Vivstrek
Viv Hudson Joined: July 14th 2006
Logged in: February 14th 2012
Logged in: February 14th 2012
Travel Blog Posts
Joshua Tree Park
Going it alone: the road to San Diego My route from Joshua Tree to San Diego was all planned out, I was to take the scenic route, as advised by a Ranger, and was really looking forward to the journey, it encompassed a Desert Park, a few vineyards, a couple of quaint towns and sounded great. I started off touring the part of Joshua Tree park I hadn’t covered the day before – the route from Twenty-Nine Palms to Cottonwood Springs. I hadn’t planned to spend much time there, having spent all day there on the Saturday, but once you start getting out the car and wandering around, you just want to see more. The southern part of the park was quite different from the Mojave Desert section – and not just by the absence of ... read more
vlh 230411 JT01 Spring Flowers
Going it alone Joshua Tree After such a long drive to Twenty-nine Palms on Good Friday, I took it easy on the Saturday. I was very relaxed and happy – even though I again had to share the breakfast room with families. Spring break seems to go on for ever in the USA. Some schools had their Spring Break about a month ago, but all the Christain faith schools are apparently having theirs at Easter. I loaded my cooler with bottles of water, my lunch and snacks – all this photography is thirsty and hungry work. It was about 11 when I got to Joshua Tree Park. The visitor centre was, as they always are, a mine of useful information. The ranger was really lovely, telling me exactly where to go for spring blooms, Joshua Trees ... read more
Route 72
Grand Circle Torrey to Moab and Arches NP We left Torrey with heavy stomachs – all that pie! We went west slightly and then north before heading east to Moab. Which ever way we went we were guaranteed stunning scenery, but that way was meant to be the most scenic. We drove up Route 72 through Fish Lake Forest – it was so-so. At any other time, in any other place it would have been stunning. But this was Utah, and our standards for scenery were now high. Ironically our standards for our diets had hit new lows, but we were on holiday, it’s rude not to over-indulge. I drove to the Interstate so Ursula could get to see the scenery, and we swapped over before the entrance to the Interstate so she could get used ... read more
72 Layer cake
Grand Circle Day Five – Capitol Reef I was desperately trying to finish my essay for OU, poor Ursula was desperately trying to get some more sleep whilst I tapped away in the next bed. If we were in a penthouse suite in some five star hotel this would be a considerable distance, as it was I have slept further away from people I have been in the same bed with. I felt guilty, not guilty enough to have finished the essay before we set off, but guilty all the same. We had no internet in the motel, I couldn’t send my essay, but we went off sightseeing anyway. Ursula trying to make me find internet and send it, being eager to see views of rocks and other stuff I insisted later would do. We were ... read more
48 Kodachrome Pillar
The Grand Circle Day Four - Route 12 Scenic Byway We were ahead of our schedule – not that it was much of a schedule, we just assumed we would spend two days per park and see how far we got round our route. However having spent a day in each of the first two parks, we decided each park was unique, but a second day would be more of the same, so we elected to take Route 12 as far as we could for the day’s drive, with plenty of stops along the way. The mileage involved wasn’t that great and we thought we would be in Torrey by lunchtime and in Capitol Reef National Park for the afternoon and the next day. How wrong we turned out to be. Our first stop was Kodachrome ... read more
First view of red rock
The Grand Circle Day Three – Bryce Canyon We checked out of our hotel in Mount Carmel Junction, we had booked to stay there two nights because it had a restaurant on sight … but one that didn’t accommodate us, could it be me I ask? The restaurant advertised it served Ho-Made pies as well – which I found odd. In Utah alcohol is the work of the devil, but referring to women as “hos” in a family restaurant is perfectly acceptable. The hotel were very good about refunding our second night, although it took some time for receptionist to understand that we had actually already paid, she wanted to charge us again for the night we had stayed and $25 cancellation fee. In fact she never actually understood, but she knew a man who did ... read more
Zion - our first view
The Grand Circle Day Two We drove from St George to Zion National Park, which was only about 30 miles. It was Ursula’s first time driving our little tin shack so she had a bit of a practice in the hotel car park. It seems odd that we were so nervous driving in the US, it is very easy. It also seems odd that we didn’t think to read up on road signage, rules or how to drive an automatic, our confidence in being able to drive 1400 miles may have been boosted by a little more planning. Driving out of the St George we caught our first glimpse of tumbleweed. It was an absolutely perfect specimen, neat, round and dancing down the road in a manner which would warm the heart of any director of ... read more
Hyundai Rolls Canardly
The Grand Circle Day One Ursula and I had arranged to meet at Las Vegas airport for the start of long awaited and planned trip round the ‘Grand Circle’ National Parks. We had flown to Las Vegas from different locations, Ursula from Heathrow via Los Angeles and I from Sacramento. On the day we were to meet, it occurred to both of us that our arrangement had existed of ‘see you in Las Vegas’. Other than that we had little idea of exactly where we would see each other. This lack of planning would be a theme of our trip, for our many meetings to ‘plan the trip’ somehow fell far short of any concrete decisions once the first bottle of red wine was out of the way. On arriving in Las Vegas, another thought occurred ... read more
vlh201101
This was a bank holiday weekend in California - Cesar Chavez, a farm worker turned labor leader and civil rights activist who achieved nationwide support for the farm workers movement. California is one of the states to celebrate his birthday with a bank holiday, government and state institutions choosing to celebrate the nearest Friday to his birthday, this year 25 March. I am in agreement with this, I was born on a Friday and therefore think my birthday should always be on a Friday. Friday's child is loving and giving, a much better motto to carry through life than the one Jess's Wii gave me - telling me in no uncertain terms that I am overweight and unstable. We chose to celebrate Cesar's birthday with a trip to the coast, taking in Santa Cruz and San ... read more
A few years later, a few years older, quite a few pounds heavier and no pension plan in place, what to do? Work harder, save more and die earlier or put all one's faith in the Euromillions lottery to provide and go off travelling again. Dear reader, you can guess which option I chose. The economy is doomed anyway, so I salve my conscience with the thought that in my dotage you will all be poor with me. This trip is a mini trip. A year of lugging round 25kg of luggage no longer appeals. Three months of throwing everything into the boot of a car seemed much more to my liking. Besides, as Ursula pointed out, at our age half your luggage is various vitamins and potions claiming to aid us in sailing with tranquility ... read more
