselves either!!
From Houston we hired the next car (brand new Dodge) and drove 400kms to San Antonio. I think my favourite city so far and a spectacular setting so looking forward to exploring it tomorrow. This is the home of the Alamo which is just around the corner from our motel.

22nd Oct Day 16
A bit of rain this morning but not too bad. Caught the train right beside the hotel and made it into the city. Breakfast in town then Steph did the impressionist art museum and I went for a walk down by the lakefront. Did the Sears building – 106 floors up but unfortunately it was cloudy and wet so we didn’t see far. From there we did the “loop” rail and walked to the Hancock building and went to the 96th floor for cocktails. Lucky to get seats beside the view and watched the sun set over the city. Magnificent red sunset and very special. Back to walking along the “magnificent mile” looking in shop windows – what fun. NOT! I started to get fed up with that and it was cold so into an Armenian restaurant and back to the pub . Had a nightcap and watched lots of Ukraine dancers, White Sox baseball on TV then sleep well.

23rd Oct Day 17
5 states today. Back on good old interstate 90 and out heading east. From Illinois to Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and into New York. 1100kms for the day and lots of toll roads.Rained most of the day so nothing spectacular to see. Stayed in Niagara Falls and went out at 11pm to see the falls lit up. Fantastic sight with colored lights being played on the falls from the Canadian side. Cold as!!

24th Oct Day 18
Exciting day. First up was breakie at Dennys in Niagara then over to the falls. First was Cave of the Winds which is an elevator down to the river through the cliff and walk along getting soaked with very cold water. Part of the ticket ($12 ea) was a plastic poncho and thongs and even with rolled up strides we got wet, especially up on the steps quoted as hurricane platform (and a no smoking sign!). Next was the Maid of the Mist and again we were lucky as it was the last day before closing up for winter. Great trip as anyone who has been on it can testify.
We then drove into Buffalo to meet up with Dan from Genesis Properties – didn’t have much time with him as he was off to tax office auctions. Rainy day so we didn’t hang around. Buffalo is the 2nd biggest city in New York though and we could see why it had good investment potential. Papers say it is economically depressed though.
Continued on through the rain to Ithaca in upstate New York via back roads and magnificent autumn colors and stayed in a Comfort motel. Ate at a great restaurant and I had a strong scotch as a nightcap but then got pulled up by the cops when we got back to the motel cos I was driving with no lights. Fortunately didn’t get booked. Dropped wallet beside car and again lucky because a guest handed it in to reception next day (soaking wet).

25th Oct. Day 19
I got up early and got the laundry done then we headed for the big smoke via the Catskill mountains. The car did a slide and I realized we were in sleet and for about an hour we drove through heavy snow and the snowploughs were out – a few cars off the road but we got through and even made it to JFK airport in New York without any dramas where we had to drop off the car. Just under 8000kms for the little Pontiac. Got a cab into Manhattan in peak hour and to the hotel. Very dingy but popular as it was about 100metres to Times Square. Tiny room and no light at all but it was booked out. Only rooms in that area under $200. We had a walk and crashed.

26th Oct. Day 20
Slept in but got up, found our “local” deli for breakie and got tickets from the booth in Times Square for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels matinee (get in a queue and buy tickets for the next show at half price – we paid $53 for these that were $106 at the box office). Bought subway passes ($10 ea for 6 trips of $2 ea) and ended up at City Hall and walked to World Trade Centre site. Very moving to see St Pauls and all the tributes still there. We did shed a tear or two. The church is so old it even has a special pew where George Washington used to pray. Got a subway back, saw the show and it was fantastic – a real hilite. We walked to Empire State Bdg and got to the top after about 2 hours in queues (cost $14 ea) and it was so cold and windy we didn’t stay long then in another queue to go back down. Also dark by then so we did see a lot of lights and that’s all. Steph wanted to do the Maceys thing (at the bottom of the ESB) so I had a coffee and she did her thing. Walked back up town and ate Italian and hit the cot.

27th Oct. Day 21
Back to our deli for brekie then onto the subway to the bottom of Manhattan to catch Fr view of Manhattan and what the early immigrants would have seen, then turn around and come straight back again. From there we walked up past Wall St and the Stock Exchange to the base of Brooklyn bridge and caught a bus to the Lower East Side where we did a tour of old tenements preserved exactly as they were when used last century. This was the Jewish area and Eastern European enclave and the conditions they lived in must have been horrific – the price they were prepared to pay for their shot at freedom from oppression. Nearby the museum was the famous Katz deli which has the location of the famous scene from the movie when Harry met Sally (“I’ll have what she’s having”). Amazing place – huge and packed with people eating rather large pastrami on rye and other tasty treats.
From there we got lost on the subway again but eventually made it uptown for a walk through the lower end of Central Park and the elegance of 5th Ave. Watched some skaters on the ice rink (another one nearby was being prepared for the winter so I think we just made it through in time but it is still very cold – temp has ranged from 4?-10?) then we walked all the way down 5th Ave to through the diamond district (fortunately they were closing up for the day but Steph still did lots of drooling) to the hotel. Ate Brazilian and it was excellent.

28th Oct. Day 22
Decided to cut short the New York stay as we got fed up with the tiny, dark room and the cost so booked another hire car and checked out. Its been great having the laptop as not only have we been able to send and receive emails but also go online and after hunting around I got a deal through Alamo to pick up a car only 5 blocks from where were staying and drop it off in Miami in 8 days time for $400 (inc insurance). In the morning we caught the subway to Grand Central Station on 42nd street – beautiful, huge old building with chandeliers, lots of marble and of course shops. No problem driving through Manhattan – I’m getting used to the left hand drive and the traffric, so under the Hudson via the Lincoln Tunnel and onto the New Jersey Turnpike – a toll road south to Washington DC.
The car was a dream – a new Chev Malibu with all the bells and whistles inc sunroof. Its also got an outside temp gauge and it rose from 12?-15? during the drive.
The drive to Washington took about 4 hours on toll roads (cost about $18 in tolls) and checked into the Harrington Hotel in the heart of town and a couple of blocks from the White House. Not as cold and a couple of drinks + bowl of chilli and hit the hay.

Security impressions.
The police presence is enormous. In New York there were hundreds of uniformed police and security guards EVERYWHERE. Don’t know how effective some of them would be as they ranged from short and dumpy to rather old and tottery but they were there!
In Washington yesterday we must have taken a wrong turn and came in via the bad side of town. Lots of patrol cars and on one corner we saw 9 police cars surrounding one guy in handcuffs.
In both New York and Washington there seem to always be sirens going – whether police, ambulance or fire trucks so the noise levels get a bit high. No wonder New Yorkers are loud – they have to shout to be heard above the din!

19th Oct. Day 13
Probably our best day of the trip so far. Cheap motel ($35 but good) and we were up and on the road again before dawn. We headed for the Black Hills of Dakota (the song still comes to mind) via the Big Horn mountains which had quite heavy snow layers as we crossed the pass at 9,000ft.
Signs were telling us that the rocks were hundreds of millions of years old.
One of the towns we went through was called Newcastle and we passed about 8 coal trains each of which would have had 200 carriages – they seemed to go forever.
The Black Hills have always held a mystical attraction for me and they were exactly how I pictured them. They rise out of the prairies of Wyoming and South Dakota and are a sacred place to the Indians. The first stop was the Crazy Horse memorial and they are carving a profile of him on his horse out of the granite cliffs and it will be many times the size of Mt Rushmore. The work has been going on for over 50 years and millions of tons of rock have been blasted so far. Who knows when it will eventually be completed but it will become one of Americas must see destinations. Incredible seems a paultry word to describe it.
Mt Rushmore is close by with presidents Washington,Jefferson,Roosevelt and Linclon also carved into the mountain. This also took over 40 years to complete and is also a stunning sight. The designer was Gutzon Borglum and he died before it was completed (as did the designer of Crazy Horse). Both have sound and light shows at night!.
Just enough light left and we made it to a bear park nearby. This allows visitors to drive around the park in their own car and see animals. Lots of bears, elk, wolves, bison, a mountain lion and then otters, skunks, baby bears, porcupine (30,000 quills) some lynx and a great way to finish the day. We then made it to Wall on the edge of the Badlands for the night. We should sleep well. Over 800kms for the day.

20th Oct. Day 14
Did we sleep well in Wall!!! We had to check the Wall Drug Store and what a treat. It’s huge and people come from all over North America to experience it. It started during the depression when the owner wanted to drum up some extra business so he put a sign on the highway for “free ice water” and the rest as they say is history. The business boomed and now it is a sight to behold. We even watched and listened to a cowboy orchestra with automated models playing their instruments. Fascinating. Also spent some dollars – moccasins and gold from the Black Hills.
From there through the Badlands National Park. Amazing moonscapes where the lower prairie was squeezed upwards to become an “upper” prairie and the “wall” (hence the name of the town) was a range of contorted rock structures. Very cold wind. Incredible colours in the rocks too.
Just outside we saw some “prairie dogs” and we watched some other people feeding them – cute little fellas.
From there it was back on interstate 90 and head east. We did 1150kms for the day and don’t remember too many corners! South Dakota was mile after mile of yellow scrub prairie then after we crossed the Missouri River it changed and became farmland and continued like that with grass actually green in color as we headed deeper into Minnesota. The motel for the night was in Albert Lea. Decided to try some Chinese food for the night and went over the road to a very nice buffet. Didn’t check the price, just ate and when we got the bill it was $6.17 each!!!

21st Oct. Day 15
On the road again and decided to head for Chicago (only 700kms) and fairly uneventful day. Very pleasant scenery through the dairy country on Minnesota then through Wisconsin, over the Mississippi River and down to Chicago. Somehow we got the freeway turnoff wrong and ended up in the middle of O’Hare airport in peak hour (biggest in the country for domestic traffic). Finally got out and found the Marriott, put a bottle of French champagne on ice (courtesy of Qantas 2 weeks ago) and ate in the local restaurant. Great to have 2 days in one place and tomorrow we’ll take the train into the downtown area and “do Chicago”

Some observations after two weeks on the road.
1/ The roads are litter free. Not a piece of paper or thrown away bottle to be seen. There are roadside signs saying that the next section is patrolled by a certain person or local business and I suppose that is the reason but such a contract between this and Australian roadside litter.

2/ Interstate 90 which we are following is 2 lanes in each direction and separated by a gap of about 50 metres in most places. Speed limit is 75mph (125km/hr).

3/. Petrol is dropping in price as we head east and has gone from $3.36 in Yosemite to currently $2.24 per gallon. ($2.70 per gallon = about .60c/litre or .78c/litre in Aus dollars).

4/ There are hundreds of RVs on the road (recreational vehicles or camper vans) and most of them are the size of a bus and most tow a car behind them for use when they get to town.

5/ Forget about trying to get a cuppa tea and rarely do you get milk – its mostly powder and rarely can you get a decent coffee.

6/ October is a great time of year to do a road trip like this. So far the weather has been perfect and no crowds anywhere. Motels do deals and traffic is good. Today we did our 5,000th km and no hassles driving.

7/ The “road kill” is not as regular as Aust and the types of dead animals are deer, skunks, porcupines and raccoons.

8/ All prices have tax added. It’s not high but when you look at something and think it’s very well priced, it becomes more with the tax.

9/ We’ve turned TV on once so far and some of the radio is crap – lots of political talk back and out here it’s COUNTRY!

10/ A lot of cars have yellow ribbon stickers on them and it means “ we support our troops”!

11/ Some people are interested in us as oddities from Oz but a lot of them haven’t the faintest idea where we live or don’t even care. They live in an insular world (particularly out west).

12/ The “wild west” of old movies when I was a kid, cowboy comics and my history and geography from school has come alive on this trip and it is so easy to imagine the battles between the whites and the Indians, the enormity of the “covered wagon” settlers and the gunbattles spawned during the gold rush era. This is the area of Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane,and all the other legends. Deadwood is the town where Wild Bill Hickok met his end and he was a gambler who would only sit with his back to the wall, never with his back to the door and would always pour drinks with his left to keep his gun hand free. He was chided by his partners one day so he deliberately sat with his back to the door and a guy came in and shot him in the back. The cards he was holding were aces and eights and to this day they are known as “dead mans hand”.

13/. American light switches turn on by pushing them up or sideways! Strange

Wild west country
15th Oct Day 9
Our first rainy day!!! Drove up the mountains to 9000ft in rain and fog then as we went into the national park the rain stopped, the clouds cleared and we experienced a magic mountain day. This has always been one of my dreams to experience this place from way back when I studied US geography at school and as we drove down into Yosemite Valley and actually saw it for the first time it was quite a “spiritual” feeling. Steph felt the same even though she had no prior knowledge of what to expect. I cant even begin to describe the day. It was a Sat so lots of people there but it is so big it didn’t feel crowded. The Autumn colours were full-on and we took lots of pics. We did 2 short walks then a longer one where we climbed up to two waterfalls but if anyone ever does get the chance to see this place, do not miss it! A great suggestion is to get there early and hire bikes for a few hours or the whole day. There are heaps of bike tracks and people ride to the start of a walk, do the walk then ride back again. Sensational camping too (with special “bear proof” bins to store your food).
We regretfully had to leave about 3pm so as not to have too much night driving and climbed out of the valley to head east to Nevada. It was about another 1.5 hours drive before we actually got out of the park itself and we drove through 2 lots of snow before the descent from the Sierras onto the lower plateau. We did see some deer cross in front of us but no bears or mountain lions! Damn
As we drove north and hit the Nevada border the immediate change was CASINOS. They are everywhere. Even slot machines in service stations or normal shops. We’d had a big day so stayed in Carson City the night (remember Kit Carson the army scout?)

16th Oct Day 10
Another magnificent morning and we did the cruise around town looking at old houses. This is actually the capital of Nevada and the state legislature is a magnificent building. It might have been a wild west town but some of the houses were spectacular. Halloween is on the 31st Oct and it’s big time so a lot of places dress up their yards with witches, goblins, big yellow pumpkins and all sorts of “scary” stuff and the Carson City burghers were no different. Good feel about it.
The next stop was also special as we did a detour to Virginia City and this is further up in the mountains and still looks like it must have back in the 1800s. This is real wild west country (remember Bonanza and The Virginian?) The Comstock lode runs under the town and is the worlds greatest ever silver mine and this is what created the wealth. It is very well preserved and out first stop was the “Bucket of Blood” saloon then we met up with some people in period costume who had come to town to get married (Reno is about half an hour away if divorce is the next step). We ended up in another saloon with them and talked for ages. He is a muso who has backed Joe Cocker and others.
From there down the mountains in to Reno which is a mini Las Vegas and casinos rule. Time to put some serious miles under our belts though and we turned the Pontiac east, put the foot down and headed off across the desert at an average of 75mph (130kms) which is the legal limit. At times we sat on 90mph with no trouble. It is a divided two lane highway and beautiful driving but SO desolate. Got a bit concerned when the fuel gauge hit empty but fortunately made it to a roadhouse and topped up. Cost was $2.77 per gallon which equates to .80c per litre in Aussie money. The full moon came up as we drove and it was so spectacular with high snow capped mountains on one side and flat prairie on the other. We had hoped to make Salt Lake City but after a 900km day we called it quits on the border at a one horse (and 15 casinos) town. We had a meal in one of the casinos and the place was just massive. Not our cuppa tea but we listened to a band, had a buffet then hit the cot.

17th Oct Day 11
Just been through a time zone so we lost an hour and hit the road in the dark. The drive to Salt Lake City was through the Great Salt Desert and this time we were on the road when the sun rose and again the colours bouncing off the mountains were spectacular so it was not a boring 200kms.
Not too impressed with Salt Lake – we did go to the Mormon Temple (Utah is now 70% Mormon) and have a look but lots of eager young girls trying to convert us meant we didn’t stay long.
The drive north through Utah wasn’t too exciting but as we crossed into Idaho and the Snake River Valley it became more meaningful. This was part of the old Oregon Trail and it was easy to imagine the old covered wagons heading west along these river valleys. Our last stop before turning into Wyoming and up into the Rocky Mountains was to buy square icecreams in a cone. Great idea and every car stops to buy one. We actually got to Jackson Hole (ski resort) before dark so it was great to relax, have a nice meal, an early night and get ready for Yellowstone National Park tomorrow.

Oct. 13th San Francisco
Don't know what we'll be thinking after another 6 weeks but so far the first week has been some experience. Great to have a digital camera and just snap away then edit the pics at night and download them onto laptop. Best thing we've done is take the laptop with a wireless card as most motels (in major cities anyway) have a facility for connecting to the internet and we can send emails, keep a diary and because we have SKYPE (download it for free from their site)we have spoken to Angie regularly for free via the computer and it is even more clear than phone and as if she was in the next room. One guy we saw yesterday was sitting in Union Square with his laptop and online via a "hotspot" link as well as holding up a mini camera and using SKYPE to not only talk to somebody but show a picture at the same time. And back in the dark ages we travelled and communicated whenever we bothered to write a letter and post it by snail mail! Or once in a blue moon we rang home - reverse charges!
It was great to leave behind the smog of LA but we swapped it for the fog of the Californian coast.
We took the coast road north, stayed at San Luis Obisbo on the first night and the fog rolled in. The extremely cold waters (range from 7deg to 15deg)of the Pacific in this area means that the warm air must create a thick sea mist which can look spectacular rolling through the hills but sometimes it is so thick you cant see your hand behind your back!
Santa Barbara was our favourite place on this section and the fog cleared to give us some great views of the countryside. We could see 8 abandoned oil rigs off the coast which date back to the '60s when they were in operation but a huge oil spill polluted the coast and they were closed down and abandoned but they still sit there in the mist - look strange!
Saw our first ground squirrels - dozens of them even hanging around our feet.
This is an old "Presidio" town or Spanish fort and the Spanish influence was everywhere.Magnificent courthouse building and spectacular homes set into the hillside all looking out to the Pacific.
Got chatted by a policeman on a bike because I wandered across the road without using the "designated crossing point".
Hearst Castle was another amazing experience and is on the coast a bit further north at San Simeon. Built by William Hearst (newspaper tycoon) in the early 1900s it is a monument to excess. Its built high up on the hills and can only be accessed by bus from the entrance (for $20 each). Words cannot describe the scale of the place and some of the treasures date back 2000 years. He bought a lot of art work, ceilings and even stones for the columns around the pools from Europe in time when money could buy anything. If you travel to California this place is a "must".
Next stop was to see the elephant seals on the beach a bit further up the coast - dozens of them lying on the beach or frollicking in the waves and then the drive along the Grand Sur. Very windy road right alongside the coast with spectacular views of fog. It would be incredible on a clear day and occasionally it would lift and we could get a view but for the next 250kms into San Francisco it was hard work driving through the stuff.
We did break into the clear at Monterrey so stopped for an ice cream and a wander. Biggest impression on this drive was the number of big round yellow pumpkins being sold for Halloween which is 31st Oct. It is huge over here and the displays are everywhere. We just missed a fair called Pumpkin Pandemonium in one of the towns.
We did eventually make it into San Francisco in the dark and thick fog so was relieved to find the motel.
Good tip here is that we picked up a discount accomodation book along the way and it lists deals in all towns and we bought a sim card for the mobile phone ($30) so we have a US number and can call ahead to these motels and get good deals. Our San Francisco motel was right in the middle of town and only $62 per night.
Yesterday was our San Francisco day and were we lucky. Totally clear of fog and for the first time in 16 overseas trips I took a guided tour and well worth it. 3.5 hours and great guide so we saw it all - even a suburb called Brisbane. The guide was a real mix. Very black skinned but a whole mixture of accents and was born in and spent his first 9 years in Hobart!
Another good find was when we decided to explore the old ships at Fishermans Wharf. They are $5 per person but are operated by National Parks so after chatting to the lady we found out we could buy an annual pass to all National Parks in the USA for $50 which was for both of us and as its $20 per car to visit Yosemite, Yellowstone etc and we intend to see as many as possible it was a good purchase.
Pier 39 at Fishermans Wharf also has a spot where pontoons are set aside for the sea lions and there were about 100 lying around and frollicking while we were there.
Did the cable car experience up those very steep streets and had a magnificent seafood meal at night.
All in all a fantastic day to experience San Francisco, got some great photos and tomorrow we'll head over the Golden Gate to see the giant Redwoods and head for Yosemite to see Yogi Bear.

Los Angeles
For those of you who have been to Los Angeles you will no doubt relate and for those who haven't it is something else! No comment as to whether that is good or bad.
Four days here now and I still can't grasp the sheer size of the place. Driving to Disneyland (Anaheim on the south side) from where we are at Century City took us an hour on the freeways was an experience. Often 6 lanes with flyovers and freeways breaking off in different directions means you cannot relax, especially when they all drive on the wrong side of the road and even put the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car!!
Greater LA has a population almost up to that of Australia and the public transport system is crap so forget coming here without a car, which means the LA haze is a fact of life. Even on a "clear" day the smog means everything long distance is a blur. We did actually see the San Bernadino mountains on Sunday - they do exist!
So far though the drivers are good and couteous - far more so than Qld drivers.
Another big impression is the size of some of the people! Could not believe the number of very overweight people at Disneyland and the sort of food and the quantity that they ate! We can order one meal and share it and be satisfied yet these people were tucking into everything wrong. Burgers, chips (fries) sweets,coke and much more were all being consumed in copious quantities. Great for the economy but lousy for the health.
Overall it is a "happening" city with the extraordinary "in your face" wealth of Beverley Hills & Rodeo Drive being on one end of the scale and a huge number of Latinos working menial jobs being on the other end.
Traps for trying to work on a budget are things like booking a hotel room but then add in our case $15 per day parking + room tax $6 + tips for valet service, porters, room service and all of a sudden some serious dollars have disappeared.
No such thing as a cuppa tea in the morning with fresh milk unless you go to the supermarket. An investment in coffee would pay well.
Overall we've had a great time here and head off up the coast today on the start of the big road trip and all being well we'll hit New York in 2 weeks and many thousands of miles.
have a nice day!!!