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Published: September 3rd 2006
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Full House
Anyone recognise these houses? I think the last time I emailed we had arrived in San Fran...
Well, we hired some mountain bikes at Fishermans Wharf and trekked over the Golden Gate and up to the lookout, that was a decent view looking over the bridge, city and alcatraz. After 4 solid hours of riding, we rode back to town and after chaining our bikes up to a parking meter, we went into a camera shop. Five minutes later we walked out and there were 3 'homeboys' dismantling our bikes... One of them already had the seat off my bike and wasn't far from taking the front wheel. I screamed oi! What the heck (i actually used a more uncouth word) are you doing? I think his reply was 'we were just looking at your bike seat.' They dropped everything and fled. Fortunately they did leave the parts, as we opted not to take out the $3 theft insurance offered to us by the bike company. Huh - the nerve of them! It seems as though whatever is not bolted to the ground is fair game?
That night we were pretty buggered, so we just walked down to the cinemas and watched a
Cable Cars
One of the most recognisable parts of San Fran movie. These yanks are really something! They would actually cheer and clap to different parts of the movie. We were in disbelief! For example, when King Kong is on top of the Empire State Building and swats a plane away, half the cinema was out of their chairs, as if Carlton had just won another grand final. I reminded the tool next to me that it was only a movie...
The next morning we got up and headed over to Vegas. We stayed the first night at the Luxor and basically walked up and down the strip for the first 3 or 4 hours, little did we know that we were giving up valuable time inside the Casinos where they offer free alcohol (anything you want) for all players. Unfamiliar with the amount a guest should tip a waitress for bringing us our drinks i gave the first bird a 40 cent tip. She wasn't all that impressed. Oh well, we just moved on to the next casino where a dollar tip seemed to get at least a smile out of the waitress. This drinking session continued for the next 5 or 6 hours... Baz hit the wall later
Lombard Street
Enough to make some people sick, there are so many twists and turns. in the night and collapsed in a heap back at the hotel.
The next morning (more like afternoon) we had a buffet. These casino's do all you can eat buffets and they are top notch. Sizzler and Food Star have got a long way to catch up to these places! After lunch we decided check out the other casino's including MGM, Excalibur, Bellagio, New York New York, Venitian, Flamingo and Aladdin. The rest of the afternoon is basically explained in the above paragraph... BLIND! I actually lost a bit at the tables that night but made up for it a few nights later.
The next few days were spent at the Grand Canyon. We hired a car and drove tthere, which is about 6 hours away. I caught up on sleep while Baz drove. We got up at 5 the next morning and ventured into the national park to see the sun rise. Unboknown to us it would be negative 10 degrees. It was absolutely freezing! But i suppose you could say that the view of the sun rising over the canyon took the edge off the numbness in our toes and fingertips. We then drove further down
Alcatraz
We managed to escape quite easily to a place called South Kaibab trailhead. We chucked on our backpacks and ventured down into the Canyon. There were 3 main points/lookouts before you reached the bottom. The ranger advised us not to hike to the bottom and back in one day. We thought we would see how far we could get and allow ourselves addtional time to get back up. (We wanted to be back at the top so we could drive to a different point to see the sunset). We walked past Ooh Ahh (Glen McGrath) Point, Cedar Ridge, Skeleton Point and evetually got to Tip Off. The time was around 10.15 but we figured it would almost take us twice the time to get back up to the top. We had luch and then proceded to reach the top. Funily enough it actually took us the same amount of time to reach the top as it took us to get down... Go figure. I suppose when Baz is setting record pace, i have no option but to (try to) keep up. Some of the trails were extremely steep and narrow. Luckily we did the Prom walk to Johnny Suey as a means of training for this,
Golden Gate
Almost the last time i saw that bike and yes Bill, they had prickly f@$k f@#k, but they call it cactus! haha.
I ended up driving back that night to Vegas, while Baz slept and we got back around 11. We had one day left in Vegas and basically the details are repeated as above. We did however go to Coyote Ugly (Nightclub) and watched the young ladies dance on the bar, just like in the movie. We payed US$22 for two Bourbon and Cokes there, but who were we to complain after having a free ride for the few days.
The next morning, after 3 hours sleep, we flew into New York. It was a 4 and a half hour flight which wasn't too bad. My ipod seems to be an essential travel item and has got me through many flights and drives. The local radio stations all seem to play Christmas Carols 75% of the time. If i hear Winter Wonderland or Silent Night one more time I am going to hang myself. Seriously, I know it is Christmas time, but the amount of times it gets repeated is ridiculous.
We are staying right in the heart of NY in Time Square so
Vegas
The electricity bill must be huge! it should be very festive over the next week or two. We have bought tickets to the ice hockey (New York Rangers) for tomorrow night and hope to see some blood splattered on the glass. We also have our names down for David Letterman.
As for the weather here, i will describe it in one word... Freezing. I have bought myself a nice item of headwear, which i'm sure many of you will get a laugh out of when i get a chance to attach some photos. I hope the weather is warm back home and you are enjoying your summer while i battle two winters in a row. Oh well, a small price to pay.
Anyway, enough of me rambling on...
Hope you have a fantastic Christmas and New Years and to hear from you soon.
As the Yanks would say "Happy Holidays!"
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