Blogs from California, United States, North America - page 1138

I am so excited, but in no way ready at 10:30pm the night before. Somehow I will be up and going across the globe by 7am tomorrow morning! Miracles do happen - speaking of miracles I have managed to pack enough clothing, etc. for this trip in one small carry-on! I really did! Here's the plan: France, Switzerland, & Germany July 24 Flight leaves at 7:25am-3:33pm; Flight leaves at 5:45pm-7:20am July 25 Arrive in Degaulle, Paris at 7:20am; Taxi to Hotel Beaugency to drop off luggage (21, rue Duvivier); Take a walk!! Sit in a café and soak up Paris!! July 26 Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, etc. July 27 The Luvre, Sainte-Chapelle, the Royal Palace July 28 Mont-Parnasse Tower, Versaille, day trip to Launne for castles July 29 Avignon - Hotel-les-Nevons, Isle Sur ... read more

Yogi and Boo Boo's big adventure...... Jen and I got ourselves ready for our trip to Yosemite national park on Monday the 18th July, both pretty nervous and not sure what to expect, we knew it would be a whole bunch of people sharing one bus for 4 days without showers but we didn't know how many or how it would all work out at all. We prepared ourselves by buying a couple of bottles of wine and some small bottles of whiskey and brandy, so at least we'd get through thte first night if nothing else! We filled ourselves up on the free food at the hostel again - really tasty and so much of it, I can't praise this hostel enough. So we ate up and then a few people gathered in the foyer ... read more

So here we are in San Francisco, the first stop on the new trip, my first time in America and I am loving it! I arrived Tuesday afternoon after a very long but uneventful flight with a dissapointing array of inflight films, I was hoping for Batman Begins, War of the Worlds or ............... but instead I got 'Bridget Jones's Diary: Part 2' and 'Hitch'...........hmmmm. Jen and I had got seperate flights so it was very strange when I was waiting in the hostel room to hear a knock at the door and find Jen on the otherside, all the way out here in California when the last time I saw her was a few weeks ago in Mumbles in Wales! We managed to keep ourselves awake until about 9.30/10pm by having a couple of beers ... read more

WEST COAST WHIRLWIND Spring Break, March 11 - 20, 2005 We had a marvelous but whirlwind trip to California and Oregon during spring break! First, we spent three and a half days with Bill and Shirley and our handsome grandsons, enjoying their gorgeous new landscaping, several meals at the Club, touring the Battleship Midway in San Diego, taking the boys for haircuts and a movie, going to Mass, touring model homes in the area, and just playing with Will and Henry. On Tuesday, March 15, we drove up to Guadalupe, California, to see Cousin Larue, stopping at Buellton for its famous split-pea soup and the Danish village of Solvang on the way. After touring the beautiful and unique Guadalupe Sand Dunes Park, we spent the night with Larue, and then the three of us took off ... read more

SUNNY-AS-FUCK CALIFORNIA We finally cross the border into California, where there was a little checkpoint where a uniformed border control officer actually had the nerve to make me stop the car so that he could ask me if I had any fruits or vegetables on board. Despite the fact that the bed of my truck was filled with bags that could have stored a grip of bananas, I simply said "No dude", and he let me on my way. Next time I drive to California, I'm smuggling across a ton of bananas, just because I can. And maybe some drugs, too. As soon as we drove into California, the sun nearly fucking melted the rubber tires on my car; the temperature guage in my truck read 120 degrees, and rolling down the windows to smoke a ... read more