Blogs from California, United States, North America - page 1032

Here it is, after midnight, while the rest of the world slumbers (at least around me) I sit up, busy parking memories. Circa, mid fifties. The Buick was the classic black and white. We'd load it to the hilt, and off we'd go for our annual camping trip. Trust me. I knew where the middle of the seat was. Because if my sister's elbow or knee or God forbid her foot crossed that line, there's be a cat fight in the back seat. To a skinny nose picking toe headed kid, we were headed to the North Pole Mountains. I didn't have a clue. And yes, I asked umpteen times, 'are we there yet?' But the truth was, our destination was either Kings Canyon or Yosemite. Some times we'd head up Hwy 99 to Kings ... read more

Saturday - took shuttle up Zion canyon - brilliant day did several trails (all those that didn't have ridiculous ascents. Weather sunny is it ever anythin else). Fantastic autumn colours - red maples, yellow cottonwoods + poplars, , oaks, birch plus numerous evergreens, junipers + pines, still lots of wildflowers. More mule eared deer, wild turkeys drinking from river and various exotic butterflies. Incredible rock formations - 1000 ft cliffs, and huge pillars all with biblical names ( the guy who mapped it was a methodist preacher - colours awesome reds, pinks, and near yellows all in brilliant sunshine. Early bed as Utah is run by mormons and therefore no bars!! Sun. Drove up to Bryce canyon en route passed through typical mid west America, small ranches with cattle and horses grazing by the creeks, Bryce ... read more

After dropping the car off at the rental place we used the free airport shuttle bus to get back to Hermosa Beach. Being curious folk we thought it would be a good idea to jump off at the airport for a bit of plane spotting : ). Don't ask us why, I think we thought it a good idea at the time! Don't laugh, its not like we had anything better to do! Anyway, we enjoyed it! We had a good look around to familarise ourselves with the layout for our pending departure to Fiji.....Argh, not laughing now!! : P Days over the next two weeks would have much the same make up. They largely involved laying on the beach sunbathing or in my case getting pummelled into the sand by big waves. We started most ... read more

Broke camp watchded by a mule eared deer that seemed to have no fear of humans. We set off for Zion Canyon, through the painted desert - it looks like a giant builder's yard with heaps of different coloured sands and stretches for miles and miles - in fact at least a hundred miles. It was kind of boring despite the romantic name. There were no cafes or petrol stations or habitations apart from a few Indian s selling jewellery. Eventually we arrived at Page - a toen with a McDonalds and little else. We were forced to have a burger. Will update again, but there's a queue for the nachine and we've run out of our alloted time. If you're pissed off by getting blog update emails, let us know and we'll unsubscribe you! ... read more

I spent two nights at a Hostel up in the mountains near to Yosemite National Park. The drive from San Francisco to Midpines was nice. I was just glad to have got out of San Francisco alright given that I hadn't driven an automatic before and I was on the wrong side of the road in a busy city. The bridge across to Oakland was very foggy but once I got out of the Bay area it cleared up. I soon realised that I would need a map of better quality than that found in the front of my guidebook so I picked one up at a gas station. I stopped in Coulterville which is a wild west gold rush town with its old saloon (still in operation) and old boardwalk. It was a dusty old ... read more