Sadly packed up to leave Palm Springs today, the desert wind was blowing hard and the hundreds of wind turbines on the freeway out of town were whizzing around like crazy. A straight route back down Interstate 10 winding its way down all the way to Los Angeles. L.A. was busy yet again with yet another presidential campaign visit so once again, hotel prices went thru the roof, I cautiously chose a cheaper Travelodge opposite our favourite Westin, near the airport and conveniently next to Dennys Diner! Hotel turned out to be a pleasant surprise, mixed reviews on Trip Advisor (surprise!) but found it very pleasant, nice spacious room with a pool view, super friendly bus driver Tony) who took me to the airport to sort out a quiery with my tickets and if you take ... read more

Well the time had come to leave "sin city" Vegas had been kind to us and we weren' t leaving out of pocket from the casino. Sad to leave but a huge AIDS convention was in town and the room price were trebled for the next few days. Had planned to go down to San Diego but again prices were high and as we had already been there before, decided to try something new and head for the oasis in the desert - playground of the rich, Palm Springs California. Another fairly unspectacular 4 hour drive apart from a few pretty mountain ranges, temperatures rising to over 100 degrees farenheit we eventually drove into town to find the biggest Biker Festival taking place over the weekend, downtown the roads were closed and many of the hotels ... read more

Another great sleep in super comfy beds! Starbucks breakfast as usual, then jumped in the car and headed downtown to MGV the Machine Gun Vegas gun range! Met at the entrance by some sexy girls clad in black with pistols on their belts, Alex was impressed already! They showed us in, filled out the forms, chekced we werent insane and didnt plan to shoot up the place in a crazy Brit rage! Chose the package of guns we wanted to shoot and then waited for our beeper to go off to get called onto the range! Now I had done some range shooting before in South Africa but not for quite a few years so a little nervous, but way more excited than anything! Got called onto the range, given our eye and ear protectors and ... read more

Back on the road, out of the desert, climbed into the hills and then down into the valley, a much more interesting drive than yesterday. A couple of hours later we saw the building of Las Vegas rising in the distance! Soooo excited, I love this town! Had already decided on a hotel - New York New York but decided to cruise the "strip" before checking in, to absorb the atmosphere, the place is really busy, lots of conventions going on. Left the car with the Valet guy and checked into our Park Avenue room on the 34th floor overlooking the south end of the Strip, amazing views, fab spacious room with a real top end luxurious fell. Freshened up and went down to explore the notel, OMG, amazing place, the whole notel is like a ... read more

Woke to glorious sunshine! Missed breakfast which bizarrely is only served until 9am! So found a local diner and Alex tucked into a short stack of pancakes with maple syrup and bacon while I restrained myself and enjoyed a bowl of home cooked oatmeal and honey and a gallon of coffee. Drove back up into the park and at this stage I apologize that I cannot find enough words to describe this place, even photos can't do it complete justice, it is simply stunning, amazing, breathtaking and awe inspiring, the colours an textures of the cliff faces contrasting against the greens and browns of the foiliage, the sheer majesty of the height of the mountains, wandered through meadows with babbling brooks with deer grazing close by, completely unafraid of humans, every turn in the road brings ... read more