amyjayes
Amy Jayes Joined: July 19th 2008
Logged in: July 30th 2011
Logged in: July 30th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
handing over the SUV
Tuesday 26th August Travelling back to Las Vegas today, we set out after I had had my gym fix in Barstow at Anytime Fitness gym!! We were soon into the heat of the Mojave Desert with air con on full at 90+ all the way. After a 2 hour drive, we arrived in Vegas and decided to check into our hotel/casino first, so we could drop off our ever expanding luggage before returning the hire car. We are staying at the Excalibur Casino, with the theme being Knights of the Round Table/ Sherwood Forest etc. The outside looks like a castle, with turrets and all! These casino/hotels are really OTT! Anyway, it is a lovely hotel - particularly luxurious for the both of us, after the canvas tent from the past 3 days! We dropped the ... read more
Amy on the golf course at Yosemite
Monday 25th August Got up early and packed up, just had time for coffee, an essential element to the road trip first thing in the morning!! Then it was a windy drive down to Wawona where we found a very nice 9 hole golf course, and a beautiful hotel - obviously where the rich people stay when visiting Yosemite!! Golf was great, it was a beautiful day and the scenery was stunning. The golf went well - Gra coaching me all the way and having quite a few decent shots himself. We had both peaked at the 9th hole and wound up in the club house having lunch and checking out the best route back to Vegas. We didn't fancy another visit to Death Valley so took a longer way round back through a town called ... read more
Can you find Amy
Sunday 24th August After a good 11 hours of sleep we were ready to tackle some more hikes. This time we headed to the top of the mountain and walked to Taft Point for some spectacular views of the valley floor and where we had explored the day before. It was fun looking down, but we were both grateful for the metal railing put in to aid the view. We then hiked along the mountain edge to Glacier Point. This time we had a view of; Half Dome, North Dome, Basket Dome and much more. It was a tremendous view and after 4 hours of walking we enjoyed an ice cream and a break in the coffee shop. Then it was a push for the last view of the day and certainly the best. We climbed ... read more
bike ride in Yosemite
Saturday 23rd August We woke up to sun steaming through the tent and the sounds of lots of people getting ready to go out hiking. We had planned to go on a hike and bike tour of the valley floor to get ourselves familiar with our surroundings. So having hired very basic tour bikes, we joined the group and Star, our tour guide. She described the area, the history, the geology, and facts about Yosemite very well and we were pleasantly surprised and glad we had taken the tour. We decided to keep the bikes for the day and use them to get to the start of several other walks. The first one we tried was a loop around mirror lake. Unfortunately it was almost dry and there was no mirror image of the mountains just ... read more
Yosemite National Park
Friday 22nd August We slept in for once and left the hotel ready to gym it for a second time in South San Fran , however we weren't so lucky this time as both gyms we tried we charge day pass rates and $15 dollars each for a run seemed a little too much! So we headed to the beach instead determined to crack the surfing thing!! We hired (sorry RENTED!!) boards and this time essential wet suits. As the fog was still hanging over San Fran at 2pm in the afternoon it seemed surfing was the only thing to do at the beach. However the ocean seemed a little bit rough and we were soon feeling like we had done a fast spin in a washing cycle and neither of us had much success in ... read more
Alctraz
Thursday 21st Aug After finding cheap parking we headed to pier 33 to board our boat to Alcatraz. It was only a short boat ride (and I still think an easily swimmable distance!!) to the 'rock as local would say! When we got off the boat we were greeted by the state park ranger and given some info on what to see and do. Firstly we watched a short video about Alcatraz and the history of the island. This gave us a good insight into how the prison had been established. Next we walked round the outside of the prison which still had some of the old facilities and building from back in the days it served as a military base. Then was the jail tour we were all given audio headsets to listen to stories ... read more
half of the bridge
Wednesday 20th August After making phone calls and getting packed up we headed into San Fran. We found somewhere to park and headed to the hop on hop off bus tour that we had booked the day before. It was a great tour with a Jim Carey style driver/guide who kept us entertained. Unfortunately the weather was typically foggy when we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and we couldn't even see to the front of the bus let alone the sights. Having done most of the tour we hopped off to walked along fisherman's wharf and found a bar called Specs to sample the local beer Anchor Steam, and then to a very popular restaurant called Nan-Kings. Tourists and locals alike line up outside to get a table at this place. The owner of the restaurant ... read more
1st view of the pyramid building in San Fran
Tuesday 19th August Wow, would you believe it, having looked for somewhere to eat the previous night, we had come across a 24 hour gym not 5 minutes drive from our motel. So, first stop of the day was a free 2 hour session, working off the meal from the night before! We then excitedly drove to downtown San Francisco, and were thrilled by the views of the city as we got ever nearer. It really was an impressive sight as we made our way to a parking spot in Chinatown. Amy did a great job negotiating the traffic, and we parked up early afternoon. The guide book suggested a scenic walk not far from where we had parked, and this seemed an ideal way to get our first views of the city. Chinatown was huge, ... read more
Santa Cruz
Monday 18th August Another early start, and a trip along the coastal road, brought us closer to our next major destination - San Francisco. However, we made a couple of stops en route before hitting the big city. First of all was a stop at Santa Cruz. Another coastal town, very much geared up for sunbathing, surfing, and swimming. However, we were beginning to notice a consistent difference in temperature between North and South California - the sun was still shining, but the heat had been reduced from averages of 110 degrees in San Diego to 70 degrees at our current location. A gentle stroll on the beach was followed by a quick look round the town centre. Then it was on to the Redwood State Park for a short walking trail that took in an ... read more
Fishing boats at Monterey
Sunday 17th August After travelling as far as King City, and with Gra getting stopped for speeding!!, we decided to call it a night. We woke up early, not only to get out of the dodgy motel, but also to get into Monterary. As it felt like we had spend forever in the car, so we hired bikes to do the scenic 17 mile drive around Monteray. This worked out really well because it was a great way to see the sights of the town, and the lovely coastline, while getting plenty of fresh air and exercise. We passed numerous coastal golf courses, and one of them was hosting a car exhibition. As it was on the cycle route, we took time out to view many impressive old and new cars of various make and model. ... read more
