We arrived in LA in the afternoon and after settling into our LAST hostel, went for a walk. We decided to explore Hollywood Boulevard since we were located just around the corner. We had heard from another Aussie in our dorm (who was fresh off the boat) that there was a movie premiere on Hollywood Boulevard. We hoped it would be something big, someone actually famous. It was “The Hannah Montana” film, we saw along with a large crowd of screaming teenagers Milley Cryus, Billy Ray Cryus and the rest of the cast of the TV show and I guess new [View Full Entry]

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We arrived into Anaheim in the afternoon and got settled into the hotel. Since we had decided to spend two nights there was no need to rush. We headed to Downtown Disneyland to check out the Disney Emporium Store and choose what we wanted to buy the next day. He he he. We also brought our tickets for Disneyland! 1st of April, a day I had waited 26 years for; I was going to Disneyland. We got up early, dressed making sure I had my “first visit” badge on straight and off we went across the street to DISNEYLAND. My excitement [View Full Entry]

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We have just spent three days having lazy and a relaxing time in San Diego without the car and back to the joys of public transport. I hate buses. We arrived in the afternoon and settled into our hostel by the beach. It was lucky we packed the car up the previously night as the whole return car process was very quick. The only problem was we didn’t pack our bags very well, we had trouble carrying them as we hadn’t done so for five weeks. But once we got settled in San Diego we went exploring our local area of [View Full Entry]

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Today we had a relaxing day at the Joshua Tree National Park. The park is located in southeastern California. A large part of the park is designated to wilderness area; some 2,367 km². Straddling the San Bernardino County/Riverside County border, the park includes parts of two deserts, each an ecosystem whose characteristics are determined primarily by elevation. Below 3,000 feet the Colorado Desert encompasses the eastern part of the park and features natural gardens. The Little San Bernardino Mountains run through the southwest edge of the park. Its not that far from LA so we won’ [View Full Entry]

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Today we headed to Tucson, Arizona. Saying it just rolls of the tongue and sounds cool. We made it into Tucson in the late afternoon, got settled in the hotel and relaxed. The next day we went to the Saguaro National Park which consists of both an east and west section seperated by the city. It is situated in the Sonovan Desert it is 91,327 acres and its name comes from the main cactus that are found there, Saguaro. They are the stereotypical American cactus. They were so big and impressive, I was very pleased to see that the national park [View Full Entry]

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It was the afternoon when we arrived in Las Vegas, while we had the car we decided to take a drive down Sunset Strip. There was plenty of lights to see, as well as the people and the different themed hotels. We were certainly far from home. Upon arriving at our hotel, the Luxor and we were greeted by a porter, he took care of our bags and valet parked our car (for free too, not like Melbourne hotels.) The hotel is huge. It is the third largest in Vegas with 4,400 rooms and has an Egyptian theme. The tower we [View Full Entry]

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Today we were on the road by 7.30am; we had a bit of a drive in front of us. It didn’t take long and we were driving in the outskirts of Las Vegas with loads of road works just like home! The city just kinda of sprung up out of no where. On we drove and over the Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam is on the border of Nevada and Arizona, is 726 feet high, and the dam was completed in 1935. It cost $175 million to complete but unfortunately approximately 96 -112 men died during the building of the dam. [View Full Entry]

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After we left Yosemite National Park we drove to Kings Canyon National Park. Unfortunately it was closed for the closed for winter but we were able to get a fantastic view over the park on our way through a very small section. We really didn't miss too much as Kings Canyon National Park is similar to Yosemite National Park. So on we drove to Sequoia National Park where we hoped to see more of the beautifull sequoia trees. We had to race against time to get there. We could still see the park as long as we wanted but we had [View Full Entry]

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Yosemite National Park, one of the first wilderness parks in the United States, is best known for its waterfalls, but within its nearly 1,200 square miles, you can find deep valleys, grand meadows, ancient giant sequoias, a vast wilderness area, and much more. We arrived in Yosemite Valley in the afternoon. After a quick stop at Bridalveil Falls we headed straight to the gift stop to get a map and badge as we weren't sure how long we were going to stay. We booked one night in a cabin and would decide from there. We headed to the ranger station and [View Full Entry]

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We spent a few days exploring San Francisco. It was a great city with super big hills - I know we walked them. Before we knew it we had cross the Golden Gate Bridge and we had arrived in San Francisco. It was a lovely sunny day so we went to for a walk to explore the bay and Fisherman’s Wharf and get tickets for Alcatraz. It was a bit of a distance but nothing we couldn’t handle. Lucky we did get our tickets the day before for Alcatraz, because they were sold out for that day, and there was only [View Full Entry]

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