Our first sights of Australia!

          

     We have just been 7,300 miles together!

                     

    Our first spotted Australian Wildlife - all 18 inches of it!

       Please Don't worry Mum!!

                   "IT IS TOO HOT!!"

Friday, 20 February 2009 23:10:35 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)      Comments [0]  Australia

Woops - a couple we forgot!

 

                                  Jemma and Ben meet the original Disney Star!!

 

It was great to reach California and get to the end of the infamous ROUTE 66! We have had a great time along this fun-filled route and would highly recommend it to everyone! We did get our kicks on Route 66 on The Glory Road, the Main Street of America and the Road of Dreams! Whatever you want to call it- this is one of the most famous roads in the world.......................

Speak next when we land 'down under!'

Friday, 20 February 2009 09:49:09 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)      Comments [2]  USA

California in pictures..........

   

                     A Lonesome Tree!                 Our Victorville Neighbours!

 

           

                   Mexican Indian Dancers.                              Phil's all time FAVOURITE ACTOR!

 

   

                Disney - Where Dreams Come true!                Our Californian friends - Tim & Sylvia.

Saturday, 14 February 2009 12:11:33 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)      Comments [0]  USA

MORE CALIFORNIA!

As we have made many changes to our initial game plans along our way on Macswayround, we decided to make another as we headed towards California. We arranged to put Nessie into safe and secure storage to let her have a rest when we reached California. This decision is due to the current worldwide financial situation, and in particular to the massive drop in the exchange rate of the U.S Dollar to the British Pound. This- on top of the fact that shipping costs have almost doubled since our initial quote to ship Nessie across the transpacific has meant that it makes much more sense for us to store Nessie and rent a similar camper from Brisbane, for the time we are in Australia.

We camped at the Shady Oasis Campground in Victorville, and found an excellent storage facility, to the north east of Los Angeles. This is where Tim and Sylvia (our new found Zion friends) sprang into action and helped us out. As they live at Huntington Beach, south of Los Angeles, they VERY kindly offered to pick us up from the Storage Centre, let us stay with them for 4 nights and then, if that wasn’t enough – drive us to the airport when it was time for our flight! It  is uncanny to think we ended up here as this is next door to Long Beach where Nessie was due to sail from! We couldn’t believe our luck and we are very grateful to them both. We really enjoyed Huntington Beach and our time with them, also meeting some of their friends and family too. Huntington Beach is located along the Southern California coast in Orange County. It has been named as the best city to live in Orange County and has been ranked among the ‘top ten safest cities’ for decades. It has pristine white beaches and is also named as the Surf City of the USA – surfing began here as it became popular in the States!

We visited the original part of Los Angeles, as it always was, with Tim and Sylvia. Once again local knowledge was priceless! We saw the traditional market stalls, some Mexican- Indian dancers and some break-dancers too!

Into Hollywood and we took a stroll down Hollywood Boulevard where famous stars have their names written in a gold star – along all the pavements. As the sun set the Boulevard was illuminated with bright lights and atmosphere! We saw the place where the stars have signed their names and left hand and foot prints too.

The next day Sylvia, Jemma, Ben and I took the Disneyland experience! Tim and Phil got out of the treat (we are not quite sure how!) and they enjoyed a day at the Petersen Automotive Museum instead!

It was great to go to the ORIGINAL Disneyland Theme Park in California! It was very busy on the day we chose and there were some long queues but we did manage to do lots of different attractions, throughout the whole day. We went on every roller coaster possible and even I can say I went on them all and enjoyed them – which is very unusual as I usually avoid them and hold the bags while Daddy gets the pleasure! We even went into the home of Mickey Mouse and met him while he had a break from his filming. The children got a photo each with the most original star of Disney!

Everything was aching as we got back to the house and after carrying two happy, sleeping children to bed we adjourned to the hot tub with a good supply of wine! The perfect recovery – how lucky are we?!

On Tuesday 3^rd February we packed our bags ready to fly down under! After a lovely Thai Curry we were taken to the airport and dropped at the check-in point. We said our goodbyes and thanks to Tim and Sylvia and the two dogs and we look forward to meeting again on our return to the States! (please?)

 

WILDLIFE HITS-

·         2 different types of Humming birds

·         Sparrows

·         Lots of Starfish

·         Ground Squirrels

·         Various very large butterflies

 

 

Saturday, 14 February 2009 11:53:07 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)      Comments [0]  USA

DEATH VALLEY PICS.......

    

       Not a lot of grass at the Nevada Desert.                   HOORAY!

 

   

            The Armargosa Desert.                       "Its getting Hot Down Here!"

 

       

                       Zabriskie Point.                                      Nessie is dwarfed!                A Steam Tractor!

 

         

                   Full Zoom needed to get this one!            We said it gets hot!                           Its Not all Tarmac!

 

        

             Too salty to drink!                             Salt Lake in Death Valley.                "Can you see the face?"

 

   

               We couldn't find the surf!                    Dawn to the howling of coyotes!

Saturday, 14 February 2009 11:42:16 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)      Comments [0]  USA

VIVA LAS VEGAS!

   

                Like Father, Like Daughter!                      The Gambler!

 

   

               A City of Neon!                      No Ifs or Butts!

 

    

             Elvis Lives!                                   New York, New York - Las Vegas!

 

   

                "Where's the Lollipop Lady?"                      The Fremont Street experience!!

 

              The Famous Cowboy!

Saturday, 14 February 2009 11:12:32 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)      Comments [1]  USA

LAS VEGAS TO DEATH VALLEY TO LOS ANGELES!

We found a friendly campground called Riviera RV Park in Las Vegas, Nevada.  As soon as we went into reception to check in, the lady joked with us saying that it was not possible to stay there, as our steering wheel was on the wrong side (poor Nessie!)

There was a lovely pool there so the children took advantage once more and met up with some new friends. In the evening Phil fell asleep in the chair outside and he was surprised that when he woke up a couple of hours later -the sky was lighter than when he had gone to sleep! The city and lights of Las Vegas had come alive for the evening shift!

The next day we took the bus into town which made life very easy and we went down ‘Las Vegas Boulevard’ affectionately known as ‘The Strip’ (or Casino alley!)  in the centre of Sin City!

“Circus Circus” was a great place to get a taste of this life, as it allowed children into some sections and had a variety of games for them to do. There were even live circus acts every half hour or so, which showcased a variety of circus talents, from unicycles to limbo dancing! Phil just had to chance his luck at the big time (where the children were not even allowed to linger) – a very new experience for him! He was playing for 200,000 U.S Dollars and a Ford G.T Mustang car (in red!) I was concerned at what Phil thought he was going to do with it – after he had won it! But alas -not to be this time although Phil was quite happy after a good few hours of entertainment –he came away 49 bucks up-what a result!!

We had a fantastic time at XTREME MAGIC starring Dirk Arthur at the Tropicana. Without giving too much away, this show involving Dirk and his team of female dancing assistants producing a variety of tigers from out of nowhere and then a helicopter onto the stage! We left the show dumb-struck and confused as the explicable was no longer explicable! This was indeed extreme magic, not to be tried at home but definitely recommended to go and see! I don’t think that any of us will be satisfied with a card trick again! This makes us realise once more how lucky we all are to be having many extreme experiences on Macswayround.  It was interesting and encouraging to be able to watch a TV clip that showed us how these animals are not just used as a tool to make a show. Dirk talked about how he is dedicating his life to these monstrous cats and is involved in a number of breeding programmes and projects around the world to help promote the ever deceasing number of these creatures in the wild. During this show we also got to see the only ‘Ligar’ in the States (so we believe)– and he is half lion and half tiger! What a combination!

We tackled the busy streets by sitting on the bus and went ‘Downtown’ to see the Fremont Street Experience! The light shows run at regular intervals throughout the evening on the biggest screens in the world and neon lights shone all around us as we wandered through the street. We saw the Neon Cowboy that has become a famous symbol of Las Vegas and a motorbike stunt show called the Thunder Dome - where as many as three bikes whizzed around a ball cage, only narrowly missing each other at any one time!

We needed a day to recover from the buzz and fast pace of life around Las Vegas! So when our batteries were re-charged we took off across the Nevada desert and mountains over to the Death Valley National Park. We travelled through the Armargosa Desert and were intrigued by Area 51 along our journey too.

We camped at Texas Spring in Death Valley and the children set to work collecting information to become Junior Rangers for a third time! Death Valley is known as the hottest, driest, lowest spot in North America. As its name suggests lives have been lost here due to the extreme summer heat.  Its harsh desert climate results from a rain shadow effect created by mountains which are uplifted to the west.  We saw the view from Zabriskie Point which was a colourful landscape of gullies and mud hills at the edge of the Funeral Mountains. Badwater is a salt flat land (5 miles across) and at 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest spot in the Western Hemisphere.

Death Valley has more abandoned mines than any other National Park, all of which remain dangerous today. There were warnings, especially for Keane Wonder mine which was one of Death Valley’s most successful gold mines. So much rock was mined there that the entire area became unstable and began to collapse and there is also signs of toxic waste from cyanide and other toxic chemicals which were used to extract the gold from the ore. This area is closed to the public until it can be made safer as breathing this contaminated air is not a wise idea.

It was good that the children had to work hard answering questions about all the other National Parks that we have been to so far – to be awarded their 3^rd Junior Ranger badge! We drove out of the valley with the China Lake Naval Weapons Centre each side of us and maybe we were unwittingly a moving target as fighter planes soared directly over Nessie!  We met a young German guy who asked Phil for help with his inverter. Stephan was a nocturnal photographer who will wait as long as it takes to get the correct photographic conditions (and we may be talking days here). We saw some examples of the superb quality that this high standard of patience and equipment can produce and we wish him luck in his current project.

We stayed at the Paramint Spring RV Park and Phil was taken back as this was the first place that he could not hear a dawn chorus. However, this was compensated by being able to hear and capture on camcorder a pack of coyotes as they voiced spine tingling howls across the valley. We continued our journey to Victorville, California.

FACTOIDS-

·         Las Vegas translates to “The Meadows” in Spanish.

·         Las Vegas gained its name in the 1800’s when this green valley and desert spring waters offered a respite for tired travellers who were making the journey along the Old Spanish Trail on their way to California.

·         In 1905, 110 acres of land was auctioned and in 1911 this was incorporated into a city-Downtown Las Vegas.

·         In 1931, Navada legalised casino gambling and liberalized the state divorce law by reducing residency requirements to six weeks.

·         These changes impacted on Fremont Street as now it was no longer a dusty whistle stop -but a haven for fun- seekers!

·         In 1959 the famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign was created by resident Betty Willis.

·         The Las Vegas Strip is an All-American Road, a prestigious federal designation awarded to roads which are recognised nationally and internationally for their outstanding and unique qualities!

·         The Strip is the only scenic byway in the world that has the distinction of being as scenic and unique at night as it is by day!

·         During the middle of the 20^th century Las Vegas continued its march towards becoming the gambling capital of the world.

·         Fremont Street introduced the use of Neon lights and today this ‘Glitter Glunch’ has the largest light show screen in the world!

 

·         The extreme conditions of Death Valley have attracted hardy, adaptable, and sometimes eccentric human inhabitants!

·         Along the 27 mile stretch known as the ‘racetrack’ at Death Valley-rocks mysteriously slide along the dry lakebed, leaving behind long tracks for visitors to ponder on!

·         Walter Scott – a western cowboy known as ‘Death Valley Scotty’ – claimed that an elaborate Spanish-style mansion was built by gold from his fictitious mine. In reality, it was the 1920’s vacation home of his wealthy friends! Today it is known as Scotty’s Castle!

·         Throughout history and still today the Timbisha Shoshone people live sustained in Death Valley by their ‘valley of life’.

·         In 1904 gold was found and this sparked the last American gold rush. It drew 10,000 people to Death Valley!

·         In 1994, in order to protect its extraordinary natural and cultural landscape, Congress made Death Valley a National Park, enlarged its size and designated most of it as wilderness.

 

WILDLIFE HITS-

·         Coyote-heard and seen outside Nessie!

Friday, 13 February 2009 08:11:58 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)      Comments [0]  USA

Zion in Pictures.........

    

                         Holding tight in Zion!                            "Ouch-that hurt!"

 

    

                      More Beautiful Scenery!            We had a Picnic by the river!

 

           

              The Three Patriots.                                  Follow the Red Brick Road!                On the Trail!

 

   

                                      SAMSON!                                  More Zion Rock!

 

 

 

 

Friday, 13 February 2009 08:02:53 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)      Comments [0]  USA

Monument Valley in pictures................

    

                    On the way to Monument Valley...            Roads that go on forever!

 

    

                          The Real Thing!                    Nessie at Monument Valley.

 

            

             Jemma at Monument Valley!        Ben at Monument Valley!         Sunrise at Monument Valley.

 

        

                    Some Wonderful Scenery.......          The Famous Scene.                                              Lake Powell

 

   

              An Indian Trading Post.                      "Are you sure it was this way?"

Friday, 13 February 2009 07:09:15 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)      Comments [0]  USA

Monument Valley to Zion......

We said our farewells to the Grand Canyon and Arizona – for now -and continued into the Navajo Territory. There were many Trading Posts and we stopped and spoke with Pernell and Brenton who told us of many interesting facts about the Navajo believes and culture. Pernell talked about their main aim as being able to live in harmony with Mother -Nature. We would like to thank him for his time and how he explained about the importance of the Navajo traditions being taught, passed down through the generations, and kept alive. Pernell explained how he had read about William Wallace and compared him to a famous Navajo warrior, who was not willing to be dictated to by the so-called higher authorities either. It was not appropriate for us to photograph them although we did get permission to snap their Trading Post. This was due to a strong belief that a part of them is being taken away each time they are photographed.  Jemma bought some hand crafted decorated hair clips that included the Arizona Rose, Mother of Pearl, and a humming bird as a sign of love.

Later on as we drove through Utah, we passed another Trading Post and we were amused by the three road signs that followed which read -“Indians – Nice friendly Indians –Its Ok! Turn Now!”

As we approached the Monument Valley the scenery was stunning. There were columns of rock formations which jutted up from the desert floor and stood ahead of us so grandly. As the daylight came to a close shadows were thrown. Phil loved this place as memories of John Wayne came flooding back and it was easy to imagine a wagon train rolling past! Monument Valley is one of the world’s most recognised landscapes. It was great timing to be able to capture the sun-setting over the monuments, as many others were there waiting to do also!  We camped at the Goulding’s Good Sam Park and enjoyed yet another campfire, to the soundtrack of ‘A fist Full of Dollars’!

Before dawn, Phil was up (as he has been many times on our trip!)  to see the monuments as they were silhouetted in a dazzling pink which filled the sky. As we trekked the windy road out of the Monument Valley, we had a strange sense that someone had been there before us and our minds were taken back to a scene of bygone days. The camera was forever clicking as each turn bought a new scene, each worthy of a mention!

We took our next trek out of Utah and back to Arizona before finding ourselves back in Utah once more! Our destination was to be Zion National Park – another ‘must see’ recommendation that we have taken along our way (from Grant in Camping World!) We took a pleasant pit-stop at the Hitch’n’Post in Kanab before heading into Zion the next day. This happened to be on January 20^th 2009 – the day Obama made history and became the 44^th U.S. President.  

To enter the park we had to negotiate a tunnel – the one mile + long Mount Carmel Tunnel. This was built in 1927 when cars were small and much less in number. We were amused by the fact that the ranger came out to measure Nessie to find out if we would need an escort through the tunnel! It was concluded that we ‘should be fine’ if we pull in our mirrors and proceed with care! As many drivers will be aware- driving without mirrors may be compared to driving with blinkers on!  It was very tight in the tunnel and unlit – we spent all of our time in the centre of the road and we are still not sure what would have happened if we had met a Nessie or something similar coming the other way!

Another natural wonder, the Zion Canyon has been carved and shaped by the Virgin River beginning approximately 15 million years ago and has a natural beauty. The red road led us down a series of hair pin bends and helter -skelter trails to the base of the canyon. We enjoyed a picnic by the river side on our way down the canyon! Once again Nessie’s gearbox was complimented by Phil!

Upon reaching the mouth - the cliffs soared above us and again we found ourselves in an inspirational place. The walls of the canyon towered over us at approximately 2000 feet in most places. Zion has a unique geography as it is located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin and Mojave Desert provinces and this combination has led Zion to be home to a number of diverse animals and unusual plants too.

We took a walk along the Lower Emerald Pool Trail, which joins the middle and upper trails to form a series of pools and water-falls. This cliff side trail was hair -raising at times, especially with the children!  The end of the trail had even been closed due to icy conditions.  We all continue to enjoy spotting wildlife and were able to see plenty of mule deer on this trail.

The children began their work towards becoming Zion Junior Rangers and this involved watching an informative film at the visitor centre and then using all of their senses to discover new things as we travelled around the park. We also watched an I-max cinema film about the history of Zion.

We camped at the Zion Canyon Campground and enjoyed our tea cooked on the camp-fire again! We got talking to our neighbours who had an RV which was very similar to Nessie and enjoyed an evening with them, chatting over a glass of wine or two! We have been very fortunate in meeting Tim and Sylvia and are very grateful to them for all of their kindness and help, as you will soon discover as our story unfolds! They also have two very tolerant dogs which the children have adopted and have had great fun with!

We left Zion in Utah and came into Nevada where we just had to make a visit into Las Vegas!

FACTOIDS-

·         The Navajo Reservation to the East Entrance of the Grand Canyon National Park consists of 16 million acres and is the largest of any south-western tribe.

·         The Navajo tribes were originally from a farming background.

·         Some Navajo continue to live in traditional six or eight-sided houses, known as a Hogan, and raise sheep, goats and corn. The Hogan is built in harmony with the universe and all living creatures on earth.

·         The Navajo language is still alive and strong and being taught in many Navajo Territory schools, along- side English.

·         A Chapter House is the Navajo equivalent to a Town Hall.

·         Water is very scarce in Navajo Country, and most Chapter Houses are built near newly developed wells, made possible through a tribal water development programme.

·         Local Recreation activities are enjoyed by young and old at the new Chapter Houses.

·         The Chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council is the Chief Executive of the Navajo Tribe.

·         Hunting gatherings still take place in the traditional way on special occasions, and each warrior will carve out his own arrow head – so that individual kills may be recognised.

·         The Navajo are famous for their finely woven rugs, silver and turquoise jewellery and sand paintings.

·         The jewellery making techniques and patterns vary considerably from tribe to tribe, this being not dissimilar to the clans and tartans of Scotland.

 

·         Zion National Park is 229 square miles of the most unique and varied terrain found in the country.

·         In 1858, Johnson explored to the mouth of Zion Canyon.

·         Zion has its own snail, which is only the size of a pin head and is found no- where else on earth!

·         The meaning of Zion is – Peace, tranquillity and a sanctuary of God.

·         Zion has some of the highest sandstone peaked mountains in the world.

·         Zion has 800 native species of plant life, 75 varieties of mammals, 36 varieties of reptiles and 270 varieties of birds.

·         Nine different layers of sedimentary rock can be found within the Zion Park, ranging from Dakota Sandstones to ancient Kaibab Limestone.

 

WILDLIFE HITS-

·         Mule Deer

·         White tailed deer

·         Signs of Beavers having been at work!

·         Scat from a Ring-Tailed Cat!

Thursday, 12 February 2009 14:47:59 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)      Comments [0]  USA