The McKenzie's Official world tour site
# Friday, 24 July 2009
BACK TO THE USA ON MACSWAYROUND!
We arrived back into the USA, after a very long journey from New Zealand! We were able to take a final glimpse of Australia as we stopped off in Sydney for a while before catching our onward flight. After approximately 23 hours we were met at LAX, Los Angeles – by our ever faithful friends, Tim and Sylvia. They were, once again, extremely hospitable to us all and we enjoyed several days at their house where we could acclimatise, recover from jet lag and organise ourselves for the next leg of Macswayround! During our time at Huntington Beach (which remains The Surf City of The USA!), Tim very kindly drove us to Victorville and there we saw NESSIE (our RV/ Camper!)–still resting in the desert town just as we had left her, all those months ago! The re-union was very emotional to us as Nessie is obviously such an enormous part of Macswayround and very special to us all. Especially as she had not been with us for our ‘down under’ leg of the journey –as was originally planned. It felt almost like we were ‘home again’ and it was like Christmas when we explored around to find the things that we had stored away and forgotten about! We would like to thank Bear Valley Storage in Victorville for taking such good care of our second home! The children have been over the moon to delve into their toy boxes and to be able to ride their bikes again! We were fortune to have landed back into the USA just days before 4th July – Independence Day- and enjoyed the Huntington Beach Parade in the morning of that day. Following the parade, we were happy to be invited, along with Tim and Sylvia, to their friend’s home for a party! We would like to thank Bob and Marty for their hospitality and it was very interesting for us to experience, first hand, such an important day in the history of the USA. We do hope that no permanent damage has been caused to your house and /or possessions as a result of letting us (well particularly me!) loose in a Dart’s match! Just turning the computer monitor around was just not quite enough protection – now was it?! Jemma and Ben would also like to extend thanks for the swimming pool and playmates as they made use of the pool for almost 7 hours – only popping out to be fed and watered from time to time! It was great to be able to meet more of Tim and Sylvia’s friends and to enjoy a ‘girl’s night out’ movie with Sylvia and Paula too. As it was pointed out to me-that evening was the first in a long while that I had been away from the family and it was very strange! My Nan was also celebrating a very special birthday at the same time, back home in England and so we would like to extend our love and good wishes to Nana on the occasion of her 90th birthday. We were all partying along with you in spirit, just a few miles apart. Nessie had a service – a wise move prior to our trek north – Alaska bound. Our thanks to Paul -at the Huntington Beach Dodge Dealership. So after more farewells-Nessie and Macswayround was back on the road again! We are eternally grateful to Tim and Sylvia and look forward to being able to return at least some of the favour, back in Devon, one day! Following a final stock pile of supplies and a stop at Bakersfield Palm RV Resort, we reached Lemon Cove – in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains- an immense range of continuous rock. We had a great time at the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park-home to the biggest trees in the world! We visited the largest tree (in overall volume) in the world –a Sequoia named General Sherman. To be in the presence of one of the oldest living things on this Earth, left us with feelings of awe and wonder. Not only this tree, but complete groves and acres and acres of big trees create numerous walks amongst these natural giants. The National Park Rangers prefer to think of all the trees as a whole immense of wonder – rather than to worry about which tree is biggest or tallest, as this changes frequently. We were mesmerised as we considered all of the extreme weather conditions that nature has ever thrown at these trees, including fire, which they have not only encountered – but lived through! Some of these trees were actually living on Earth BC and are still living strong today. It left an amazing feeling of all that has gone before us....... We even walked through a tunnelled sequoia that was created years ago to enable stage coaches to pass along the route and plenty of other smaller tunnelled trees along the forest pathways. We were extremely lucky to be able to camp right there within the National Park- at Dorst Creek – in Black Bear Territory! All food and products with a tempting smell had to be stored in Bear-Proof lockers. This made the camping experience ‘very real’ and we settled in for the night with a feeling of in trepidation! With bears in the camp grounds and surrounding meadows on those days, we were not in the right place at the right time....... Looks like we shall have to wait awhile for our much anticipated sighting-no worries! Yosemite National Park was our next stop in California and this has to rate highly in our Macswayround Hotspots! The scenery was nothing short of spectacular with a variety of sheers granite faces, mountains, crystal rivers and cascading water- falls. It is world –famous for its unusual rock formations and has massive cliff faces named El Capitan and Half Dome. Out of the National Park back- drops for a while and into the rush of San Francisco City. We spent our DAY 365 here – YES – we have survived one whole year on MACSWAYROUND so far! We stayed at Tradewinds RV Park in Vallejo and could then enjoy a pleasant ferry ride into the city – letting someone else tackle the driving for a while! The ferry dropped us along the Fisherman’s Wharf and we took a stroll along the way.....we took a cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge and circled the Alcatraz Island. The tour gave lots of information about the island and the history of its infamous and high- security prison. Alcatraz was nicknamed – “The Rock” and we heard many stories about life on the island as a prison officer or as an inmate and tales of the 36 prisoners who tried to escape during the prison’s 29 operational years. It was deemed to be the final straw for inmates who were transferred to this prison, as they were unsuitable for any other ........criminals such as Al Capone and Robert (the Birdman) Stroud...... On Pier 39 we walked around the corner and were surprised to see approximately 200 California Sea Lions, lying out on the K.Docks! Apparently, they came here in droves in 1990 and have taken over the area. Now it is illegal for any boats to use these docks and the sea lions have become an international sensation with visitors like us! Some winters, the population can rise as high as 900 sea lions!
Friday, 24 July 2009 17:24:43 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #    Comments [0]  USA

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