The National Parks Loop

First on the list out of Vegas was Giant Sequoia National Park, home to the giant Sequoia trees strangely enough. The route there brought us through the Mojave Desert and the searing heat that goes along with it. We originally had planned to go to Death Valley but it was just too hot so we knocked it off the list. The drive to Sequoia was a long one so we stopped off at a Sports Bar beside a lake in the middle of nowhere to watch the end of the Lakers Nuggets game 3 in the basketball. The Lakers were down by 8 going into the last quarter but pulled away and won it by 6 in the end. The fridges in the bar had broken so all beer was in ice in the sinks which was a bit similar to us as our A/C and generator had stopped working that day. Hopefully the problem is simple and related to both of them as neither of us fancy forking out too much money to get it

fixed. We parked up the road from the bar in a lay-by and went to sleep for the night after cooking some bolognese for dinner.

The following day had us arriving at Sequoia NP. It was Memorial Day which is the beginning of the Summer for Americans. It's a big weekend for them like the June Bank Holiday would be for us and the crowds were really out in force. The visitor centre was packed when we arrived there. We waited in line and found out where to go for an easy stroll through some massive trees - it was recommended to us to head us to General Sherman, the largest tree (by volume) in the world. We parked and got a shuttle up to the area, saw the massive tree and walked around for a bit. Now don't get me wrong, General Sherman is a massive tree and is impressive in it's own right but both of us agreed that we preferred the Redwood Forests of Northern California. Yosemite was on the bill for the following day so we hit the road to get a good bit of it done that evening to make the most of the day in Yosemite since so many people had recommended it back home. We drove to a town within 70 miles of the park entrance and stopped for dinner and ended up staying the night at the side of the road.

We slept in a little the following morning after the lawnmowers woke us at 7.30am but we were on the road and at Yosemite before noon. As with most of the other national parks, the entrance is often miles away from the visitor centre or the places you are there to see and Yosemite was no different. We went through the entrance, showed our pass and drove for another hour into Yosemite Valley. We went to the visitor centre and decided on the Upper Yosemite Fall Hike and while we were there we noticed that the campsites still had space. Now we had to go to campground reservations to book one of these places and we thought it would be a good idea as the plan was to do the hike and then watch the Lakers game in the Lodge afterwards. We headed to reservations but by the time we got there all the spaces had filled up and we were third on the waiting list. The catch was to claim a spot we had to be there at 3pm and we planned to be halfway up the hike by then so we nipped that idea in the butt. We drove back to the parking lot, laced up, got the shuttle bus to the visitor centre again and began the hike.

Now this hike is steep which hasn't been a problem so far, the thing was that te trail was full of ruts between rocks which meant it was really uneven and alot tougher on the legs. We got about 2 and a half miles up the loop to the first sighting of the upper falls that you get where we had a quick rest. We started up the rest of the trail when we passed some people coming down. They told us it was about an hour and a half to the top - at this stage it was already 5pm and the basketball was beginning at 6. Both os us were tired and hungry at this stage and continuing to the top meant we wouldn't get back until around 8 so we chose to turn around and head down. We had a quick wash and change in the RV and went to the bar to watch the game and relax. The bar had a really limited food menu so we got take-out from the cafeteria beside it and relaxed while eating and watching game 4 of the Lakers series. Denver ended up winning this one comfortably to tie the series at 2-2. We went back to the RV and hit the road since we wouldn't be able to sleep anywhere in the park. It ended up taking us about 4 hours to leave the park as the route brought us up over mountains and since there were loads of wild animals in the park we had to drive slowly as they could pop out of nowhere as a deer decided to do early on in the drive. We were quite low on fuel as we exited the park (at 10,000 feet elevation) and the gas station by the entrance was closed so we pulled into a lay-by and headed off to sleep.

The following morning we filled up with gas and headed on to our next planned destination - Lake Tahoe. We missed alot of spectacular scenery leaving the park under the cover of darkness the previous evening but we still had some amazing sights on our way to Tahoe, the first of which was Lake Mono. A Lake high in the mountains which has strange rock formations in the middle of it, many of which were under water until it started to be used as a fresh water source. To be honest I know no more about them and we saw them from the road but they cast a strange sight from the passenger seat. We continued on up and down the roads as the miles ticked by. We were well off the beaten track on this route and it showed in the towns we went through, alot of them seemed to be stuck in the 1980's. Alot of the roads went through open ranches so seeing cows by or on the road was not a strange sight so we had to be quite alert even though there was next to no traffic.

We arrived at Lake Tahoe in the mid afternoon. Or at least South Lake Tahoe anyway. This massive picturesque lake has many towns dotted around the lake and we seemed to be at one of the biggest ones. We had some food by the water and wanted to do something for the evening so we went to one of the built up marinas. Here we found a place that rents jetskis and I didn't need much persuading. We signed our lives away about 17 times and after a quick demonstration we were let loose on the water for an hour. We drove at 5 mph through the coloured buoys until we were in deeper water and then I squeezed the throttle to see what she had. It was great craic, again being out of season it was quiet so we had next to no traffic to deal with on the water. The longer we were out there the more confidence I got and near the end we were zipping over the water at over 40mph. We returned and gave back the kill cord and asked the rental guy for a nice place to get a small bite to eat and watch the basketball. He recommended a bar/restaurant called "The Beacon" in Camp Robinson so we headed there. As we went in there was a racoon going through the bins outside. We sat at the bar and watched the second half of the game as the sunset over the water out on the deck. We chatted with the really friendly bar man, had some wings and a burger and watched LeBron James get two free throws with 0.5s left in the game to bring it to overtime. Dwight Howard excelled in overtime and the Orlando Magic took a 3-1 series lead in the best of 7 Eastern Conference finals. We finished off our drinks and asked the barman if he reckoned we could stay where we had parked. He said he had seen people stay there for 2 nights in the middle of Summer so he thought we wouldn't have a problem. That was enough for us and stay there we did. We have been watching the Wire since we arrived on the iPod and we were all set to watch the last episode of the last series but it didn't transfer onto the iPod properly so we were left in suspense.

The following day we checked into an RV park early, picking up some food in Safeway along the way. I got there to see the last 20 minutes of the Champions League final which seemed to have been wrapped up at that stage. By all accounts Barcelona completely outplayed Man Utd so they can have no real complaints. We had a lazy enough day as the weather wasn't great so we just got our photos in order and spent some time on Skype back home. We had our usual RV park BBQ and went down the road to a pizza restaurant to watch the Lakers game. The owner was a big Lakers fan (now that we are back in California there are more of them again) so he spent most of the game chatting with us, stepping away every now and then to cook a pizza. It was a

really close game with the score tied at the end of each of the three quarters but the Lakers pulled away in the 4th quarter to win it comfortably enough and take a 3-2 series lead. We strolled back the RV and hit the hay.

We had 600 miles to our next destination so we got up and left the RV park around 11. We held off on filling up with gas until we crossed into Nevada where fuel is considerably cheaper. California seems to have the most expensive fuel in the states so the less we had to buy there the happier our wallets were. We filled up and stuck Ita in cruise control and watched the coutryside drift by as the mileometer ticked up and up. The journey started with rain, wind, hail, sleet and a bit of snow but dried up as we continued south and the altitude decreased. We stopped in a small town for gas and parked in the car park were Emer cooked dinner. I took over driving and hadn't gone two minutes down the road when I was pulled over for speeding. I was doing 45 in a 25 zone. Now as far as I know the rule in America is that you are fined $10 for every mph you are over the limit. I was fully expecting a big fat ticket as he took my licence back to his vehicle. As he walked back up his hands were empty except for my licence and he issued me with a warning. Must have been the Irish accent or something but I wasn't bothered, I stuck Ita back in drive and drove out of the town at 23 mph. We continued on to the next National Park, seeing our first piece of tumbleweed bounce across the road in front of us. We continued on into the darkness, driving under one of the meanest looking clouds I have seen on Extra Terrestrial Road and out of it's windy clutches until we got to a shell just outside of the town of Alamo. Alot of trucks had stopped here for the night so we did too.

The following day we continued towards Zion National Park. Before long we were back on the Interstate system, I-15 taking us north into Utah and we left it again when Sat Nav told us to. We drove on into Springdale, the closest town to Zion National Park. The Park run a shuttle service from the town and provide free parking so that the park doesn't get congested. It's a really good system and we were brought right up to the visitor centre. Here we chose the riverside walk after a little bit of ranger advice. We took the internal park shuttle bus all the way down to the end of the canyon and walked the easy paved trail. At the end there were alot of people putting on waterproofs and others drying off. You can continue the hike through the river all the way to where the canyon walls meet but we had no intention of doing that. The heavens opened as we were getting the shuttle back, we ran through the downpour to the town shuttle and back to our RV. We had left the windows and vents open when we were away as it was warm when we left so there was a bit of drying to do. The Lakers were playing so we found a Sports Bar and Grill and settled in at the bar to enjoy the game. I was wearing my Kobe Bryant jersey so I made both friends and enemies the second I walked in the door. The Lakers ran out easy winners as we had burgers, hot dogs and wings to take the Western Conference 4-2 and qualify for the NBA finals. During the evening we discovered that Utah state stipulates that you cannot purchase alcohol unless you are buying food - we were starving so it didn't really bother us but the amount of people ordering nachos or wings or some other cheap appetiser was funny to see. That night we found a dark spot in the car park of the bar and headed off to sleep.

The following day I was reading the Zion brochure over breakfast and remembered people telling me about the Angels Landing hike and how amazing it. We discussed it and decided to stay in Zion for another day as this would allow us to do the hike and then see Star Trek in the IMAX theater in Springdale. So we packed our bag and caught the shuttles to bring us to the start of the hike. And what a hike it was!!! The first mile and a half or so is really steep and it brings you up the canyon wall to a series of really tight switchbacks. When you finish these you come out at the top of the canyon and you are treated to an incredible view down the length of the canyon. This is where the fun part of the hike begins, there is still about a mile or so to the top of Angels landing. However, the route involves climbing up steep rock inclines and crossing over narrow passages a few feet wide with a 1000 ft drop either side and a chain to hold onto. I really hope the photos give you a sense of how amazing a section it was to hike. The weather was starting to turn nasty so we raced to the top and as soon we got there we heard thunder over the hills so we didn't hang around to see if there was lightning with it. The climb down was alot tougher but it was better to appreciate/be terrified by the view. We raced down the hill to the end and were amazed to see we did the whole thing in 2 hours - the brouchure says to keep 3-4 hours for the whole hike. We had showers in the RV and went to the same place for dinner as the night before and to watch the Lakers. While here we found out more about the strange alcohol laws in Utah. The barman told us that it is a Mormon state and they don't believe in alcohol. Not only can you not drink unless you are eating, all domestic beers are 3.2% alcohol (ours are usually 4.5%-5%). This includes beers sold in off licences and the like. Even though the Mormons are in the minority in the State, they make the decisions and they have decided that alcohol is evil and must be heavily controlled. We left before the game was over to go to the cinema.

The IMAX they had was massive, the screen as tall as a 6 story building. Star Trek had been out a couple of weeks at this stage but they only started showing it the evening before so there were decent crowds at it. We got there sort of early to get good seats but nearly all of them were good. We bought coke and popcorn and settled in for the film. A film we both thoroughly enjoyed. It's directed by JJ Abrams (the guy responsible for Lost) who has also directed Mission Impossible 3. The special effects and action are incredible and were certainly made better seeing it in the IMAX. We parked across the road and had a well earned sleep after our long day.

We got up early to hit the road to the next National Park of this leg of our trip - Bryce Canyon. The route we needed to travel brought us through the mile long tunnel through the rock of Zion Canyon. The first million dollar mile built in the States, completed in the 1920's, the tunnel hasn't been upgraded since then. Any vehicle over 8 foot wide or 13 foot high requires an escort through which basically means the rangers close the two way traffic for a time and you drive through the middle of the tunnel. We had to pay to do this, Ita didn't apprecriate being called fat but we reassured her and drove up to the entrance of the tunnel. The route was closed for oversized traffic coming towards us so we had to hang around for a few minutes behind a couple of Harley's but pretty soon we were sent on our way. The second we entered the tunnel it was clear why traffic needed to be stopped for large vehicles. It hasn't been enlarged since it was built in the 30's so we needed to drive in the middle of the road to prevent our roof scraping off the sides and top of the tunnel. When we emerged at the other end of the mile long tunnel the queue of traffic to enter the park was very long indeed. We got a few looks from people in cars giving out to us for closing the tunnel but it didn't bother us and we continued on. We stopped at a viewpoint to take a few more photos before we left the park and then we were on our merry way.

Bryce and Zion are close enough so we made it there before lunchtime and had some lunch in the overflow car park by the visitors centre. I had read about the Peekaboo loop trail in a couple of books and really wanted to do it so we laced up and got the free shuttle down to the start of the trail. It leaves you back a bit from the canyon edge so you get to walk up and experience the view without getting any peaks beforehand. And it is an amazing view. The best way I can describe it is like an outside cave. The way wind, ice and water have carved the rocks is incredible and the formations remaining resemble stalagmites. We walked the strenuous 6 km hike down, in and around the various stunning formations (I filled a 2GB memory card on this hike alone) and even passed a rattlesnake on the way back. The heat and yesterdays hike really caught up with us and we were shattered by the time we got back to the RV. We decided a stay at an RV park was in order to relax and recover. Sat Nav told us that there was a rest area about 30 miles from the RV park so we headed there with the intention of sleeping and getting a decent rest at the park. The route to this place was through some of the most left behind towns I have ever seen. Deer and cattle roamed the roads at will so there was lots of sudden braking. The worst thing about it was the lack of gas stations - we didn't see one the whole way to the interstate and it was another 60 miles once we joined the interstate until we passed one. We just about made it to it, we were putting Ita in neutral on any downhill sections of the last few miles we were so low. Made it we did (Thanks to Emers amazing driving) though so we filled up and headed on to the rest area.

We made it to the RV park around midday the following day but we continued into the town of Moab to do some shopping for food. Moab is a town fun of adventure lovers - downhill biking, white water rafting, climbing, absailing, dune buggys and many other adventure sports are all catered for. We did the complete opposite, chilling out in the shade, having a BBQ and chatting with family on Skype before the next National Park - Arches. We were up and out of the RV park at 11 the next morning as they seemed strict on check out time. We made the short drive to Arches and went all the way to the end where we liked the Double Arch Trail. It was a really fun trail - the first section was a path that brought you to a few arch formations but about halfway to Double Arch it turns into a very primitive trail. We didn't realise how primitive it was until the trail disappeared and we were scrambling across rocks and following stacks of stones which led the way through the desert. We passed people every now and then which confirmed we were on the right route. It was so much fun heading to a pile of rocks and then searching for the next one to lead the way. The formation made the hike completely worth it when we reached it - a massive rock arch had a smaller one below it. We walked through and sat in the shade to have a snack while we looked back through the arch over the desert spread out in front of us. We hiked back to the RV and drove to other formations to have a look at them but did no more real hiking. We did some more driving and stayed in another rest area.

Another day of driving beckoned so we were on the road in the morning. I-15 was the interstate for this portion of the journey. This road conveniently went right through Salt Lake City, capital of the Mormon state of Utah. Right in the middle of Salt Lake City is Temple Square which is effectively the Vatican of the Morman faith. The grounds are open to the public so we broke up our journey by paying it a visit. It's a walled area with numerous buildings including the Temple (which is closed to the public) and the Tabernacle, which is where the world famous (apparantly) Morman choir practice and perform. We strolled around the immaculately kept grounds where there were many Mormons walking around with leaflets and other stuff. We weren't there long enough to get talking to them which may or may not have been a good thing. We hit the road again north which brought us into the state of Idaho, parallel to the Rocky Mountain range to our right. Our eventual destination was to be Yellowstone and we stopped at the side of the road in a small town about an hour shy of the west entrance. I forgot to mention the amount of tunderstorms we have been driving through over the past few days - this evening was the 4th day in a row we saw fork lightning around us.

The next morning brought us into Montana and Yellowstone - the oldest and largest of all the National Parks. It's the one you always hear of and it was one I was especially looking forward to. And it didn't let us down - we were barely in the park 5 minutes and we saw a bald eagle in its nest perched on the top of a lightning burnt tree. A few more miles down the road and a Buffalo was walking down the middle of the road like he owned it. And then we reached the Geysers!! Iceland and New Zealand are probably more famous for their Geysers but Yellowstone National Park has over half of the worlds geysers within it's grounds. They are incredible, some just have small bubbles coming to the surface, others bubble and erupt but all of them create the most incredible colours around their edges. The smell of the steam eminating is quite rancid due to the high sulphur (for the kids - sulphur smells like rotten eggs, really gross) content but ther alien look to the landscape makes it all worthwhile. We also saw bubbling mud pits before we headed to the largest of all the geysers - Old Faithful. It erupts about every 90 minutes with the eruption spitting water over 100 feet in the air. When we got there it had just erupted so we decided to grab a shower in the Lodge right beside the Geyser. We had a thorough clean and came out and sat down on one of the benches around the Geyser and waited for the show to begin. A storm closed in over us as we waited and the National Weather Service issued a thunderstorm warning which had the park rangers out advising people to seek shelter. Nobody was moving so I think they were thankful when Old Faithful lived up to it's name and began erupting. The crowd were happy and we all headed to our vehicles or indoors. We took a quick detour through Hayden Valley in an attempt to see some Bears but the ensuing rain had them all under cover. We drove out of the park, over the Continental Divide (it's on a summit and contains a lake - water on one side flows to the Atlantic and on the other it flows to the Pacific) and on towards the town of Cody in Wyoming.

While we were in San Francisco a friend of Jack's (Garrett) recommended we go to a rodeo if we passed through here so we took his advice and went to the Cody Rodeo whcih is held for 90 nights in June, July and August. We had a quick dinner in the car park before buying our tickets and heading in. It was quiet enough as it was a weekday in early June but it was great craic to see it happen. We saw bucking Broncos, various lasoo events, kids on small bulls, barrel racing and the main event - bull riding. The aim is to stay on for 8 seconds but not one of the ridres managed this (one got trapped in the gate between the gate and the bull and was knocked out which was a bit scary). It was a really good event and is what Cody believe they are famous for. Again, we hit the road for a while and parked in a rest area on the interstate, I-90 this time.

Our run of National Parks was coming to an end but there were a few left in the Black Hills of South Dakota that we planned to visit before the spring south to Tennessee. First up was actually a monument - Devil's Tower. We drove for the whole day and made it here around 6pm. It's basically just a rock outcrop exposed by tectonic activity. Looks a bit out of place jutting out of the hill but it's nothing spectacular really after what we have seen so far on this trip. Jewel Cave was next on the agenda so we drove towards that so we could go to it early in the morning. As we drove there another lightning storm took place, this was the first one when it was dark though. It was incredible having the night sky lit up by the various forks all around us. Nature's power at it's greatest. We stopped by the side of the road in the last town before Jewel Cave and headed off to bed.

We got to Jewel Cave the following morning and went to the visitor centre to purchase tickets for some tours. Unfortunately the lantern tour hadn't begun yet so we couldn't do that one (basically a ranger led tour with only the lanterns which people carry to light the way) but we bought tickets for the two that were available - the Discovery Tour and the Scenic Tour. The discovery tour was a 20 minute tour of one room and was utterly forgettable but the scenic tour was alot more enjoyable. It was an hour and a half long and went about a mile into the cave (the second largest cave system in the world). Here we saw alot of the features that give Jewel Cave it's name but not any frost which is probably too delicate to display to the public. There was some on display in the cabinet in the visitor centre so that was something. We hopped in the RV and headed to our second of the last three National Parks and probably one of the most famous, Mount Rushmore. Along the way we passed by the Crazy Horse Monument which is currently being constructed and is due to be finished by 2050!! We got to Mount Rushmore, paid for the private parking (which we had no choice about, grrr) and strolled up to see the Presidents faces.

However, fog had rolled in and were obscuring the view from the terrace. We strolled along the path under them in the hope of catching a glimpse but they were obscured there too. We were going to have some food and wait for the fog to pass and as we turned to go for a food a cheer erupted from the terrace to signal that the fog had blown away. We had a look, took some

photos and then headed to the final park as the evening was closing in. We made it to Badlands as the sun was starting to set so we just drove through this park and admired it from the RV, and the odd view point that I hopped out at to take photos. It's an amazing landscape that has been formed, quite similar to Bryce Canyon but carved out of mud instead. As water has created Canyons in the soil, the various minerals in the soil have been exposed to the air creating a multi coloured landscape. We left the park as it was getting dark and started the long drive towards Tennesse for the weekend.

We found a rest area on I-90 on the Sat Nav and headed there. Along the way there was a truck overtaking us. I dipped my headlights as he was passing us and when he was nearly past us he put on his main beams. Up ahead was a deer standing right in it's path but he had no time to react. He jammed on the brakes but what followed was inevitable, the deer never stood a chance against an articulated truck at that speed. It was a bit horrific to see but both of us were thankful it was the truck and not us because I'm not sure how Ita would have fared. We made it to the rest area and rested our weary bodies after the productive day in preperation of a couple of long days on the road.

Vegas Baby!!!

Hit the road nice and early on our way to Vegas, one of the most important stops of our trip in my eyes anyway. The route was to bring us over the Hoover Dam, one of the Engineering Marvels in the US. And it is. Many of you will know it as the dam Harrison Ford jumped off in The Fugitive but I know it as the dam with the concrete that is still yet to cure, despite being laid over 60 years. The lake it has created is known as Lake Powell and the first thing that strikes you as you look at the lake is the bleached rock indicating how the water level has dropped over the last number of years. We turned on the generator, turned the A/C up to max to combat the unbelievable heat and had some lunch here after I took some photos and soon we were back on the road.

After a load of raod works we finally got to the city limits. Unfortunately we didn't approach from LA so we didn't get to pass the famous "Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas" but we were still left in awe as we drove through the desert and suddenly you come upon this city in the middle of nowhere. And then the skyline of strip dominates out of nowhere. Ita couldn't bring me 

there quick enough. Eventually we made it to the Luxor, an eqyptian themed hotal and casino with a pyrmaid shaped main building housing the casino and alot of hotel rooms. They extended the resort with a tower out the back adding a number of hotel rooms after the original construction. We drove up to self park and were directed by a security guard where to leave our vehicle while we went to check in. We grabbed our packed rucksack and made the short stroll up to reception to check in.

Before we made it to the check-in desk we were stopped by a Luxor worker who asked us if we were married. No. Were living together. Yes. Were over 25. Yes. She then showed us to a desk where a well dressed man named Michael offered us some show tickets. We wanted to see the Bodies exhibition so he had our attention (The same bodies show that was in Dublin last March/April). The Luxor are involved in a Timeshare developement a bit down the Strip (the undeveloped part) and for $50 we could get 2 Bodies tickets and $125 in gaming chips/restaurant vouchers/spa treatments if we attended a 2 hour timeshare presentation. Now neither of us are fools and we are both well able to say no under pressure so we signed up. $160 for $50 and a couple of hours out of the heat when it's too hot to do much else sounds like a good deal to me.

We then went to check in and were told that we were entitled to a "complimentary upgrade". I enquired as to what extra we were getting and it was basically a bath tub but we were in the tower instead of the pyramid. Before we left I was told that the best part of staying in the Luxor was staying in the pyramid because of the lifts so we politely declined the "upgrade". We went to the inclinators (like elevators but since they are rising up the outside of a pyramid it's like being on an escalator in an elevator - quite bizarre). We got to the room to discover that it they had only just started to clean it and there were two double beds and not a king bed as we had booked so it was back down to complain to the Manager. We talked to the Manager who was a bit of a witch with a B and all she could do was give us the "upgrade" we were offered at the beginning. I argued the point that we booked a king size in the pyramid and not the tower and she countered with the small print that rooms are not guaranteed and are only subject to availability. I wasn't in the mood to argue so we took the "upgrade", dropped our bags up and headed back to the RV. By this stage security were really annoyed with us since we were supposed to get our keys, move our vehicle and then go to our room, not the way we did it. It didn't bother us so we went and parked and headed back up to the room. 

Emer went down to the pool while I watched the basketball. When Emer got back we went for dinner. Vegas is famous for it's all you can eat buffets so we decided to try one of them out. We were quite hungry and reckoned we could get some Irish value from one so checked online for the best ones. A few searches and it beacme apparant that Planet Hollywood was one of the best as well as being realtively cheap so we headed off there. The second we left the hotel we were blown away by how hot is still was, despite it being 9pm. We made it to the the hotel and paid our $28 each and hit the buffet. We both ate like Kings, choosing from Italian, Chinese, Indian and American cuisines as well as having water and Pepsi brought to our table and refilled throughout the meal. When both of us were uncomfortably full we decided to walk it off by having a stroll along the strip. It was as colourful and entertaining as we both expected. We saw the founatins dance at the Bellagio, the volcano erupt at the Mirage, the scrams from the rollercoaster at New York New York, we walked under the Eiffel Tower among the slots of Paris, we listened to the Gondoliers serinade their passengers with Opera extracts in the Venetian and enjoyed many other spectacles along the strip. Our paths parted at the MGM Grand where I went to play poker for a while.

I sat down with $130 in chips at a full table before midnight determined to do well. For those of you reading this expecting to hear me fulfill my plan of driving a Lambourgini the money situation is a little tight to allow for that luxury so I needed to be uber-successful over the next day or two to allow that to become a reality. Anyway, the cards weren't being nice to me so I sat there patiently picking up the odd dollar or two to keep my chip stack as I started. Things started to heat up but still no cards came my way. Eventually my big bling was raised to $15 by the first to act and was called by two more, I looked down at two Kings and went all in, only to be called by the short stack who had about $50. He had Ace Jack and caught an Ace to cause a bit of hit to my stack. Over the next hour I slowly built it back up to over $100. The next major hand I was involved in occured when I was small blind and I got in cheaply with Queen Jack. The flop had 2 queens and 2 clubs. Being first to act I wanted to get rid of the flush draw so I raised it $15 and had 2 callers. The turn brought another club so I raised it $23 to show I wasn't afraid of the flush. One guy folded straight away and the other reluctantly called so I was a little worried. The river brought a Jack to give me a full house so I went all in. After a bit of humming and hawing the other player called an showed his King high flush. Needless to say he wasn't happy when I showed him my full house. I pulled in the chips, about $250 of them. Now poker players know that it is an unwritten rule that you don't leave the table after a big win so I got a drink and hung around a few hands. During this time two young fellas sat down at the table. They were in Vegas celebrating graduating from College and had alot of money and weren't afraid to get their chips into the middle so I decided to hang around and see if I could get involved in a pot with them. The minutes ticked by and their stacks went up and down but I never got the cards to get involved with them. Eventually I was raised when I had Ace King so I bit back and had one of them call. $40 in the pot and the flop came King, 9, 4 with different suits. I checked and he raised $25 so I came over the top with a $60 raise. He thought for a second and went all-in. This was my chance. I called and he showed Queen Jack. The turn was a 7. There was over $400 in the middle and I started to dream of driving the Gallardo. Most of you know where this is going - a 10 on the river gave him a straight and my hours of patience were all wiped away. I shook his hand, accepted his apologies and headed off to bed. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement but that's poker - I got my money in while I was ahead and he got lucky. I have done it to many people in the past. It took a fair bit of self restraint not to take out more money walking past the ATM's on the way out of the casino but I made it back to bed without doing it. At 5.30am - that's Vegas for you.

The alarm went off it seemed 20 minutes later to get us up for the timeshare presentation. We got a bus out to the complex, had our free breakfast and listened to the presentation. We chatted to our guide for the day and told him about our trip - he seemed to know we were only there for the gifts and showed us around while talking about sport and other interests we had in common. We got up to the money part of the presentation, had our fill of the free lunch and politely declined the many "special one time offers" that the international manager offered us. He reluctantly let us leave and we headed back to the bus. Or so we thought. We were shown to a room where we were met by a "Head Office Representative" who wanted feedback on what we thought about the presentation. Now ewe were thruthful and said it might be something we would be interested in in the future. She tried offering us even better special offers, trying to get us to commit to giving them a few hundred dollars a a deposit then and there. I interupted her, looked her square in the eyes and said "No" numerous times. She didn't seem to accept this and continued trying to sell this "one-time offer" to us. Now as I said both of us know to expect this so we completely blanked her and looked at each other and she got the hint. She thanked us for coming and brought us out to the next room where we got our gifts. We had $125 to divide between food and gaming - Emer thought we should get $100/$25 food/gaming but I persuaded here the split should be $75/$50. We hopped on the bus back to the hotel and went back to our room.

Quick aside. For anyone else who has been to Vegas, did you have a problem with static electricity? It seemed that any time either of us touched something metal we were getting a shock. I seemed to be getting it worse, to the extent that when I went to give Emer a kiss I got a shock on my lips. Maybe it was the Egyptians trying to tell me something.

After the timeshare "presentation" we cashed in our Bodies vouchers for tickets. The Bodies exhibition is an exhibition in the style of a museum that explores the various functions of a body, from the bones to the muscles, arteries, organs and everything in between. It presents them using dissected body segments and groups. It's a fascinating exhibition, at times creepy and wierd, but fascinating the whole way through. After this the lack of sleep from the night before caught up with me and I headed for a nap while Emer went for a workout and a swim in the pool. The alarm went off at 6 to get me up to watch the Lakers game. We watched the start of it while getting ready for dinner. We decided to treat ourselves after sitting through the crap this morning so we went to "Tender", the posh steakhouse in the Luxor. Emer ordered the 14 oz. Striploin and I ordered the 24 oz. Porterhouse. We both got French Fries and I got some carrots as well to keep the meal healthy. The steaks arrived and were cooked to perfection. Emer's was a striploin steak (imagine a rasher or pork chop shape) as thick as the finest fillet you would get at home, mine was a 24 oz. T-Bone with a fillet steak on one side and a striploin on the other. They were both so big it seemed that the weights were cooked and not pre-cooked as at home. Emer's beat her and I just about finished mine, leaving a good few french fries behind as much as I didn't want to. We asked for the bill as the Lakers game was getting towards the end. We were shocked when it came and it was $9 for each of the French Fries and another $9 for the carrots. We had the $75 vouchers but it still ended up being more than we expected. The waiters sly move here cost him in tip and we headed over to the bookies station to watch the end of the Lakers game with the considerable crowd that had gathered (albeit a smaller crowd than the one that watched the American Idol final the night before). The Lakers missed a 3 point shot 

n the final seconds to tie the game so the series tied at 1-1. We had tickets for the Criss Angel/Cirque De Soleil show which wasn't due to start for over half an hour so we cashed in our $50 gaming chips. On our walk of the stip and the casinos the night before we had got the grasp of Craps (the dice game) so we headed over to the tables. We passed Roulette on the way so I had to stop here and put money on my number, 17. I have great faith in this number so put money on it, despite the dealer telling me my chips had much better odds on the Blackjack tables. I thanked him and put the money on 17 (Emer chose 23 with the other $5 we had to put on the table) and the ball was put in motion. It started to slow and caught the divisions between the numbers and caught flight. It bounced around the various numbers and started to slow down around 17. I got excited as it appeared to land in 17, only to bounce into 5 right beside it and settle. Again, I cursed my luck and we headed off to the Craps tables. Gambling in Vegas is quite expensive as all the casinos have $10 minimum bets, some up as high as $20 so unless you have a decent bankroll you can be out of money and chasing losings very quickly. We hit the craps table with our $40 in free bets and put $10 on the pass line. I won't bore you with the ins and outs of Craps but on the first roll you don't want to see a 2, 3 or 12. During all our rule learning over the previous two days we hadn't seen it but as soon as we had chips on the table, a 3 was rolled and that was another "$10" gone. We stuck another $10 down and survived the first roll. Once the first roll is done you can bet on a lot of things, basically betting that the roller will roll a certain number, higher odds if they do it the "hard" way i.e with doubles - a hard 8 is two 4's etc. We realised the only way to really win money is to bet on relatively long odds so we stuck another $10 on a hard eight. Craps continues until a 7 is rolled and then everyone loses their bet so naturally enough a 7 was rolled before we won any money and we were down to our last $10. We went in search of $10 Blackjack but could only find $15 minimum so we went back to Craps, put our last $10 on hard 8 and crossed our fingers. An easy 8 was rolled so we lost that $10 bet and were left with a grand total of zero winnings from our night of gambling. It was all free so it was alot easier to walk away but we really didn't get a feel for it since each bet was over so quickly. We headed over to the Theater to go into the show that was due to start in a few minutes.

When booking the hotel we were given a discount so we were able to get great seats, about 10 rows from the front in the middle third. The best way to describe Criss Angel is a popular David Blaine. He does illusion tricks in public like walk up the edge of building and levitate. He incorporated these kinds of acts into a Cirque De Soleil show featuring lots of incredible dancing which was very entertaining. Neither of us knew what to expect going into the show and left it quite satisfied with what we saw. I left Emer to watch her shows and go online while I took a stroll down the Strip to take some photos. I forgot to mention this during the first Strip walk but it is incredible the amount of people out handing out calling cards for prostitutes. You can't seem to walk a hundred yards without having cards forced upon you. 100 yards seemed to be 20 yards when I was walking as a single male without a girlfriend beside me. I walked around the various resorts taking photos and headed back to the room. It's amazing how many people are out on the strip even at 2 and 3 in the morning. They say that New York is the city that never sleeps, I think that description is much more apt for Las Vegas.

Friday morning brought checkout from the hotel at 11am but there was one more thing left to do before this Vegas adventure was to be finished. America is the gun capital of the world so I wanted to take advantage of this so we paid a visit to the gun store. Here you can rent a number of guns and try them out supervised and in a controlled manner. I chose an MP-5 sub machine gun, an AK-47 assault rifle and a .44 Magnum - just like Dirty Harry. I was given my ammunition and had to choose my target sheets. For the time in it my first choice was easy - the Terminator. For the country that was in it my second and third choice were also easy - Akmed the suicide bomber and Osama Bin Laden. We joined the queue and after a few minutes we were instructed to put on our eye and ear protection and we were brought into the range. First up was the MP-5, a "gentle" introduction to my time shooting. For the money you get two magazines to use with the MP-5 - if you hold the trigger the magazine will empty in a couple of seconds or one pull will release a 3 shot burst. They tell you to shoot in three shot bursts. The target was loaded (upside down as machine guns tend to rise) and sent down the range. I was given the gun, the magazine was loaded and I was on my own. 2 magazines were unleasehed on the Terminator in a minute or so and the target was brought back so I could admire my handiwork. He went out to get the next gun while I looked at the remnants of the target and rolled it up as a momento along with an empty casing.

Next up was the AK-47, a much different beast. I got one magazine for this one and it was more than enough - a longer, heavier gun with a much stronger kickback. I decided that Akmed the suicide bomber would fell the wrath of this gun. Again, holding the trigger would empty the magazine in a second or so or a single squeeze produced a 3 second burst. This gun being longer and heavier was still alot more accurate if handled correctly. Great fun and the holes were alot closer at the end. I was left to admire my handiwork again as he went out for the final gun of the session, the .44 Magnum.

Unbelievable!! It's so heavy you have to rest it on a box to keep it any way steady. This model had a scope on the end of it so we sent Osama to the end of the range. This gun is loaded 6 bullets at a time but since I had 20 he loaded them 5 at a time. I had a few practice squeezes before it was loaded to try and get the technique right. You are supposed to have a smooth squeeze, consistent the whole way through. This was easy to do when it was empty but it was a whole different kettle of fish when it was loaded. As you squeeze you can see the firing mechanism slowly rise and the barrel twist around to the next bullet. The nerves certainly build as you try and keep the crosshairs on the target and then BOOM!!! The flash and noise and kickback are really hard to describe. I shot a double barraled shotgun back home before and this had more kick behind it. The first shot got him right between the eyes but as fatigue kicked in the shots became a little more wayward. And it is tiring shooting the Magnum, brilliant fun but tiring. When all 20 shots were fired we brought the target back, posed again for a photo and then headed out. I picked up my souvenier t-shirt and we hit the road. I certainly don't believe in the gun culture in America but it was alot of fun shooting paper targets in a controlled environment.

We hit the road from Vegas and while we did there was a certain disappointment. I really feel like we didn't have enough time to do all the stuff and see all the sights that Vegas has to offer. It's a place I certainly plan on coming back to at some time in the future. But for the time being we have alot more of this huge and varied country to see.....

The Wild Wild West

(2 for the price of 1 today, don't miss the first of two instalments below. Also, alot of photos have been uploaded so have a look at them here and here. If I get a chance in the next few days I'll link a few of them to the blog but in the meantime enjoy the read)

Monument Valley is the iconic image of the Wild Wild West (as Emer like to call it) and we were finally on our way to see it. It's on of those endearing images of America and one I was really looking forward to seeing. So much so that I wanted to go in when the park opened at 6am to see the sun rise over all the monuments - I was told that this is the best time to get photos of the park, I hope you agree. We drove to within 10 miles of the park entrance and found a sandy lay-by to park for the last few hours of the night. I set the alarm clock for 5.30 am and off to bed we went.

The alarm clock seemed to go off 10 minutes later but a quick check out the window confirmed that the sun was rising. We got dressed and drove the last few miles up to the entry booth. $6 each and we were in the park. We were given a map and sent on our way. Monument Valley contains those big red sandstone buttresses that are seen in all the cowboy films. To see these you drive around them on a dirt track. It's basically a trail that has been dug out of the desert that vehicles have compacted over time, exposing rock in places. It is said that most vehicles can drive it when it's dry so we reckoned Ita was up to the challenge. The speed limit is 15 mph but I doubt we ever went over 10, crawling at 3-4mph at times. There are a number of viewpoints along the way and the fact that it was so early meant that we had each of them to ourselves and didn't have to worry about holding people up along the route. We had booked horse riding for the afternoon so we went back up to the visitor centre, parked up and went for a nap.

We awoke around midday and cooked some dinner. We then headed down to the horseriding booth to pay for horse riding and (well we assumed anyway) be brought to the horses. It turned out if we wanted a lift down it was another $20 so we declined that offer and took Ita down for tour 2 of the valley. Again, the whole thing rattled for the whole journed but we made it down to the horses safe and sound.Ther are two versions of what happened next:

Emer's Mam's Version:

It was great. Nothing out of the ordinary happened and we returned safe and sound.

The real Version:

We were introduced to our guide for the afternoon. Rob, a Navajo (native Indian) teenager just out of high school, showed us the ropes and introduced us to our horses. I was on Hairy and Emer had JW. It soon became apparant that these horses weren't as well trained as ones in Ireland would be and soon into the ride Rob informed us that the horses in their stables are wild horses that have been tamed (some better than others). They stopped whenever they felt like it sometimes to chew on herbs, Emer's even showed her who was boss early on by rolling her. Also, since this was Navajo territory, there was no such thing as helmets. The trail brought us well off the beaten track and into the desert to other formations not seen on the self guided motor tour throught the park. We saw some natural arches, listened to some Navajo songs been sung under natural arches, viewed some Navajo stone markings, met some wild cows, walked through empty river beds and generally had a wonderful three and a bit hours. Near the end we went for a bit of a gallop and Emer's horse had had enough of her and started acting up. Emer had to hit the deck to avoid being kicked off and she swapped horses with Rob, riding Mohawk back to the trailers. We took our sore and sandy bodies back into the RV and over the bumpy road back out of the park.

Monday brought the next natural feature in the Navajo region - Antelope Canyon. Every year the Colorado River floods and area of the Arizona desert near the town of Page. This water meets a section of rock and finds the easiest path to get through this. What has resulted is a breathtaking section of canyon with curving walls that look different at every moment of every day due to varying amounts of light that penetrate it from above. We paid $3 per person to get into the area where you book your tour for another $25. This brings you through the desert on the back of a modified pick up truck. When I say modified I mean it's had a couple of benches and a bit of a roof welded onto the bed of the truck. Our driver/guide brought us through the 1/4 mile section of the canyon showing us the best places for photos and explaining a little how it occurs. We were then given our own time to go and take photos on the way back. The amount of photographers there jockying for tripod space was unbelievable but when you see the amount of incredible photos that can be taken you understand why. Thankfully on the way back through it was alot quieter than on the way through so we got to setup some photos but an hour really wasn't enough for me. We headed back over the bumpy desert run to the RV and then headed to an RV park close to the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately it had been damaged by fire a couple of years ago and they still hadn't replaced the pool or hot tub and their internet was terrible.

We tidied the RV and did our laundry and other non-fun things that seem to build very quickly and hit the hay. We watched the first episode of season 5 of the wire. For those of you who know the show I am talking about it has really gripped us over the past few weeks - both of us wish this wasn't the last series. The following morning we hit the road before ten in order to get a full day at the Grand Canyon. We drove the hour or so up the highway, went through the entry booth (we bought a annual national parks pass so we no longer have to pay any entry fees into national parks) and headed on to the RV parking lot. Now I have seen numerous photos of the Grand Canyon, both amateur and professional, but nothing can prepare you for the jaw dropping site the first time you look over the rim into the valley below. It is just incredible.

We walked along the rim route for a couple of miles, stopping a good few times to take photos and just soak in the awsomeness of mother nature at work. We stopped in the shade of a tree to have our packed lunch and I had a bit of a wander down the rocks to the edge. The view that I had of the canyon was just amazing and is filed in with those other experiences we have had along the way on the "will never forget" shelf. We took a shuttle bus back to the RV, relaxed for a while and then went into a bar in the hotel to watch the Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets in the first game of the Western Conference Finals. It was especially sweet as we were sitting beside some very vocal Denver fans and I was in my Kobe Bryant shirt. It was only the first game of 7 but a sweet victory none the less. We then hit the road into the darkness towards Vegas.....

Into the West - Heading East

So after returning back into the US safely we started our trek east. First on the list was Carlsbad Caverns, a cave system I have wanted to see ever since they were featured on the Planet Earth series of documentaries (if you haven't seen them yet make sure you put that at the top of your to do list, they are incredible). 900 miles seperate San Diego from Carlsbad so we had quite a journey on our hands. It was Monday evening at this stage and we had planned to go to the caves on Wednesday so we needed to bash through a good few miles.

The first few on the I-10 were like most of what we had done before but slowly the terrain started to rise in front of us and the vegetation became more sparse. Soon we were climbing and reached over 4000 feet elevation. We began to see Joshua Trees, a very exclusive tree that only grows between altitudes of 2,600 and 4,300 feet. Very soon the vegetation was being replaced 

with rocks, some deep red in colour. The interstate cut through some of the mountains and before we knew it we were on the other side and we were greeted by an amazing sight - desert as far as the eye could see and the highway cutting straight through it.

Since it had been a week sice the last one and we had 90 miles to drive we decided to book into an RV park the following day. Which meant we needed to put a big hole in the 900 odd mile trip this evening. So we rolled down the windows, turned up the music and stuck Ita into cruise control. Even though it was 6 in the evening it was still 100 degrees in the desert (around 38 in real temperature). As the miles ticked away so did most remnants of civilisation - it was us, the truckers and the odd petrol station just off the interstate. We were treated to an amazing sunset in our mirrors as we continued east into the desert. What happened next was even more spectacular - a moon rise. About half an hour into darkness (and it gets really dark out in the desert) Emer pointed to the right slightly and asked if that was the moon. Instead of the usual full round white moon, there was a bright yellow eliptical moon which slowly transformed to the usual round white one over the course of a couple of hours as it rose from the horizon. And the miles ticked by. Along the interstate there was a police checkpoint which was manned by border patrol. A couple of questions, a check of our passports and visas and we were on our merry way

into the Arizona night. And the miles ticked by. Deep into Arizona the moon was creating silhouettes of the giant pitchfork cactii in the desert either side of the road. And the miles ticked by. On our trust worthy sat nav we entered rest areas along the route and chose one. And the miles ticked by. Around 500 miles from San Diego we rested our weary eyes (Emer rested 

hers about half an hour before the rest area (After I had driven a couple of 100 miles myself!) in preperation for the remainder of the journey.

We were woken by the alarm at 8am and hit the road again. The cactii were gone, replaced with the odd bush, some thick tufts of grass and alot of sand. The I-10 continued into New Mexico (we lost an hour here with the change of time zone - this will be explained later) and on into Texas where it hugged the Mexican border. Another border patrol checkpoint so. This time we

showed our visas and were requested to exit the vehicle and have a seat while a sniffer dog gave it the once over. No drugs or Mexicans were found on board so we headed on our merry (and hot) ways again. We bid farewell to the I-10 at El Paso and joined the Texan highway network. I thought the interstate was through the wilderness but it was nothing to the Texan highways. The 2 lane highway cut straight through the desert, for stretches of up to 40 miles at a time. Gas got pretty low at one stage, a single gas pump in the middle of nowhere providing relief. This highway continued through Texas and brought us over the Guadalupe mountains in the north of the state. About an hour later we were in Carlsbad, unfortunately the RV park was another half an hour the other side. We eventually arrived after 5pm, 24 hours after leaving San Diego. We did a few things but I was so wrecked from the heat and the drive that I was in bed by 9. I barely even remember putting my head on the pillow.

The follwoing day brought what I had been looking forward to for a long time, Carlsbad Caverns. For anyone who has seen Planet Earth, they know how spectacular they are. For anyone who hasn't, go and watch the caves episode. We started with the natural entrance tour - a self- guided tour that descends 800 feet from the wide opening of the cave a little over a mile of a walk. The change in scenery is incredible as you descend into the darkness. The scale of the various features created by the dripping calcite water are the most amazing I have ever seen. The tour ends at the concession area 800 feet below the ground where you can get water, a small snack or use the restrooms. There is also an elevator here for the fat and lazy to descend into the cave system. From here we went on the Kings Palace ranger led tour. We went through 4 rooms in this tour, each filled with densely populated features. In one of the rooms we all sat down and they turned the lights out to experience complete darkness. The ranger then lit a candle to show the amount of light the person who discovered the cave system had when he was exploring it originally. At the end of this tour we ran back to do the big room self guided tour which closed 10 minutes after our previous tour. This is the most popular tour  - probably because it's free, you can take the elevator to and from it and it is realatively flat. Apart from that, it is an incredible experiance to walk through this massive room. At some parts the height difference between the roof and the floor is in excess of 800ft (that's over 250m to those of use who are normal and use the metric system). At the end of the tour we took the elevator up the 75 storeys and had some dinner in the RV before the bat flight program (or as Mark said to the Ranger the 'Bat Show' and he got pretty offended). 

From April until October (weather dependant) thousands upon thousands of Mexican Free Tail Bats live in Bat Cave in Carlsbad Caverns. And every evening at dusk these bats leave the cave system to go and eat. And they all leave through the natural entrance. At around 7pm a park ranger started giving a talk in the stone amphitheater. During this he talked all about the bats, what they eat, how they go about it, how they breed etc. until the gasps of the school children above us informed everyone that they were starting to leave. Everyone sat in silence as the bats flew out of the cave in a counter clockwise corkscrew direction and into the distance. We stayed and watched for about half an hour until it was getting quite dark. It was a natural spectacle that I will not forget for a long time and made the 900 mile trip worth it. From here we hit the road

north to our next planned stop - Petrified Forest. We drove back along the highway, through Roswell (it was dark and quite forgetful - maybe better during the day) and back onto the interstate system. This time I-40 and we stopped at the first rest area we met.

The following morning we woke late and took our time having breakfast and hitting the road. It was midday before we left and we had a three hour drive ahead of us to get to Petrified Forest. We stopped at a trucker stop and had Laguna Burgers - big half pound mince burgers). As we got close to where we wanted to be we realised it was going to be quite late and we wouldn't get to see what we wanted to see so we headed for an RV park. The RV park was situated on route 66 which we had been driving on/beside for a good few miles. It was nice to drive a bit of it to say we were there but it's a road in a really bad state of repair, some of it is just a dirt track and some of it is totally gone, replaced by interstates. Alot of towns along the way really sell themselves using the route 66 brand and Winslow (where we were staying) was one of them.

We woke early-ish the next morning. I had a chat with the RV park manager to try and get my head around what time zone we were in. The maps tell you once you head west from California you are on Mountain Standard Time. Mountain Standard Time doesn't follow daylight saving time so during the Summer it is the same as Pacific Standard Time. However, the Indians and 

everyone else in Mountain Time (basically not Arizona as far as I can make out) follow Mountain Daylight Time which is an hour ahead all the time. So we basically spent (and will spend) the last (and next) few days losing and gaining an hour.Now having the full day meant that we could see something that I had wanted to see but didn't think we would make - Meteor Crater. It was formed about 50,000 years ago when a meteor struck in the middle of the Arizona desert. It's completely in the middle of nowhere in the flat Arizona desert. As you approach the land starts to rise and when you get out on the viewing platforms it becomes pretty aparant why. There is a unbelievably big hole caused by a rock coming in from outer space. It is the best preserved crater in the world and NASA use it to train astronauts as it so closely resembles a lunar landscape. We spent a while here and then headed on to Petrified Forest.

I didn't quite know what to expect here but it had been recommended to me by a few people before we left. The easiest way to describe it is a park full of fossilised trees. Back in the day (150 million years or so) these logs were being carried by rivers and were deposited. Shortly after a volcanic eruption covered the logs in silica rich ash causing them to fossilise, thus preserving them in the process. They all turned to stone, creating some incredible coloured rocks in the trunks. Over time they split exposing these colours and they lie strewn across the park, hiking trails allowing you to get up and see them. At first I thought they were still wood like as the bark is so well preserved but when you touch them they are all rock. It really messes with the mind for a while. A thourougly enjoyable time was had here and we left the park just as the sun was setting. We hit the road towards our next stop and stopped in a different rest area on the I-40.

Another alarmless start to the day and we hit the road. Next up was Mesa Verde in Colorado, home of the only National Park in the United States created to preserve historic artefacts (all other parks are to protect natural phenomenon). This park is home to the old homes of the Ancestral Puebloans. They lived on top of the hill for alot of the 700 years they spent in the area but near the end of this time the crops didn't grow as well and tribes were fighting and killing for food. This forced the Puebloans to build the cliff homes that are on view in the park to defend themselves. A granny with a stick could defend the places they are so hard to get to. We took the Cliff Palace tour which brings you into the largest of the cliff dwellings. You walk down stone steps in between massive rocks and around the edge of a cliff to access Cliff Palace. And what

greets you is nothing short of extraordinary. A whole vilage was built into the cliff, completely hidden from above. Families lived together in this area for years before the colder climate forced them south. Another thoroughly enjoyable tour (the beauty of national parks is that the rangers can't take tips) to a truly incredible place. We hit the road stopping at a couple of viewpoints on our way out of the park and headed for 4 corners.

4 corners is the only place in the US where 4 states touch. By the time we arrived the area was closed. There was a guy from Belfast there who showed us a hole in the fence where we could go through to go down to the area. We did this (bypassing the booth where you pay - really, you have to pay for everything in the States) and took some photos just as the sun descended. We strolled back up to the RV with a couple of bats flying over our heads and headed into the Wild Wild West for the next adventure..... 

All The Way South

I'm aware that we have fallen a bit behind on this so for those of you that await each update with baited breath I apologise. You will get another one quite soon after this to bring it all up to date. Well, here we go:

So on the second night at the RV park the opposition for the LA Lakers in the Western Conference Semi-Final was finally decided. They were due to play the Houston Rockets with the first game of the series in LA on Monday night. I went online to buy tickets - Ticketmaster provide a service where people with season tickets can sell tickets to individual games if they are not attending. I picked out the tickets I wanted and went to pay but found out I had to have an American Credit Card to purchase them. A few phone calls later and I was in touch with Brian, a friend of Jack's girlfriend. He bought the tickets for me, printed them out and we organised to go and meet him to pick them up.

Brian worked in Long Beach and our next port of call was Huntington Beach so we stopped by on the way and gave him the money and a big bottle of Grey Goose vodka to say thanks. I was really excited but had to contain it as the game wasn't until 7.30 on Monday and it was Sunday afternoon at this stage. We continued on south to Huntington Beach, or Surf City USA as it is known by the locals. We found a parking spot for Ita and strolled down to the beach.

It was early afternoon so there was still a good bit going on. We walked along the beach to the pier past all the beach volleyball players, cyclists, skateboarders and roller bladers to the pier where we passed a good few people fishing all the way to the end. When we walked back to the start of the pier a street performance was going on. We arrived near the end but we still got to see a guy doing a front somersault over 7 people!! We went back to the RV for some dinner and I persuaded Emer to hang around for sunset so we went down to the beach and were treated to a great one. We stayed in Huntington Beach overnight and spent the following morning chilling out on the beach. Once we had lunch it was time to go and see the Lakers. Finally.

After coming so far south we didn't want to have to drive back into LA for the game so we drove a small bit North and parked in Long Beach. The blue line metro goes from downtown Long Beach to right outside the Staples Centre for $1.25 so it was ideal. Finding parking close to the stop proved a little tricky as there was street sweeping starting at 7 in the morning but a little bit of driving around and we found a space on a road with Wednesday morning sweeping and space for an RV to park so we took it.

We grabbed some food, had quick showers and then headed for the train. The metro (a tram over the length of the journey we took it for) took us north through the heart of south LA. And if there is one piece of advice I can give you it is never visit any of it - it's a run down area with nothing going on but windows with bars in front of them. Nonetheless the metro is a good service and it got us to the Staples Centre at 5.30. Doors didn't open until 6 so we had a quick stroll around to see what was going on. There was purple and yellow everywhere and a good few people queueing to get in so we headed back to our door. At 6 they opened and we went in.

We had the usual metal detector check and a quick search of our bag (thankfully quick as they only allow camera lenses up to 3.5 inches long - I had my big long one with me but hid it well). We were then given a free XL lakers t-shirt to wear and make the arena look comletely yellow. A nice touch I thought. We went to check out our seats - they were incredible, well worth the money. We were in line with the basket on the right as you look on TV (where the Lakers play into in the 2nd half), 17 rows up from the floor. We watched the players go through a bit of their warm up routine and then went to do a bit of shopping. I got a Kobe Bryant jersey and a couple of other bits and bobs. We got some food and a couple of $10 beers and before we knew it the national anthem was being sung. And then tip off.

The atmosphere was incredible as I expected it to be for a playoff game. The match we were at was similar to an All-Ireland quarter final in football but they play a best of 7 game series. This was game 1 and the Lakers were favourites for the series. Kobe had been a bit sick over the weekend and started a little slow to let the Houston Rockets take an early lead. They clawed this back and took the lead in the 3rd quarter but the Houston ROckets finished the stronger and ran out 100-92 winners in the end. Yao Ming (the massive Chinese fella) and Ron Artest both played amazingly well for Houston and despite "only" scoring 32 points Kobe had an average game by his amazing standards. He had a couple of incredible moments (including a self pass off the backboard that he scored a slam dunk with) but they were just too few and far between. Despite losing it was an incredible experience which will live with me forever. We got the blue line back and hit the hay.

We woke the following morning to find a parking ticket on our front window. It turned out that it was Wednesday sweeping on the other side of the orad and Tuesday on the side that we parked on. We filed it away and hit the road. Next on the list was Laguna Beach - another picturesque Californian seaside town. We parked in a free parking lot, made some lunch and walked down to the beach for the afternoon. Here we just chilled out, threw some disc and watched the dolphins fishing and jumping out of the water no more than 100 yards from where we were sitting. We strolled through the town with some ice-cream and then rejoined I-5, our old friend from Seattle. This interstate was still going strong and we drove it to Carlsbad.

In this town we went for dinner and had a couple of drinks watching the basketball. Since we saw so much of Laguna Beach we decided to skip the long walk around Carlsbad and hit the road again in the morning. We were due to hit San Diego so booked into an RV park on the outskirts to empty and recharge. On the way to San Diego we drove through La Jolla. It's another nice town but there was nothing that really intrigued us enough to get out of the RV so we kept driving. This enabled us to get to the park relatively early so Emer went online while I prepared the BBQ. After food we went into the TV room and did our kettle bell workout while watching the Boston Celtics beat Orlando Magic. We then got into the hot tub for a while, grabbed showers and watched the second half of the Lakers game (game 2 of the series). Thankfully they won this one to tie the series at 1-1. I managed to stream the last 10 minutes of the Chelsea v Barcelona semi-final 2nd leg which seemed to be all that I needed to see.

The following day had us at the most South Westerly city in the US - San Diego. We had a few things to do in the RV park so we didn't hit the road until lunch time. We headed straight for Pacific Beach, found some parking and just took it easy at the beach for a while. There were alot of surfers out in the water and there is beach as far as you can see both ways. It's a pretty nice area and there is a very good lifeguard presence with them doing patrols in jeeps and having water skis, surf boards and rescue vehicles at every outpost. On the way back to the RV we took a stroll down towards the pier where they have a hotel setup, well a number of 1 bed houses for rent which looked like a nice place to stay. We drove out to the zoo that evening and parked by the entrance to give us a good chance to see the whole place.

For those that are unaware, San Diego Zoo is one of the best in the world (and probably one of the biggest). We had a thoroughly enjoyable day here viewing all the wildlife on show. There really were too many to list so have a look at the photos. We spent the majority of the day here and headed to check out what was around Sea World for parking as we were going there the following day. We had dinner in their car park and ended up going back to Pacific Beach as it was only a mile away and had plenty of parking. We went to "Pacific Beach Ale House" to watch the third game in the Lakers Rockets semi final series. The Lakers won 108-94 to take a 2-1 lead in the 7 game series. We headed back to get a decent nights sleep to be up early for Sea World.

And up we were. We made it to the gates at just after 9 and enquired about the swimming with dolphins program they run. There was space in the afternoon but it was almost $200 per person so we just settled for the behind the scenes tour which was starting at 11.45. We had a couple of hours before this so we went to see "Believe", the Killer Whale show, featuring Shamu (the parks famous killer whale). It was really good, the funniest part being when Shamu swims around the edge of the tank and soaks anyone within 10-15 rows depending how far he fires the water up.

We then participated in our behind the scenes tour. During this we were brought to where they care for animals and do all their testing and rehabilitation. It was really cool to see the dolphins up close and all the work that goes on behind the scenes to make the place tick. We then headed to the Sea Lion and Otter stadium and had some lunch while waiting for the show to begin. The stadium was full about 25 minutes prior to the scheduled start and it became apparant why. A guy came out and started miming TV show intros to the music. It was really good and setup what was a very entertaining show. It contained a number of sketches parodying various TV shows, all involving sea lions. After this we headed over to dolphin stadium for what we expected to be a higher octane show.

And it gave us exactly what we expected. Fast swimming, some flips and high jumps from the dolphins and people in the front few rows getting soaked. Again, a really entertaining show and exactly what we came to Sea World to see. We headed over to the Arctic Area to see some polar sea animals and were treated to a simulated helicopter ride before going into the area. The whole place was done really well to make it look like an Arctic outpost and while walking through there were various viewing areas to see the polar bear, beluga whales and penguins. They cool sea water from the bay before pumping it into the various enclosures which is nice to see. The enclosures are done really well and the animals look well cared for. We finished the day at the shark encounter which culminates in a moving walkway that goes through their massice tank and you get to look up at all the sharks as they swim around. After this we went to the same bar to have dinner, watched some more Basketball and drove downtown to find parking close to the water. As we took the freeway downtown, an airplane was landing in San Diego airport. For anyone who hasn't experienced it the planes fly really low over the freeway to land just past it - a spectacular sight which we were treated to.

The first time at the bar in Pacific Beach I saw an ad saying the Red Bull Air Race was on over the weekend so we went online and got tickets. The tickets were for the SUnday so we got up and headed down to the water and joined all the locals and tourists alike to watch the race. It's basically a stunt pilot race against the clock where the pilots have to manouvere their stunt planes around the course over the water in the quickest time possible. The planes reach speeds of 230 mph and the pilots experience up to 12G forces as they navigate around the course. It was a really fun day and one of those things we just happened to be lucky enough to be in the right city at the right time. Afterwards we strolled around the Gaslamp Quarter, stopping for massive burgers and some more televised basketball along the way. We had to be up at 8am the following morning to avoid getting a parking ticket so we didn't go too mad.

After our early alarm we hit the road. Unfortunately something went wrong with our brakes so we spent a couple of hours getting them repaired. We then stocked up on supplies in the various shops before heading to the outlet malls south of San Diego. We did a small bit of shopping and grabbed some lunch. We were only a couple of miles from the Mexican border so I thought it would be a great idea to head over and see what it is like. Probably wasn't my greatest idea. The quality of life and standard of public services deteriorated rapidly the second we crossed into Mexico. The Sat Nav refused to work as she had no Mexican maps so we drove for about 5 minutes before turning around and joining the massive queue of vehicles to re-enter the USA. Here we had all sorts of vendors trying to sell us stuff before going through two checkpoints (it's alot easier to leave the US than to get back in, we didn't even have our passports checked leaving). The photos will give you an idea of what it was like (up until I was informed I was not allowed to take photos, quite sternly at that). I didn't feel comfortable for one second while in Tijuana and I was quite happy to be back in the US. From here we began our journey East.....

Into and Around LA

Well lets start off with where we left off - we awoke in our bogey RV park and hit the road as soon as possible. We headed down to East Beach and parked after a little bit of searching. Again, it's out of season so even though it was a Sunday it was quite quiet. We walked over the path running parallel to the whole beach, under the incredibly tall palm trees and past the cyclists and down onto the sand. We found a spot and chilled out for a while. There were alot of people playing beach volleyball, others fishing, some sunbathing and even a couple getting married. This beach area was an awful lot less comercialised than Santa Cruz and we had a nice afternoon relaxing. It was nowhere near as warm as Santa Cruz (they had record temperatures that day in Santa Cruz) so we left the beach in the early afternoon and hit the road.

We arrived near Magic Mountain pushing 6pm. We drove up to the entrance to find out all the details about the following morning of fun. It opens at 10.30 until 6 and it's $60 per person. Thankfully we had some Coca Cola in Solvang and the can had a voucher for a free entry when you buy one. We parked a few hundred yards down the road past the hard shoulder in the dirt beside the white picket fence and tumbleweed and hit the hay in anticipation of the following day. And what a day it was!!!!

We got to the entrance just after 10.30am, parked the RV and headed towards the entrance. There was no problem with the can (we even gave our spare one to a Father and his son heading in who couldn't believe it - the father thought we were taking the piss until it actually worked and then was thoroughly grateful) so we got in for half the usual cost and then had pretty much no lines to deal with for the whole day. This meant that we got to go on all the good roller coasters twice. And they had plenty of them. We started off on Goliath, a standard bar over the legs jobbie that had a massive start ramp that descended undergound and just tore around the track up, down and sideways. A brilliant start. After that we went on Colossus. This was a real old school wooden ricketey roller coaster that was quite uncomfortable. Didn't get a second go from us. We then went on Scream which is a leg danglie one where the restraints come over your shoulders. It was good but the track was below so you so it wasn't as good as it could have been. Again only one go of this. Next up was the Batman ride. This had a deadly entrance through the underground of Gotham City. Since there was next to no queues we didn't have time to admire it but it was a fun entrance none the less. The ride was just like scream but the track was above you so you had a real sense of leg dangling action. Load of twists, turns and loops and thoroughly enjoyable.

We then headed through Gotham City to the other Batman themed coaster - Riddler's Revenge. You stand up during this one, your strapped in like the Batman ride but instead of sitting into the restarints you are standing up. Much more twists and turns and loops, to the extent that Emer had to have a quick rest to gather her thoughts (and belly) before the next ride. Which was Deja Vu. An absolutely mental ride. You are seated facing what you believe to be the forwards, then it hurtles you backwards, vertically up in the air. You then fly past all the people in the queue where you got on and through a series of loops and twists and up another vertical section like the very beginning. And then you do the whole thing backwards. Like I said, absolutely mental. After this we took a bit of a break and then headed to the next few rides.

The next one that we went on was Revolution. This was the first ever roller coaster to incorporate a loop the loop. By today's standards it was boring, the whole thing led up to this single loop the loop but I am sure back in the 70's it was a major thrill ride. Next up was Tatsu. Nothing prepared us for how good this was. We strolled up and straight into our "seats" as there was no line. It was similar to Batman in that it seemed to be a leg danglie one but as we pulled the restraints over our shoulders, other ones were coming in around our ankles. It all became clear as just before the ride began we were flipped over so we were now facing the ground and we did the whole coaster in the Superman flying postition. Unbelievably good, and one of the best things I have ever done. Loads of twists, turns and loops but a whole new way to experience it. We obviously did this one twice. We then went onto Viper which was really disappointing. The restraints seemed to be designed for really short fat people and were thoroughly uncomfortable. You go upside down seven times during the ride, but unlike all the other times it was painful and you were just looking forward to the end so you could get off. After this there was only one left in the park - X2. This opened last year and looked amazing so we left it until last for a reason.

And we weren't disappointed. Each person gets strapped into their own "pod". You go up the starting ramp backwards and there is music playing building the tension, laughing at you, telling you how high it is and generally just getting your nerves going. And then you reach the top and slowly start going down. But each pod can move independently so they turn around and you are greeted with a straight drop. What follows is a blur of twists and turns and loops and music and fire and fog and lights as all your senses are totally disorientated. You think you are approaching a loop the loop until your "pod" turns and puts you upside down so you experience the loop completely skew ways and not like your brain expects it to. Whoever designed it is an absolute lunatic and I commend him or her for it. The future of roller coasters... We drove into LA afterwards, had some In N' Out Burger and found a place to park for the night, our bodies were crying out for sleep but didn't quite expect the semi stable surroundings. As we nodded off to sleep our brains were telling our bodies to expect to go backwards off a drop and then upsdie down before being jolted around a couple of times. A strange sleep is being generous to what we had.

We slept in and got up around midday, had the usual breakfast and went about trying to find a bus to bring us downtown. This was alot harder than we expected. Everyone drives a car in LA so nobody uses the bus and therefore knows nothing about the bus schedule. We found a stop, asked the next bus driver how to get downtown and he brought us to the bus we needed to get. Now downtown LA is not like most other downtowns. It has the financial and administrative buildings but very little else. LA is made up of numerous smaller cities over a massive land mass, all connected by numerous highways and freeways. Downtown LA does have city hall which offers unspoilt views of the city from the top floor which you can go up to. It's amazing to look out and just see city sprawl every way you look. After this we strolled up to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, another Frank Gehry designed building with crazy shapes on every corner. We then went and got some info on the bus network which proved to be very useful. We headed back to the RV, did some shopping and then parked close to the NBC studios to get up early and get tickets for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

We were up at 7.30 the following morning and made the short stroll to guest relations at the studio. We got tickets for the show and had a look at who the guests were due to be. We didn't recognise anyone but the following day were people and a band we knew. So we decided to come back again the following morning and go for that show instead. I suppose I should point out that just because you have a ticket it doesn't guarantee entry to the studio, they give out much more tickets than there are seats so that they can guarantee a full house every night. So we headed for Hollywood to have a look for some famous people. First up the walk of fame on Hollywood Boulevard where all the bronze stars of famous actors, singers and rasio personalities are in the sidewalk. It's nothing amazing once you get there - there are a couple of thousand of them and most of them are outside very non-descript buildings and areas. Around the main part of Hollywood Boulevard we saw the Kodak Theater (where the oscars are held), Gaumann's Chinese Theater (where all the big premiers are held and some stars have left their hand and footprints in the concrete. After that there is very little to see, you are constantly hounded by people trying to sell you maps and souveniers and trips of the stars homes.

We went into an office away from all the madness and booked one of these bus tours. It was actually quite enjoyable. We started off by driving up Mulholland Drive and into the Hollywood Hills. Along here we saw massive houses every way we looked, the most memorable were the house from Lethal Weapon 2, Britney Spears (old and new), Denzel Washington, Jack Nicholson, Meg Ryan, John Travolta as well as many others - the list is just too long to put here. At the end of Mulholland we went into Bel Air. I didn't think it possible but the estates grew in size as we entered. First up we passed Harvard Westlake School, made famous as the High School that Will Smith went to in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. It's where the rich send their children to be educated and at $12,000 a year you would like to think that they get that there. Through Bel Air we saw some amazing houses, the ones that stick out were Elton John's, the house from Fresh Prince of Bel Air, the house being built for the Sultan of Brunei and the Playboy Mansion. Here's the photos of the only piece of the mansion that you are able to see from the road, it has massive walls and bushes the whole way around to it to make sure that you can't see in.

We also passed a few estate entrances with security that have a number of houses in them but nobody famous was coming in or out when we were there. After Bel Air we entered Beverly Hills. I don't think I have ever seen so many Bentleys and Rolls Royces in one place before. They were as common as Renaults and Fords are in Dublin. Here we drove down the famous shopping street, Rodeo Drive. It really is like another world, and one we chose to come back to to explore a bit further after the tour. The bus continued through Beverly Hills and headed back to Hollywood along Sunset Boulevard. Here famous nightclub's start side by side with top end restaurants and cheap motels. An odd mix but the street has a bit of character because of it. This street takes on a whole new persona at night though. We were then dropped back to Hollywood, tipped the driver (grrr) and then headed for Beverly Hills. This required a bit of a walk to the bus stop so we sat in the sun and had some lunch first. We then got the bus and hopped off at the edge of Beverly Hills. The money in this area is unbelievable. We passed City Hall which is the building from the Beverly Hills Cop movies. We walked down Beverly Avenue to Rodeo Drive and walked down looking in the windows. As we passed some of them were closed, obviously for a private shop for someone with alot more money than any of us have. We strolled around touching elbows with the upper class and then got a bus back to the RV.

Another 7.30 start for Jay Leno tickets, this time it was busier because of the better guests. We decided that we would need to be outside the studios no later than 1.30 to give ourselves a chance of getting seats at 3pm when ticket holders are let in. We had some time to kill so we drove Ita up to Griffith Observatory. From here there is a great view of the city. We had a look around and decided to come back after the show. We headed back to our parking spot, had some food and joined the queue. The hour and a half wait was quite nerve wrecking as we weren't sure how many seats were available to the public until people on the guest list turned up. In the end there was no need to worry too much as we comfortably got in. We went throught the metal detector, down the hall past all the lighting rig ropes and into the iconic studio. We were toldd to hang on a minute just as we were about to be seated and were then directed to the right. And seated in the front row!! We couldn't believe it, right beside the house band and in front of where the guests come out.

We sat back and watched the studio fill up. At about 20 to 4 Jay Leno came out in his denims and had a chat with the crowd, took some photos and then headed in to get ready. The guy who writes all the monologue then warmed up the crowd with some jokes and threw out some free things - I caught a Tonight Show beach mat which was nice. And then the band started playing, the lights went into TV mode, the applause sign lit up and Jay Leno came out to start the show. The show airs for an hour and it takes an hour to shoot, no retakes, no cuts, nothing. When it breaks for ads, the break is as long as the ads are going to be when it goes out. The house band play during these breaks and they are really good. The first guest on the show was the first contestant voted off American Idol - Matt Giraud. There was a short piece with him and Carrot Top (who is performing in Vegas at the moment) and then Jay did a comedy piece at his desk. After the break the first guest of the night came out - Matthew McConaughey. He looks very young for a 39 year old and Emer noticed how little his forehead moved during the whole interview. 2+2=botox, and lots of it. He was a good guest though, quite entertaining. After him brought Magic Johnson, one of the best basketball players of all time and a home town legend after playing with the Lakers during his distinguished career. He was very good, funny and well spoken. These two interviews formed the bones of the show. Every show finishes with a band playing and this one was no different. A large screen on the other side of the studio lifted and Starsailor played their current hit to finish the show. A brief trailer was shot and then it was all over. The show is all recorded by 5pm and goes out on the East Coast at 11.30 pm (which is 8.30 on the West Coast).

After our brief brush with fame we headed back up to Griffith Observatory to watch the sun go down over the Hollywood Hills. I drove Emer mad taking loads of photos and afterwards we explored the Observatory (which amazingly, the majority of was free). They had some really good exhibits - a tesla coil, a pendulum powered only by the spinning of the earth, a periodic table of elements with a sample of each element in it's respective position and on the roof a really powerful telescope that we could view the surface of the moon through. We then headed to Santa Monica to park and relax on the beach the next day. We strolled down the 3rd Street Promenade and then had a look at the pier and the beach. Again, some of the houses on the beach front were simply stunning. We searched to find a place to park the RV for the night which was difficult as nearly every space had restrictions or meters. Eventually we found one and headed off to sleep.

The morning brought overcast skies and since our water tanks was running seriously low and Ita was in dire need of a recharge we decided to go to an RV park for the day instead. We consulted our directory and chose one in Pomona which was about 40 miles east, still in the heart of LA. The journey brought us along the much fable LA freeways and was quite an experience. The junctions here and like nothing you have ever experienced before. Roads come from nowhere to join and lead off, one minute yosu might be driving on a 3 lane highway, next thing there are 8 lanes and 5 different route options in front of you. And the traffic! There is always traffic on these roads no matter when you are on them. I don't know how people managed this before without Sat Nav's but ours has really earned it's value the last few days. Having a slow 24 foot box on wheels isn't the ideal way to navigate the roads but it is an experience and one that is enjoyable one you get into the lane you need to be. It's an experience that is hard to describe but the few that have done it probably know exactly what I am talking about.

The overcast skies didn't clear so we decided to stay another day at this great RV park. Nice to recharge the batteries and take a quick break before continuing south towards San Diego.

South Through California

Some of you may be wondering what has happened us the last few days. Well, we have been town hopping down the coast towards LA. At the moment we are in an RV park in Santa Barbara. The plan is to hit the beach tomorrow, six flags on Monday and then LA on Tuesday. It's been hard to get online recently as the sides of the road we have been staying aren't the most reliable for internet access. Anyway, here's what we've been up to since you heard from us last.

First port of call after departing San Francisco was San Jose. In this city is the Tech Museum of Innovation, basically a museum that attempts to make science fun. And it succeeds. Here we rode segways, designed our own roller coasters, designed wind turbines, had our heads mapped in 3-D and a whole manner of other enjoyable "experiments" before we headed off into the warm evening sun. We stopped off at a sports bar to watch some basketball and grab a bite to eat before hitting the road to Santa Cruz.

We found a place to stay in the town and hit the beach the following morning. Santa Cruz is a real beach town and the seafront is awash with arcades, food stalls and roller coasters. It's still out of season so it was easy enough to park and find a good spot on the beach. Here we lay in the sun, threw some disc, watched some of the wire on the iPod, admired the flocks of Pelican diving for fish in the crystal blue waters and generally just took it easy. We treated ourselves and Ita to a stay at an RV park to empty and fill tanks, recharge batteries and a worry free nights sleep. RV parks also mean a BBQ for dinner and this one was no different.

We rose early with the intention of hitting the road to get to our next destination to have the whole day to enjoy it. It didn't quite go to plan but we still made it to Monterey by lunch time. Here they have a world famous aquarium and it didn't fail to disappoint. It is a top class facility with a 3 story living kelp forest, million gallon "open ocean" tank, sea otters, penguins, seahorses, jellyfish and all manner of sea creatures in between. During our visit we got to see the sea otters and penguins being fed as well which was nice. After the aquarium we decided to do the 17 mile drive.

This is a minor toll road that goes around the Monterey peninsula. It passes through some of the most famous golf courses in the world, most notably Pebble Beach. It costs $9.25 to drive it (you quickly learn that everything in America costs money so you have to get used to it pretty quickly). The scenery along the drive is simply stunning as are alot of the houses that you encounter, especially the coastal houses around Pebble Beach. This area really seems to have been hit hard by the recession as there seems to be more houses up for sale than not. It really struck me as a rich persons playground and when you see that number of lavish holiday homes up for sale it is a sign of how hard the recession is hitting even the "super-rich" over here too. After the drive we headed on into Carmel-By-The-Sea, found a laundrette and then parked Ita by the beach and went to bed.

We woke the next morning and took a stroll around Carmel-By-The-Sea. It seemed to go hand in hand with all the mansions around Pebble Beach. The streets are full of expensive art galleries, fine restaurants and "designer" antique stores. Most of these were having sales and were extremely quiet as well. Similar to Pebble Beach, I believe this kind of place will become unnecessary as Americans find ways to tighten their belts over the next while. There wasn't much going on in the town so we hit the road again, south through Big Sur.

Big Sur is known for it's stunning scenery as the highway hugs the Pacific coastline as it snakes south towards LA. Unfortunately the heat of the last few days brought fog rolling in from the sea. This caused us to have to drive through some thick fog and made sight seeing fairly difficult. For this reason we didn't do much stopping along the way. We did come across Nepenthe which is a restaurant I had heard about before coming over. We arrived in the afternoon and found out they started serving dinner after 5pm. We hung around and were treated to a wonderful meal. The restaurant is nearly as famous for it's views (it's on a cliff over 800 feet above the Pacific Ocean) as it's great food. Unfortunately the fog removed one of those but the other lived up to expectations. We had a wonderful meal and stayed down in a lay by off the road.

Unfortunately the fog hadn't cleared by the morning so we didn't get to experience the view. We were quite keen to hit the road as we wanted to be in San Luis Obisbo for the famous farmers market. En route we passed by a viewing point of a beach filled with Elephant Seals. It is mating season and there were literally hundreds lying along the beach right by the highway. We stopped to have a look and then continued on towards todays destination. Every Thursday, the main street in the town is closed and alot of the shops come out from indoors and set up stalls on the street. BBQ fills the air as chicken, hot dogs, ribs and corn are cooked and sold. Strikes of metal ring out as men try to impress their women on the strength machine, local farmers sell fresh fruit and vegetables and all manner of people hit the streets to soak in the atmosphere. The vibe around the area was amazing and we both thoroughly enjoyed the few hours. We watched the Lakers game in a bar and then headed back to where we parked the RV with our shopping in tow.

We headed back into the centre the following morning to see what it was like normally and there was no sign of the party from the previous evening. The street was like any other town we have seen along the way. We got a couple of things that were needed and hopped into the RV to head south again. Next on our list of towns to visit was Santa Maria. To be honest, it should never have made it onto the list. It is basically a town full of malls with 4-5 lane highways going in every direction. We spotted a crazy golf course from the freeway so after dinner we played the 2 courses. Emer won by one shot after 36 holes, winning it on the last. We drove through dusk and dark and arrived in Solvang. We pulled into a residential area and found a dark spot to park and head to sleep.

When we woke we seemed to have wandered into the set of a TV show or film. We were in a beautiful neighbourhood surrounded by huge house with perfectly manicured gardens and convertible Mercedes in the driveways. We had breakfast and went to find a more suitable parking spot before having a walk around the town. The town was settled in by Danes in the past and alot of the buildings retain the Danish influences. In addition, there was a car show on where loads of Datsun (old Nissans) enthusiasts had their remodelled cars out on show. It is a nice quaint town but a couple of hours walking around was enough for us. We hit the road again and continued south to Santa Barbara.

Upon entering the city we looked around and found a space for Ita and went for a stroll downtown. It is a very colourful town and the sun had people out in force. It was also "Santa Barbara Dance Day" so there were various groups out salsa dancing, line dancing, ballet dancing and everything in between. After our stroll we decided to book into an RV park this evening as we are hitting LA in a couple of days. There was only one in our directory so we booked a place. As well as being the most expensive we have stayed in so far, it is also the worst. It's right on the freeway and is very cramped. It is close to a downtown city in Southern California so it is to be expected but we certainly won't be making a habit of it. As mentioned, we're hitting the beach tomorrow and then it's Six Flags for some thrills before hitting LA.