It is hard to believe that I have put about 3,000 miles on the car and needed an oil change so I took care of that and let Ainslie sleep a little longer.
After having a fruit and cottage cheese breakfast we left Visalia and headed to the Sequoia National Park. We spent probably 4 - 5 hours in the park. Driving up the mountain in the park at 20 - 25 miles per hour around hairpin turns was a real treat when we met someone taking their share of the road. The temperature dropped from 100 - 74 degrees while going up. Wow we are in awe at the size of these trees.
After the park we drove to Fresno which is about 50 miles to Yosemite which we will see tomorrow.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Route 66 - 7/10
We spent the whole day touring Hollywood with a tour of the city and then the stars homes. The highlights of the tour of the city Gramens Chinese Theatre where we got to see many names of stars and had the opportunity to pose with star look a likes. The best I think were Laural & Hardy and Charlie Chaplain. The most interesting in this area was where they had there hand and foot prints of many stars from the past. Check of the pictures on Flikr to see. Did you know the walk of stars is 2 1/2 miles long? Our guide explained what happened when the Oscars occurred in this area of town with the street being blocked off and red carpet lining the whole street. Ainslie and I stumbled in to an area where they had a neighborhood get together and we joined it. Little did they know that we did not belong. We got to see Whisky A Go Go where many stars got their start like Motley Crue, Johnny Rivers, Buffalo Springfield, Guns & Roses. This sight was recognized at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a couple of years ago in Cincinnati. Across the street was the House of Blues of John Belushi Fame. We saw several spots where stars hung out or owned. Lunch was a special treat and we ate at an area with over 70 places. Something to keep in mind that when you go on a stars home and you really should record what photos you are taking. When we got back and it was a day later it was hard to remember all of them.
We left LA at about 7:00 and drove to Visalia buying our 1st $5.00 per gallon gas. It was good to get out of the big city and all of the traffic at a not so busy time.
We left LA at about 7:00 and drove to Visalia buying our 1st $5.00 per gallon gas. It was good to get out of the big city and all of the traffic at a not so busy time.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Route 66 - 7/8 - 7/9
We spent two days hanging around the Santa Monica Beach. It has been overcast with very little sun so with the breeze off the ocean it was not very nice for tanning or laying out. In two days we spent a total of about 2 - 2 1/2 hours on the beach. What was most impressive is how clean everything was in the area. I chatted with a lady that said the roller coaster was run on solar power (wow). The area had it's share of homeless people but they also were kept in check by the amount of police and they did not ask for hand outs. The pictures that I took and put onto Flikr do not begin to show the beauty of the area.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Route 66 - 7/6 & 7/7
Now that we are done with our Route 66 excursion we will do some sightseeing. Today we are headed for San Diego and on the way we will see if we can see a long time friend Shirley Forrester and possibly a high school classmate Delores Kelly. We scheduled a visit with Shirley on our return trip but were unable to get a hold of Delores.
We drove to San Diego and spent the night scheduling a 2 hour tour of the San Diego Harbor for the next day on the Hornblower Boats. This tour turned out to be quite informative and we saw many boats and planes that the Navy had in dock for repair. The Navy seals were training while we toured and we also got to see dolphins being trained to inspect the undersides of boats for mysterious items.
After the tour we headed back to Santa Monica where we have a room booked for 2 days of just lounging on the beach.
We drove to San Diego and spent the night scheduling a 2 hour tour of the San Diego Harbor for the next day on the Hornblower Boats. This tour turned out to be quite informative and we saw many boats and planes that the Navy had in dock for repair. The Navy seals were training while we toured and we also got to see dolphins being trained to inspect the undersides of boats for mysterious items.
After the tour we headed back to Santa Monica where we have a room booked for 2 days of just lounging on the beach.
Route 66 - 7/5
Today we started back to accomplish what we started and that was to tour Route 66. We took Interstate 15 from Vegas and joined Route 66 about 2 to 2 1/2 hours later. Route 66 in Nevada is really good roads with very little to see (just like AZ). We quickly entered California and Ainslie kept asking if we would get to LA today. The drive in California is through many cities that have become famous and recognized. When we crossed over Rodeo Drive Ainslie asked if we could drive down that street which we did. (A side note is that we plan to take a tour of the stars homes and the city and we will again go there). The only thing that was a little disappointing is that there is no official sight of the end and you wind up in a disappointing area of town. About 2 -3 blocks is the Santa Monica Pier which is another must see. I am writing this from a hotel that is 1/2 block away and a little pricey as is everything here ( a couple of days later). It was not possible to book a hotel in this area when we arrived.
We stayed in Holiday Inn in Woodlands Hills for 7/5 and plan to go to San Diego.
We stayed in Holiday Inn in Woodlands Hills for 7/5 and plan to go to San Diego.
Route 66 7/2 - 7/4
As you can probably tell I am writing this after the fact because on 7/2 we took a side trip into Vegas and at the Luxor Hotel where we stayed they wanted an extra $15 a day to access the wireless Internet which I chose not to do. In reality after getting service later with over 100 e-mails it probably would have saved me some time if I had paid the $.
Now to the story, On our journey on Route 66 we decided now would be the time to venture off to the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and Vegas. For those that have never seen the Hoover Dam it is really impressive. Because of the 4th of July weekend the area was buzzing with tourists. It seems that Vegas is promoting tourism with many specials including $50 credit card vouchers to stay with them for 3 days or more.
I found it difficult to find a place on the 4th as many people wanted to stay 3 days including that date. A place that had openings was the Luxor which turned out to be a good choice but it is an extremely big hotel with at least 3,000 rooms. It is situated quite a ways out on the strip so it is a long ways from downtown if you fancy enjoying the activities down there. Our first item of business was to find a fireworks show for the 4th. It turns out that at the Malady Beach Club which was next door they had a concert with fireworks for $42 per person. We booked tickets and were told we needed to pick them up at least 2 hours before the concert.
We decided to pick them up the same day and headed off to that hotel and went to the wrong box office to get the tickets. Our luck would lead us to a concert that was occurring at the House of Blues with the Two Veronicas and Natasha Bedingfield. It turns out the concert was sold out but a girl that was promoting the event had some comp tickets that we could have if we would dance for her. Both Ainslie and I did something really non deserving of tickets but she must have felt sorry for us. The place was absolutely packed with standing room only but it was a
really good show.
Day 2 We lounged around at the hotel pool and decided to take the Duece (a bus that goes up and down the strip 24 hours a day) to downtown. This turned out to be a long wait at both ends and a little frustrating. Downtown we got to see the laser show that started at 8:30 and had a different show every 1/2 hour. We got home very late that next morning.
Day 3 We again lounged at the pool and waited for the evening activities to start. We watched Vertical Horizon and then a massive one of a kind fireworks show that must have lasted an hour and it was absolutely non stop explosions. Again the crowd was large but I had a great seat at the edge of the pool to watch these.
The morning of the 5th we left Vegas.
Now to the story, On our journey on Route 66 we decided now would be the time to venture off to the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and Vegas. For those that have never seen the Hoover Dam it is really impressive. Because of the 4th of July weekend the area was buzzing with tourists. It seems that Vegas is promoting tourism with many specials including $50 credit card vouchers to stay with them for 3 days or more.
I found it difficult to find a place on the 4th as many people wanted to stay 3 days including that date. A place that had openings was the Luxor which turned out to be a good choice but it is an extremely big hotel with at least 3,000 rooms. It is situated quite a ways out on the strip so it is a long ways from downtown if you fancy enjoying the activities down there. Our first item of business was to find a fireworks show for the 4th. It turns out that at the Malady Beach Club which was next door they had a concert with fireworks for $42 per person. We booked tickets and were told we needed to pick them up at least 2 hours before the concert.
We decided to pick them up the same day and headed off to that hotel and went to the wrong box office to get the tickets. Our luck would lead us to a concert that was occurring at the House of Blues with the Two Veronicas and Natasha Bedingfield. It turns out the concert was sold out but a girl that was promoting the event had some comp tickets that we could have if we would dance for her. Both Ainslie and I did something really non deserving of tickets but she must have felt sorry for us. The place was absolutely packed with standing room only but it was a
really good show.
Day 2 We lounged around at the hotel pool and decided to take the Duece (a bus that goes up and down the strip 24 hours a day) to downtown. This turned out to be a long wait at both ends and a little frustrating. Downtown we got to see the laser show that started at 8:30 and had a different show every 1/2 hour. We got home very late that next morning.
Day 3 We again lounged at the pool and waited for the evening activities to start. We watched Vertical Horizon and then a massive one of a kind fireworks show that must have lasted an hour and it was absolutely non stop explosions. Again the crowd was large but I had a great seat at the edge of the pool to watch these.
The morning of the 5th we left Vegas.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Route 66 - 07.01.08
Today we did not drive very far down the road except we put on about 200 miles. It was about 80 miles one way to the Grand Canyon and oh my what a sight. We were in awe and spent about 5 hours touring this magnificant marvel. We did spend about 40 minutes in and IMAX looking at a movie about the canyon that was a real primer. For people staying home because of gas there was certainly a big crowd with parking at a primium at the look out spots. There were people from all over the world here. After touring the canyon we only drove a few miles down the road to see if we could take advantage of a smaller town and less costly lodging. The place we stayed last night was not 1st class and very noisy. Tonight we are at another local lodging place in Williams AZ at $59 for the night and much quieter.
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