Went on our tour of Hearst Castle this morning. What ridiculous opulence and wealth! This "Castle" cost William Randolph Hearst in excess of $10 million to build in the 1920's and took 23 years to complete. We only saw the outdoor pool - which included a 2000 year old Greek sculpture, an 8 bedroom guest suite that had slept the likes of Cary Grant, Marilyn Munroe, Charlie Chaplin to name a few, the dining room complete with antiques galore, the living room which was decorated with 300 year old tapestries and the indoor pool made out of gold plated tiles!!! Unbelievable. This guy was just O.T.T. We all enjoyed it, but that much wealth is expenditure is just ?????? I'm not sure how I feel.... It was a worthwhile oncer. Then as we're driving down the ... read more

Up early this morning and on the road towards Monterey. Took a rather long detour up to Glacier Point within the National Park and HOLY COW - What a view! From being way down in the valley looking up at all the granite mountains around us, to being on top of the world looking down on the toy village below. Phenomenal! Not for those of us who suffer vertigo - incredible sheer drops of thousands of feet from the lookout to the valley floor. We could also see thru the telescope from up there, to the insanely stupid people standing on top of Half Dome - looking over the edge of that monstrosity without the benefit of a baracade. Back down we drive and then around the hills to the Maroposa Grove - a bunch of ... read more

Up very early this morning to pick up our rental car from Dollar. I’d walked past the other day and noticed about 20 people all queued down the street waiting for their car and we hoped that by arriving early we’d beat the rush. Turns out it was the best thing to do as we walked straight up to the counter and had no waiting at all. I’d been stressing out a bit before the trip as we had no control over what car we would be allocated. For all our luck we’d end up with a Mercury Grand Marquis (a real nana’s car). But no, lady luck was on our side and we got exactly the car we were hoping for, a Chrysler Pacifica - a mean as black one!!!! Made the trip back to ... read more

Well, today didn't start out the best. Bren had the toothache from Hell and it was pretty clear that she had to visit a dentist. Fortunately we found one close by that could see her at 9.00am. Whilst she was in the "murder house", Steve took the girls window shopping downtown. They managed to find the one and only Halloween shop in SF and wanted to spend all their money in one hit. The masks and props were simply amazing - almost like those in the movies. The Americans are so into Halloween! In the meatime, the dentists did their magic and Bren returned with a smile on her face and a tooth in her pocket. After lunch we made our way on foot into Chinatown to catch a bus to the Expolartarium out in the ... read more

Day 2 and we're rearing to go surprisingly early given the 19 hr time difference. Must have been the great sleep we all had. Headed downstairs for our complimentary breakfast which comprised of; bagels with cream cheese, huge muffins, pastries and selection of cereals including Fruit Loops, Sugar Pops, Frosted Cornflakes & Coco Bombs. Far out! Not for the faint hearted nor us after today - gross! Grabbed the wallet and a map and headed down the hill towards Union Square which was only a few blocks away. After looking at the looooooong queue for the Cable Cars decided to forego this for a while and hit the mall. There was every store you could possibly think of and more in this beautiful building which just went up and up and up. Found Bloomingdales and got ... read more