We have arrived home – spent the last 2 days in San Francisco doing a Chinatown walking tour, visiting the Coit tower, Civic centre, and some areas north of the Golden gate bridge: Sausalito, Muir Woods, Tamalpais mountain. Plus a quick drive through tour of University of California Berkeley campus near sunset.
Here is the final tally.
13 national parks:
Yellowstone (MO/WY)
Grand Teton (WY)
Arches (UT)
Canyonlands (UT)
Mesa Verde (CO)
Grand Canyon (AZ)
Bryce Canyon (UT)
Zion (UT)
Capital Reef (UT)
Death Valley (NV)
Yosemite (CA)
Sequoia (CA)
Kings Canyon (CA)
5 National Monuments:
Natural Bridges (UT)
Grand Staircase Escalante (UT)
Cedar Breaks (UT)
Alcatraz (CA)
Muir Woods (CA)
2 Navajo Tribal Parks:
Antelope Slot Canyon (AZ)
Monument valley (AZ/UT)
10 or so State Parks including:
Dead Horse Point (UT)
Petrified Forest (UT)
Goosenecks (UT)
Valley of Fires (NV)
Kodachrome Basin (UT)
San Simeon (Hearst Castle) (CA)
Lime Kiln (CA)
Julia Burns Pfeiffer (CA)
Big Sur (CA)
3 sizable cities:
Salt Lake City (UT)
Las Vegas (NV)
San Francisco (CA)
A fantastic holiday!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Letters From America 8 – Rule 5
Ever since I moved in with Kitty she has been quoting Rule 5 to me. Where did she get it from ? From Lodz or some other Polish city ? And what may you ask is Rule 5.
RULE 5 - You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention. Anything else you get is a privilege."
Yes – we have arrived in San Francisco. I am sipping sherry in the Queen Anne hotel – a hotel that looks just like the hotel Paladin stayed in (Have Gun, Will Travel). A beautiful Victorian/Queen Anne period hotel with lavish antique furniture (eat your heart out, Judy).
Kitty has finally stopped driving (the car). She did a superb job but rather like Forrest Gump´s run, she just kept going in a straight line until she decided to stop. Fortunately it was in San Francisco and not Monument Valley. Getting her to turn was difficult. A typical scenario (K) Do I turn or go straight ahead ? (G – very forcefully) TURN RIGHT – NOW. Kitty goes straight ahead. (G) Why didn´t you turn ? (K) I was getting mixed messages !
But she did allow me to do a round at Pebble Beach. Pebble Beach Golf Club is one of the most prestigious in the US – over $500 to play. But I payed my entrance fee and stepped on the course. It was stunning. Unfortunately my entrance fee ($9.50) was only to get into the Pebble Beach estate and peer at the 5 or so golf courses there. But at least I drove past all the courses.
The Monterey coast was OK – rather like the Great Ocean Road – but a bit tame after all the National Parks. At Half Moon bay (half way to Frisco) we passed thousands of pumpkins – all laid out in a row. Some were huge (can be 1500 lb) but most were orange and all the same size. Virtually none were for eating. They were for the biggest pumpkin contest OR for Halloween.
I took Kitty to Alcatraz today. But they sent her back claiming she was too tough for them. But it was there I discovered where Rule 5 came from - Alcatraz Prison Rules and Regulations – 1934.
By now we have run out of money and I have been forced to send Kitty out to work during the day. You can see in the photo that she is just leaving work after a hard, sweaty 10-hour grind. The pay is not good but at least we can now afford to come home.
(Kitty´s comments - I went into this shop to get directions to a restaurant! If it came to following Graeme´s instructions or the GPS instructions I always followed the GPS, but sometimes it was set to the wrong route)
RULE 5 - You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention. Anything else you get is a privilege."
Yes – we have arrived in San Francisco. I am sipping sherry in the Queen Anne hotel – a hotel that looks just like the hotel Paladin stayed in (Have Gun, Will Travel). A beautiful Victorian/Queen Anne period hotel with lavish antique furniture (eat your heart out, Judy).
Union Square SF
Kitty has finally stopped driving (the car). She did a superb job but rather like Forrest Gump´s run, she just kept going in a straight line until she decided to stop. Fortunately it was in San Francisco and not Monument Valley. Getting her to turn was difficult. A typical scenario (K) Do I turn or go straight ahead ? (G – very forcefully) TURN RIGHT – NOW. Kitty goes straight ahead. (G) Why didn´t you turn ? (K) I was getting mixed messages !
But she did allow me to do a round at Pebble Beach. Pebble Beach Golf Club is one of the most prestigious in the US – over $500 to play. But I payed my entrance fee and stepped on the course. It was stunning. Unfortunately my entrance fee ($9.50) was only to get into the Pebble Beach estate and peer at the 5 or so golf courses there. But at least I drove past all the courses.
Pebble Beach golf course
The Monterey coast was OK – rather like the Great Ocean Road – but a bit tame after all the National Parks. At Half Moon bay (half way to Frisco) we passed thousands of pumpkins – all laid out in a row. Some were huge (can be 1500 lb) but most were orange and all the same size. Virtually none were for eating. They were for the biggest pumpkin contest OR for Halloween.
I took Kitty to Alcatraz today. But they sent her back claiming she was too tough for them. But it was there I discovered where Rule 5 came from - Alcatraz Prison Rules and Regulations – 1934.
Alcatraz from the ferry
Sea lions at Fisherman´s wharf - they arrived after the 1989 earthquake and have been there ever since
a cable car in hilly San Francisco
By now we have run out of money and I have been forced to send Kitty out to work during the day. You can see in the photo that she is just leaving work after a hard, sweaty 10-hour grind. The pay is not good but at least we can now afford to come home.
(Kitty´s comments - I went into this shop to get directions to a restaurant! If it came to following Graeme´s instructions or the GPS instructions I always followed the GPS, but sometimes it was set to the wrong route)
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Coastal California - heading to Monterey
After seeing the giant sequoias we headed for the coast. Some fluffy white things appeared in the sky and funny wet stuff came down! We have had 4 weeks of blue skies and heat so this was a surprise. Now we are on the coast we also have the famous Californian fog which is there in the morning, clears in the afternoon, and rolls in again near sunset.
The guests could do as they pleased in the day but had to attend cocktails, dinner and a movie screening from 730 pm to about 1 am each night. Who were these lucky guests? Basically anyone making news headlines – actors, top athletes, Winston Churchill, Amelia Earhart, Nobel prize winners, etc, etc. There were 3 basic rules for guests:
1.no excessive drinking
2.no cohabiting with non-spouses
3.no swearing
Errol Flynn apparently broke all 3 rules within 12 hours of arriving and found his bags packed when he returned to his room; he was promptly dispatched. Mind you Hearst´s wife lived on Long Island New York while he lived at San Simeon in an open relationship with the actress Marion Davies, so he was rather a hypocrite.
The opulence of the buildings has to be seen to be believed. As Hedda Hopper said - it will never be repeated. Apart from the actual construction, the rooms are full of collectibles from Europe – art works, pottery, tapestries, etc. A truly amazing place – makes you long to have been an invited guest.
We are now in Monterey having slowly worked our way up the coast today. The coastline is similar to the Great Ocean Road with the occasional state park with walks to waterfalls and lookouts.
heading for the coast near sunset
First stop on the coast was Hearst Castle, now owned and operated by State Parks. It was built by the media magnate William Randolph Hearst (and his architect Julia Morgan) from 1919 until the late 1940s - an ever changing work in progress. From about 1930 Hearst had a constant stream of invited guests. He could accommodate up to 60 at a time - each guest had a private suite and a servant to attend to their every need. Tennis, swimming and horse-riding gear was provided where needed. The bathroom plumbing was equivalent to today´s - amazing for the 1930s.
the main building
the Neptune pool. There is also an indoor ¨Roman plunge¨ pool 30m long and 3m deep for the entire length. It is UNDER the tennis courts.
one of the ornate carved ceilings
a typical guest suite
a typical guest bathroom
The guests could do as they pleased in the day but had to attend cocktails, dinner and a movie screening from 730 pm to about 1 am each night. Who were these lucky guests? Basically anyone making news headlines – actors, top athletes, Winston Churchill, Amelia Earhart, Nobel prize winners, etc, etc. There were 3 basic rules for guests:
1.no excessive drinking
2.no cohabiting with non-spouses
3.no swearing
Errol Flynn apparently broke all 3 rules within 12 hours of arriving and found his bags packed when he returned to his room; he was promptly dispatched. Mind you Hearst´s wife lived on Long Island New York while he lived at San Simeon in an open relationship with the actress Marion Davies, so he was rather a hypocrite.
The opulence of the buildings has to be seen to be believed. As Hedda Hopper said - it will never be repeated. Apart from the actual construction, the rooms are full of collectibles from Europe – art works, pottery, tapestries, etc. A truly amazing place – makes you long to have been an invited guest.
We are now in Monterey having slowly worked our way up the coast today. The coastline is similar to the Great Ocean Road with the occasional state park with walks to waterfalls and lookouts.
17,000 elephant seals breed and live on about a 6-mile stretch of coastline just north of San Simeon
walking through Californian redwoods to Pfeiffer falls
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park - note the waterfall straight onto the beach
typical coast line
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Sequoia NP (Letters from America 7)
driving through a sequoia that fell in 1927. They are mighty tough trees, resistant to insects, disease and fire. Eventually they collapse under snow or strong wind, but can live over 2000 years in good growing conditions.
this was only the second bear we have seen on our trip - the first was in Grand Teton NP
Giant sequoias - impossible to capture the whole tree without a fisheye lens
One of the giant sequoias - they are the largest (by volume) living plants in the world. The General Sherman tree has a volume of over 52000 cubic feet, and a base diameter of about 35 feet (11 metres)Yosemite was a superb place to laze around, hike around, and just chill out. Nearby Kings Canyon is similar but quieter and wilder - its canyon is 50% deeper than the Grand canyon. The sequoia groves have lots of really big trees. Kitty was unfortunate in that when I found the brown bear in the photo above it was the only half-mile of car travel in which she was not in the car. She was annoyed so I found another big, black bear for her a few miles away (or did I find a Kitty for the big bear ?). Anyway, as with the previous encounter of Kitty and the rattlesnake, they both survived.
But we must bid farewell to the Sierras, the National parks, the deserts, the wild animals and to the simple life. We must face the real America - traffic freeways, large cities, and maybe even loud, unpleasant people (no I don´t mean the French - who seem to have invaded the National Parks here).
So tomorrow we hit the coast at San Simeon (Hearst castle) and work our way north up the Monterey coast to San Francisco. Australia has another week of peace and quiet before we return. Make the most of it.
Cheers
Yosemite Graeme (Yosemite means ¨he who kills¨ ! - so watch out you scrawny varmints)
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Yosemite National Park
Lembert Dome
We stayed at Housekeeping camp where we have a ¨tent¨ which actually has 3 solid walls with a canvas roof and entrance. It has a double bed, bunk beds, and outside a private covered area with table, chairs, benches, hooks, etc. It´s beautifully located on the river with a view to Yosemite Falls - sadly these are totally dry at this time of year. The 2 hotels in the valley book out months in advance for this time of year.
Yesterday (Monday) we did the Vernal Falls walk up Mist Trail. It involved a reasonable ascent which became even more when someone (me!) misread the map.
the final ascent to the top of Vernal Falls (see top right of photo)
at the top
Today we drove to Glacier Point for stunning views of Half Dome, and then did the Sentinel Dome/Taft Point loop walk for equally impressive views of El Capitan and The Three Brothers:
Half Dome - the vertical face has a slope of 93% - steepest in the USA
El Capitan (left) and the valley from Sentinel Dome
that´s me waving from near the edge of the steep drop
El Capitan from Yosemite valley - people come from all over the world to rock climb the 3600 feet ascent. People also get killed each year trying.
One could easily spend a week or two here realaxing and doing little walks plus the odd harder one. The challenging one is Half Dome - it´s about 4500 feet above the valley floor. Some people do the climb in one day although that is not recommended. The final few hundred feet of ascent are up a 45 degree slope with cables. A good one for you David!
Only 2 national parks left to go - tomorrow we are off to Sequoia/King´s Canyon.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
California here I come (L to A 6)
Devil´s postpile - one of the best examples of basalt columns in the US - at Mammoth Lakes
Lake Sabrine - the trees are just starting to change colour
one of the many lakes near Mammoth Lakes village
a Bristlecone pine tree over 4000 years oldWell I have reached my final state (no – not death, exhaustion,or divorce – each of which I have narrowly avoided – but California ). After escaping the Valley of Death we chose to head leisurely up the East side of the Sierra Nevadas rather than the west side. Which was not a bad choice – despite its desert like appearance. In 80 miles you can go from the lowest point in the US (Badlands, Death Valley) to the highest (excluding Alaska) i.e Mt Whitney in the Sierra Nevadas at about 14,500 ft. And there are dozens more peaks between 12000 and 14000 ft.
And now for some trivia !
Trivia Question 1 - Where were most Hopalong Cassidy, Tom Mix, Roy Rogers and even many modern films made
A. East of the sierras in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine.
A. East of the sierras in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine.
Trivia question 2 – where does Los Angeles get most of its water ?
A. 250 miles away – east of the sierra. Using very unethical methods they obtained most of the land and water rights there – and in doing so destroyed the lives of most of the apple and fruit farmers in the Owens Valley
A. 250 miles away – east of the sierra. Using very unethical methods they obtained most of the land and water rights there – and in doing so destroyed the lives of most of the apple and fruit farmers in the Owens Valley
Trivia Question 3 – What film used the events described above as its basis (hint: think Jack Nicholson and Roman Polanski)
A. Chinatown
A. Chinatown
Trivia Question 4 – What country suddenly told 10s of thousands of its law-abiding people that they had a short time (less than a week – often less than a day) to get rid of everything they owned as they were being relocated for their safety). These people were allowed to take only one bag with them. They were sent to a remote barbed wired concentration camp where they were kept, under armed guard, for up to 3 years. After this they were released without charge, given $25 and a one-way ticket out.
A. No – not Germany, Chile, Uganda, or Iraq but the good old US of A. They did this virtually without warning to over 100,000 Japanese- Americans who were living legally in the US (many were US citizens) after Pearl Harbor. One of 10 such camps was Manzanar in the desert in the Eastern Sierra region. Some were shot at the camp but none were ever charged with anything.
A. No – not Germany, Chile, Uganda, or Iraq but the good old US of A. They did this virtually without warning to over 100,000 Japanese- Americans who were living legally in the US (many were US citizens) after Pearl Harbor. One of 10 such camps was Manzanar in the desert in the Eastern Sierra region. Some were shot at the camp but none were ever charged with anything.
Trivia Question 5. Were Japanese- Americans in Honolulu/Hawaii treated the same
A. No – they were too important to the economy of Hawaii (ie too many of them)
A. No – they were too important to the economy of Hawaii (ie too many of them)
Trivia Question 6. What is the name of the oldest known living thing in the world ?
A. Methusalah – an ancient, gnarled Great Basin Bristlecone Pine tree believed to be 4,700 years old – living some 9000 feet up in the East Sierra region
A. Methusalah – an ancient, gnarled Great Basin Bristlecone Pine tree believed to be 4,700 years old – living some 9000 feet up in the East Sierra region
Trivia Question 7. What else did we see ?
A. Lots. Mammoth Lakes – a ski resort for 8 months of the year was a highlight with its Brokeback mountain scenery, alpine lakes, and views of serrated mountains – but there are numerous side-trips (8-10,000 ft) up into the mountains, lots of scenic drives, canyons, cowboy-style country (rocks, mesas, desert, etc – even Gunga Din was filmed here!)
A. Lots. Mammoth Lakes – a ski resort for 8 months of the year was a highlight with its Brokeback mountain scenery, alpine lakes, and views of serrated mountains – but there are numerous side-trips (8-10,000 ft) up into the mountains, lots of scenic drives, canyons, cowboy-style country (rocks, mesas, desert, etc – even Gunga Din was filmed here!)
Trivia Question 8. Why doesn´t Kitty get more of a mention
A. As the chief skinny controller she edits out all comments – including this one
Trivia Question 9. Where to next ?
A. Over Tioga Pass (9900 ft) to Yosemite – where Internet is scarce and you MAY get some peace from us for 3-4 days. Cheers.
A. Over Tioga Pass (9900 ft) to Yosemite – where Internet is scarce and you MAY get some peace from us for 3-4 days. Cheers.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
From Vegas to Death Valley
Having left Las Vegas I have now decided I possibly would return as follows:
1. I would stay again in a lovely room like we had at the MGM Grand - you pay so little for so much
2. I would stay for at least 5 days so that there would be plenty of time for lazing around the pool as well as seeing the theme hotels, shopping,etc
3. I would come with lots of money so I could see a different top-billed show each night, including 2 Cirque du Soleil shows
4. I would also take in midday shows like the Mac King magician we saw - an excellent show and only $15 at Half Price Tix. A nice way to cool down and rest in the middle of the day.
5. I would continue to avoid the casinos until LV catches up with the 21st century and bans smoking in them
6. I would try to come in winter as it´s so hot even in September (around 40C)
Yesterday and today we went through Death Valley and the lowest place in the USA - tonight we are less than 100 miles away from there and not far from Mt Whitney the highest mountain in the USA (excluding Alaska)
Graeme´s comments:
PS - Kitty has left out the most important issues
1. Make sure you are in LV when David Copperfield is appearing. He is here ALL September - except for the week we were there. Forget the cost.
2. Limit your drinks to no more than 5 small cocktails per day. The small cocktails (for wimps) cost $8 - $10 and are a mere 16 oz. The large cocktails can be 110 oz and come in yard glasses; then there are the buckets.
3. Do not show your wife the cards with gorgeous naked women and their phone numbers on them. You may have 50 of these thrust in your hand in a 100 yard walk on the Strip !
4. Even though the strip is huge (4-5 miles long) make sure you go to downtown LV (5 miles from our hotel). Fremont Street Experience is located in the heart of downtown Las Vegas and is home to Viva Vision, the biggest big screen on the planet. Towering 90-feet above a pedestrian mall with more than 12 million lights in its four-block long canopy, 550,000 watts of concert quality sound pumps to speakers throughout the venue. Eat your heart out Michael S. - this is the Vegas you would love. There are also street performers galore there.
5. Pay for good seats at the big shows - the theatres can be huge. The KA (Circus du Soleil) show we saw probably took in close to a million dollars a day (2 performances). One issue was an incredible number of the performers who fell completely off the stage and disappeared. Actually the theatre had no fixed stage - just a ¨bottomless pit¨. Most of the action took place on a platform that slid out from the back of the stage . The platform (maybe 80 x 40 x 2 feet) could be rotated to almost any angle. One battle between 8 actors took place with this ¨stage¨ completely vertical - so it appeared you were looking down on the scene. It totally changed what actors could do ¨on stage¨ - a new dimension. Again Michael S. - eat your heart out.
1. I would stay again in a lovely room like we had at the MGM Grand - you pay so little for so much
2. I would stay for at least 5 days so that there would be plenty of time for lazing around the pool as well as seeing the theme hotels, shopping,etc
3. I would come with lots of money so I could see a different top-billed show each night, including 2 Cirque du Soleil shows
4. I would also take in midday shows like the Mac King magician we saw - an excellent show and only $15 at Half Price Tix. A nice way to cool down and rest in the middle of the day.
5. I would continue to avoid the casinos until LV catches up with the 21st century and bans smoking in them
6. I would try to come in winter as it´s so hot even in September (around 40C)
Yesterday and today we went through Death Valley and the lowest place in the USA - tonight we are less than 100 miles away from there and not far from Mt Whitney the highest mountain in the USA (excluding Alaska)
the view from Zabriskie Point (Death Valley)
nearby Golden Canyon
l
the lowest point in the USA (85 m below sea level)
I have also been to the lowest point in the world at the Dead Sea in Israel/Jordan
(about 400m below sea level)
PS - Kitty has left out the most important issues
1. Make sure you are in LV when David Copperfield is appearing. He is here ALL September - except for the week we were there. Forget the cost.
2. Limit your drinks to no more than 5 small cocktails per day. The small cocktails (for wimps) cost $8 - $10 and are a mere 16 oz. The large cocktails can be 110 oz and come in yard glasses; then there are the buckets.
3. Do not show your wife the cards with gorgeous naked women and their phone numbers on them. You may have 50 of these thrust in your hand in a 100 yard walk on the Strip !
4. Even though the strip is huge (4-5 miles long) make sure you go to downtown LV (5 miles from our hotel). Fremont Street Experience is located in the heart of downtown Las Vegas and is home to Viva Vision, the biggest big screen on the planet. Towering 90-feet above a pedestrian mall with more than 12 million lights in its four-block long canopy, 550,000 watts of concert quality sound pumps to speakers throughout the venue. Eat your heart out Michael S. - this is the Vegas you would love. There are also street performers galore there.
5. Pay for good seats at the big shows - the theatres can be huge. The KA (Circus du Soleil) show we saw probably took in close to a million dollars a day (2 performances). One issue was an incredible number of the performers who fell completely off the stage and disappeared. Actually the theatre had no fixed stage - just a ¨bottomless pit¨. Most of the action took place on a platform that slid out from the back of the stage . The platform (maybe 80 x 40 x 2 feet) could be rotated to almost any angle. One battle between 8 actors took place with this ¨stage¨ completely vertical - so it appeared you were looking down on the scene. It totally changed what actors could do ¨on stage¨ - a new dimension. Again Michael S. - eat your heart out.
6. Don´t treat people in LV as strangers - they don´t understand it. As Barry Humphries´ mother used to say ¨There is no such thing as a stranger - just friends you have not met ! (She is now in a high security detention home for the aged).
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