1548 miles Later

We are now at the airport and waiting for our flight. It is still hot in Las Vegas, 109 degrees today. In total we did 1548 miles - which has certainly put some miles on the clock for the new car. Linda liked it so much she wanted to take it home!

The airport is like a third world country - no Starbucks, or any coffee shop. However, it does have free internet access in its favour.

We left Palm Springs yesterday morning, and took the scenic route across the mountains, to Barlow. This took about 2 and 1/2 hours. We then joined the I15, the motorway, and followed this to Barry, where we stopped for a coffee. The whole journey was very scenic, going across several sandy deserts, mountain passes and small towns in the middle of nowhere. Linda was sitting there doing her knitting, and I was listening to Country Music.

We got to Las Vegas about mid afternoon and were staying at the MGM, the Largest Hotel in the Road (when it was built). We checked in and then went for a walk. We walked down the main street for hours, looking in all the hotels, and finally having to stop for a coffee as we were too tired to walk any further! The hotels are all different but just full of people gambling and not winning anything. It was a long walk back, and with the heat and the driving we were tired! So we went to bed and fell asleep.

Today, we got up late, had a Starbucks for breakfast ( as the hotel gave you a free upgrade on your drink) and then we went out for a drive. We went to the Red Canyon, which is about 45 minutes away and had a drive around.

Then we called in at the Mall for a lunch before finally returning to the airport. The fuel light was on so we couldn't go much further anyway.

The end of another trip.

A few photo's at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/simon.werrett The folder is Palm Springs to Las Vegas

Joshua Tree National Park

On Monday we went to the Joshua Tree National Park, which is about 30 miles away. We went via Pioneertown, which is a place which they use for some of the Hollywood Westerns. It was just like being on the TV, in fact you expected John Wayne to walk round the corner (if he hadn’t been dead of course!). The National Park is split between two deserts – the Mohave at the top, and the Colarado at the bottom. There is also the San Andreas fault line at the South of the park. It took a couple of hours to drive through, you can stop and go for hikes, but it was too hot for that.

The Joshua tree was named by the Mormons, because it reminded them of Joshua and points to heaven. We also found some more cactus in the southern end of the park. We stopped in Palm Springs on the way back, as we were hungry and had a Mexican. I had some nice soft tacos with steak inside.

In the afternoon, we swam in the pool and relaxed. It was still very hot, so we didn’t eat an evening meal, just had some drinks.

Today, we went to the Indian Canyon, well we would have done if it hadn’t been shut. That the problem with the Indians these days, only work weekends – so Linda went shopping instead. She found a Macy’s to look round, and a few more shops. Then we went to Walmart and she bought some more trousers (they were in the sale I am told!).

I had an unique experience, I went through the Starbucks 'drive thru' today – it was really exciting!! It was slightly hotter today 112 degrees. We got back to our hotel mid afternoon, and as it was so hot, went swimming again, and lazed around the pool reading.

This evening we went to the Blue Coyote Restaurant, but we could only manage a starter between us. Its too hot to eat too much.

Back to Las Vegas in the morning – there is a scenic route I might take or the motorway, can't quite make up my mind…

I have uploaded a few photo’s at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/simon.werrett. The folder is Joshua Tree

Palm Springs

We are now officially in the Desert – at Palm Springs. It’s a very posh town – although it still has a Starbucks. We are staying at the Movie Colony Hotel, which is a boutique hotel – done up in an art décor style, so Linda tells me. We have a nice apartment, which has two bathrooms, a living room, small kitchen and shower. We have a patio to sit outside on, and they do free drinks between 5.30 and 6.30pm. There is also a swimming pool and bikes you can use – as it is in the Valley, it is very hot – around 104 degrees most of the time – the good things is that this dries the washing very quickly.

The trip from Blythe took about two hours, although Linda found another Walmart, so the trip time doubled. They had some shorts she liked – and so this entailed trying them all on, then choosing a colour she liked, and as she couldn’t make her mind up which colour she liked – I ended up paying for several pairs! I am not sure why she needs so many as you can only where one at a time.

We had bought a sandwich in Palm Springs, so we kept that for the evening at the hotel. It was rude not to try the free punch at the Happy hour, and then we went for a swim in the pool, its so hot you dry out very quickly. Linda didn’t sleep too well, as it was very hot.

Today (Sunday), we were up about 8.30am. There is a buffet breakfast, which we can sit on our own patio and eat. They provide the daily papers, so we had a leisurely breakfast of bagels and muffins whilst reading the New York Times. There wasn’t much of interest in it. They also have several cafeterie’s here and fresh ground coffee – so I can make my own at any time.

We had found a Baptist (the First Southern Baptist Church of Palm Springs) and so we went for the 11am service. The speaker was Dr Danny Blair (no relation of him who has just left number 10) and he was from the California Baptist University as the church is in between ministers. The hymns were all over in 15 mins, and we though we were in for an early finish – but it was a 45 minute sermon – so no such luck. However, he was very good, and gave me some good ideas for future sermons (I won’t tell you what they are – it will spoil the surprise!).

After this we returned to the Hotel, and went swimming in the pool, and also did some reading and finally got round to writing the postcards. It was still hot, and the staff would bring us out some cold iced calamine tea to cool us down. We stayed by the pool for about 5 hours as it was too hot to move!

We have decided to stay in the Palm Springs area for a couple of days until Wednesday and then we have the long drive back to Vegas.

I have uploaded a few photo’s at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/simon.werrett. The folder is Palm Springs.

The Werrrett’s arrive in LA (well 220 miles east)

We were disappointed that as we crossed the border from Arizona in California that the paparazzi weren’t there to welcome us. They must all have been busy in LA welcoming some bloke called Beckham. I did say to Linda, that shopping in Walmart, was not really a lifestyle of a celebrity! I have found out that Chelsea are playing in LA next week, whilst we are in the area – and there are tickets left.

We are now in Blythe, just over the border and about 220 miles from LA. The good news is I can see Starbucks from the bedroom window!

We got up late this morning, about 6.30am, and I did some work on the computer, and we had breakfast before hitting the road about 8.30am. It was going to be a long drive, about 400 miles to cover. We left Tusayan, and took the main road for about 30 miles, and then I took the 180 highway through the San Francisco Mountains (which are fortunately nowhere near San Francisco otherwise we would really be lost) to Flagstaff. Last time I did this it was snowing, but today was nice and hot. We found a Starbucks in Flagstaff, in fact saw two, a bit like buses, none for ages and then two come along at once! So I filled up my flask, and we carried on. Linda has given up on the navigating role, her excuse is that the maps wrong! So I had to drive and look for the right exits. We joined Intestate 17 and the long trek of 180 miles down to Phoenix. It was an interesting route, through the mountains, across the desert, past the town of Prescott (better known as Two Jags!), through the Forest, past Black Canyon, and a place called Camp Verde. On the outskirts of Phoenix Linda saw a Walmart, and so we had to stop. She went shopping, and we were here for 2 hours! Linda bought some new jeans and a few other items. I got a couple of country CD’s so we could listen to them in the car. One was a song reminding us that we come in with nothing and got out with nothing, it uses the words ‘have you ever seen a hearse with a luggage rack’

The traffic was heavy around Phoenix, even though we used the loop (101) and then onto I10 for the 120 mile trek to Blythe. We did have a nervous moment when the petrol light come on, as garages are not very visible on this route, fortunately we managed to get to one before I found out how many miles you can go with the petrol light on. We had seen lots of different scenery and huge Cactus plants along the roadside.

We got to the Best Western Hotel about 5.30pm and checked in. I checked the temperature and at 6.30pm it was still about 104 degrees and so we both went for a swim. Linda had gone first, and by the time I had finished checking my email and the news, she had got talking to an elderly American couple in the pool – must be the PCSO training, if she sees someone she feel she has to talk to them!

I have uploaded a few photo’s at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/simon.werrett. The folder is Desert.

40 at 4am

4am – the alarm went off! It sounded a good idea over dinner to get up and watch the sunrise – but now it was crazy. However, we did get up, and at 4.30am we were on the road. It is about 5 miles from the Hotel to the Grand Canyon. There were no rangers checking for tickets – too early.

We found a spot to watch the sun rise. It was a good spot, although a lot of Japanese tourists arrived at the last moment and tried to push their way in. We got some good photo’s and it was an interesting moment seeing the sun pop over the North Rim. We drove around the outer parts of the Canyon, going to Desert View and taking some more photos. We were out for a bout 4 hours, and Linda saw a Condor bird – so she was happy. We had a coffee at the centre –and sat on the wall and gazed over the Canyon – it was getting warm. We saw several Elk, wandering along the road.

We then came back to the hotel, and went for breakfast – although as it was now 9am it felt like lunch! After this we went to the swimming pool, and Linda swam whilst I read. We had a relaxing day, a slight snooze in the afternoon to catch up on our sleep. We then went back for one last look at the Canyon, it was quite hot – in the early 90’s today.

In the evening, as it was my birthday, we decided to have a meal in the restaurant. On the menu was Elk (not sure if it was the one I saw earlier in the day) – and so I couldn’t resist trying it – it was very nice, a tender red meat. Linda was not amused!

I have uploaded some more photo’s at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/simon.werrett. The folder is Grand Canyon.

Starbucks on Tour

The amount of Starbucks cafés has improved since I was last here – they are everywhere. All the hotels in Vegas have them – and we even stopped off in Williams today, en route to the Canyon, and there in Safeways was a Starbucks – well it would have been rude to refuse a latte!

The flight was excellent, I can recommend Maxjet (if you can afford it). There was plenty of room, and the seat went right back, in fact I slept for most of the way. Linda kept waking me up for food. I had been up most of the previous night dealing with a job as I was on call! The food was reasonable, I had a nice shrimp dish and then we had scones and cream just prior to landing. As Linda hadn’t had a vegetarian meal provided, they gave her a bottle of champagne to take with us.

Its hot in Vegas it was 109 on the first few days. We did go for a walk the first evening, but after about 15 minutes we had to give up. It is ok in the hotels as they are have air conditioning and so you don’t realise how hot it is until you go out!

We have an excellent SUV, which only had 4 miles on the clock when we rented it – it has over 300 now. It does have 4 wheel drive, but I have found nowhere to test it out yet. Linda has become rather attached to it – and is talking about trading her Micra in for one. It is very nice, automatic with cruise control. So on the straight roads I can just set it up – and sit back and relax, as long as I remember to steer we are ok.

Las Vegas was ok – a lot more hotels and building, but still sin city. Linda didn’t like it at all – said it all appeared very false. I see on the Essex News web site – two PCSO got locked in the toilet, and then it was on fire. It would never happen to Linda – she would have got lost finding the toilet in the first place. She was meant to be navigating today, and when I asked where we were, she just put her hands in the air and said I don’t know! And she had the map in front of her! Fortunately we managed to get out of Vegas, and on the right road to the Canyon. It took about 6 hours to get here – although we stopped for coffee in Williams. Linda didn’t realise how far it was – as it didn’t look far on the map.

We saw Mama Mia at the Mandalay Bay last night – and it was good. I managed to stay awake for the whole performance – a miracle in itself. They were Abba songs which I recognised, although Linda didn’t like it when I sang along.

I am still 39 in America, although I would be 40 in UK! – and we are at the Canyon. We had a look around today, and Linda thought it was ‘awesome.’ It hasn’t changed since I was last here. We’re thinking of going at sunrise to see it (05.29) – watch this space to see if we get up in time!

There are some photos at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/simon.werrett. The folder is America 07.