One last day in the US, but we plan to make the most of it. First that familiar but forgettable breakfast, then we check out and head for the "Hollywood Forever" cemetary. This time Karina has done her research, and I've drawn a small map from the net. The cemetary is much larger than the other one we searched a few weeks ago, but armed with our map and only looking for 3 graves, it doesn't take long. Mel Blanc, Estel Getty (Golden Girls) whose grave has no headstone atm, and Don Adams (Maxwell Smart), whose headstone has a picture of [View Full Entry]

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We finished off the breakfast bars for breakfast and packed our bags to move on for the 2nd last time. We drove the short distance down to take a closer look at Morro Rock. It was an overcast (foggy?) morning and there was a chill in the wind again. We took a few photos from the roadside, then ventured down to the waterside to get a better view. To our surprise, a sea lion emerged from the water just a few feet below us! It was catching fish for breakfast, with an eager gallery of gulls floating on the water around [View Full Entry]

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Down to the supermarket for more breakfast bars. We stumble across Nob Hill, which turns out to be the local supermarket that Penny used whilst living in Pacific Grove for a year. It's only a few streets away from her place in fact! After another breakfast-in-a-packet we headed out to find Penny's old place, a blue house near the sea. After some confusion we found it - and according to Penny who saw our photos yersterday, it looks exactly the same. We wandered over to the water but there were no seals around today. Still, I can imagine it would be [View Full Entry]

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Orange juice and breakfast bars again. Yuck. But quick and easy. Checkout isn't until 12 so we head up to Lombard Steet - the famous bit - and arrive around 10am. Not too many people this time of morning. We walk down it, then up again, and by the time we reach the top after taking a lot of pictures and getting towards 11am, it's starting to get crowded. Back to the motel - checkout and head back to the Wharf to find another Alcatraz book that Karina decided she should have bought yesterday. We finally found it, then had In'n'Out [View Full Entry]

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No breakfast here so it was orange juice and cereal bars again. Then we headed out to Pier 33 for the Alcatraz tour. Fisherman's Wharf was supposedly 20 mins walk from our motel on Lombard Street, which may technically be correct, but Pier 33 is about 45 mins. Fortunately we left in plenty of time. A classic SF morning - fog. Today we were dressed more appropriately, and despite the brisk walk it wasn't long before I donned my 1st layer of long sleeves. We arrived at the pier and collected our tickets - pre-booked from home a few months ago [View Full Entry]

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Before breakfast we decided it was prudent to do a last laundry load before home, and with a late checkout (12pm) it was ideal. Then down to breakfast - waffles no less! - and packed up the car ready to head to SF. We arrived at our motel on Lombard St early morning. Luckily our room was ready, so we could dump our stuff and head out for lunch. A nice couple gave us their two "all day transport passes" as we checked in - funnily enough it was a girl that Karina had tried to photograph on the way down [View Full Entry]

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We went down to breakfast as it started and got straight in without waiting this time. Same fare, nothing too exciting. Back to the room to pack, and off to the Yosemite Valley. Not many people in the park yet - we were able to park just outside the general store. A quick visit to the visitor centre and we hopped onto the free shuttle to the bottom of the Vernal Falls hike. 1,000 ft ascent again - ouch! And pretty much straight up again! The walk followed the river for the entire climb. About half-way up it changes from a [View Full Entry]

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We were peeved to find that we had to put our name down and wait 15 mins to get a seat at breakfast. Breakfast itself was quite decent, albeit with limited options. We'd planned two hikes today. The 1st, Mariposa Groves to look at the giant sequoia trees. It's only a short drive from the Wawona Hotel and we arrived shortly after 9am. Armed with our $0.50 map, we head off to check out the main attractions. The trees are pretty damn big. Not quite as high as I'd imagined, but very thick trunks. Amazingly thick trunks. You'd have a hell [View Full Entry]

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The free breakfast consisted of orange juice, your choice of 1 cereal, and pastries. The breakfast room seated a total of 4 people. I'm guessing not a lot of people opted for breakfast. Still, it was better than breakfast bars in the car! A relatively late start after yesterday's marathon drive. Soon we were approaching the park and the scenery gave hints as to what was in store. Plenty of pulling over to the side of the road to take photos! Finally we could see Half-Dome - we were close! After entering the park gates we stopped off at the visitor [View Full Entry]

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No breakfast option at this motel, and we're out of breakfast bars so it's off to the supermarket. Breakfast in the car park - ordinarily not very pleasant but we had views of snow-capped mountains not too far away! Karina had spied a Polo Ralph Loren factory outlet across the road from the motel, so we headed there. About an hour and 5 tops later, she's done. She assures me that she got "an absolute bargain" but I'm sure I saw them cheaper in Bangkok!?! A quick trip to the visitor's centre to confirm that Tioga Pass is still closed and [View Full Entry]

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