Washington

Washington:

On Monday we arrived at Dulles Airport in Washington DC to be met by our very dear friends Jim and Cheryl Simon. We are staying with them in their beautiful home in Great Falls, Virginia, which is just across the Potomac River from DC. How good it is to be staying with friends in their home after weeks of hotels!

On Tuesday, while Sue and Cheryl did girlie stuff (hair etc) Jim took Phil to Ball’s Bluff near Leesburg VA and the site of a brief battle during the war between the North and South. Phil has had a lifelong interest in American history, particularly the history of that war, and was excited at being able to walk over the ground of one of its battles for the first time. Trips to other major battle sites are on the agenda too, including Gettysburg which everyone has heard of. One of the best experiences of the day was lunching on delicious Virginia style creamy peanut soup. Who knew such a thing existed! We must get the recipe – and also the one for the strawberry and rhubarb pie that Jim had.

Wednesday was our day at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Jim had to work but we had the pleasure of Cheryl’s company and the benefit of her perspective on things. While we had never been there Phil immediately recognised the entry atrium from the movie Night in a Museum. No wonder the Smithsonian has such a great reputation. The displays were very well presented and each exhibit very well explained in plain English. It would be hard not to learn something new there.

Thursday was very special. We all went to Boyce VA, a lovely town not too far away, to play bingo at the local community hall. It was fun to do something like that with the lovely people who live here in the Virginia countryside. Of course you don’t need to guess who won the jackpot prize of $1000 do you! It had to be Sue didn’t it! Looks like winning $150 in Vegas didn’t exhaust her luck.

On Friday Cheryl came with us as we visited Arlington National Cemetery which is the resting place for many thousands of Americans from all wars, including some from the Revolutionary War who were reinterred there. The graves just go on and on in all directions, which is very sobering. We visited the grave sites of John F Kennedy and his brothers Bobby and Teddy, which was very moving, and explored Arlington House which was the home of the original owner of the property General Robert E Lee who commanded the Confederate Army during the Civil War. We thought the house would be bigger, but apparently Gone with the Wind had created unreal expectations in our minds.

Arlington proved so big, and slow to get around, that we only had time to do one more thing. So we met up with Jim and toured the Smithsonian Museum of American History. The exhibits were great from an educational point of view, but Jim and Phil had hoped for more artifacts. But it was great anyway. We had dinner with Jim’s daughter and her friend at Old Ebbit Grill, a really great restaurant not far from the White House. We left home at 8.30am and returned at midnight, so we are a bit weary today!!! Must be getting old!!

Stay tuned for our next post. Hope to download the pictures by then.

Yosemite and San Fransisco

Yosemite National Park

On Thursday we travelled to Yosemite National Park. What an awesome place! The Park is in a high valley surrounded by towering granite cliffs that shade the Merced River. Right now the river is swollen with snow melt and rages over the rocks and rapids. The locals say it is the highest the water level has been in the river for 30 years, so we have taken lots of photos and video to show you. Most of the area is covered in a forest of oak and pine that is truly rich and beautiful. We took a tram ride through the main area of the Park and were very lucky to see a Black Bear and her two cubs up fairly close – a rare treat by all accounts.

On Friday we travelled to San Francisco through the wine country of the Sonoma Valley. Our lunch stop was a winery, which was more interesting for Sue than Phil, though we both appreciated the beauty of the vineyard. That afternoon we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge into the city. No wonder the bridge is one of the seven engineering wonders of the world! In the evening we had dinner in a restaurant in Chinatown.

Saturday was pretty special. We did a city tour and in the afternoon took the ferry to Alcatraz. Phil saw lots of gaols during his time with the NSW prison officers’ union, but the appallingly cruel conditions of that place were a real eye opener. Then we returned to the city and the fun began. The 14 of us who took the trip were supposed to meet the rest of the group at the hotel by 6pm and it was about 4pm when we got back to the pier. Our tour director had told us where to pick up the historic cable car to get back the hotel – it was “just up there”. Well just up there was eight of the longest city blocks you can imagine. Once we got to the terminal the line was so long we wondered if we would ever get a tram. To make matters worse only a couple of the cable cars can run at any one time, and they don’t collect the fares until people have been loaded onto the tram. So our much anticipated cable car ride was fraught with anxiety till be got back just five minutes late. Whew! We finished our Western Tour with a really good dinner at Fishermans Wharf. It has been an “awesome” tour. We have met some really great people, and it was sad to say goodbye to most last night.

Las Vegas

Las Vegas

On Monday we toured Zion National Park (photo above). The Virgin River flows through the Park beneath beautiful high red cliffs and crags. We went for a one and a half hour stroll along the riverbank and saw lots of wildlife including deer, wild turkeys and squirrels.

Then it was off to Las Vegas. After travelling through the desert for a couple of hours we suddenly came across the city. It is set in such a barren place and is like a glittering oasis. The ‘strip’ is an amazing avenue of huge hotels each of which has a massive casino inside. Many seem to be little more than Casinos with hotel accommodation, but some have remarkable features that reflect their themes. One of the first we went into was the Paris. Outside is a half sized exact replica of the Eiffel Tower (above), which is cool enough in itself. But inside the casino area is surrounded by Parisian streets full of shops, and a painted blue, partly clouded sky with the light level equivalent to early sunset. The setting is so realistic that when we first entered we thought momentarily that we were still outside! The Venetian had the same concept based on the streets of Venice, and included a canal on which you could take gondola rides through the shopping area. Bellagios was also very impressive with its ceiling and displays in magnificent glass sculptures and a garden and aviary with real birds inside. (Bellagio's water fountain display above right) The Mirage featured dolphins, and the MGM had lions. Talk about luring in the tourists!! Whilst in Vegas we went to the most recent Cirque de Soleil show, Mystere. It was a stunning show, and we even have a souvenir photo (at the “cheap” price of only $44) to prove it!! The choreography and staging was incredible, and as always the cast were wonderfully strong and skilful acrobats. After the show we were lucky enough the catch some of the free entertainment provided by the hotels on the strip, including the pirate show at Treasure Island and the Volcano at the Mirage. All in all the whole experience was terrific.

Everyone seems to be after your money. We stayed at the Hilton Hotel, and there was neither a fridge nor coffee/tea making facilities to be found. You want a cuppa, then you go down to the coffee shop and pay us $4 to get one. Also in most places we have been getting free wifi, but at the Hilton it was $14 for a 24 hour useage. Sue got back at them – she went to pay “the slots” (poker machines to you guys), and came back to the room with a $150 dollar profit. Fancy gambling in Las Vegas and winning!! That more than paid for the extra tea and coffee that Phil had to have!!

Canyons

Canyons blog:

On Saturday we went to the Navajo Reservation and were taken by our local guide in a truck to see Slot Canyon. The ‘road’ was more of a long sand trap and should have been named “Bum Busting Boulevard”. But the rough ride was truly worth it. Slot Canyon’s beauty defies description, so we have included a photo to give you some idea of what it is like (photo 3). The Canyon was carved by flash floods, and twists and turns narrowly through magnificent natural features. Sue’s claustrophobia was sorely tested as the canyon was quite narrow, and you could not always see in front of you. But she managed, and it was well worth it!!

That afternoon we took a raft ride on the Colorado River through Antelope Canyon. The beautifully coloured canyon walls rose up to 340 metres above us. Once again we have included a photo (photo 2). But no photos can possibly do justice to the magnificent immensity of the West’s great natural wonders. You just have to be there.(This canyon ride was in an inflatable raft – we thought it was in a boat that had 2 decks and shade. Boy were we misled!!! 4.5 hours of full sun, and no back rest!!!) But once again it was worth it, and we even asked the driver to make like we were in the rapids!!

On Sunday we travelled into Utah to Bryce Canyon, then into Zion National Park. Bryce Canyon is like a huge amphitheatre with many impressive natural sculptures called ‘hoodoos’. The firstphoto says it all. To digress, as we travelled we kept coming across police / sheriff’s cars at the side of the road. Our tour leader pointed out that they were all dummy cars with dummy drivers! Apparently a lot of poorer communities that can’t afford enough traffic cops use dummies as a deterrent. Why does this make me have thoughts about the ACT Assembly? Another good laugh on this trip was the sign at one of our rest stops that said: “Home of the Ho-Made Pies”. So what do ‘Hos’ put in their pies? We didn’t buy any .

Zion National Park is awesome! It is set in rich, forested country and has the largest sand monolith in the world – the Checkerboard Mesa. More about this in the next blog.

Wow!!! We arrived at the Grand Canyon on Thursday, and the sheer size and aura of the place is just unimaginable – but more on that later.

On Wednesday we left Los Angeles and crossed the San Gabriel Mountains and the Mojave (pronounced Mohavi) Dessert. We couldn’t get over the way the desert looked – quite green due to the profusion of sagebrush, and very sandy. It was on to Lake Havasu for the night. We stayed at the London Bridge Resort, so named because the original London Bridge was purchased by a local, each stone was numbered as it was being pulled down, then it was reassembled in Lake Havasu. It was right next to our resort. We managed to walk across it on Wednesday afternoon, and took some very good photos. We went for a cruise around the lake at Sunset, and took amazing pictures of the mountain ranges and the lake surrounds. We were free for dinner that night, so met up with a lovely couple from New Jersey for dinner.

Thursday morning it was an early start from the hotel (8am). We drove north and saw the desert gradually give way to greener land until we reached the national forest in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon. The land in northwest Arizona is richer than we expected due to its altitude (almost 2000 metres) and better rainfall than the southwest.

We visited the south rim of the Canyon and were overwhelmed by its beauty. It is something to which photos alone cannot do justice (and believe us we have hundreds to bore you silly with!!!). Before that we saw an IMAX movie about the Canyon that was awesome but included many nausea-inducing flight sections. (Phil noticed Sue’s eyes were shut during several of the more graphic “drops” down into the Canyon!!) Many on the tour were to take an optional helicopter flight over the Canyon straight after that. We were glad that we were not joining them!

We also encountered and photographed squirrels and elk – the latter just wander around the tourist area eating the grass and no-one gets in their way (those antlers are big)!

On Friday we drove through the spectacular Painted Desert (so named for the rich colours streaked through the rocks) to Lake Powell. Lake Powell is formed by the damming of the Colorado River by the Glen Canyon Dam and spreads in many directions like spiders legs forming different canyons through which you can travel by boat. Like the Grand Canyon the rocks are stratified and very colourful. Dinner was great last night, not just for the food but also the company. We ate with new friends from New Jersey and North Carolina who are great examples of how friendly Americans can be.

LA and Universal Studios

LA highlights and Universal Studios
Today was the start of our Globus tour of the West, beginning with a city tour and optional Universal Studios tour.
The most interesting parts of the city tour were in Beverly Hills and Hollywood, especially Sunset Strip, Rodeo Drive and Hollywood Boulevard. Rodeo Drive was especially interesting – just about every expensive brand shop you can think of with dress prices commonly around $10,000 for the cheap stuff! We stopped at the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to take a stroll down the walk of fame. It was interesting to see so many Australians there – Olivia Newton John, Gwyneth Paltrow etc. We also managed to get a photo of the ‘Hollywood’ sign, but it was so far away that it is not worth uploading the picture here. To get a better photo you have to drive well into Hollywood, but tourist coaches are forbidden to do so.
This afternoon Phil did the Universal Studios tour. The Studio Tour covers all the working studios from the outside and takes 45 minutes. The most interesting part was all the streetscapes created over the years for movies and TV series set in the old West, New York etc. Included in the tour were ‘rides’ involving driving the coach through tunnels in which you experience, in 3D, dinosaurs from Jurassic Park, King Kong attacking and rocking the bus, and an attack by beetles from The Mummy. Good fun!
After that Phil took in the Special Effects Stage, the Terminator 2: 3D experience and the House of Horrors. Sometimes it’s just fun to do kids’ stuff, even at 60 . Now for a quiet night before we head for Arizona tomorrow morning.

LA and Disneyland

Los Angeles and Disneyland
We arrived in LA on Friday and are now at the Marriot Downtown Hotel. A pretty nice place, but we did find it odd that there was no fridge in the room. When we queried that they wheeled one in! Hmm.
We took a walk to familiarise ourselves with the area. Downtown is very much a commercial area with little in the way of shops, so we had to walk several long blocks to the nearest shopping centre. At least Starbucks were fairly common . We found a supermarket and bought some milk and other supplies. To our surprise we were able to get complete hot dinners there and even eat them at tables set aside for that purpose. An interesting concept – this proved to be very convenient.
Disneyland:
On Saturday we took a bus with three other Aussies (from Perth) from the hotel to Disneyland. What an awesome place! We started at Fantasyland, at Toontown where we met Mickey Mouse (see attached photo) but failed to pin down Goofy despite several attempts. In Frontierland we took the Mark Twain paddle steamer along a depiction of America’s great rivers, and waited in line for an hour to get into the “Star Tours” ride. This is a new attraction that involves riding in an apparently moving starship in 3D and nearly colliding with numerous objects. Phil enjoyed the ride but Sue kept her eyes shut the whole time.
The Grand Parade was spectacular. It is a new one that only started on 27 May. It features many Disney characters and floats depicting Disney films such as Aladdin, Mary Poppins and The Little Mermaid. The costumes were extravagant, and the choreography of the dancing was terrific.
We decided to have a light snack before we left (at 8pm) so we went to one of the numerous cafes. We ordered the loaded potato soup, which we thought would be of modest size only to find that it was HUGE! So we decided to share a banana split for dessert. It contained only one banana, however it also consisted of three ENORMOUS scoops of ice cream and half a can of whipped cream, little Mickey Mouse lollies scattered all over it! These people do not understand the idea of small serves.
We arrived home very tired little vegemites with quite a few presents for all between us.
Santa Monica:
Today we took the train and bus out to Santa Monica. (We had intended to go shopping in Beverly Hills but could not locate the shopping centre we wanted.) We enjoyed a stroll and a coffee / hot chocolate stop on Santa Monica Pier, and felt strange sitting by the Pacific Ocean with so much distance between us and Australia.
Tomorrow night we meet our fellow travellers on our Globus tour of the West. Should be fun.

Victoria, British Columbia

On Sunday we returned to Victoria to enjoy some down time after the cruise. Having been to both Seattle and Victoria before we didn’t felt the need to rush around and see the sights, which is good because we were pretty tired. We took a city tour and also spent some time taking buses and looking around. Victorians are very keen gardeners and it shows. Almost every house seems to have a beautiful garden, and of course everything is in full spring bloom.

Two of the city’s most impressive buildings are situated next to each other – the Parliament Building and the Empress Hotel. The latter is built in a classic French Canadian style and has ivy covered walls. It is obviously classy, as High Tea can be taken there for the somewhat less than modest cost of $60 per person! You can get a full 2 course dinner for $30, so take your pick!! The Parliament Building is very impressive, with marble columns and mosaics that remind us of our own Parliament House. We watched a debate about a new tax bill that the Opposition New Democrat Party (i.e like the ALP) was happily using as an excuse to attack the Liberal Government. This bear pit was so like our own parliaments – lots of jibes, ironic laughter and table banging. Kindergarten for adults anyone?

On Monday we took a bus yesterday to the Mayfair Mall – what a misnomer!! There were no supermarkets, no pharmacies, and no book store. There was just a range of high end fashion stores, and a food court. As we had eaten at Denny’s, we had no interest in the food, so after a quick stroll headed back to the city. We FINALLY found a supermarket – 20 minutes walk uphill from the motel. We managed to get some fresh fruit and yoghurt which we had for tea, after having a spa to get over the long walk!!

We are back in Vancouver now for a couple of days and a good catch up with Phil’s brother and sister-in-law, Rob and Marg. Next blog will be from LA.