California Dreamin' (with a little Arizona on the side)

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Hey everybody,

Its been a while!! We have made it to New Zealand. Fiji was amazing, but you are going to have to wait for that because this will be the last of the US. Look out for the Fiji blog very very soon….

California, being originally Mexican is very Mexican in places. Los Pueblos is the original LA, established by a group of people, chosen in Mexico, who walked the entire way to set up a village in a relatively unknown area. A plaque here lists all the men, women and children who made the trip. Its an amazing concept.

Flagstaff was supposed to be warm, you know, in the middle of the Arizona desert and everything. Apparently the fact that they are 6000ish feet up changes that. So after another night on the train we awoke to several inches of snow. Somebody really needs to sort this whole weather thing out. We stayed in a little motel just off Route 66 and headed off the Grand Canyon with a great couple from Texas that we met. Nothing can prepare a person for the Grand Canyon. You see it in photos, on TV etc. but in real life it really does take your breath away.

A few facts for you:

The Colorado River is 1450 miles long and drops 11,000 feet, 2,200 feet of which is in the Grand Canyon.

The Canyon itself is 277 miles long, averages 10 miles wide and from rim to river is 5000 feet. That’s over a mile deep!!!

That means in terms of area it is 7 times larger than the Isle of Man!!

You have to see it to believe it.

A couple of days later we took a trip to Sedona with a Navajo Indian guide. The rocks here are beautiful, rising high into the sky. Its so hard to explain, even the photos don’t do it justice. Make sure you get to see them all when we get back…

Then it was back through LA to get down to San Diego. Its said to be the most beautiful city in the US and it certainly is very nice. We got to the zoo, which is one of the best in the world. We also had a look around a submarine and a couple of sailing ships in the harbour. The first of these was the ship used in “Master and Commander”, while the other, the “Spirit of India” was built in Ramsey, IOM many years back.

After a few days in Santa Monica (Northeast LA) we travelled back down to Irvine (South LA). (by the way LA is actually made up of over 300 different cities and has 10% of the USA population living there, so its pretty big)
Irvine has absolutely nothing for the tourist. Nothing at all to see. Unless you want to get to Fishfest 2006, in which case you can see Natalie Grant, Pillar, Chris Tomlin, Jeremy Camp, Delirious and Newsboys. Which is why we were there.

Our last 24 hours in the USA was spent in Hollywood. Now, everyone wants to go there but really there are only two things to do:

1 - See Stars
2 - See Stars homes.

So we did both. We managed to catch up with Jennifer Anniston, Joan Cussack, Destiny’s Child along with a few lesser names when we were there, as well as taking a tour around places like Bel Air and the Hollywood hills to see things like Halle Berry’s front door.

Then it was off to LAX to leave the USA behind and head to the South Pacific. Watch this space…

Sam and Babs (Conquerors of the USA)

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Photos

Grand Canyon
Hey, I think I can see my house from here. Oh thats right, I don't have a house...

Grand Canyon without me
Just not quite the same, is it?

Birthplace of Los Angeles
Established on September 4th 1781

Sedona
Red Rock country. I kept expecting John Wayne to step out from behind one of the rocks. But I know thats stupid. He didn't NEED to hide behind rocks.

Newsboys @Fishfest '06
"Entertaining Angels" and several thousand of us.

Jennifer Anniston
Won't even attempt to put a caption here. Too easy to get sued these days. Did you know half of the worlds lawyers live in the USA??