mrhooie

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno - Day 5 Booked today was Jay. A lot of people sigh at this or go into a rant about Jay Leno, but you must admit that the Tonight Show is legend in late night TV. It would be like gong to New York and not seeing David Letterman. We had another lazy morning and headed out in search of a little shopping close by. I had a quick search of Google to see what was in the area and we headed off down Ventura Blvd. Well, I couldn’t find what I was looking for, so we continued down to the Sherman Oakes Galleria, which we had seen the previous day. With a name like Galleria and the look of the structure, I could have sworn it was a shopping ... read more

Well, another crack at the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson!!! Armed with our little black VIP Card and headed to the Farmer's Market again (this time while shops are open!). I tend to drive by Pink's hot dogs to see how the line is. The last time we were here, we stood in line for over an hour but a one time saw a line that was only 10 people deep, which is very unusual. As luck would have it, it was 11:45am and the line was only 12 people. Guess who was having hot dogs?!! We circled to block and grabbed some parking. The Martha Stewart dog, the Ozzy dog and a 10" Stretch chili dog were thoroughly enjoyed. It's great because it gives Hughie great ideas for gourmet hot dogs at home. We ... read more

Scheduled today - California Sushi Academy We are up early and pumped up. On our last visit to Los Angeles, Trish bought a guide book that had a blip on the California Sushi Academy. Needless to say, we didn't visit. But this time we figured we would give it a shot. The class was set for 1030am and with our experience the previous day, we made sure we had lots of cushion time. We drove to where the class would be held and had a look around. It really is a small unasuming store front on a side street. Check! On their website (http://www.sushi-academy.com/pages/aboutcsa.html), we were informed to bring a container to take our sushi home with us, so we traveled down Santa Monica Blvd to the nearest Walgreens to find some sealable containers. After walking ... read more

Well, sleeping with a stomach full of hamburgers led to a very laid back kind of morning. This trip to Los Angeles, I essentially only booked one item per day and then lots of free time to get into trouble. This seems to work very well for us. On the docket today was the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 2 PM. After a few coffees in the hotel room, it was decided that we should try and hit an outlet mall just west of our hotel. Online it seemed to be a half hour drive. It ended up being much more. Funny enough, there are these things called GPS and they are quite handy. Alas, the last one I had was 7 years old and a POS, so we just go with it. Fortunately, ... read more

The day started off early...... And by early, I mean 3:30 am. I think Trish was up earlier. The flight from Yellowknife to Calgary at 6am was pretty uneventful. Got a little shut eye, but not much more. We then had 2 hours in the Calgary airport to wander around and catch breakfast before heading to Vancouver. You know, I've never considered Chilis for breakfast, but it did not disappoint. On to Vancouver, we head through US Customs. Customs was quick and easy. Interesting enough, in Vancouver you are not required to pick up your bag. When going through security and at the US border, there are digital images of your luggage. This is great! and gave me a glimmer of hope that our bag would continue the trip with us. I've got to say, the ... read more

Well, about 9 months ago I told Trish that we would go to DisneyWorld for her birthday. She's always been a peach to me, so I am returning the favour. Her birthday is December 18 and she's a big Mickey Mouse and Christmas fan. She's always wanted to see Disneyworld at Christmas so off we go After booking some "points" travel to Edmonton in March, we finalized with Westjet to Orlando. I really wanted to fly the Toronto leg on the Redeye and we were able to get that flight. Thanks to Ryan and Lorraine to look after the monsters (and bring their two over - I almost wanted to stay home to see that!). We fly out of our -35ºC Yellowknife to Edmonton in just a few short hours. With a small layover in Edmonton, ... read more

Kata Tjuta and Uluru walk 5:30 comes early but we don't feel too bad. The backpack gets loaded with fruit, granola bars and water that we picked up at the grocery store as well as the camera. We get picked up at 6:30 and head out towards Kata Tjuta. 25km into the trip we get to stop at a sunrise viewing area. We're treated to both Uluru and Kata Tjuta at sunrise. Pretty amazing again to see the colour change on Kata Tjuta and the sun creep over the desert to the right of Uluru. Continuing on to Kata Tjuta, we're told we've got roughly 3 hours to meet the van again. Another couple is in the same van so we just have to keep up with them. Trish and I strike out and hike to ... read more

Adelaide-Uluru (Ayer's Rock) I've made some secret plans. and got some great deals online. Our flights are booked to Uluru and then 3 days later to Sydney. As we check in at the airport, we get a confused lady who can't understand why we haven't checked in, yet have boarding cards. This is suspicious to me and I mention to trish we may be double booked. Luckily we have a 2 hour lay over in Alice Springs so I phone Qantas. Yep - foiled by my friend the internet, I've double booked and double charged the tickets. They're more than happy to refund the extra charge and we continue on our way. At Uluru, I've found a great deal at The Sails in the Desert resort. (wotif.com btw). it's a 5 star resort and I scored ... read more