LA, Day Two, A couple of beaches.

Long Beach and Venice Beach.

Long Beach isn't what it sounds, it's an area as opposed to a single beach, we weren't there for any specific reason other than to say we'd been there.  We stopped at a little boardwalk and had an ice cream, taking some photos of the area and the Queen Mary ship, which has it's resting place here as a tourist attraction.

Venice beach.  What a wonderfully bizarre place, from buskers who couldn't hit a note to guitarists who I could listen to for hours.  I don't think either of us could write sufficiently to explain the diversity of this place needless to say Ali's said she'd live there, yes it's that weird.  The one guy, in our mind the most famous person known to frequent the beach, was there which kinda made Ali's day, he's the rollerblading guitar playing raster from more than one movie, Ali's favourite though being The Assassin where he sings and plays whilst circling the lead actress.  Considering how old that film is he's been there doing his thing for a long time.  We stayed on the beach whilst the sun set, I had taken the AR Drone, so got that out for a bit of a play on the open beach which was cool, I got some good footage and only crashed once....

Day two done, and much better than day one.

Us again

Sunset

Venus, Venice beach style

The Queen Mary

Long Beach, beach...

L.A. Day One.....ummmmm...

Well, it's the end of our week in L.A. well technically we have been staying in San Jaquito and traveling in to L.A. but either which way, it's the end of our week here and it's been one of highs and lows.
We had a list upon arrival of places we wanted to go and see, things we wanted to go and do, the list was broken down into days and it made for four days out, perfect, two days out, a day in, and another two days out, what a great way to break it down.

Day one, Griffith park, The Hollywood sign, Griffith Observatory, Mullholand Drive, Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive.  It sounds like alot but if you consider the last 4 are 'drive through' it's not that bad (You don't think I was going to stop on Rodeo Drive now do you?)
Griffith Park, yes we appreciate it's there to service the greater L.A. community but, no, I wouldn't bother, it was whilst here we discovered that you can no longer get to the Hollywood sign, and the closest you can get is an hour and a half trek through the park...  OK we will skip that.
On to the observatory for some education and good views of L.A.  It's a wonderful looking building and our first film location of the day, James Deans Rebel without a Cause and Charlie's Angels Full Throttle amongst others.  The views of L.A. and the area were spectacular, and yes we could see the Hollywood sign, although it comes out quite small on the photo's it was a good view.  Going through the observatory was interesting and took longer than we expected but it was well worth it
The driving tour, this is where or impression of L.A. was cemented and was spoilt forever, the divide between those with and those without, Mullholland drive, one of the most expensive areas to live, at the bottom of the hill there is rubbish all over, boarded up shops etc.  At the top of the hill, it's pristine, multi million dollar houses with big gates, a real case of have and have not, this theme continued to be re-enforced as we drive the rest of the route, taking us from one extreme to the other as we drove from one location to another, all in all this made the lavish areas we'd wanted to see less interesting knowing even more that there was the other end of the spectrum just a few blocks away.  And so ended day one, all in all on a low.

The Griffith Observatory

Thats LA that is

Thats us

HOLLYWOOD

Leaving Las Vegas

Yes, it's been a month and it's come time to leave.  We have both agreed however, a month is too long! Yes even in Las Vegas where there is a million and one things to do, a month is too long.  Also, we are here to see America, not to sit in one place, we won't (don't plan to) be stopping anywhere more than a week from here on in.

Over the last few days we have finished ticking off the list of things to do.

On Friday we met up with one of Ali's friends, Julia, and her soon to be husband, Patrick, She's in the RAF out here, working and he's an actor (he does a good Jack Sparrow).  We had lunch with them and then wandered about the strip, including a stop in margaretaville for an alcoholic drink with far too much alcohol for the middle of the day!  We concluded the day sat in the saloon associated with our RV park having a few beers which was a perfect end to a good day.

On Saturday we did 'The Fremont Street Experience'.  This is essentially in the 'old' las vegas, they have erected what is the worlds largest screen, above your head and running two city blocks!  It's an awesome sight, on the top of every hour they put on a show, there's a video to show it off, words just wouldn't do it justice.  In-between the shows there are street performers, some better than others, and two stages, one at each end near enough, with a live band on each, playing all night.  It was truly and experience and one I'm glad we didn't miss.

Sunday was a relaxing day, we went out to one of the farmers markets which had been recommended, it was a bit of a bust and so not really worth the effort though I did get some really good beef jerky.  We then went to get some grocery shopping from a whole food store we have come to enjoy shopping at, it makes a change from Walmart ( Think M&S v Kwik Save).  They have tables at the front of the shop so you can sit and eat the fresh produce you have just bought, what a great idea, so we ate lunch there.  The rest of the day was mooching round, visited a few more stores for bit's and bobs, nothing all that exciting.

Today, Monday, is get ready to move day, phone home, say hi, all is good, prepare the RV for hitting the road tomorrow, we plan on leaving early, say 8am, it's a 5 or more hour drive and I want to fill up with LPG before we leave Las Vegas.

Well thats it, this is us, leaving Las Vegas.

/Adam

Far, far too much alcohol for a lunchtime drink

Kenny G's long lost brother (He was actually quite good)

Just another film set!

Everyone remembers Superman putting it back together, Unisols abseiling down it and of course the governments top secret storage facility housing Megatron!....NO?
Well its the Hoover Dam to you mortals then.

When its not being blown up or hiding giant transforming robot baddies its one of the largest Hydropower generator in the USA. Saddling the mighty Colorado river it joins the borders of Nevada and Arizona and considering it was built in the 1930s its an awesome feet of engineering. Its vast, again the Americans dont do small, and has nearly a million visitors a year.

We started at the Hoover Dam bypass, opened in 2010. Just up from the dam it was constructed because the original two lane pass over the dam could not handle the 14000 vehicles a day it was getting. The new four lane bypass was to ease the congestion. A special pedestrian walkway was incorporated in to the new bridge to enable views of the dam, and they are amazing. as you are up above the dam the pics are wonderful and give you a perspective you wouldn't have otherwise had. You can still drive over the dam, which we did, and walk over it too, again, we did.
The architecture is amazing. Art Deco 1930s brass and marble everywhere. Beautiful.

As it connects the states of Nevada and Arizona right in the centre of the dam is a plaque telling you just that, with an arrow one way pointing to Nevada and another pointing in the other direction, obviously, to Arizona. Now as both states have different "Time Zones" we had to do the quintessential "Time travel thingy"...
Namely jumping from one state border to the other....Three o'clock, four o'clock,Three o'clock, four o'clock.   ha... we got a few strange looks for that.......

Hows that for Hydropower.

Thats a long way down.

New bypass.

One of the Guardians

When you think about it, its virtually time travel.

20th Wedding Anniversary

Well yesterday was our 20th wedding anniversary, and the big reason for us not only doing this trip but being in Las Vegas for it.  The plan, if you have been paying attention, was for us to renew our wedding vows, in full Vegas cheesy fashion, Elvis, Graceland's wedding chapel, the whole nine yards.  Well, it didn't happen.  No, don't panic, it was our choice.  The chapel is on Las Vegas Boulevard, the same street we are living on, and so we have driven up and down it a few times, we spotted the place on a drive by and had a closer look the next time we went past, and with that the decision was made.

We were at a bit of a loss as to what to do now though.  I came up with an idea, something to show our devotion to each other, and something truly Las Vegas. A tattoo, something to show twenty years, something to show us, Adam 'n Ali, twenty years, A'n'A 20, A20A, AXXA  thats something how the thought process went anyways, stick it in a nice font, and both get it done, my first (I don't do pain) and one to add to Ali's collection.  A trip to Club Tattoo to speak to an artist and see what we could collectively come up with, and it was nice, organic, symmetrical, nice, and $150 each! for four letters! cough, splutter, not today thank you, I love you Ali but I'm not getting ripped off for you.

Ahhh  now what.

So, in the old acronym, KISS , Keep It Simple Stupid.  We'd seen a restaurant advertised, let's just go be silly, it's only once and it is spectacular, so we went to the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino, went up the tower, had a walk about and then went to the restaurant at the 'Top of the world'.  The dining area rotates so all the guests get to see the entire skyline which was awesome, but the food was equal to the view.  We both had fish dishes, and were glad we had opted not to have starters, like any high end restaurant anything you wanted came separately and you were charged for separately, again we were glad we didn't, we were both stuffed after the fish, with hardly enough room for a pudding...  Well you can't not have pudding.  Needless to say, what with the view and the food it was a wonderful night and befitting a marker to 20 years together.

/Adam

All the way up there

Look I can see our house from here

The View from our table

Fishy Dinner

5 hour round trip for a burger.

Yet another of our special points on the map. As featured in many films but most memorably in "Independence Day" and most recently in "Paul" the "Little A'Le'Inn" cafe and bar was a must to visit.  Sat right on the "Extraterrestrial Highway" to Rachel, Nevada, its a strange little place in the middle of absolutely no where. Population 98... yes thats 98 people. Its also known as "The UFO capital of the World".

As the closest town to the legendary "Area 51", a supposed test site for secret aircraft and UFO's, Rachel beckons to hundreds of conspiracy theorists every year. Its also home to the "Black Mailbox" which urban legend would have us believe is an unofficial mailbox for "Area 51".
(The black mailbox however is actually white, and surely if it was a secret test sight they wouldn't have a mailbox on the main highway) ......just sayin....

Anyway, it was another day trip out. Again, a nice journey with brill scenery, Although it did rain most of the way.
The cafe is tiny. A wooden shack on the side of the road. It has a pickup hauling a UFO across the car-park, which made us giggle, and paintings of aliens and UFO's everywhere. Outside the front door is a Time capsule left by the cast and crew of "Independence Day" in a huge concrete block which was pretty cool. Inside where posters, pictures, mugs, stickers and anything else you could think of to put an alien or spaceship on all over the walls and ceiling. An autographed picture and plaque from the cast and crew of "Paul" has pride of place on one wall. Pat, the owner wasn't around for us to meet unfortunately. We did ask. But she was tied up in the back office apparently.....now i think back i hope they didn't mean that literally....

We stayed for lunch "The Alien burger" it was actually pretty awesome as burgers go.

The Extraterrestrial Highway

How exactly do you clamp a spaceship?

The Black Mailbox, yes i know its white...

The Alien Burger...nom.

Day trip.

Although Las Vegas is classed as being on/near the Grand Canyon, what they actually mean is its the first major city near the fault line....what that means in real terms is that if you want to see the real Grand Canyon you gotta drive 5/6 hours in to the mountains to see it... Hense the day trip.

We set off at 8am. Nice and cool in the morning here, pretty pleasant in the car to be honest. I had also packed a picnic so we didn't have to buy lunch while we where out. So ham butties at the ready we where off to the "Grand Canyon"  yey.

The trip was pretty good really. We drove through some wonderful scenery. Thunder Mountains, is what the local indians call the San Andreas range. And its an awesome site. Vast mounds of rock pushed up out of the ground by the fault shifts. The pics i took show how the mountains look all on a tilt. Not built as a normal mountain up from the middle, but pushed up against each other at angles. it was brill.

Kaibab National forest boarders the canyon and again was a wonderful site. It goes on for miles and miles, just trees, trees and more trees, sounds a bit boring when you say it like that but it was not boring at all. It was a site to see. never seen so many trees...lol.
 As we got closer to the north rim of the canyon the trees started to change. They started to thin...not thin out, as in fewer trees. But actually get thin, it took us a second to work it out but we realised they had been burnt. The main trunk was left standing, for the most part, and where black, but there where no branches. This went on, again, for miles and miles. Some of the very tall trees had limbs and greenery at the very top and there where lush green bushes, plants and flowers on the floors, so it cant have been a recent fire. It was very eerie. (on return to the rig i googled the fire at the Kaibab forest. It was in 2006.)

We reached the Grand Canyon National Park, payed our $25...ouch....and drove up to the visitors centre. A drive to any side of the canyon was half a day away. We chose the North rim as it is supposed to be the prettiest side.  Less comercial. It was.
There was a large "Lodge" as a visitors center but it also acted as a reception for hiring out the log cabins in the surrounding area. But at $169 a night Adam would not let us stay....boo hiss.....
There was the obligatory gift shop but it was very well stocked, from postcards and stickers for just a few cents to Native American carvings at Hundreds of dollars.

As for the "Grand Canyon" itself....well what can i say.  Its name does not do it justice....
Im making some surggestions to the National Park,   "Fu##ing Mahoosive Awesomeness of a Crack in the Earth", "Gigantic Great Humungus Hole" what you think..

ok so maybe "THE GRAND CANYON" is enough......

We're here.

Oh my...

Mad man.

"Fu##ing mahoosive  awesomeness of a crack in the earth"

Dont forget to see all of the pics we took just click on the link on the left that says photos...