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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)