Tuesday, August 27, 2013
ENGLAND AND WALES 2013
Well we are off again, this time to England and Wales. We fly out on Friday night (30th August) and arrive at Heathrow on Saturday morning, sounds good however the nine hour time difference makes that trip the normal 23 or so hours. I hope to start blogging early in the trip. It's a great way to keep in touch.
Monday, October 22, 2012
DRIVE ON 101
We are now within 10 miles of San Francisco Airport and we hand the car back tomorrow. It's been a big 3 weeks since we picked up the car in Salt Lake City. We have driven about five and a half thousand kilometers and had the opportunity to see just so much at our own pace.
We've laughed at many of the names as we have travelled around: Two Guns, Twin Arrows and Apache County to name a couple. The street names have little imagination, first, second, third etc. Roads, 17 1/2, 15 1/4, and so on. We have passed many signs stating the scales are ahead, only to drive past and discover that the weigh bridge is closed. Over all the miles we have travelled we have seen one opened. There is a lack of advertising signs along the way which is nice but the directional signs are great and plenty of warning when to take an exit, handy when you need to move across a few lanes.
We have travelled up many mountains over 10,000 feet and back down to 2,000 over the same mountain and back up again. We've been 85.5 metres below sea level. The temperatures have ranged from well below zero to about 38C.
We discovered Motel 6 franchise early in our travels. These are basic but clean and reasonable. Each night we feel we have arrived home to the same bed cover. One of the challenges though has been working out how the taps work. Sometimes its pull up, other times it's push down. Various times it has taken us both to work out how to work the shower. This has all been a lot of fun and a laugh at the end of the day.
One thing we have discovered is that everything is big in America, big people, big trucks, big pick-ups, big RVs and most of all big meals. We soon learnt to order from the seniors menu and even those are too much for us.
No photos today. We had a 3 hour trip from Merced to Redwood and the only stop was a quick pull over when Ian saw a big bush with interesting flowers that needed watering. The scenery was very different to anything we had travelled through. At first it was the agricultural flats, loads of fruit trees, grapes and cotton, then we came into low hills with sheep, cattle and horses.
We've laughed at many of the names as we have travelled around: Two Guns, Twin Arrows and Apache County to name a couple. The street names have little imagination, first, second, third etc. Roads, 17 1/2, 15 1/4, and so on. We have passed many signs stating the scales are ahead, only to drive past and discover that the weigh bridge is closed. Over all the miles we have travelled we have seen one opened. There is a lack of advertising signs along the way which is nice but the directional signs are great and plenty of warning when to take an exit, handy when you need to move across a few lanes.
We have travelled up many mountains over 10,000 feet and back down to 2,000 over the same mountain and back up again. We've been 85.5 metres below sea level. The temperatures have ranged from well below zero to about 38C.
We discovered Motel 6 franchise early in our travels. These are basic but clean and reasonable. Each night we feel we have arrived home to the same bed cover. One of the challenges though has been working out how the taps work. Sometimes its pull up, other times it's push down. Various times it has taken us both to work out how to work the shower. This has all been a lot of fun and a laugh at the end of the day.
One thing we have discovered is that everything is big in America, big people, big trucks, big pick-ups, big RVs and most of all big meals. We soon learnt to order from the seniors menu and even those are too much for us.
No photos today. We had a 3 hour trip from Merced to Redwood and the only stop was a quick pull over when Ian saw a big bush with interesting flowers that needed watering. The scenery was very different to anything we had travelled through. At first it was the agricultural flats, loads of fruit trees, grapes and cotton, then we came into low hills with sheep, cattle and horses.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
YOSEMITE
Well here we are in Merced, south east of San Francisco. We spent the day yesterday in Yosemite National Park. This was such a contrast to the day before in Death Valley. We drove along the valley and then up through huge granite domes as we climbed up into the park itself. The road winds around the mountains as you climb up and up to about 10,000 feet and then back down to the village centre. The scenery is just wonderful with lakes and a few snow sprinkled mountain peaks. We had lunch at the village centre then did a short round on the shuttle bus before trying unsuccessfully to find Mirror lake. We kept going around in circles and finding the roads closed. The park does close down next week so I guess they are getting prepared. There is an Ansell Adams Gallery in the centre however very few of his photographs with the exception of about half a dozen for sale ranging from $20,000 to $45,000. Needless to say, post cards were our only purchase.
We continued driving down, down till we reached the valley and then on to Merced. As the sun went down the sky lit up to a beautiful pink and now that we are out of the mountains, twilight lasted for ages, it was lovely. In the mountains, once the sun goes down, it is pitch dark almost straight away so this was a nice change.
We have decided to stay at Merced for another night and rest before heading off towards San Francisco tomorrow.
We continued driving down, down till we reached the valley and then on to Merced. As the sun went down the sky lit up to a beautiful pink and now that we are out of the mountains, twilight lasted for ages, it was lovely. In the mountains, once the sun goes down, it is pitch dark almost straight away so this was a nice change.
We have decided to stay at Merced for another night and rest before heading off towards San Francisco tomorrow.
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| The Half Dome. This is visable all around the park from different angles. |
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| Mule deer. Note the size of the ears. |
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| My version of a mirror. This was taken late in the afternoon on the Merced River towards the edge of the Park. |
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| Lembert Dome. A huge granite dome. I took this with my 9mm wide angle, the trees are full size trees. |
Friday, October 19, 2012
DEATH VALLEY
This really is a very desolate part of the world with some wonderful scenery. We drove straight to Zabraskie Point however were not early enough to catch good early morning light. I broke the rules and went off the track to try and avoid looking into the sun. The shapes are fantastic though and it is quite a large area. From there we went on to Badwater. This part of the valley is 85.5meters below sea level and very salty. There is just a small pool of water. We then back tracked and took the other road and stopped at the Mustard Canyon, the colours there are mustard, of course.
After a late lunch at Badwater Saloon at Stovepipe Wells Village we headed on towards the other side of the park. At Vista View lookout we pulled in for another view. As it has reached around 37C we have been drinking plenty of water and Ian opened the boot to refill the bottles in the car from the 1.5ltr wine bottle with our extra water, did this, leaving the keys in the car and when we went to get back in the car it was locked.
Thankfully a Swiss fellow had a mobile that picked up a signal and we were able to call Budget. There is key pad on the outside of the door and we assume there is a code to open the car but they couldn't find the code (this took the best part of half an hour as Ian would not hang up until they arranged some help. A French couple also stayed with us until they were sure we were alright. When the three of them left us, just saying thank you and shaking hands, didn't seem enough. We both wished we could have rewarded them in some way. We were 50 miles from anywhere.
About half an hour after they left a Sheriff arrived and assured us he had arranged for a tow truck to come. We think he had been contacted by Budget to ensure it was a genuine call and he then phoned the tow truck after making sure we had enough cash to pay It was the best part of another hour before the tow truck arrived. The man was very deft at unlocking cars and told us this happens a lot. He said the electronics are just too smart sometimes. The worst part was that the view wasn't worth stopping in the first place for. A breeze did come up and cooled the temperature somewhat which was a blessing.
Once on our way we drove to Bishop where we are for the night. All part of the adventure.
After a late lunch at Badwater Saloon at Stovepipe Wells Village we headed on towards the other side of the park. At Vista View lookout we pulled in for another view. As it has reached around 37C we have been drinking plenty of water and Ian opened the boot to refill the bottles in the car from the 1.5ltr wine bottle with our extra water, did this, leaving the keys in the car and when we went to get back in the car it was locked.
Thankfully a Swiss fellow had a mobile that picked up a signal and we were able to call Budget. There is key pad on the outside of the door and we assume there is a code to open the car but they couldn't find the code (this took the best part of half an hour as Ian would not hang up until they arranged some help. A French couple also stayed with us until they were sure we were alright. When the three of them left us, just saying thank you and shaking hands, didn't seem enough. We both wished we could have rewarded them in some way. We were 50 miles from anywhere.
About half an hour after they left a Sheriff arrived and assured us he had arranged for a tow truck to come. We think he had been contacted by Budget to ensure it was a genuine call and he then phoned the tow truck after making sure we had enough cash to pay It was the best part of another hour before the tow truck arrived. The man was very deft at unlocking cars and told us this happens a lot. He said the electronics are just too smart sometimes. The worst part was that the view wasn't worth stopping in the first place for. A breeze did come up and cooled the temperature somewhat which was a blessing.
Once on our way we drove to Bishop where we are for the night. All part of the adventure.
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| Part of Zabraskie Point |
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| A dry lake bed that went on for miles |
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| The view from Vista Point Lookout. Whilst we were waiting a fighter jet flew down through the canyon almost at the bottom. |
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| The Sheriff was a really nice guy who made sure we had water and were ok. Ian was disappointed he wasn't a fat man as they are in the movies! |
Thursday, October 18, 2012
KINGMAN TO BEATTY
Not much to say about today really. We set off this morning planning to go to Las Vegas however we were on the motorway and missed the park and ride turnoff and just kept going around and on to Indian Springs where we had lunch. We could see Vegas clearly with all the high rise and have seen plenty of casinos as we approached the city area. We are now in Beatty on the outskirts of Death Valley. We did go off the motorway to Hoover Dam and were surprised at how busy it was. The road was amazing and at time there were roads under and over us.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
GRAND CANYON
After leaving Winslow we drove to Valle, about 30 miles from the Grand Canyon and decided to stay there and just have two shorter days at the Grand Canyon. Yesterday we did the eastern end of the South Rim and waited for the sunset at Deserts View. Today we did the rest of the South Rim, which is by shuttle only, so had to do the hop-on-hop off again. We did walk from one point to the next along the trek. The Grand Canyon is huge and very deep down into the valley floor with the Colorado river weaving through. At one stage we stood and watched some rafters going through the rapids (through the binoculars) which looked like a lot of fun.
We left the Canyon in the early afternoon and drove through to Kingman along some of Route 66. This old road was far preferable to the main highway. Along the way there were some signs which kept me amused. Each line was on a different sign. These are a couple I can remember.
If daisies are
your favourite flower
just keep pushing
the miles per hour.
CATTLE CROSSING
This means go slow
'cause that bull
Is some old cows beau.
Well the song does say 'You get your kicks on Route 66'.
We left the Canyon in the early afternoon and drove through to Kingman along some of Route 66. This old road was far preferable to the main highway. Along the way there were some signs which kept me amused. Each line was on a different sign. These are a couple I can remember.
If daisies are
your favourite flower
just keep pushing
the miles per hour.
CATTLE CROSSING
This means go slow
'cause that bull
Is some old cows beau.
Well the song does say 'You get your kicks on Route 66'.
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| Late afternoon - Colorado meandering through the canyon floor |
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| Sunset |
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| Ian at Powell's Point. Sean note the jacket - it's still going strong |
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| Variety of formations |
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| More formations and deep valleys |
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