http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/H---T/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from H T en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:10:18 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:10:18 +0000 What a surprise Boston has been such a beautiful city. With all the history and the fact that it was originally based on London we have felt like we are back home already..well almost. We arrived to sunshine that was set to stay for the whole 4 days we were here couple that with a bank holiday for Columbus day and we were feeling really good. Our hotel was right out of the city but when we ar http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Massachusetts/Boston/blog-334255.html It was quite late by the time we arrived in Buffalo as we had to fly through New York to get here. We got a taxi straight to our hotel and were just sat chilling watching a bit of TV when Sharon called to say that she had sent the Fedex and the wallet would arrive by lunchtime the next day. This meant we could still go and hire the car and once again Sharon had found out where we could go that wa http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Niagara-Falls/blog-334233.html Even with the sat nav that Rick and Sharon gave us we still couldnrsquot find their house so fortunately Sharon came to meet us to take us back. You remember I said that they are a whirlwind well our return was no different. Within 20 minutes of being in the house Sharon was whisking us off to one of the movie sets in town. Wersquove never been given the opportunity to do this so we were no http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver/blog-334225.html We left the cozy atmosphere of Rick and Sharons and headed for the rockies. It was Monday morning and the traffic was a little busy getting out of the city but within 30 minutes we were enjoying some pretty stunning scenery. We had a lot of miles to cover and we made good time to the town of Kamloops which we hit around midday. Stopping for a burger and drink we were back on the road again with http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Jasper-National-Park/blog-334209.html Our flight to Seattle was faultless and we were both really looking forward to meeting up with Rick and Sharon again. As we collected our baggage we were pounced upon by both of them Sharon quickly handed Tim a large can of English ale. We were introduced to Ernie one of Sharons old friends from NZ and swiflty the whirlwind that is Rick and Sharon took hold. Firstly Sharon had very kindly arra http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver/blog-332635.html If Tim sang that line once on the way he must have sang it a thousand times badly By the time we arrived into San Fran about 11.30am I think he had got the message that the novelty had worn off. We had a few hotels in our coupon guide again so the idea was to take the northern entrance to the city where we could drive over the golden gate bridge and then onto find somewhere to stay. The roa http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-332606.html Lake Tahoe sits on the border of California and Nevada we arrived via the Nevada border. Casinos line the main highway in and the scenes were very pretty of the beginning of the lake. The hotel we were hoping for was actually in California so we passed over the cross roads that marks the two borders. We always like finding such places where it says welcome to California on one side and you are http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Lake-Tahoe/blog-332585.html Arriving in Bodie is rather eerie even though we were not the first tourists we were still early enough for it to be quiet. Driving down the dirt road that leads to the deserted mining town you first pass the cemetry on your left and then you see what is left of the once sprawling town on the right. Perched high up on the hill is the mill and mine looming over the houses. We parked and set off http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Nevada/blog-332015.html We quite happily left dodgy Fresno behind and began our journey to Yosemite somehow we got our timings wrong and we arrived much earlier than we had expected to do. We arrived into the small town of Oakhurst and decided to stop for breakfast as we knew it would be a long day. The breakfast in America are rather strange and we have still yet to understand how you can out pancakes maple syrup e http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Yosemite-National-Park/blog-330839.html We drove through Malibu and down to Venice beach in around an hour or so. The scenery is quite pretty and were still finding the palm trees most amusing we seriously need to stop taking pictures of them Finally finding a place to park we set off for the short walk to the beach. I knew nothing about muscle beach but Tim had seen it on TV and was pretty keen to take a look. You cant miss the m http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Malibu/blog-330799.html We left Encinitas and hit the pacific highway 1 again heading for Hollywood. The drive took a few hours and we arrived late morning. We had to drive through the main highway in LA and the lanes were unbelivable at one point there were 8 lanes and traffic was weaving in and out of them . It took a while for me to stop jumping in fear as yet another car whizzed by. We almost came off the highway http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/Hollywood/blog-325440.html So we left Las Vegas on 9th September for our flight to San Diego and the start of our California road trip. Quite strangely we got checked in on the pavement outside the airport never done that before but it was well organised once again. Life just feels so good at the moment we are both really happy and looking forward to our life when we get home. A few of you may be surprised by this but http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Diego/blog-325422.html Although it was very early we were both really excited about our trip out to the Canyon. It is a place both of us have always wanted to see. Our pick up was on time and we had one stop to pick another family up at the stratosphere. We then had a nice early morning ride up the strip to the Luxor hotel where we transferred to a bigger bus for the 30 minute journey out to the airstrip. It still s http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Grand-Canyon-National-Park/blog-325390.html Bright light city gonna set my soul gonna set my soul on fire..........Okay another major city and another famous song running round in our head. Our flight to Vegas took us via Denver so we arrived into the city pretty late at around 10.30. The view from the plane of the window was very impressive as the sprawling lights shine below you seeming to reach across the landscape forever much bigg http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Nevada/Las-Vegas/blog-323205.html Yet another bus journey landed us at Piste the small town on the outskirts of Chichen Itza. We got there about 4pm and needed to find somewhere to stay for the night. Chichen Itza can be travelled to from other destinations in Mexico in a day but the tours all arrive at around 10am11am so the point of staying overnight was to avoid the crtouds and get there for opening at 8am. There were a few http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Yucat%E1n/Chich%E9n-Itz%E1/blog-319365.html Belize had not quite supplied the beach time enjoyment we had been looking for after our hectic excursions through central America. Therefore we decided that Tulum in Mexico may be a better option. As I said in my previous blog we were met after our flight by a driver who took us from the Belize border town through the checkpoints and onto the station to get our bus to Tulum. All pretty easy an http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Yucat%E1n/blog-317659.html Another day another bus journey and border crossing. Fortunately the journey from Tikal to Belize was only 5 hours and the bus was relatively empty. We had the first two seats which always gets you some extra leg room and we were both very comfortable. The border stop was a bit of a pain as we ended us joining the wrong queue and then at the back of the right queue. It is frustrating at times http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/Belize-Barrier-Reef/Ambergris-Caye/blog-317645.html The overnight bus to Tikal was okay we both managed to sleep better than expected and were soon arriving into Santa Elena. We were not sure where to get off as Santa Elena and Flores are so very close to each other. Flores is an island joined by a causeway to the mainland. In the end we went to Flores first and then back to Santa Elena. We got straight off the bus and Tim went to get our onwa http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Flores-Tikal/blog-315461.html We left Antigua very early 4am for our quick hop over the Guatemalan border into Copan Honduras. We both wanted to visit the Copan Ruins and the easiest way with the route we were taking was from Guatemala. So we boarded our little mini bus and spent the next 6 hours on a bone crunching ride through the ever changing landscape. From high hills to sweeping valleys and the many villages along th http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/Copan-Ruins/blog-314321.html Our taxi journey to Granada was pleasant enough as we had no hostel booked again we chose one from LP we have never relied on the book so much and went to see if they had rooms. They had one room left a shared bathroom arrangement but for one night we decided to take it. It was now around 5pm and as we would be leaving here at 8am the following morning we just wanted to see as much as we could http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Antigua/blog-312598.html