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Published: July 16th 2008
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Yosemite National Park
....stunning scenery....lakes and mountains.... Yi Haa!!
Currently sat out west near the Grand Canyon having just gone through really fantastic Wild West scenery which takes me back to being a little boy playing Cowboys and Indians. Tonight we are staying in a western heritage hotel where lots of film stars stayed when making westerns - John Wayne, Burl Ives, Tom Mix and his horse Tony.
The sceney here is just fantastic and every crest we drive over there is yet another great vista and we look out to see if we can see smoke signals and the Indians.
It is particularly odd as we have just ha four days in Las Vegas - not a place we would normally visit - I suppose that is one of the differences betwen travelling and going on holiday. Usually we would only go to somewhere that we would wantto go - at the moment we are going everywhere we can go. Anyway back to Las Vegas whre we hada very interesing time - its a mixture of contradictions - there are people handing out cards for hookers on the street,sorry on the Strip - the promise is The girl will be there in 20 minutes! I don't
Yosemite National Park - Photo 125
Blue skies and crystal clear water know if its like pizza where if it takes longer than 20 minutes you can keep the pizza but don't have to pay? The otherside of Vegas is a load of shops including antiquarian bookshops where you can buy the original 3 Volumes of Captain Cooks travels to the South Seas and Australian or a 1554 folio of Chaucers Tales.
There are also a load of shows - we went to see LOVE by Cirque de Soleil which was based on the Beatles songs and included dancing acrobats specia effects etc and was amazing - we have the CD and if you get the chance to hear it do so.
It was also fun just walking along to see what else was happening - we saw 10 month old lions in the MGM Casino - really close up too through the plexiglas screen which also allowed you to walk underneath them. The highlight of the free stuff were the fountains outside the Bellagio which play every half hour to different pieces of music - Hey big spender, Swan Lake etc etc and are astonshing - there must be 250 water jets all syncronised and firing water up over 80 feet.
"Look Ma....we're on top of the World"
The only downside was the height of the mountain drops It was hot here though - well above 100 degrees. We stayed a couple of nights in a casino - the Luxor - which is shaped like a giant pyramid - room was fine but really depressing inside the casino where people sat mindlessly stuffing money into slot machines - bonkers.
To get to Vegas we drove from Californis through Death Valley - Carol says that there has never been anywhere so aptly named - even the colours seem to be crushed and twisted because of the heat. The best way to get a feel of how hot it is, is to take your shirt off, put it into a preheated fan ven at 130 degrees for about 5 minutes, then put it on. It wasn't just hot it - there was a wind blowing at the same time that felt as though it would dry you out and flay the skin off you. However worth while for a visit and wonder how people managed to cross it.
I have just realised that I am giving you the story of what we have been doing for the last 10 days backwards - anyway I've started so I'll finish!
Death Valley
Carol at champagne tasting
....these ones are all mine..... was a real contrast with Yosemite National Park that we had just been to - this is the favourite place of Jim one of our American friends - and it really is up at the top of our list now. We went at 6am whilst dawn was breaking - the mountains were pink rflecting the sun and all was still - we had about 3 hours when there was hardly anyone there - even later on it was still beautiful One of the tests I use to see what sort of a day its been is to check how many photos I've taken - Yosemite is on a par with the Forbidden City in Beijing. We also saw 3000 year old
The deer were tame and all in all it was a definite highlight of our tri so far - again if ever you get the chance to go then go. There is an amazing mixture of lakes, mountains, alpine meadows and glacial gorges.
Before Yosemite we spent a couple of days in Lake Tahoe again a beautiful area - a huge lake high in the Sierras surrounded by dense fir tree forest. Some very nice houses down by
Yogi Bear in Hawaiian shirt
... a rare photo of a black bear in the Yosemite National Park.. the lakeside with their own moorings for boats and the colour of the lake going from turquoise to deep blue - truly as pretty as a picture. Interesting seeing the Americans at play - all quiet and no litter anywhere - we had a great time and a bottle of wine with dinner overlooking the lake chatting to an American couple.
And before thatwe were in wine country - Napa, Russian River and Sonoma - rolling hills, pretty towns, a real feeling of community spirit. One Sunday morning we went to a farmers market where live music was being played, a quilt competitio was being held, food was being cooked, loads of olives, honey, cakes, pies, chutneys etc for sale and a good time being had by everyone. Later on we went to some wineries for tastings. Hard work. The best one was the Mumm winery in Napa wit a really informative tour followed by a long champagne tasting - US campage is more fruit than French and way less yeasty. Great fun in a beautiful garden. In order to soak up the alcohol we stopped at a deli to get some sandwiches. We ended up with a huge salad that it took two of us to eat and so wegot the sandwich which had half a pound of ham in put in a doggie bag. This happens a lot in the States. ·It is defintely a case of here you pay half the price and get twice as much.
Well there is loads more to say but I am getting cramp so I'm going to sign off as tonight we are going to a country and western music concert and I need to get my dancing boots on and practice my moves!!!
I'll tell you about San Francisco and what happens tomorrow at the Grand Canyon next time - ta ta !!
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Carl Haigney
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Who?
Ian, Carol, Forgive me, but I can just about remember who John Wayne was, but "Burl Ives, Tom Mix and his horse Tony"? Please. And can I take it from the negative comments about the inside of the casino that one didn't win? ;-)