Tuesday 23rd February 2015- Last full day in Austin and it still cold

The cold weather has worked its way down the country to Austin and last night it went down to about minus 3 C, which is pretty cold for this place which is usually around the 15-19 C mark.

A few phone calls to take care off and then we decided to visit the local mall where Noel could do some walking without getting cold knees and having to watch the pavement. En-route to the mall we stopped by a new Walmart for some bits and pieces and then on the mall which had the usual range of J C Penny, Macy and many other well-known brands and we were happy walking round the place for a couple of hours and had a light lunch in the food court. We had noticed earlier a place where you could get a foot massage for 40 minutes for about £ 19.00 so after our lunch we opted for this and it was really very good indeed. The Mall is very large indeed but seemed rather empty with shop worker almost pleading for somebody to talk to.

The later part of the afternoon was taken up by going to the cinema and watching a film called Kingsman which is a completely over the top super spy film which is a mix of James Bond, Johnny English and could have been made by Tarantino with the amount of people dying all over the place. It was quite an amusing film but what is unusual is that this cinema also serves you food whilst you watch the film and so Jennifer & I had the hamburger and chips and our friends had salads.

Then back home for an early evening as John has to leave early for New York tomorrow morning and Denise has some early appointments whilst we will have just over half a day to repack all the suitcases and get ready to depart to Austin Airport.

So we hope to leave Georgetown around 3.30 pm ish and then drive the hour to the airport topping up the fuel on the way and then get rid of the hire car before checking in for our one hour flight to Houston which connects with the 9.5 hour flight to London where we are due to arrive Thursday lunchtime and home by 14.00.

Well that's the end of this Blog for a while and perhaps in a week or so I might write up an overview with our thought on this trip.

Bi for now

Monday 23rd February 2015- A busy day and great night out

View from lounge

After the usual breakfast Jennifer and I went to Walmart first thing to buy some odds and ends and then came back to the house late morning. Noel has been suffering with a loose brace behind his teeth which had a sharp end and was piercing the lower part of his tongue every time he ate something or moved his tongue. He had been in touch with his UK dentist and planned a visit on Friday but this was getting him down. So an appointment was made with a local orthodontist who was able to resolve the problem in about ten minutes and the orthodontist mentioned when I was unable to talk that he liked Noel Gallagher and Liverpool football club. Once I could start talking we spent about ten minutes chatting about the football and the UK team which did so badly at the world cup and then on to F1 Motor Racing as he is also a fan.
When It came time to pay, it had been previously mentioned that it costs $50.00 to open the door pleas treatment, he said to the receptionist 'don't charge our English friends' so all the work cosy nothing which is good as it avoided more Insurance Claims. Brilliant and he did a good job as the irritation stopped immediately.
The afternoon was spent a little relaxed and then we went down town Austin to a Japanese style restaurant called Uchi http://www.uchiaustin.com/ and Jen and I enjoyed Sushi and several other dishes which were really great. Then a short trip across the street to a shop called Central Market which is quite an amazing place with such an eclectic choice of foods and a major wine and cheese counter.

And finally on the locally famous Saxon Pub where we had booked to see a local singer called Bob Schneider  who is very well known in these parts and he put on an excellent show for about two hours of all sorts of music and together with a five piece band it was a great evening.
Then home to bed . What a lovely day.

 

 

Sunday 22nd February- Blue Man Group Day

We had a slow start to the day and walked around the estate with the dog and had a late breakfast as we were due to eate and early dinner.
We drove in to town and went to the large theatre complex which was mostly funded by Michael DELL (the computer chap) to watch a group called the Blue Man Group which had spent the last few years working in Las Vegas but had now decided to do a tour of the USA and were in Austin for a week. It is three men, supported by about twenty others, dressed in what looks like blue plastic and they play musical instruments made out of plastic piping and then us a lot of modern technology in their act. It is quite inventive and colourful and also a bit noisy at times and would not suite all people as there is a lot of flashing strobe lights. It was a great show and the first few rows in the theatre are given plastic macs to protect them from colourful liquids and there is a also quite a lot of audience participation which is not to everyone's taste.
We left the theatre and went to a local down towns restaurant called Perry's where six of us, John and Denise and their son Michael and his fiancé Kathryn had a most enjoyable meal. JOHN recommended the pork chop which Jennifer and shared but still could not finish as it was seven fingers high and large elsewhere but delicious all the same but trher was no way that Jennifer could finish. But it was a great dinner.

In the evening we watched part of the 'Oscars; from Los Angeles but got fed up after a while with all the adverts and endless thank you's and then started watching the last night of the Monty Python Show in London which we had obtained as a present for John. By 10.20 we were all wilting and turned in for the night.
The lowers temperatures form the North of the USA are arriving here tonight, it was cold during ther day but temps overnight are due to be around -1 Centigrade, Wow.

20th February 2015- An easy start to the day

It was a little grey and cloudy when we awoke so we decided to have slow start and not rush around as we have been doing for the past week. So by about 11.00 we were ready to leave the room and we chatted to the bell boy who collected our luggage from the room that apparently the complete McLaren team stay at this Hotel during the Austin F1 season and it is quite chaotic and all staff have to work and no time off to go look at the race.

In the ground floor of the hotel we had a croissant and drink and then walked down to the banks of the Colorado river and looked at the Four Season Hotel, which look nice and expensive and then back up in to town and back to the Hotel by about 1245. We collected our car and luggage and headed out of town to a Costco store for some shopping before then driving to our friends in Georgetown where we arrived around 15.30. The rest of the afternoon was spent catching up on our travels and then conversation turned towards evening food. Jen and I were happy to eat in and so we so Noel and John dashed back to Costco, ten minutes away, for some steaks and Alaskan Crabs legs and other lovely bits and pieces ready for the evening.

We had a slow dinner between courses and perhaps tippled a little too much wine and crept in to bed around midnight.
It was a lovely evening and we all enjoyed it very much.
Perhaps tomorrow will be another easy day as we could both do with it.

Thursday 19th February- From Fort Stockton to??

Our plan was to drive to San Antonio and stay there subject to the weather. We have been there twice before but have been thwarted on both occasions by rain and according the Yahoo weather forecast it was going to be cloudy this evening and raining in the morning, and that was at 07.00 this morning as to get to San Antonio without hitting rush hour local traffic would mean and early start.

On route we saw a couple of lovely road signs one from a church and the other from a hotel which were put up close to each other. So all you could see is.." WHEN YOU DIE WHERE WILL YOU EXPECT TO SPEND YOUR ERTINITY?" Followed by the next sign which said " BEST WESTERN HOTEL WITH FREE WIFI IN FIFTEN MILES IN OZARA", We thought this was quite funny.

So following the usual Hampton breakfast we took off just after 08.30 with Jennifer driving as she is now well and feeling up to it which is good as it enables us to share the work. By about lunchtime we were at the point of having to decided either San Antonio or Fredericksburg and again checking the weather the forecast for San Antonio had not really improved and so Fredericksburg it would be. We arrived there at about 13.30 and much earlier than expected as driving on these interstate roads you cover many miles without traffic than expected and so we had a wander round and enjoyed a light lunch of potatoes and cheese soup with corn bread and we shared a Rueben's sandwich and that was enough. By being there we realised that in the evening there would be absolutely nothing to do so should we change our mind again and head for San Antonio but then we would hit the evening rush hour which we know to our cost is quite bad there.

So what to do, either phone our friends to say we would arrive a day early which might be difficult as they may have other plans and so Noel got on the internet Hilton site and yes they have rooms where we can use points in Austin so that's where we will go. So at about 1600 we arrived in Austin and checked in. After a rest after driving nearly 350 miles and then we looked for a restaurant, a proper restaurant where they cook the food properly Jennifer says and so we found this seafood restaurant called Trulucks Seafood and we can say quite categorically that it was brilliant but of course bloody expensive. We shared some Florida crab claws then both had the Sea Bass from a little known place in Chile where they are hand caught and it was really, really good.

We then did a walk around the night life area and most of the bars were quiet but offset by the amount of bands playing in the bars which were very noisy and as we didn't need noisy we came back to the Hotel for a good night's rest.

Tomorrow Am a little sightseeing then leave downtown around midday for Georgetown where our friends live.

Wednesday 18th February 2015- Sometimes you just have to complain

This morning the sun was shining in the bedroom and the traffic was whizzing by on the freeway and we weren't sure if this Doubletree Hotel provided the free small breakfast that all the Hampton Inns do and so we went down stairs to see what was available. We have to bear in mind that following yesterday's walk around the local streets there was no sign of any cafes or similar that we could go to instead of the Hotel. There was a small café where you could get coffee and a bagel and/or similar but as there was a restaurant in the Hotel we thought we would check that out.

So we arrived at 'The Fire' Restaurant and the receptionist asked di we want the buffet or menu but having looked at the list of stuff on the buffet we chose that. And started on the fresh fruit and yogurt and followed by the usual scrambled egg and accoutrements and Jennifer was there first. She started her food of scrambled egg and bacon and a couple of pancakes whilst I was collecting mine from the serving area. When I got back Jennifer mentioned that the scrambled eggs we cold and the other food was only luke warm. I then tried mine and would confirm that it was not hot and so as they charge about $20.00 for morning buffet I did not want to pay all this cash and have cold food and so I called over the waiter who immediately brought the restaurant manager. I told him that it is not acceptable to serve cold food when it should be hot and somebody should be constantly checking the temperature etc. He apologised and said he would check it out and would I like something from the menu, Jennifer was almost through her food but I was not prepared to eat cold food and so they brought me the American Breakfast with hot food and on a hot plate and with further apologies.

The good news is that when I came to pay the waiter said NO CHARGE as the manager had written off the bill. So it pays to complain.

We joined I-10 heading East on a bright but slightly chilly morning and once we go outside of El Paso the traffic slowly dropped off to what we might call an almost empty road and with an approved speed limit of 80 mph so we were skimming along it looked like that we would get to Fort Stockton to early so we started discussing perhaps cancelling the current Hotel and look for one about 100 miles later but this is not so easy as this is pretty barren area with small shacks and not towns for another 80 miles or so. We carried on and had to stop at a border control post where we had to show our passports, why they have a border post in the middle of nowhere beats me as it's still a long way from the Mexican border.

After leaving the border post area the hills and mountain began to increase around us and we also passed through a time zone where we lost another hour. We decided to stop for a comfort break which we found about 60 miles later,( see I told you this was barren land and you are not going to get me standing by the side of the road with the risk of being hit by one of these massive American trucks or dragged in to the hills by a huge Tarantula spider or a copperhead or rattle snake which can knock you off quite quickly)

Finally we saw a sign for a little town with a fuel station and so turned off the freeway in to the little town expecting a dump of a petrol station but we woz wrong as we came across and newish building and with a café where we decided to enjoy and ham and cheese toasties with fries, one portion between two was going to be enough. We used the time to check out other towns with Hotels but quite frankly there was nothing suitable and so we decided to stay at Fort Stockton at the Hampton Inn as booked.

After 70 minutes we arrived at the Hotel and investigated restaurants and cinema's (actually there is only one cinema with one screen) and the restaurants were not great and the fil showing was 'The American Sniper' which has very mixed reviews and so after a little discussion we settled on eating the rest of the cheese and biscuits and watch a film on TV if there was one.

The room is the standard Hampton inn room, quite spacious and reasonably well equipped and it serves our purpose. Tomorrow we have to decide where to stop en-route for the night before we reach our friends on Friday afternoon. We have two choices, one is San Antonio and the other is Fredericksburg but we will make up our minds tomorrow after looking at the weather forecast as the last two visits by us to San Antonio have always ended up in the rain and we don't want to be caught out again. Let's see what tomorrow will bring.

 

 

Tuesday 17th February 2015- El Paso downtown without a town

We had the usual free breakfast at the Hotel, including a selection of three cereals, tea and coffee and a choice of juices. There is also a plastic omelette containing something which looks like tomato but may not be and something they say is sausage but looks suspiciously like a strange hamburger. Anyway we left there around 10 am and headed towards the Interstate 10 but first to the petrol station for a top up. I had hoped that putting in 00000 would enable my Amex card to work but unfortunately it does not and so back to leaving the card with the checker and paying after you have filled up. Only $17.00 this time for just over half a tank full of fuel.

View from our Hotel

The Intersate was really very quiet which is rather surprising but this area can be subject to sand storms as there are signs giving warnings to this effect but we did not see anything at all. We have about 150 miles to travel today and we are heading for El Paso in Texas and during our journey we crossed the Continental Divide and also saw signs for a place with the name of 'Truth and Consequences' but we are not traveling that way. We were travelling at about 5000 feet above sea level but started to descend as we started heading to El Paso and about 30 miles outside we saw many stockyards and cattle no doubt waiting for an obliging lift to the local slaughterhouse.
We had decided to go for a bigger lunch today and to avoid a heavy evening meal and out destination was a restaurant just of the I-10 called Rudy's Texas BBQ, see link http://www.rudysbbq.com/page/home where we arrived at about 1245.
So we enjoyed a lunch of pork loin and turkey with coleslaw and corn on the cob and washed down with warm iced tea, if that makes sense. This went down very well and there is even some left over for a sandwich tonight should we need it.

Old Building mostly empty

We arrived at the Doubletree El Paso Downton Hotel at around 1430 and were able to get in to our room which has a reasonable view over and empty lot (space) and apparently near the centre of the down town area. So having had a cuppa and armed with a useless tourist map we spent slightly less than an hour looking at empty shops and offices and streets and this was meant to be the main shopping area and also the Historical part of town which is all pretty much closed and beginning to fall down in places. There is to be fair some newish Government Offices and Banks nearby with reasonably new building and also a museum and theatre but surrounded by devastation. Not quite what we had expected and not what the tourist web site says.
So tonight we are going to the cinema about 15 minutes by car to see the film called 'The Imitation Game' we have seen it once in the UK but were impressed and as we did not fancy anything else this will be out entertainment for tonight before we leave on our journey East with the next stop being Fort Stockton, Texas which should take us about 4 hours or so.

BUT CLOSED

We are due in Georgetown Austin with our friends to arrive mid-afternoon on Friday the 20^th Feb and so tomorrow we will finalise the last part of our journey and book Hotels etc.
Let's hope we can find the cinema tonight, we should do as it's next door to a massive Walmart. Perhaps the old town has moved to alongside the I-10 near to Walmart?

 

Monday 16th February 2015- Bl**dy Tyres, what is happening

We packed up and had a light breakfast and departed the Legacy Golf resort after a restful, if not uneventful week.
We took Interstate 60 out of Phoenix and hadn't gone long when we hit bad traffic, the worst we had experienced so far on this trip. We did not know if it was an accident or road work's but creeping along for half an hour we suddenly realised that most cars were on the right hand lane and hardly anybody on the left hand lane which we therefore joined immediately. It was a short while later that all the cars were going to a festival which was taking place at Apache Junction, called the Arizona Renaissance Festival and there were crowds because was also a public holiday for Presidents Day. Once we passed the exit to the festival road conditions almost improved to normal and shortly afterwards a police car with flashing lights coming towards suddenly pulled across in front of us, my god what have we done?? Only what it was is a convoy of huge mining equipment about 40 ft. wide and 50 ft. tall coming towards us, and once we had passed we realised why we had been stopped as further down the road it became narrow and there would be no chance of us getting by.
We thought that was enough fun for today and then Noel noticed that one of the tyres on the in built tyre pressure monitor was about 6 pounds lower than the others, the same tyre that gave a problem when we picked up the car. As we have quite a way to travel on roads with few services we found a tyre place and asked them to check the offending tyre. He made a note and took the car away and shortly afterwards came back and said that all the tyres are at completely the wrong pressure and it's amazing you did not have any blowouts as two of the tyres were at a pressure of 56 psi when the tyre max was 50 psi. He said the tyres for this car should be at 35 psi and I explained our earlier questioning of this problem at another garage but anyway he let down all the tyres to the correct pressure. So Bl**dy hell what would have happened had we not checked. A strong complaint will be on the way to National Car Hire.
We travelled through places called Globe, Geronimo, and Pima and stopped in a wayside rest stop in a town called Bylas, for a picnic lunch, which is in a Apache Indian settlement area. To say the place was run down is an understatement with rubbish everywhere and many of the houses were either empty or full up with old card, old bit of metals and plastic bags and generally rubbish everywhere. On the wall in Bylas were notices about if you feel like committing suicide, give us a call first. For the last couple of hours we had passed many, many RV sites mostly of poor quality where people live in poor conditions. On a TV programme somewhere I saw an advert saying that 45 million people in the USA live on the breadline or lower and you can see this everywhere here, but at least the weather is warm. We noticed a large amount of churches all in good nick whilst the Government Building was always very new but surrounded by the lower class housing. Not Good America.
We drove another 90 odd miles though wide open spaces climbing ever higher so our ears were popping, and surrounded by mountains although perhaps 10-15 miles away it was really interesting countryside. We finally arrived at our nights stop in a town called Lordsburg and staying at the Hampton Inn on points.

The Hotel is the standard Hampton so you always know what you are going to get, a bit like McDonald's but without the chips oops I meant fries.
There are few places to eat in the town but were recommended to a place down the road with mixed Trip Advisor reviews but we chose a burger rather than anything else as we felt that can't really get that wrong and it was the right decision.
Tomorrow we leave for Ela Paso, not a long journey but we plan to have a late BBQ lunch, then check in to the Doubletree Hotel and later perhaps go to the cinema.

 

 

 

Sunday 16th February 2015-TW3 (That was the week that was)

Well the plan was to have a nice week with a little shopping and some swimming and generally taking it easy and enjoying this place but it did not quite work out that way at all until the last three days.

So we arrived last Monday with Jennifer still suffering from her cough which we thought was a cold and it was no better on Tuesday and so we did a little research and came up with the fact that on the ship we were on, the P & O Arcadia and elderly woman had a cough, possible caused by the air conditioning and subsequently died!!!!. Further investigation showed that many other people on the same cruise, and previous cruises have also suffered from the 'Arcadia cough'. So we felt it was time to see a Doctor.

We went through the usual shenanigans with the AXA Travel Insurance people who suggested the supplier Concentra, the same people who were hopeless in Sand Francisco for Noel, but we looked around with the benefit if having Wi-Fi that worked and we found a Doctor who dealt with chest infections, coughs, asthma etc and at 1.30 pm Jen was filling all the forms, about ten in all, detailing her life history followed by a prepayment of about £ 50.00 and twenty minutes with the Doctor who confirmed she would live and that some antibiotics might help for a couple of days. So with antibiotics and some other pills totalling around £ 60.00 we hoped it would work. The good thing was that on Friday Jennifer felt so much better that we had a couple of hours by the pool followed by lunch in the clubhouse of a burger and fries, we chose the simple item in the hope it would arrive quickly accept the chef lost the order and after lots of complaints they arrived about 45 minutes late.

Saturday was St Valentine's day and we did consider a dinner out but then we have a nice condo with fully equipped everything so we went off to Whole Foods and bought some large shrimp as an appetizer and a chunk of salmon with steamed veggies and a bottle of French Chardonnay and what a nice evening it was. On the way back from Whole Foods we needed some gas ( petrol) , in the past as the prepay credit card machine requires a US billing Zip code, I usually leave my credit card at the payment desk, grab some fuel and settle up afterwards. This generally works fine although I do worry about leaving my credit card for some other person to steal the data, but anyway this lady would not do it and I have to guess how much I need in cost. I don't bloody know how big the tank is and so I purchased $ 30.00 ( about £ 20.00) of gas oops petrol only to find I had bought to much and the tank was full at $ 25.00 but it was not possible tro get the five bucks back. I won't do that again.

So in the afternoon I trolled the web listing the problem and talking to AMEX USA who could not help and then I came across a travel website with other bemoaning the same problem which I now understand can be resolved if you put in a Zip Code either 00000 or 99999, so will see what happens next time and keep you posted.

We watched an amazing film on Saturday night which we had bought at Walmart for US$5.00 called 'Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close' starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock but the star was the young boy called Thomas Horn who was quite brilliant. The story was perhaps not the best for a Valentines night but on the other hand it was really good and worth another watch.

On Sunday we had the usual Skype call with family and our granddaughter is growing and weaning well. So we had a walk around the housing area of the resort and then along the road to an Irish bar called Gallagher's with serving girls who had partly green hair. We ordered two iced tea and they were so large you could almost go for a swim in the large mugs. We were not hungry after a late breakfast so did not eat but the size of food portions coming out was frightening and one plate would feed a family of four we guess. There was a Mexican couple with a son who were all huge and the ground shook as they left.

We finished off the Costco pizza Sunday night after having started our packing to enable an early start and checked on the route again and was surprised the first day was only about 220 miles whereas yesterday it had shown the route as about 330 miles, so not sure what google maps did to the calculations.

So Jen is busy reading outside on the balcony before we decide if we want tea as the pizza was quite filling and then watch another film to night also from Walmart. You can't watch American TV for adverts which arrive almost every ten minutes and last about five or six minutes, no wonder people choose cable tv and movie channels.

So tomorrow we are back on the road to a place in Texas called Lordsburg for the night and may visit a deserted town call Shakespeare which is almost next door to it, Lordsburg is a small place and is challenged for places to eat it seems but hey ho it was only 10000 Hilton points.

Tuesday 10th February 2015- They are playing golf in the dark here

A slow morning getting up and a very late breakfast as we aren’t going anywhere today apart from a little shopping. The plan is that staying here will allow Jennifer to rest and try and get over the rotten cough she has had for almost the past week. For more details on this quite nice place see link below.

http://www.shellhospitality.com/the-legacy-golf-resort

Jennifer did several loads of washing as we were getting short of clean clothes whilst Noel updated the Blog and photos and general PC housekeeping. A shopping trip by Noel to the local Fry’s grocery supermarket to purchase some odds and ends and at the Deli counter the server asked with my accent did I come from Russia. Oh dear not sure what she is on.

We had purchased some ribs from Costco yesterday and had them lunchtime today with baked potato and baked beans, very filling and we had to wait for our dessert to let the main course go down and there is still some ribs for another day. The sun is shining and its around 28 C whilst you hear the golfers yelling and yelping with joy and/or frustration behind us. Rabbits gamble on the grass below and with Californian Quail birds everywhere and the occasional humming bird, life is not bad. Just hope Jens cough improves soon or we will see a Doctor.

We will be staying here for seven nights before heading off East and we spent a couple of hours looking up Hotels en route so that we can arrived in Georgetown, where our friends live on Friday and where we will spend another five nights before we leave back home to

blighty on Wednesday night.

So for the next week we plan to rest, swim and shop and perhaps a little sightseeing although we feel after travelling about a 1000 miles so far and what with noel now historical health problem out the way we could do with a good break before tackling the next 1000 miles. So for the next few days I will take a break from Blogging unless something interesting happens or we go somewhere of importance but otherwise will start again once we hit the road again next Monday the 16^th February.

An evening of rubbish TV and reading is planned for tonight so nothing really exciting but it is now 1830 and the temperature is a lovely 23 C and NO humidity. Would hate to be here in the summer though when the temperature can reach 40 plus Centigrade.

See yah in a few days

Monday 9th February 2015- On On they cried

We cleared out of the small condo and settle the bill and departed on the approx. 200 miles to Phoenix Arizona. Initially we drove alongside Lake Havasu and once you were several miles out of town, let’s say in the boondocks, we were surprised to see so many RV’s parked willy nilly all over the sand dunes as though living in groups. These were not parked in an RV park so they must be temporary stopovers.

We did pass many RV parks of differing quality, some where you could almost serve tea to your neighbour via an open window to a couple with nice lake views. However as this area does not get much rain you really have to get used to the barren landscape that prevails all around this area. We stopped around midday for a Subway and also a driving break for me , the roads are not busy by UK standards but you pass one RV after another for hours on end, it’s quite amazing really.

Our Golf Course view obstructed by trees

We eventually reached the outskirts of Phoenix where the traffic begins to get busy and going from a two lane almost empty highway to a seven lane highways with cars weaving in and out to get to the right location on the road can be a little unnerving but we finally arrived at The Legend Golf & Country Club for a few days stay. We have booked for four day but in view of Jennifer’s continuing cough we may stay longer as this place is overrun by Doctors of all types. We have taken a one bedroom condo, just like last time we were here, with a view of the golf course, well there might be a gold course there but we have a trees right outside our balcony.

Then off for some shopping, initially to Whole Foods, but this location does not have the full service facility of other whole foods and so then on to Costco where we hope to get some ready cooked ribs but damn it they only have chicken. So we purchased a large pizza and some salad and a bottle of Malbec and then back for dinner in the apartment. The pizza is so large we cut it in two and put half in the freezer for another day.

We were both a little tired after this and so watched television for a while and then off to bed.

Sunday 8th February 2015-Exploring Lake Havasu City

Market Day

Following two rather large croissant which we purchased yesterday from Albertsons Grocers we headed out initially to see what appeared to be a a small street event but when we got there we followed the road for over a mile and both sides of the roads were lined with stall selling everything from hats to jewellery, there was also food area with different ethnic foods and eventually a couple of bands turned up and started playing. We were here for about 2.5 hours walking up and down. There were also several shops selling guns with special offers of the week and one shop was renting machine guns if you were planning a raid somewhere. One stall also was offering ladies handbags with a special space to hide that revolver ot whatever.

We also spotted quite a of what looked like baby’s strollers, as this was mostly an elderly society this was most surprising until we realised that these stroller were a place to put your dog to save the poor little fellah having to walk.
Its rather warm today and with little humidity its nice to walk around even in 28 Cent temperature

Anyone ready for a Massacre?

Doggy in a basket

Following sometime here we drove down to the famous ex London Bridge ( which was moved brick brick )and looked around for a while and took some photos and then reclaimed the bridge on behalf of my fellow Londoners. Most American thought I was mad but I don’t care.

We then came across another flea market type place where we walked around and both purchased a hat to keep the hot sun off, we should of brought ours from home but failed to do so and here there were so much cheaper than the earlier market.

We only needed a light lunch and we did not fancy another sandwich and we looked for a Blimpie ( a better type of Subway) but we could not find it and then came across this chain called Taco Bell and so in we went and Noel had the shrimp taco and Jen the vegetable one and they were both very good and not too big.

A further visit back to Albertsons for some extra bits and pieces for tonight’s dinner, we are going to finish off the chicken by sautéing it with mushrooms and onions and then on to a salad, no doubt with a glass of wine.

Noel reclaimed the bridge on behalf all Londoner's

Jennifer’s dry cough won’t go so Noel disappeared off to Walgreens to try and get something for her to reduce the night coughing and get some sleep. Whilst waiting in the queue to see the Pharmacist and youngish turned around and started talking about his treatment and the cost of medicines and when I mentioned I came from the UK he wanted to know more about the NHS as he heard it was slow. He also mentioned that he did not have the Government health plan as the monies also went to people who performed abortions??? Oh dear.

He then asked what would be the most important things for him to understand if he was going to live in the Uk and so I said we drove on the correct side of the road, drank warm beer and that housing was pretty expensive and when I gave him a couple of examples he nearly fainted. Don’t think he will come know.

We had thought of going to the cinema tonight but we are worried should Jennifer get a coughing fit the rest of audience might not appreciate it and so back to the reality TV programs, and of did I mention it, perhaps a glass of wine.

Will upload photos tomorrow as here the Wi-Fi is far to slow.

Saturday 7th February 2015- Onward to Lake Havasu City

A free breakfast in the Hotel and we went back to the room only to find both electronic had stopped working. Noel trudged back to reception to get his changed but that didn’t work either and then Jennifer’s original key card worked. I never can understand these things.

Anyway we left Barstow in the bright sunshine and blue sky and headed east on route 40 which at times touched and ran parallel the old famous route 66, The road was reasonably empty and mostly trucks but wound its way up mountains and down again, climbing several thousand feet and then dropping back. There were signs on the road to watch out for animals of various types including donkeys. We needed a break around lunchtime and stopped in a town called Needles where we found a so called famous restaurant called Juice’s Famous Bar and restaurant. We both had a light scrambled egg with ham and hash browns and toast and a coffee for noel and lemonade for Jen.

Jen was still suffering quite a bit today from her cold so we found a pharmacy and purchased some different stuff which we hope will clear her nasal passages and ears. The going up several thousand feet didn’t help on this but nothing we could do.

We crossed the border from California to Arizona and there is a one hour time difference so we added an hour to our watches. We found an Albertsons Grocery store and purchased a chicken, ready cooked and the ingredient for a Caesar salad. We arrived at the Lake Havasu Dunes Hotel, which is mostly Condos and discovered we did not have the full size kitchen and as they were full up there was nothing we could do. Never mind but the rooms are a little noisy from road traffic which we had not realised would be a problem.

In the evening we had the chicken and salad and a glass of wine. We have been carrying for the past week three bottles of red wine which one we had originally brought from the UK and the other two we were due to have on board but due to Noels health issues, now resolved, we were able to enjoy a nice glass of red wine.

For the rest of the evening we watched a film on TV and then a couple of rubbish American reality programs.

Friday 6th February 2015- En-route to Lake Havasu City-Arizona (part 1)

A free breakfast was proved by the Hampton Hotel this morning and this makes a nice change from sitting in the bedroom with a bowl of cereal or fighting an American breakfast made up of four eggs any style, hash browns, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes and baked beans plus toast. This breakfast will put you in a grave quite quickly.

We had booked this Hotel on Hilton points and much to my surprise this morning there was a bill for US$110.00 pushed under my bedroom door. Damn it they have mucked it up and so I went to complain to only find that the bill was not for me but our neighbour and ours was free.

We left the Hotel and went to find the car wash which was quite efficient and 20 minutes later we left in a clean car with windows you can see out of which does make driving easier. We took a series of roads starting with route 166 from Santa Maria and drove through some really great mountainous country complete with lots of tumble weed which you had to look out for. We also a field filled up with portaloos, two per trailer and there must have been a couple of hundred of them??? . Well soon after we started going through mile after mile of orange trees and every now and again you would see one of these trailers by the side of the road for the workmen. Then there were miles of vines and more porta loos so if you ever get short in this area no real problem.

During part of the drive we entered a dust storm which really does close down the visibility so you have to watch it as last year in New Mexico there were over 150 trucks involved in a sand storm induced crash. From the 166 we moved North avoiding Bakersfield and then joining the 58 towards Barstow. We stopped at a wayside garage for a Subway sandwich which was good and easy to nosh.

The route 58 winds through hills and also wide open spaces where you can see for miles and miles. Although at one very hilly area there were many hundreds of electric wind generators all turning away and we have never seen so many propellers whizzing around at the same time.

We arrived in Barstow and found a supermarket for some milk for tea and then arrived at the Hampton Inn and Suites, yes another free night and checked in and the room is a lot bigger than last nights. We checked email and then trip advisor for restaurant recommendations, one we like the sound of called Polo Loco which does lots of chicken and the menu looked good on the web but the place was like a bad McDonald's. So we ended up in Denny’s and were surprised how good our food was.

There was a large out of town branded name outlets mall behind the restaurant and also behind our hotel and so we needed a walk after a day in the car and Jennifer found some nice shirts in Tommy Hilfiger so although the food started out cheaply the evening cost a little more than planned but the shirts look nice. We found a Dryers ice cream joint and that was our desert.

Now Jennifer seems to be getting better she was happy to start doing some route and Hotel planning for the next few days and after lots of investigation we have booked again somewhere in Phoenix called the Legacy Golf Resort where we have a one bedroom apartment complete with full kitchen so we can go shopping and cook for ourselves.

Tomorrow we do the second part of the trip to Lake Havasu see link http://www.golakehavasu.com/  and will be spending two nights there in a condo again with self catering.

Thursday 5th January 2015- Hearst Castle at San Simeon

A good early start and we picked up a salad for lunch and were making good time for the first ten minutes and then ran in to some road repairs and a diversion which delayed us about 35 minutes, brilliant.

Pacific Coast Road

The coast road from here down to Los Angeles is really beautiful in places with lots of bays and white sand and occasional you lots of cars where people are out surfing. Just before we reached Hurst Castle there was a large beach where there were literally hundreds of elephant seals and some even trying to get on to the road it seems but were restrained by a metal fence. Clearly if you like this mammal this is the place to visit.

We arrived at Hurst Castle and slightly surprised to see the car park full of chemical toilets? It would appear that in this area the water shortage is so severe that they have resorted to this form of sanitation for guests to this location, not nice really.

The Front Door

The house whoops castle is absolutely massive and was of course owned by the late Randolph Hearst and spent a fortune on this massive place which now needs a lot of renovating. They have split the castle in to four areas and these are all separate trips so the see the lot would cost you about $100.0 not cheap really. We did what they call the Grand Room tour whereby you are up to the castle by tour bus and then they spend 45 minutes about the history of the place particularly the famous guests who used to frequent the place. We did the official tour then a short walk around before catching the bus back to the Visitor Information Centre and include was the film covering the owners life story which was quite interesting.

The house in Noels view is that it done by a guy who had more money than style as he has completely different styles in each room, some Italian and Spanish and also bits from Scotland and UK and the house design overall is a bit of a mess.

We left there about 16.00 and joined the traffic heading south until we reached the Hampton Hotel in Arroyo Grande and checked in. We still had quite a bit of salad leftover and considered a Domino’s Pizza but they did not deliver to our neck of the woods and so the Hotel receptionist recommended the seafood joint next door and I must say we were very pleased with the food.

Then back to the Hotel for a nights rest before we head off tomorrow to a place in the middle of nowhere called Barstow for the night. Must get the car washed tomorrow as its filthy, it was very dirty when we collected it and I have lodged a complaint over this.

Wednesday 4th February 2015- a double helping of Whole Foods

We had accidentally run out of milk which meant no cereal in the room for breakfast and as we don’t want to pay hotel prices for breakfast a quick check on the internet showed a Whole Foods Store only tem minutes away, great!

Ten minutes later we were croissant and Danish pastry and coffee for breakfast and sat outside in the sun to enjoy it and at the same time a guy had brought his young grey parrot on his bike for a coffee. We also bought some sandwiches for lunch as they would be cheaper here than Carmel. It was at this point I realised I had not picked up the camera for today’s trip down to Carmel, blast it. Anyway we did not want to go back to the Hotel and as we have visited Carmel some years ago the photos of the place won’t have changed much.

Monterey and Carmel are almost side by side with Carmel being considerably more expensive at prices a bit like Weybridge. However there is a considerable difference in the town with its quaint shops and coffee bars and many shops selling tourist stuff and yes, even a large Christmas Decoration store which was chock a block with stuff at this time of the year. We stopped for an iced coffee then continued walking for a while until about 12.30 and then back down the car park by the sea where we have left the car.

The car is a black Chevrolet Malibu and seems well equipped for a hire car and when fiddling with the knobs, bearing in mind the handbook has about 250 pages plus other books on the infotainment system, and discovered that car had automatic tyre pressure notification and that one tyre was down by about 10psi. Umm better get that fixed. To be frank the car is quite dirty and clearly had not been cleaned before release. As the car was in a dark car park we could not see at time of collection very much, oh well.

However, its lunchtime and we can sort out the tyres later and so following lunch overlooking the sea and sitting in the sun we asked the SatNav to find us a garage which it did and ten minutes later we were blowing up the offending tyre we thought. When rechecking the metre it would appear that they have swapped the tyres around and not updated the control centre and so here I was blowing up the wrong tyre. I asked the mechanic at the garage for advice and he said the system should have been reset? However the tyre pressures no seem to be OK.

The back to the Hotel for Jen to have a rest and take some of the pills we bought at the pharmacy and Noel to look at hotels and routes over the next few days. Our Hotel for Thursday night is booked in a place called Arroyo Grande which down and beyond the Hearst castle.

So after looking at maps and at places we have not visited before we will do and overnight stop in a place called Barstow Ca and then we can have a relaxed drive though the Mojave National Park en-route to Lake Havasu City which is the home of the OLD LONDON BRIDGE. Noel is using up some of his Hilton points for the next two nights but in Lake Havasu it was not the best and so we have resorted to Hotwire again and have now booked at the Lake Havasu Dunes Hotel for a condo with full kitchen and right by a lake and with swimming pools etc, sound great.

Tonight for dinner we went back to Whole Foods and there is a big choice but we both decided to have the Classic Burger and fries which was what a burger and fries should taste of, none of the McDonald's

 and Burger king rubbish for us. We looked out for a car wash on the way back to the Hotel but unfortunately the hand car washes were closed so perhaps tomorrow we can find somewhere.

Let’s hope Jennifer is feeling better tomorrow as the cold does seem to be clearing.

PS- Photos courtesy of the web

Tuesday 3rd February- Time to leave town

Our bowl of cereal in the room with a cuppa went down very well and then we packed up and entrusted our suitcases etc to the hotel whilst we took a cab to pick up the rentacar from National Car Rental Company on O’Farrell Street.

The check in was quite quick compared to our experience with Dollar Car and ten minutes later we were heading upstairs to what size the car is as we needed a car which had a large trunk (boot) as we have two large and three small suitcases plus some other bags but fortunately the Chevrolet Malibu trunk was fine and so back to the Hotel using the Sat Nav which got all the one way street wrong, how this can happen I don’t know.

By 10.00 we had our suitcases and followed the Sat Nav Instruction only to find road closures and diversions which really through the Garmin but never mind we got back on track shortly afterwards.

We followed the road out through Daly City and then Pacifica where we were able to join up with route 101 which runs down the coast for several hundred miles. We stopped for a coffee mid-morning and then continued on an almost empty road for about 50 miles and then it started to get a little more built up and the traffic started to increase. We left the 101 and took a side road down to the beach where we had some rolls and ham and tomato whilst watching some sea otters gambling in the surf and diving down for crabs whilst sitting in the warm sun, very nice.

The Scarlet Huntingdon Hotel, San Francisco

Route 101 is much better than travelling on the free way as you get regular views of sandy bays and the sea and rocks with the sea bursting up in to the air. There are a lot of people come to this area for surfing, better than working, where they sleep up in the mini vans so as not to be too far away from the sea

We passed through a couple of towns, one geared for tourists with a Casino and video game rooms and helter skelter and another town designed for retires we think. By this time we were about 25 miles from Monterey and the traffic was now quite busy and we though it better to go straight to the hotel which would allow Jen to have a rest with her cold and Noel to research some hotels for the next couple of days. After spending some time on the internet, Hotels near Hearst Castle were mostly of the 1/2/3 cat with sometimes questionable reviews, The room we are in is excellent, we are staying at the Intercontinental Hotel –The Clement Monterey and so after a review we have decided to spend another night here and visit Carmel tomorrow, an easy day to allow Jen a restful day which we hope will improve her health a little.

We had a walk around town for a short while and then decided to go to Bubba Gump’s Shrimp restaurant which is based upon the film ‘Forest Gump’ which we have not seen  and this stumped the serving lad who whole presentation about the food and drinks etc is with forest gump in your mind. Never mind but Noel and a hamburger and Jennifer the salmon with rice and both were good. We tend not to eat out a lot when travelling as it gets expensive after a while but you also get fed up eating out all the while so we plan to visit Whole Foods in Monterey tomorrow and if nothing there a trip to Costco for some ribs and salad.

On returning to the Hotel we sat in the lounge in front of an open hearth fire which slowly was sending us off to sleep so we went back to the room.

2nd February 2015- A day at the Californian Academy of Sciences

We had seen a video on the ship about the planning and building and completion of this major San Francisco project which is a combination of a large aquarium as well as tropical rain forest plus many other exhibits and also a planetarium.

So following an in room and self-purchased breakfast we picked up the Clang Clang, Ding Ding San Francisco cable car down to Market and Powel where we changed on to a municipal bus to take us in the direction of the Golden Gate park. The journey went through some very poor areas as well as some very nice area and needless to say the recently renovated town hall and concert hall looked great.

We arrived at the park and purchased the over 65 tickets and headed inside but first stopping for a cup of tea. It said English breakfast tea but in fact it was earl grey and not our favourites but hey ho at least it was hot. So after the tea we started looking around the main concourse and then down in to the aquarium where there are approximately 4500 fish of all types from little ones up to some really guys. There were tanks of small frogs and large toads, snakes and spiders and many different types of animals. The areas were split in to Californian Coast, Madagascar, Philippines etc and all well prepared.

A White Albino Crocodile

The roof of the structure has been designed specifically to be covered in wild flowers and some grasses and along with a huge amount of solar panels it is intended to be almost self-sufficient on power. We then went to the planetarium where there was a new production showing about life and the intermingling of all the animals and what place they have in the food chain, they did not say food chain but that is what they mean. This was a well-produced film and was very informative; our only complaint was that it seemed a little dark.

Lunch followed with an excellent chicken and vegetable soup and we also purchased a Caesar salad before we got the soup only to find that the soup bowls were huge and so that was enough for lunch and we would retain the salad for dinner tonight in the hotel.

A Fish

We then visited the tropical forest where you walk around the building going higher and higher until the top and all the time butterflies are whizzing past you or perched on various plants and hand rails etc.

This was a most interesting visit today and we left there about 4pm and caught the bus back to Market and Powel and stopped in the Westfield shopping mall where Jen got some new sun glasses and we also bout some food for our journey tomorrow. We saw some shrimp, a small packet of about 8, which we had for dinner back in the room and they were really so good, best we have had for a long while.

We did consider going North East out of San Fran but then was concerned about the weather and the fact that at night it can be freezing when crossing some of the mountains and then said to ourselves we came for the sun and warmth so let’s head south instead. We have planned to go to Monterey tomorrow and have found a good priced Hotel on Hotwire. We have to pick up the hire car tomorrow morning and so the journey to Monterey will only be a few hours subject to traffic and the final routing decided by sister mappie (Jennifer).

Jennifer has had a cold all day so let hope it better tomorrow.

Sunday 1st February 2015- A day around San Francisco

After having some Skype calls with family and looking at a slightly confused little Katherine, don’t think she fully understood who was on the screen, we went back to the Lori’s Diner, where we went yesterday, for breakfast.

Jen's short stack

Yesterday were trying to purchase this Wi-Fi unit and we had discovered that another Radio Shack, which turned out to be slightly out of town, had one and so a taxi was the only way to go. We arrived at this slightly out of town store and they the unit in stock and the girl went to a lot of trouble to set it up for us. In view of the location we had asked the taxi to wait which was a good move otherwise to get a taxi from here would be difficult to say the least. Setting up the unit took slightly longer than expected, you see we don’t live in the USA and have a ZIP code which without can be a pain so the store used their own details.

From there we headed down the waterfront piers and found that several of the old piers had been converted in to cafe's and specialised food shops with a really mixed bag of food from Chinese Dim Sum to specially prepared burgers (well this is America). We walked along for a while and listen to a couple of old rockers who played two guitars and they were really very good. We then took a tram rise down to Fisherman’s Wharf and wandered around for a while and eventually found a highly recommended by Trip Advisor seafood restaurant where we subsequently dined on fresh Dungeness crab and pacific cod washed down with half a bottle of Californian Chardonnay, all of this while looking out over the harbour where the container ships were coming and going. In the harbour of course are the famous sea lions which have now been given their own dock area for them to enjoy.

In past years there was strong consideration to moving them away but it attracted so much negative publicity whilst at the same time drawing thousands of people to the area that the local council decided to allow them to stay unmolested. We continued walking for a while and then headed for Safeway to purchase the cereal for tomorrow morning breakfast, we don’t want to spend loads of cash on the full English or equivalent as it’s also not healthy.

A cable car ride back to the Hotel where we arrived just before 18.00 and after a well-earned shower we watched some rubbish American TV programs about solving murders  and ‘American Greed’ about this guy from Connecticut who ran a Ponzi scheme which lost hundreds of millions of dollars for the average guy in the street, bastard.

An evening of blogging and sorting out the photos and beginning to giver consideration as to how we get from here to Austin.

We mentioned yesterday that we might go to Alcatraz and/or take an open top bus ride but our 3 day bus pass covers all local transport including the famous San Francisco cable cars so not open top bus tour but might go the California Scientific Museum out in the Golden Gate Park tomorrow, but the decision will be tomorrow.