Mumtraveller

A wildlife update is needed methinks. If I have seen one Californian Condor I have seen a hundred - well I think thats what they are - big wing span, red heads - soaring on thermals all along the coast from California to Oregon ... and there I was on a windy headland looking at some lighthouse when these 4/5 birds almost flew over my head - pelicans I thought. There have been so many stopping off places along the route (I have driven 880 miles since San Fran now) I have lost track of which bit of coast line is which. I had lovely sunshine + blue skies the first 2 days - and when I say the road hugged the coastline and was bend after bend up and down I mean it - for ... read more

Contd..... Chapter 2. Two days driving about 700 miles to get to Yosemite and what a drive it was - we climbed up to the Tioga Pass and this was a high mountain road( 56 miles)looking down into deep valleys....but the road was wide, well maintained and not scarey to drive ( have been on worse roads in France!!)we were above the snow line and you could see why this road had only been opened 2 days earlier. We passed by meadows, rushing mountain rivers and streams, waterfalls - these mountains are massive white granite with smoothed tops - quite stunning...and beautiful rock. Hodgon Meadows campsite ( I had booked it ages ago - and you need to because otherwise you don't get a site) was on the Western side of the park so we had ... read more

After the Grand Canyon - one might be disapointed with the next stop - but no we were not. When we started planning this trip I bought a huge map of WEST USA and put red stickers on all the places I wanted to go ... then we got real about the distances and time factor and Suzanne said she wanted to go to Grand Canyon and Monument Valley and so we said anything else would be a bonus....well we have had lots of bonuses already. So everyone has probably seen Monument Valley in the movies John Ford westerns like Stagecoach, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Searchers were all filmed here as well as Thelma and Louise...so you think you have an idea of what it will be like but everytime we come across some ... read more

Last two days in Vegas went by in flash- Suz and Tracie flew to join me on Thursday and there was lots more walking up and down the Strip day and night to see the Bellagio Fountains ( 3or 4 times), Caesar's Palace not to mention the volcano at the Mirage...and for those of you who havent seen my FB page the great news that my $10 stake ( whch Richard had sent me- saying I had to make a bet) was turned into $100 on the roulette wheel at Caesars Casino !!!! Nobody was more surprised than me - I followed Pat's advice and stuck to one colour - and RED kept coming up...I also had a hunch when to quit before I lost it all again. I can see how people get hooked on ... read more

Hiya All. Keep those comments coming please. Well these last few days have been lazy days - partly due to the fact that I was going to hike a trail up at McClure Pass but it turned out that I was above the snow line when I got there and I needed skis not hiking boots... so I had a leisurely drive down the pass - found a babbling brook , a field with horses surrounded by mountain peaks and thought it was a good picnic spot. I passed up on the hiking. It is quite lovely driving around these mountain valleys with very little traffic - Carbondale is a quaint town - with neat stores and houses - nothing brash or garish about it. And the folks here seem very friendly and polite - they ... read more