America 2001

Photographs

06/08 - 11/08    12/08 - 15/08    16/08 - 23/08    24/08 - 26/08

Mileage Summary

   Total miles driven = 3,000.5

Itinerary & Diary

Saturday 4th August

Spent night at Novotel, Heathrow.

Sunday 5th August

Flew to Denver via Toronto.  Collected hire car and drove to Holiday Inn just south of Denver.

Monday 6th August

Spent the morning at hotel by the pool. Drove to Manitou Springs in the afternoon. Spent night at the Eagle Motel.

Tuesday 7th August

Drove up Pikes Peak in the morning. Visited Cliff Dwellings in the afternoon. Spent night at the Eagle Motel.

Wednesday 8th August

Drove through the "Garden of the Gods" park in Manitou Springs in the morning. Visited Royal Gorge suspension bridge near Cañon City in the afternoon. Spent night at the Best Western hotel at Pueblo West.

Thursday 9th August

Drove to Santa Fe. Went via Taos where we stopped for lunch and a look around. Spent night at the Budget Motel, Santa Fe.

Friday 10th August

Spent morning in Santa Fe, then set off for Grand Canyon. Stopped half way for night at the Best Western motel at Chambers.

Saturday 11th August

Set off for the Grand Canyon. Drove through the Petrified Forest National Park en route. Spent night at the Red Feather Lodge in Tusayan, just outside Grand Canyon National Park.

Sunday 12th August

Spent the day at the Grand Canyon, which ended with a spectacular thunder storm. In the evening we saw an Imax film about the Canyon. Spent night at the Red Feather Lodge.

Monday 13th August

Today we had hoped to take a flight over the Grand Canyon at 11.00am.  Unfortunately the weather was so bad we had to abandon the idea.  We did go and have another look at the Canyon and visibility was down to about 10 yards.  We did get one rather nice glimpse of the Canyon full of cloud (see photo).  Drove to Page by Lake Powell.  Had a meal at "Kens Old West" restaurant - complete with live C&W music!  Spent night at Best Western at Lake Powell.

Tuesday 14th August

Spent morning by hotel pool then set off for Bryce Canyon.  Stopped in Page to look at the Glen Canyon Dam which has created the artificial lake at Page - it took 17 years for the lake to fill after the dam had been built.  Later on we also stopped to see the Moqui Cave, 5 miles north of Kanab, which had been a night club in the 50's but was now a museum.  The owner's ancestors had originally come from around Hungerford in the mid 1800's.  Found our Hotel - Ruby's Inn, which is just at the entrance to Bryce Canyon but decided to leave visiting the Canyon until the next day.  Went to a Rodeo and saw a lot of Cowboys falling off horses and bulls! Spent the night at Ruby's Inn.

Wednesday 15th August

We were woken in the early hours of the morning by a tremendous thunder storm, but by 9.00am it was warm and sunny.  Spent the morning by the pool.  In the afternoon we explored Bryce Canyon - drove to furthest point.  Spent the night at Ruby's Inn.

Thursday 16th August

Left Ruby's Inn and drove through Cedar Breaks then on through the Nevada Desert to Las Vegas.  The temperature reached 113° F - thank heavens for air conditioning.  Found a hotel on the "Strip" called Circus Circus.  Hotels in Las Vegas defy belief.  Apart from the usual casino ours also had a circus and indoor theme park!  In the evening we walked along the "strip" looking at the other hotels, the most notable of which was the Venetian.  This hotel is modelled on Venice and has a complete canal system with Gondolas inside.

When we got back to our hotel Jenny went to bed while James and the children spent 2 hours in the theme park, finally going to bed at 1.00am.  Spent night at Circus Circus Hotel.

Friday 17th August

Left Las Vegas and visited the Hoover Dam.  Took a guided tour which actually goes inside the dam.  The whole thing is very impressive, especially as it was built during the 1930's.  After visiting the dam we headed off towards San Diego.  En route we visited a ghost town at Calico which was once a thriving mining town.  We finally stopped at a place called Victorville and found a rather seedy motel called the New Corral Motel - not to be recommended!  Spent night at New Corral Motel, Victorville.

Saturday 18th August

Left Victorville after doing a bit of shopping and continued on to San Diego. Checked into the Best Western Mission Bay Inn.  Had a swim then drove to "The Old Town" which is a really nice part of San Diego.  Had a meal at a Chinese restaurant then found an ice cream parlour that did ice creams like you've never seen before!  Spent night at  the Best Western Mission Bay Inn. 

Sunday 19th August

We got up early and spent the day at SeaWorld, San Diego.  You have got to hand it to the Americans - they certainly know how to put on a show.  The performances of the Dolphins and Killer Whales were unbelievable. It was also quite a surprise to find a complete simulation of the Arctic and Antarctic, complete with Polar Bears and Emperor Penguins.  The evening ended with an impressive firework display.  Spent night at  the Best Western Blue Sea Lodge.

Monday 20th August

Today we did no driving! Instead we did the "surfing USA" bit - well, had some fun in the surf with body boards. Could definitely get hooked on the Californian beach/sun scene, just need to buy some skates to cruise along the sea front.  Spent night at  the Best Western Blue Sea Lodge.

Tuesday 21st August

We stayed at San Diego until mid-afternoon, swimming and sunbathing, then set off for Santa Barbara.  We stopped en route in Los Angeles to have a look at Hollywood, finally arriving in Santa Barbara at about 8.30pm.  Spent night at  the Best Western Beachside Inn.

Wednesday 22nd August

We spent the morning in Santa Barbara exploring the town and harbour then set off for Oakhurst which is about 16 miles from the entrance to Yosemite National Park.  Spent night at  the Best Western Yosemite Gateway Inn which is very attractively built up the side of a hill.

Thursday 23rd August

We spent all day in Yosemite National Park which is absolutely beautiful.  Among the many interesting sights and features were "El Capitan", Bridalveil Fall and the Giant Sequoia trees. Spent night at  the Best Western Yosemite Gateway Inn.

Friday 24th August

We set off for San Francisco, stopping in Coarsegold for breakfast and for David and Tracey to try their hand at panning for gold - both were successful!  Arrived at our hotel to be told that we had been upgraded to the hotel over the road.  This turned out to be a definite plus as the new hotel was much better.  In the evening we went into the town centre and had a meal at Lori's 50's Diner.  Spent night at  the Best Western Americania, San Francisco.

Saturday 25th August

In the morning we took a "city tour" which included the Japanese Tea Garden and a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge.  The tour ended at Pier 39.  In the afternoon we visited Alcatraz which was fascinating and really brought to life by a superb "audio guided tour".  Following the visit to Alcatraz we explored Pier 39, including the "world famous" Sea Lions, finally catching the cable car back to Union Square.  Spent night at  the Best Western Americania, San Francisco.

Sunday 26th August

James went for a drive around San Francisco, including the famous Lombard Street, which is claimed to be the crookedest street in the world, and then returned the hire car.  Jenny sunbathed.  In the afternoon we all caught a bus to Haight Ashbury, which is the "hippy" area and then on to Fisherman's Wharf.  James and David stopped to look at the Cable Car Museum which includes all the winding equipment for the 4 separate cable systems.  There is nearly 10 miles of cable under the streets!  Had a meal on Pier 39 and then went to Ghirardelli's for an ice cream - this place has got to be seen to be believed!  Spent night at  the Best Western Americania, San Francisco.

Monday 27th & Tuesday 28th August

Got up at 5.00am to catch 8.00am plane from San Francisco to Toronto and then on to London.  Everything was on time and we finally arrived at Heathrow Airport at 6.10am on Tuesday having "lost" 8 hours and effectively the night.  Arrived home at 9.00am to find everything in order.

                       THE END