Rosedale

We have an early start to the last day of our holiday and make the decision to head back to Downtown Disney, for a bit of last minute shopping along with the opportunity to feel that Disney magic again before hopping on a plane and flying home. A late lunch at Taco Bell (Oliver's last holiday request!) and a fair few hours spent packing suitcases (definitely a fine art involved in getting those suckers zippered up!) Shuttle from the hotel to LAX and a couple of hours to fill in before the long haul flight, Los Angeles to Melbourne, 15 hours of flying time (it just sounds so wrong doesn't it??!!) A much more pleasant flight for Oliver and I as we manage to sleep literally half of the time away (Bradley fills the hours with ... read more

After breakfast on Sunday morning we left Phoenix destined for Flagstaff, where our official Route 66 road trip would begin. It was a very scenic two and a half hour drive. Once we reached Flagstaff we had lunch and also stopped in at the Visitors Information Centre before heading for the open road. Our first stop was Bellemont where the now abandoned Pine Breeze Inn sits, which was used in the Easy Rider movie. We weaved our way between the I-40 and the old mother road and continued on to Williams. It was such a buzz to see the iconic streets and buildings of the now historic Route in this town, still so full of colour and life. From Williams we continued on to Ash Fork, just west of which begins the longest unbroken stretch of ... read more

We had a very different drive from Holbrook to Tucson, following the I-77 through mountainous valleys, the roads curving around bends, zig zagging, all the time with sheer drops to the side. Some phenomenal country out here in Arizona, just beautiful. A day spent on the road, just under 5 hours in total, arriving at our Best Western hotel around 4pm. A delicious dinner at the Royal Sun Restaurant (onsite at the hotel which was just perfect as it saved Bradley having to drive anymore today). On the road fairly early this morning heading for the infamous Wild West town of Tombstone. Our first stop was Boothill Graveyard where we spent time wandering the rows of grave markers, lots of them unknowns, but others meeting a much more harrowing end. A very interesting tourist stop. We ... read more

Our journey from Las Vegas to the Grand Hotel in Tusayan, included a tourist stop at Hoover Dam and a late lunch in Kingman. Although one of our longer road trips (driving time of around 4 and a half hours), the changing landscape enthralled us and the time passed quickly. It was late afternoon by the time we checked into the hotel (very nice indeed complete with its rustic cabin feel lobby, large stone fireplace and wood carvings) and we had a relaxing evening of pizza and TV. Our day at the Grand Canyon can only be described as truly awesome. We had been looking forward to our visit to this natural wonder and the experience itself certainly did not disappoint. It really is difficult to find the words (yes, even for me!) to describe the ... read more

We had a few stops in Downtown Disney (Build-a-Bear and some last minute shopping at the World of Disney store) before hitting the road bound for Las Vegas on Tuesday morning. We had an estimated 4 hour 20 minute journey to our destination, which in reality ended up being closer to 5 hours with traffic. So it was early evening by the time we hit the outskirts of Vegas, which in a way ended up being kind of nice as the lights on the strip were just starting to glow. We checked into the hotel, we are staying at the Luxor (this place is quite simply amazing, hard to find words to describe the size and detail..... just in the hotel lobby alone!) We flopped in front of the TV and had a late dinner, exhausted ... read more