DISNEYLAND – THE ORIGINAL

We’re posting in flashback from England again. This is our last post about the USA. Our last day was spent at Disneyland and what a fantastic way to end the trip this was.

Disneyland was the brainchild of Walt Disney, wanting to create a place where children and adults could have fun together. The other reason for its existence is the fact that the general public wanted to meet Mickey and Minnie and all the other wonderful cartoon characters. After a lot of hard work by many people, the most by Walt himself, and for the cost of $17 million the park opened on July 18, 1954. Although, the first day was an absolute disaster, dubbed Black Friday forever. LA was going through a heat wave and the recently laid tarmac melted as people were walking on it. The plumber couldn’t complete the water fountain installation meaning there was no water for people to drink. Counterfeit tickets were created meaning 30,000 instead of 15,000 guests turned up and the catering was insufficient. To top off all that there was a gas leak causing the shutting of half the park. All in all a disaster but in the days to follow all was sorted and it has been a success story ever since.

It really is a place to have fun with children, even big ones like us. We thoroughly enjoyed a day and night of wonder looking around and riding as much as possible. It is always packed with people so a lot of time is spent in queues but you get there in the end. Half the fun we had in the day was watching little children light up in wonder as a favourite character would pass, especially during the daily parade, at this time of year Christmas themed. We loved Mickey’s Toon Town and Fantasyland, getting lost in these make believe worlds.

We went home to rug up for the evening and to eat dinner and then headed back in for the night. The lights were just gorgeous creating the magical atmosphere that Disney is famous for. We were treated to a spectacular show called Fantastica which is the dream world of Mickey Mouse projected onto a misty water screen and includes appearances of lots of wonderful characters. Between shows we fitted in a our last few rides and in our opinion the best rides in the park. The New Orleans style haunted house was just the right amount of spooky and we loved the Indiana Jones Adventure ride, although our absolutely favourite was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The fireworks were just spectacular and a very fitting end to our time in the USA. We all decided that as much as we had really enjoyed our Disney adventure we would not plan a holiday around it, it was just good to do as a part of our LA adventure. Universal Studios we felt was a much better adventure along the theme park line with much better rides for us adults, a win to Florida.

Well, this was the last night for our USA adventures as we settled down to a lovely hotel stay, free from our Wyndham rewards, and woke to do our final pack. We had talked our way into a late check out at 2pm so perfect for our then trouble free trip to the airport to drop off the car. Alamo is a rental car company I would recommend to anyone, they have been a trouble free experience and have gone out of their way to make it so. We have completed 13,100 miles of travels through this amazing country of natural wonders, big cities and very interesting people. Time to return to Blighty to see our family before returning to Australia so do stay tuned for more fun to end our world adventure, or part of it at least.

We had a trouble free flight and were met by Graham right on time, helped by following our flights progress on the good old iPad. It is a bright but cold sunny day and we enjoy the last minute views from flight over England of the green fields and hedges. Back on the ground we spend our time catching up on what has been happening over the last 3 months and reliving some of our adventures. The Bells welcomes back with the Christmas lights shining and fire glowing bright, just gorgeous. It is so good to be back.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album DISNEYLAND.

HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES AND BEVERLY HILLS

We’re now back in England getting ready to spend another wonderful Christmas with family. This post is about the rest of our time in Los Angeles, Hollywood and Beverly Hills up until our last day in the USA at Disneyland.

So, what else did we get up to? Next stop was Hollywood where we spent most of an afternoon at the Hollywood Museum that is housed in the Max Factor Building. Yes, you are right, this is the building purchased by Max Factor in 1928 and eventually opened as the place of business and creation by the man himself in 1935. Hollywood’s ‘make up king’ was considered the father of modern “make-up”. Born in Poland, Max Factor became the beautician/make-up artist to Russia’s Czar Nicholas II and his family. After immigrating with his family to the United States in 1908, he fulfilled the American Dream. Through his innovative ideas, and hard work, Factor built a cosmetic empire. From Hollywood royalty to housewives of America, Max Factor’s stylistic genius changed our vision of beauty. He created silver screen gods and goddesses as well as a new look for the everyday woman. I cannot imagine that there would be any woman who has not had a Max Factor item in their make up bag at some point. This is the place where it all began.

Max was a pioneer that recognized that the make up and skin tones must match the hair colour, something especially important once the camera is rolling. He was the person who made Marilyn Monroe blonde and Lucille Ball a red head and proceeded to create the makeup to suit. He is also the creator of lipstick. Where would we be without this amazing man? The most bizarre thing to see is his beauty calibrator. Max invented this scary-looking machine to aid in the perfect application of makeup. The contraption helped identify the areas of a person’s face that needed to be enhanced or disguised. The beauty micrometer became a huge hit in the movie industry. It actually looks more like a sophisticated object of torture and apparently ended up being used in horror movies. Not his greatest success but you have to admit he went to all sorts of lengths to get the perfect ‘look’ for the women, and men, of the world.

It is a fabulous Hollywood Regency Art Deco building that greets you with the gorgeous white and rose marble lobby complete with chandeliers and gold leaf. On this floor one can browse through the original make up rooms designated by hair colour. There are four floors of photos, memorabilia, horror, costumes and so much more from days of old and modern movies. It was a pleasure to be lost amongst all these treasures.

We are lucky enough to be in town for a movie premiere for Inherent Vice, so we spend a couple more hours just wandering around Hollywood Boulevard, soaking in this surreal world and checking out the stars on the pavement, that make this the Hollywood Walk of Fame, before securing our spot outside Hooters opposite the TCL Chinese Theatre, hoping it is the one that will give us the best view of the stars. We are not disappointed as the evening unfolds and we get to see the stars, our favourites being Reece Witherspoon, Jena Malone from Hunger Games fame and Maya Rudolph from Bridesmaids fame. What a fabulous day in down town Hollywood.

Another day is spent touring around and exploring Beverley Hills, Rodeo Drive (just gorgeous but a little out of the adventure budget) and the Hollywood Hills. No more stars spotted on this day. In daylight this is not really that spectacular, it does tend to sparkle a bit more in the night. You can see lots of big gates to big properties but privacy is the issue here, and who would expect anything less. The views over LA are great from up on the hill but it is just a sprawling urban mass with a surprisingly small high-rise district. We pop into the centre of town to the Town Hall and are able to pop up to the 27^th floor that offers a wonderful view of the inner city and surrounds. All in all we soak up as much as we can before we head back in the atrocious traffic to get to our beds. We all decide that unless we were to be stars we would not want to live and commute in this city, it would drive you absolutely crazy tackling the traffic on a daily basis.

Time is running out very quickly now but we have one more adventure planned for out last day and night, a trip to Disney Land. We have done all the packing and are moving into a 4 and ½ star hotel right at the gate so we will have a fantastic day of adventure and childhood fun followed by a lovely evening before we head off to the airport tomorrow. We’ll tell you all about it later.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES AND BEVERLY HILLS.

LAKERS IN LOS ANGELES

We have been making our way to LA for this specific day for a very special reason. We have tickets to a Lakers game tonight. We spend our day sorting out our plan of attack for between now and the end of our journey in the US on the 14th, accommodation, what we want to see and experience, getting in supplies and generally doing the house keeping and taking a little time to rest before the big night.

Off we go into the heart of LA to the Staples centre. The traffic is horrendous causing tense moments as the minutes tick past, even though we know we have left ourselves plenty of time. We are just as excited to see the venue as the game. This is a state of the art venue lit up to thrill and excite and we are excited. We find our seats, way up high, and look down with anticipation wondering why there are so many seats vacant. This does not last for long as people suddenly start to fill nearly all the seats, a great crowd of fans. The game is about to begin and the players hit the court.

On a sombre note, during the warm up the Lakers players are wearing black T shirts printed with ‘I Can’t Breathe’ in support of a young black unarmed man, Eric Garner, tragically chocked to death by a police officer whilst being arrested for suspicion of selling individual untaxed cigarettes, his last words shown on CCTV video being ‘I Can’t Breathe”. Another recent case in the news is the death of another young man, Michael Brown, shot and killed by police while unarmed and holding his hands up. It seems that in both cases there was a felony committed and both seemed to be resisting arrest, although neither deserved death. In both these cases the officers involved have been cleared of any wrongdoing. This has caused hot debate in the news during our travels and there is a growing protest amongst high profile sporting identities, black and brown communities and across all sections of society in general. Some of the reports I have seen highlight the need for change on how the young community and the police view each other and how both need to reflect that the police are there to protect the community and neither is an enemy to the other.

Earlier in our trip I met a woman serving in a remote US Post Office who was a victim of crime, her police officer son having been killed by a young man running from a crime, eventually caught and now serving a jail sentence. These incidents highlight an ongoing issue that, by all reports, is in a very heightened state of conflict at this moment in time. I do not presume to know enough about any of these issues to comment, and we all know how the media inflame these situations, but we hope for a peaceful resolution and better understanding on all sides. Understanding cannot be reached overnight and requires years of education and reconciliation, acceptance and a desire on all sides to live within the law, respect ones self and each other and each other’s property. Is this achievable in any country in the world? I hope so.

Watching the warm up is fun and they seem to not miss a shot as they practice, especially Kobe Bryant. The crowd erupts into what will be a continuing hub of excitement as the Lakers take on the Sacramento Kings. Game on, and the Kings are off to an early lead that the Lakers spend the entire game trying to catch, sometimes levelling but always dropping back again. The crowd is enthusiastic to say the least and they are very vocal when certain players miss their shots. We are impressed by the actual presence of an official Lakers band that play great music fitting to the moment getting all the fans cheering on their favourite team.

During the game we are reminded that Bryant is getting closer and closer to overtaking Michael Jordan to becoming the third highest points scorer of all time behind Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. These four giants of the game are the only players to have scored over 32,000 points. Tonight is not the night but with only 31 points now required the next game is going to be crazy, sadly it is not a home game, tragic for the fans (Note, next game completed and now only requires 9 points but it’s still an away game next). This guy is awesome to watch, poetry in motion, not showy or flash, just brilliant and has an impact on the game as soon as he steps on the court. We are so glad we have had the chance to see him in person. How far will he go up the points ladder in his career and will he catch Kareem on 38,387 or Karl on 36,928. It is a big ask for this 6’6” 36 year old, who has played basketball professionally since he left High School and always for the Lakers. I feel it is more likely that he will retire a champion and give his battered bodied a rest. Good luck Kobe, we will be watching closely to see how far you will go.

Also on offer to all the fans is free Taco’s if the Lakers win the game and the Kings are kept under 100 points. At the last break we decide together that even if they win it would be highly unlikely that the Kings would not score 100. WRONG. Lakers come up with only minutes to go winning the game 98 to 95. Very exciting to say the least, and not only because we get free tacos!

Game over it is time to leave the stadium. Here is where we have to congratulate the efficiency of the staff at this venue. We have been to many sporting events, concerts etc. and crowd control is always an issue. Not at Staples. It was quite magical how a large number of people were ushered effortlessly out into the street and beyond, all receiving their taco vouchers, within seemingly minutes of the end of the game. Congratulations Staples.

We linger on outside to get photos with the bronze statues of some great sporting heroes, boxer Oscar De La Hoya, hockey star Wayne Gretzky, basketball stars Kareem and Magic Johnson and Jerry West, and long time broadcaster for the Lakers, Chic Hearn. There seems to be plenty of room out there for at least one more sporting giant, good luck Kobe. Our evening is coming to an end as we soak up the atmosphere and the lights of LA. Sadly it is quite a long drive home but at least at this time of night it is a steady flow. What a fabulous start to our LA experience.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES AND BEVERLY HILLS.

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

Our airbed has deflated overnight for the second time, must have a slow leak so lucky this is the last time we intend to camp out. Off to an early start, made even earlier by going back a time zone, we head off to the other side of Lake Havasu to see the Parker Dam. This is an interesting structure that is not that large but has created so much. On crossing over to this side of the Lake we are back in California and we are in for a treat, a wonderful scenic route through the rolling hills and steep volcanic mountains.

We are warned of the presence of burros and sure enough within a short distance we have our first wildlife encounter. A mum and offspring are waiting on the edge of the road and come right up to the window of the car as we slow to pass. Stopping to take photos like any good tourist we are an annoyance to a local driver. The Burros that inhabit this region are literally cast offs. They were brought to the area as hard workers during the mining boom in 1858. This short-lived boom was then accompanied by the arrival of the train leaving nothing for the burros to do so they were set free. They have adapted to this harsh environment quite easily, their ancestors having evolved in the harsh North African deserts. We see mainly grey coloured burros with some leg baring but also spot a white one and some black ones. The babies are just so cute, would love to have seen them when new born. Apparently their numbers are kept in check by monitoring the vegetation, once showing signs of overstocking the burros are offered to the public for adoption. Seems a good working program and it is lovely to see these friendly critters along our way.

We arrive at our destination for today, Joshua Tree National Park, quite early, the bonus of a leaking airbed and that extra hour earned. We like this travel back in time but wonder how it is going to hit us when we make the big journey in the opposite direction back to Perth. I think we should all just keep going anti clockwise making life just that little bit longer.

Back to Joshua Tree National Park. Having already experienced the weird and wonderful shapes of the Joshua Tree, thought to have been named by the Mormons as it symbolized to them the arms of Joshua stretching toward the promise land (we relate more to the Dr Seuss analogy), back in Death Valley we had thought that if we ran out of time we could give this Park a miss. What a mistake that would have been! This is a diverse environment where two different deserts meet, the higher elevation of the Mojave desert, famous for the Joshua Tree, and the lower elevation of the Colorado desert, part of the greater Sonoran desert. These two different eco systems come together to form such a rich and wonderful landscape. It is believed that people have inhabited this area for about 5,000 years, from the time of the Pinto Culture through to the miners, homesteaders and ranchers, all leaving evidence of their occupation, some of which can still be viewed throughout the park. This park is home to a surprisingly large and diverse range of plants, bird life, reptiles and wildlife all surviving in the harsh elements of the desert.

We start our visit entering from the south, the Colorado Desert end, stopping at yet another Visitors Centre to grab our last map and valuable advice on how best to see the wonders of this park. We take a couple of short hikes to see one of the five oasis in the park, home to the towering Desert Palms so wonderful in such a harsh world, and also to see a most extraordinary plant called the Teddybear Cholla Cactus; it looks cuddly but certainly not one to get up close too with its sharp needle like spines. There is an area easily accessible which is a veritable sea of these interesting cacti. In the south of the park we also see the Silver Cholla, both are a quite spectacular and different. The south side is a more low level vegetation and gives the feel of the arid world that early inhabitants endured.

As we move northwest, we move into the Mohave side of town. The Joshua trees here are quite large and it is incredible that they can reach this size with the lack of water. They really are a unique tree and in this park there are so many to greet the eye. This end of the park is also a visual wonder because of the rocks. At one time this must have been a violent world of upheaval as the earth pushed and exploded leaving piles of granite rubble in all sorts of shapes and forms. Time and the erosion of wind and water have rounded off the rocky and craggy landscape to form some of the most spectacular and diverse scenery one is likely to see. This park is famous for its perfect rock climbing and is always full of climbers doing their thing. We take a few hikes out, and sure enough, nearly every straight up wall is inhabited by a climber. These are not like the serious climbs up in the mountains, such as Yosemite but I am sure they are still great fun.

We head to one of the highest vantage points in the park at Keys View atop the crest of the Little San Bernardino Mountains, providing panoramic views of the Coachella Valley and as far away as Mexico, and we are lucky enough for it to be a clear day and can see Signal Mountain. Below us we have spectacular views of the shinning Salton Sea, which is 230 feet below sea level, and around us the mountain ranges of Santa Rosa, Indio, San Jacinto Peak of the Peninsular Ranges and the San Gorgonio Mountain topped with snow at 11,500ft. WOW. We are looking over a section of the San Andreas Fault and all its work over millions of years. It truly is a wonderful view. We then head out to the Barker Dam and see that it is just a puddle now after the years of drought. On the rocks one can see water level marks of days gone by and we try to visualize what this area would look like with all that water. Our long day is coming to an end and it is time to leave this fantastic environment.

We are in luck again and as we traverse through the last part of the park we come across a Desert Kit Fox, a rare creature that calls the park home. He is happy to stare at us as we stare right back at him and take photos of this cute little fellow. We stop to chat with a Ranger and ask about the effects of the drought upon the park and its inhabitants. We are advised that all species are adapting to the dry conditions but that there are some losses. Sadly one of the most effected species is the Joshua Tree, apparently if the lack of water is a permanent situation the tree could become extinct within 200 years. This information is quite shocking really, more evidence that we must see what we can while it is still here, and while we are here, for everything changes eventually. Lets hope for a break in the drought and big falls of rain this winter.

Well, this is the end of our National Park journey within the USA. What a journey it has been. We are working on a list of all that we have seen and how we rank these wonderful treasures, be sure to watch the blog for this post. We pop into Palm Springs for a quick look and discover the most enormous wind farm with more turbines than we have seen through Europe, UK and USA put together. This is the San Gorgonio Wind Farm and it is here because of its unique location in the valley that has fantastic winds funneled by the mountains as they rush toward the desert, though tonight there is hardly a turbine moving. This farm is the oldest in the US, built in the 1980’s, and is a history lesson in itself. You can literally see the development of the turbines as the old and new stand together to form a sea of man made structures. There are actually 2,700 turbines producing enough power to run 300,000 homes, three times more power than Palm Springs requires. It is quite a sight to see. Darkness has descended as we hit the highway to join an extraordinary amount of traffic. Tonight we will sleep in the sprawl of Los Angeles.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK – CALIFORNIA.

ZION NATIONAL PARK AND A REST AT BRYCE CANYON

We head northeast out of Nevada and into Arizona, briefly, then into Utah, a semi arid landscape of rolling rugged hills. We are heading for Zion National Park, highly anticipated. The days are closing early and we have stopped at a gallery that we make more purchases at, not sure how these will pack, so are heading into the park as darkness descends. We head to the first come first serve South Campground to grab a spot and meet the very pleasant camp hosts who help us find one of the few sights left. It is perfectly flat and near to a very nicely kept toilet block, lucky. The sun sets over the mouth of a spectacular canyon of craggy mountains towering above us and the colours are amazing, one of the highlights of this park. We are full of anticipation for the next day.

Let me give you a background on Zion. We have spent a lot of time lately in the parks that showcase the mighty power of earth and all her forces. We have seen effects of the rupturing strength pushing the ancient layers skyward creating spectacular landscapes, some once the floor of huge oceans. We have experienced the power of glacial ice carving, cracking the earth apart. Now we are in a landscape that was essentially huge sand dunes deposited and then compressed into rock over the ages, through which a river system has carved a spectacular landscape.

In Zion one is at ground level with the mountain cliffs sheering upward, a vision of rocks, some smooth and rounded by the power of water and others craggy massive blocks that defy gravity. The Virgin River constantly flows through this landscape continuing to sculpt a wonderful world for all visitors to see, over 3 million a year, all craning their necks upward to experience this stupendous landscape.

This is an area largely developed by the Mormons who came west and populated and broke the land into viable fertile farms that provided a harsh but special life out west. The area surrounding the park is still ‘ranching’ land that we have loved driving through to get this far, with livestock roaming the huge expanse of acres. It is an area full of various gems and rocks of beauty which are displayed for sale at numerous outlets along our journey, rocks we would love to be able to return home with but alas this would be impossible.

We awake early but don’t rush to jump up, it is freezing. Eventually we walk down to the visitor’s center to start our explorations. The majority of this park runs off a road that snakes its way for 18 miles up the canyon. Because it is one way in and the same way out the park has devised a shuttle bus system to try to decongest the area. At this time of year the buses only run on the weekends, and it being Sunday we are obliged to take the shuttle. We spend the day jumping on and off and taking the small hikes to see the sights, along with many others.

It has all been gorgeous, but on reflection that evening we feel we have not done this park justice. There is a highly recommended 4/5 hour hike called Angels Landing, a switchback climb that takes you 1500 feet up the mountain at which point a challenging climb begins out to the top of a huge rocky buttress. We decide this is what we need to do and, after a good nights rest and securing our site for yet another night, we set off to greater heights.

We have spent our coldest night yet in Jetson, how do we know that, the ice on the inside of the car is a good guide. We are soon warming up though as the steep climb unfolds. We eventually reach the challenging part. It is time to get over the fact that it is a very long way down and grab onto a seemingly well attached substantial chain that is a small comfort as one edges their way over smooth sandstone sloping cliff edges traversing around the side of the cliff, eventually coming to a large flat area. This is the spot that decisions need to be made. Some say anyone who gets this far has done really well but from here one can see the real challenge. Angels Landing is actually a huge buttress across a narrow saddle that actually heads down from our present position and then ascends seemingly straight up for quite a climb. We take our time to decide along with many other hikers, taking advice from those on their way down on how tough it actually is. It seems it is more than doable, the general advice being just do it at your own pace. It is decided to head on to complete the challenge.

The chains once again aid the short distance downward and I decide if I can get back up this part I can probably do it all. Guess what, I could, so we continue. At first the edges seem very close and we move with trepidation but eventually it is all about the climb and not about the view, which comes later as a reward.

We eventually reach the top, about 3 hours from our starting point at the car. The view is amazing on the rocky outcrop, not the highest point in the canyon, but definitely one of the most scenic. We meet a very lovely local couple, he has been a wild beach bum Californian traveler in his early years and she is a woman apparently scared of heights, though you certainly wouldn’t guess that, who has completed her second climb to this point. They tell us about the pros and cons of other hikes in the park and yet more history of the area and are really interesting to talk to. We grab a bite to eat and take some amazing photos in glorious sunshine. After about an hour we decide it is time to take the challenge of the decent, something that is in the back of your mind all the way up, how the hell am I going to get down?

In 50 minutes we are back at the decision point, I have spent quite a lot of time on my backside feeling much more connected to earth this way. It has actually not been that bad and we are now the ones encouraging others to keep on going. The biggest trouble was the wind that sprung up just as we were starting our decent, a major danger as you can actually be blown off the mountain. Did I mention there is a sign reminding people to do this at their own risk, 6 having died trying. We have been so lucky again with the weather.

We return to the valley floor 5 hours from beginning and are pleased with our efforts and make our way to the general store just outside the park, ravenous. We have discovered their home made treats and their free to use microwave for campers like us, haha. We devour our hot treats back at our campsite as the sun sets again. We reluctantly endure our cold water washes to clean away the days dust before slipping into our comfortable PJ’s. Not going to be any trouble getting to sleep tonight, though we have rented a DVD, Cast Away, and enjoy watching Tom Hanks and Wilson battle the elements before we call it a night.

Not quite as cold, but still ice on the inside of the windscreen, when we wake to start a day moving on to yet another famous National Park, Bryce Canyon. It is with regret that we move on from Zion knowing now about some other lovely hikes we could have done. This is one of our favorite parks so far and think we should make another visit one day.

Sadly the cold I have started is taking it’s toll, picked up in Vegas somewhere, and energy levels are low. It is a beautiful 60 mile drive to Bryce, so close and yet we are in for a quite different landscape. There will be no long hikes today but we are very lucky in our destination. Bryce is a park that takes in the view from the rim of the Colorado Plateau, spectacular vistas laid before you over this dominantly orange world of hoodoos and windows and other wondrous sculptures. Once again this is a world carved by the elements of wind and water into the sandy stone that has been pushed skyward and is the Plateau. We are treated to easy walks to amazing views, just the trick for our failing energy levels. We are back in snow-covered landscape on the high plateau and it is pretty chilly, though sunny.

More motel time needed is the decision made and we leave the park and the touristy villages and find a very small, almost non-existent in fact, town that has a 3-story hotel with a vacancy sign, The Grand Staircase Inn in Cannonville. We book a very reasonable night and settle in and it is so good that we end up staying 3 nights and not even walking further than the front desk for all this time. Our last day is actually Thanksgiving and we are really thankful to have found this gem in the desert. The family run business is just fantastic. I think the thing that made it so good was the room having a very high vaulted ceiling and king size beds. This probably sounds really strange but it created so much space that we have obviously been missing in our subconscious. Thanks to the Grand Staircase Inn, we will recommend a stay to as many as possible.

The other bonus of downtime is that this blog sees us completely caught up to real time, WOW. We are very pleased with our efforts as we venture on, hopefully with renewed energy. We are sadly running very low on time now and still lots to see. This area is full of National Parks and we will try to see as many as possible with some that are a priority.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album NATIONAL PARKS OF UTAH.

LAS VEGAS MADNESS

As we have spoken to people along the way we have mentioned Las Vegas as one of our destinations and in general the comment has been “do not hold that against us”, haha. As our day of splendor in Death Valley ends we head out of the hills and before us lies a mass of light, out in the middle of nowhere, that sparkles and twinkles on the horizon. As we sink into its midst we are amazed at the brightness and grandeur of this unique city. We settle into our hotel that is very cheap, just off ‘the strip’, and crash, excited about what is to come over the next few days. Vegas is known as a pit of gambling and sin, bright lights and recreations of world icons, a must see that many will tell you to avoid.

Our first day we decide to go out to Hoover Dam. This is quite a feat of human excellence. It was built between 1931 and 1936 giving employment to 21,000 people during the Great Depression. Sadly it cost the lives of 100 men during this time. It is built in the Black Canyon on the Colorado River on the border, literally, of Arizona and Nevada. During our visit we lost an hour crossing the dam wall into Arizona and gained it back on our return to Nevada. The surrounding ground is made up of rock of volcanic origin making it hard and very durable. The structure of the dam is like a whole lot of concrete Lego blocks varying in size that are reinforced and joined together and grouted to give its smooth appearance. It is said that there is enough concrete within the structure to pave a road from San Francisco to New York, now that’s a lot of concrete.

In creating this dam and the hydroelectric power plant, still one of the largest in the country but once the largest in the world, a massive body of water was created, now known as the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. It provides over 9 million visitors a year with all sorts of water based sports and activities. All in all this is a tourist destination of National pride, being the largest dam of it’s time and still considered to be one of Americas’ Seven Civil Engineering Wonders. Needless to say we enjoyed our visit and also very much enjoyed just heading back to a motel to refresh before we made our first visit to ‘the strip’.

Bright lights and crazy images of grandeur and also some crazy people. This has to be the most interesting city we have been to, not in an architectural way or a learned way but in an out there kind of way. There are many shows you can go to from show girls to Cirque du Soleil to Santana and Rod Stewart, love him but saw him back in Perth only a couple of years ago, and many, many more but we have decided to save our pennies and just take in the show that is Las Vegas. The streets are lined with buskers of varying talents, singers, artists, show girls and musicians, some fantastic and others just bazaar. There are the homeless people down on their luck just begging, but not too many. There are some people just dressed up as movie characters or stars that have their photos taken. Then there are others that seem rather sad as they are dressed to attract attention baring all, their costumes grubby and lurid and their demeanor affected by substances. These people we feel sad for, is this what life intended for them, though they seem happy enough?

There are hundreds of hawkers selling tickets, women and bars. The general atmosphere is party town and the lights and grandeur of the many casinos show a world of fun and excitement. It is a town of stretch limousine’s, never seen so many in one street before. There seems to be loads of tourists just taking it all in like us. Lots of families out and about clutching many bags from the M&M store and other themed outlets, girls in higher than high heals that are more often than not in their hands. Young and old mix together to create a fantastic world for people watching.

We venture into quite a few of the casinos and hotels to just take a look at this colourful world and are amazed that Mikayla is allowed to walk through, at 16. The casinos are huge and all have quite a large clientele. We think about the one casino we have in Perth in comparison to the hundreds here and boggle at the thought of how many people are in this city of lights in the middle of the desert. How do they all make enough to survive?

Hotels range from the average to the spectacular, from a New York City skyline, Paris and the Eiffel Tower to the land of Fantasia to Hooters and Super 8, but there are some special spots you just have to see, one of them being the Bellagio. First we head inside to soak up the gorgeous richly decorated spacious interior, probably just a little more expensive than the motel we stay in just around the corner. This is a fantasy world decorated for fall with talking trees, a waterwheel, unicorns, pumpkins and flowers galore, just gorgeous. But all that spectacular extravagance is nothing compared to the water show that is played to music every half an hour at the front entrance. WOW. This is the best show we have seen anywhere, thousands of gallons of water pumped by the second into the air in time to all sorts of music from Singing in the Rain to Top 40 hits. Our first show is to a song that talks of footprints on the world, what could be more apt for us. We are amazed and liken it to fireworks but agree it is perhaps even better. We take in three full shows over our time on the first night before we decide our feet and minds have had enough for one day and crash back into our beds.

We decide we would like to stay yet another night and pop out to get in supplies for lunch, taking our time to just enjoy our own little space and then we head into the movies, this day being the first release of Mockingjay Part One, third movie in The Hunger Games series. Being huge movie fans we are excited to see this follow on and love it. We have timed our visit to end in darkness so we can begin our next night on the strip, heading for the other end of the strip to explore new territory. We stop in at the famous shopping complex, Fashion Show, and spend some time trying on clothes, each finding something nice at a bargain price to add to the ever stretching suitcase, in Macy’s.

We then set off back into the bright lights and head for the other absolute must see hotel of The Venetian and its gondolas. Outside there is yet another spectacular show to see, this time fire. Out of this world burning red hot orange plumes of fire and sparks dance into the night skies every half-hour, amazing. Fatigue is starting to set in again but we must have another couple of Bellagio water shows before we call it a night, our last night here having had our fill of the wondrous, many faced city that is Las Vegas.

It’s not all fantastic but it is unique. Some will visit over and over and some will just see it once because you just have to see it to believe it. Some will lose a fortune and decline to the streets, sadly, and others will just take in the sights and shows and wonder who on earth came up with the idea of this entertainment mecca. You can do it on a budget or go all out. It is a place for everyone yet is probably one of the most transient places in the country. Our time has been fantastic fun but we are now ready to head back to nature where the only lights are the stars in the sky and the spectacular sunset/sunrise vistas provided in this amazing neck of the woods, oh I forgot, we have left the trees behind, its all rocks now.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album LAS VEGAS AND HOOVER DAM – NEVADA.

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK

This post was written a week ago in Death Valley National Park. We’re still posting in flashback but we’re very close to being up to date, we promise!

I have woken early and have decided to give you a moment-by-moment description of the rising sun on this magnificent location. We are in the middle of nowhere with a couple of other cars about half way down into a valley surrounded by rolling mountains. The night sky is a mass of stars, always amusing us to see the large saucepan up the wrong way and the little one up the right way, opposite to in Gidgegannup. The moon is a slither sitting on its back and is a direction point to where the sun will rise, as it is about to do. The sky is slowly developing a few clouds that make for a spectacular pink highlight for the sun to hit and a few moments later, it seems, the sun hits the western peaks and they shine silver, just for minutes before the sky lightens.

By now the clouds are quite a bit heavier and grey, oh dear may be in for some weather today. This region only experiences two inches of rain in a year, and yes we do get a little precipitation, amazing. There are few things that beat the smell of new rain, It is soon over and I am sure will not register as ever having happened but hopefully some small creatures felt the big drops for a few minutes, we have been wondering how they survive out here. The many peaks and undulations surrounding us show us a palate of colours that are a painters dream. As daylight develops we know we are in for some stupendous views today, tell you about it later, on with the experience…

Yes, this was a most fantastic day. Death Valley National Park is preserving the northwest of the Mojave Desert, an ancient world that is now desert but was once a sea. It is home to massive mountains pushed up by the earths forces leaving a basin that is the lowest point of North America, being 282 feet below sea level. It is a hugely diverse environment of sand dunes, canyons, salt flats, badlands and salt flats. Yes, the basin fills a little bit more every day but the earth’s movements keep ahead of it and the basin drops enough to keep it the lowest point. Nothing can prepare you for the magnificence of this experience, it is truly humbling to stand and view this amazing landscape.

We start our day in the Mosaic Canyon, walking along the base of the marble and limestone ravines interspersed with the deposits of rock in sediment laid over millions of years, these small rocks giving a mosaic of colour, hence the name. We meet a ranger who answers our questions. It is interesting to learn that even though this area experiences such a small amount of rain, when it does come it can be very powerful causing flash floods. The narrow canyons funnel water, it runs fast and alluvial rock is pushed along in it’s fury creating an ever-changing environment. There have been unlucky travelers caught in these deluge conditions causing injury and occasionally death. Never underestimate the power of nature.

Our ranger gives us some great tips to explore the area and what to look out for. We continue on to the sand dunes, the largest being 100 feet, seemingly dwarfed by the mountains around but significant none the less, being the creation of the wind forces in the basin. We head to Dante’s peak to take in a fantastic view of this spectacular and diverse land. From this vantage point one can really take in the sheer size and also particularly good for viewing the alluvial fans that explode from the canyons onto the basin floor.

We head on to the badlands outlook, different to anything we have seen before, these limestone heights and hollows topped with lava flow provide an amazing landscape. Next is a loop road called Artists Palate, a journey through, over and around the badlands and mountains with an ever-changing hue. Our day is drawing in again as we stand at the lowest point in North America, 282ft below sea level. This dried salt-crusted area has an ever-present lake that is fed by water from the melted ice age glaciers. Can you believe that, water that is millions of years old traverses through the tundra to come out here and now. Did I mention how humble one feels in this landscape! I’m sure I did.

This has been a night and day of discovery, the over riding theme being colour and light that changes from moment to moment transporting one through a wonderful unique world of raw beauty. Imagine how hot it is in summer, similar to the middle of Australia. What an amazing world we live in. As we drive out of the park we reflect on all we have learnt and wonder how much more knowledge and vision of splendor we can fit in our brains. This adventure is mind blowing, fantastic. Speaking of mind blowing, guess where we are headed now, Las Vegas, a little change of scene and pace.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK – CALIFORNIA.