Andy's USA Travel

Well the trip is over and i am now home still feeling bruised and battered by the snowmobile.
It is nice to get home but the trip was amazing and i would recommend travelling to anyone. I already have 5 or 6 return trips pencilled in to see and cover bits that were not on this trip. Albeit they will be normal trips next time not 6 months!

Some stats for you:

8 different hire cars - 17985 miles covered by car.
4 plane journeys - 10195 miles
3 train journeys - 328 miles
8 Bus journeys - 1926 miles

Total of 30434 miles - not including public transport around cities.

THE END.

Thanks for following me and for your comments.

Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Andy

Took a flight out of Los Angeles to Calgary. I was expecting snow when landing in Calgary but when flying in, the countryside showed no sign of white, which was pleasing. However the winds of 90mph made the landing interesting. The pilot aborted the first try and powered up out of the landing up into sky, to turn around. It would have been nice to be told what he was doing! The turbulance was bad and the plane was going all over the place. Luckily it didn't concern me but i thought the guy next to me was going to pull the arm rests off the seat he was gripping so hard to them. Landed ok on second attempt. The local news the following day showed all the damage around Calgary caused by the winds and even of a video on You tube of a plane trying to land at Calgary which was going almost sideways as it tried to land.
Calgary was ok but not exactly tourist time of year. Went to see Calgary Flames ice hockey team play Nashville, 1-0 to Calgary and the game was probably not the best advert for NHL! Caught the C-train down into the centre of Calgary and had a walk around the centre and out to the waterfront to Princes Island. In the centre they have a pedestrian walkway called +15 in which you can walk from one end of the centre to the other without going outside (it cuts through buildings, over roads and has shops inside as opposed to outside facing the street), great when it's -20. The bow river that cuts through Calgary was frozen at the edges, i think it had been worse but it had warmed up a bit. However it did snow quite heavily on a couple of nights there, but as you can imagine nothing seems to stop, they just get on with it and clear it very quickly.
Was going to go up the Calgary Tower but it didn't seem quite right as views are now obscured by taller buildings around it!
Left Calgary and headed for Banff and the National Park. Due to timescales with the US Visa it was always going to be tricky visiting this area at this time of year however had to make most of it. Banff was a very nice village / town - they must have strict guidelines on building and advertising as there were no huge advertising neon signs and all the buildings were in the style of, sort of, a swiss village so was quite distinct.
There is a main highway that goes through Banff National Park but also scenic roads. I decided to head up Bow Valley Parkway, a scenic route running up through Banff NP, but nearly chickened out. I came off the main road (all clear of snow) onto this scenic route and ended up driving on compacted snow and ice for about 40km and only seeing half a dozen cars. Luckily Canadian Hire cars come with winter tyres so despite being slippery under foot the drive was ok. The scenery is nice, but I can't help but feel that when covered in snow and the lakes are iced over, that this detracts from the view, in summer this place would be outstanding.
Next day headed further up into the park to Lake Louise and then up along the Icefields Parkway, again main route was bare to Lake Louise but the icefields parkway was again compacted snow and ice. Lake Louise was completely frozen and there were people walking on the ice, also some guys were pumping water onto the lake presumably to make it thicker, ready for ice skating. Had a quick walk around the area but at -10 plus wind chill, it was a bit cold so didnt hang around too long. Continued driving up the Icefield Parkway right up to Saskatchewan Crossing were there is a bridge and a large river. Again a lot of the river was frozen with the main flow clear - makes me cold just thinking about it. This road would continue all the way up to Jasper but as previously said it was off season and although roads were open all side roads, trails etc were closed and the snow cover detracted from what would have been amazing views, maybe i'll have to come back another time during the summer - however i'm told that 50,000 people a week descend on Banff in the Summer, for such a small place that would be horrendous.
After leaving Banff took the last leg over to Vancouver with two stops overnight, one at Revelstoke and then at Kamloops. On the way to Revelstoke i went through Glacier National Park. Shame you couldn't see the glaciers too well, due to snow cover, but again a very scenic place. Had a spot of bother in GNP, got out to take a photo and managed to lock the keys to the car inside. I have been driving economy cars most of the time and now have a Ford Focus with all the modern technology and (as i know now) when keys are inside the car it automatically locks itself! So picture me, stood in the middle of nowhere with a temperature of -3 plus wind chill and i've got a tea shirt and thin jacket on and everything bar the camera is locked in the car. Thought about breaking the quarter light but couldn't find any rocks, as all covered in snow, so decided to flag down some traffic. Finally after 10-15 minutes a couple on the way back from Calgary stopped. They phoned a recovery company and let me sit in their truck until the recovery arrived 30 minutes later. What a nice couple and i would have been really stuck without their help. I was amazed how quickly the guy got into the car, i thought these modern cars were more secure, makes you realise not to leave stuff in your car as its easy to get in.
Finally got to Vancouver the last place on the trip. Vancouver is a huge city and spread for miles into different areas, i was surprised by how many Chinese live in the city about a third are Chinese which gives the city a very oriental theme with a lot of businesses with english and chinese writing on the front.
Drove up to Whistler on one day along the sea to sky highway which is a scenic highway all the way to Whistler. Although no snow on the road, until geting to Whistler, the scenery was nice but nothing spectacular, however i think i have been spoilt by all that i have seen on the trip. Whistler was just starting it's season and snow was around but the slopes were being topped up by the snow making machines.
In North and West Vancouver, although residential, there are numerous mountain areas which are high enough to be covered in snow and give good views of Vancouver, so i had a drive around and up these areas, on a clear day views would be good, not so good though when the cloud is low!
Headed into the city centre on the sky train and walked around the Gaslight area, the waterfront, Canada Place and up to Stanley park. Another day i drove around Stanley park, saw the totem poles and views all round of Vancouver (Stanley Park's location gives nice views in all directions).
With all the snow around i thought i needed to do something wintery so i drove back up to near Whistler and went snowmobiling for the afternoon. A lot more difficult to drive than a quad bike and tends to slip around a lot due to having only two small ski's on the front and a 600cc engine chucking you forward. As usual i wanted to get the most out of the experience so as i was at the back of the group (4 in total plus guide) i kept hanging back and then pushing it to see what it could do, building up speed as i became more familiar. As we were going uphill it was more easy to control, then after about half an hour i accelerated over a hump and left the ground (a bit), unfortunately my landing was not good. On touching down it slid off to the side and i ended 3/4 feet down a ditch. I know you're wandering and yes the snowmobile was fine, i, however, was not - i bruised my ribs, arm and leg, but in hidsight i was lucky, a few feet further were rocks and a stream so i got off pretty lightly.
I think it may be time to come home!!

Left San Diego and headed for LA. However, sort of took the long way round and stopped at Indio for a couple of nights so i could visit the Joshua Tree National Park. Bit of a strange place this Park and obviously can't compare with the other main parks. Like other parks there are some nice geological formations that have occurred due to various volcanic and ice age malarchy and the Joshua trees growing in the middle of the desert are cool as is the cactus garden. Funny thing was that i could not go to part of the park, called cottonwood spring, as it was closed due to flooding!!
Quite a nice drive drive on the detour and saw loads of date palm farms along the roadside, not something you see everyday.
Arrived in LA and decided to stay in 3 different places so as to see as much of LA as possible. First trip was to see college football UCLA v Colorado in Pasadena. Its amazing how popular college football is, i think there was about 40000 there to see them thrash Colorado. The brass band must have contained over 100 people. Before the game when the away team arrived on the coaches there was more security around than at Leeds v Millwall, apparantly they are rivals in the pac 10.
Bearing in mind next stop Canada i decided to check weather forecast up there, minus 25 in Banff so i went shopping in LA for a coat. Prices of clothes definately cheaper then in the UK.
Was going to try to get to the MLS final on the Sunday between LA and Houston, by going to the ground and seeing the touts, however it was raining heavily all day and LA Galaxy can't afford a roof so I didn't bother!
Went on a couple of Studio tours during the stay and to be honest they were very good. Warner Bros was the first and driving around the back lots where the buildings are present and getting told what was filmed there was pretty cool. We went past parts of where Gremlins was filmed, and went onto the set of Chuck. The Mentalist was being filmed on the day so could only see outside activity and not the sets. Also went on the Sony Pictures tour which again was good. Slightly different to WB tour in that they take you more through the film process, went to the sound stage ($60k a day to hire), and the Foley stage (sound effects) didn't realize that every sound usually gets enhanced so rain, crisps packets, walking noises all get recorded to put on audio. I am going to send in my application for a Foley sound bloke on my return, they earn $800 an hour, dont be greedy I hear you say, I'm not if I was I would apply for sound engineer at $2200 an hour!!
The only problem with going behind the scenes is that now I won't believe anything I see, it's bad enough with the green screen but they can reproduce any city in these lots. The US version of Shameless is based in Chicago?, no its on a lot in LA and it even has the raised subway. At WB I saw the Central Perks set used in Friends, and areas of New York they walk down, together with a park area they use for central park. It's all very clever really.
The last studio tour was at Universal Studios, not quite the same as the others as more touristy / Theme parkish. I didn't think I'd enjoy Universal but to be honest it was a good day. Went on Thanksgiving so it was quite quiet and hardly a queue anywhere. The studio tour was ok, saw the Town Hall off Back to the future, the new 3D Jurassic pike ride, various sets from past movies that have been left for the tour and the subway earthquake ride thing when it floods (I got soaked where I was sat). The Waterworld show was good, Terminator 3D was ok, Shrek 3D was cool, Animals in Film show was great, special effects show was poor and the Mummy rollercoaster was a nightmare. I hate rollercoasters why did I go on it? In the dark forwards, backwards, left, right, mad acceleration- I didn't know if I was coming or going.
Visited the Getty Museum, in summary nice building and garden but i'm not into all that art stuff! Great views of LA from there though.
Also went to the Ronald Reagon Museum and went on board the old Airforce One, surprisingly small- the new one is 3 times bigger. Had to ask the guy on board how they got it up on top of the mountain where the museum is, apparently they undid 300000 rivets and took off wings etc and then put them all back in when in situ. The plane is only on loan from the air force, hope they don't ask for it back.
Walked up along Hollywood Bld, just as tatty as I remember. Went to Madame Tussards for something to do, what a waste of money, not impressed at all.
Had an afternoon free so decided to see another Cirque du Soleil show, Iris at the Kodak Theatre, absolutely no idea about the storyline (I think Cirque maybe don't do stories?) Anyway there were, again, some amazing stunts and acrobatics, overall very good.
That was about it for LA, Canada next, one more entry - stay tuned for some mad idiotic moments that occurred.

What a place Las Vegas is, like nothing else seen to date. Walked all along the strip, which during the day is mad but at night it becomes even more mad. The card clickers are enough to drive you to violence, they are everywhere shoving cards under your nose advertising all the XXX venues. I kept my cool though, lol.
Had a few little slot machine sessions in the Bellagio, luckily only lost $40, I don't suppose that classes me as a high roller so I can get free accommodation and travel around LV! The Bellagio water show is pretty good saw it about 3 times, as I didn't realise that they have over 20 different shows. The Mirage volcano is also pretty good bearing in mind it's free and just in front of the hotel. Also watched the treasure island show, the Sirens of TI, again pretty good considering its free. The two ships are floating at the front of the hotel by the strip and one actually sinks (hope I haven't ruined it for future visits by any of you).
Thought I should see a show while in Vegas so went to see the Cirque du Soleil show KA at the MGM grand. Tickets are very expensive all they had left was $117 but the lady selling me the ticket gave me a military discount of 40%, must be cause I have the physique of a marine. Was not sure what to expect and to be honest there was not much of a story, that I could see, but the acrobatics, falling 80ft, climbing and fighting on a vertical wall, were amazing. The set however was the most impresive, the stage is split into 2 with the front section moving up, down, left and right, goes vertical and everything else in between- I can sort of understand why the set cost $240million (yes I did say 240).
Overall very good but glad I only paid $70.
Visited the Atomic testing museum in Vegas which was good and a change from all the other madness going on. The hotel I was staying in ran a free trip down to the Freemont Street Experience one evening so I took a ride down. The street is totally enclosed by a screen up on the roof, running for several hundred meters. Every hour the lights in the street go out, the music starts and the screen shows various graphics and clips. Wanted to see a comedy show and as I was walking along Freemont I saw the 4 Queens casino where Mike Hammer was performing (had noted good reviews on tripadvisor). Nice little venue of about 80 people and the show was very good, combination of magic and comedy. After Mike Hammer walked along Freemont and the Sin City Sinners were playing live, who I hear you say!, you'll have to google them but my type of music, so I was happy.
After Vegas headed to Tusayan (Grand Canyon) via the Hoover Dam. Had a tour of the dam and drove up to the bridge overlooking the Dam, so windy up there that you nearly got blown off it.
Woke up the next morning (bearing in mind you are in the desert) to 5 inches of snow. Luckily all the park roads were open so drove along the South Rim right up to the Watchtower at the end of desert view road. The views are spectacular but it is so big you cannot take it all in, up to 1 mile deep and about 18 miles wide in places. As the light changes during the day the views change dramatically. Despite snow it was a sunny day but the wind made it very cold at times. I wanted to walk down into the canyon but the ice and snow made it impossible, maybe next time. Following day returned to the park and got the shuttle up to the other end of the south rim, you can't drive this bit, you jump on and off the shuttle bus all the way along at the viewpoints. By end of day cloud cover had dropped and canyon disappeared. Low cloud was a problem for 3 days and my planned helicopter flight was cancelled on several occasions, decided to stay another night and the weather improved so at 1100 I took off for my flight over the Canyon. There were 7 of us in the helicopter and I got the best seat at the front by the door, amazing experience and unbelievable views, you can really see it's size from the air.
After flight left GC and headed down through Arizona. Stopped at Meteor Crater near Flagstaff, the largest preserved crater in the world. A big hole in the ground but quite interesting to see how much damage a smallish meteorite can do. Stayed in a town called Holbrook for a few nights so I could see the Petrified National Forest (not in my original plans but only a short detour). The park is made up of 2 bits - the painted desert to the north and the petrified forest to the South. The painted desert has some really colorful and some strange looking rock formations. The petrified trees (I.e. logs that have turned to rock) are pretty weird, they look exactly like trees and I had to pick a bit up to actually feel its weight and know it is rock. These trees are scattered all over the park and become quite samey after a while. They are very strict on anyone taking any rock and issue big fines if caught. However right outside the park there are numerous shops selling bits of petrified tree and even one company that had a whole yard full of bits, Approx $2 a pound if interested.
Headed down to Phoenix next travelling through the Fort Apache Reservation. Very mountainous and foresty terrain and nothing like you've seen in the movies. Travelled through Salt River canyon which was another unexpected find. Did not see any apache indians so I was quite disappointed by that.
Only stayed a night in Phoenix as although a huge city it did not have a lot of things to see or do.
Phoenix to San Diego was an interesting drive. As you come close to the mexican border the border patrol stops re-appear and through the mountains the border fence goes up and over the mountain following the ridges, quite a sight. As you cross into California from Arizona there are huge sand dunes inland, very strange and a surprise when you come across them.
Only did a couple of things in San Diego. Went to the waterfront and went onboard USS Midway Aircraft carrier. It is huge and got to see a lot of the different areas. It is funny to see how much better your accommodation gets the higher you are up the ladder, compare a cramped triple bunk bed area for a sailor to the admirals pad (I know which one I'd prefer). The Americas Cup Yacht race was also taking place on the waterfront so I had a look at what was going on.

Stayed in some nice small towns along the Oregon Coast and used Brookings as a base to see Redwood National Forest in North California. Woke up first morning to find I had a flat rear tyre, drove slowly to Tyre garage who found a screw in it! Thought that would be a new tyre and more money but in 20 minutes they had repaired by putting a patch on it for $12 (phew).
When visiting all these national parks the visitor centers are excellent and you can get free maps and guides for the park which help you see everything. Went around Jedediah Forest in the North and these redwood trees are immense. You get a stiff neck looking up all the time. Stopped at Klamouth drive through tree, got to be done! Didn't realize there are 3 or 4 of these throughout the forest, one is enough though. Took a ride out to Fern Canyon, where parts of Jurassic Park was filmed. There is an 8 mile rough road to get there but when there its good. A carved out canyon with walls covered in, yes, ferns and numerous trees and logs, that have been washed down the canyon that you have to climb over to go through the canyon and to cross the stream coming down. Only fell in once and got one foot soaked.
Next day returned to see the Avenue of the Giants, a 31 mile drive through some of the largest trees. On one of the trails I walked to see the huge 300 ft redwood that had blown down many years ago, the root ball was taller than a house.
Stayed the night in Fort Bragg at a Hotel owned by the Columbi family, I think they might be the mafia of Fort Bragg as they seem to own loads of properties and businesses in the town. Continued down the San Francisco coast the next day aiming for San Francisco. Nice scenery and little towns all the way along and the bendy roads continued with the sheer drops and no barriers. Arrived in San Fransisco and stopped at Marin Point to get the views of the Golden gate bridge and the city skyline.
Met up with family friends while in San Francisco, spent the afternoon in San Francisco and had a tour of the city with Alan who lives there. Had a look at the cable car museum, where all the cables run the cars, and later finally had a ride on a cable car (missed out when last in SF as they were not working). That evening drove over to Walnut Creek and met with Marcia and Dick who took me out for a nice meal. It was nice to meet them and hear about their times with my grand parents and mum.
Following day headed out to see the Oakland Raiders. The NFL game was mad, very rowdy atmosphere and passionate supporters. On walking to the stadium I was wearing a white Leeds shirt and was told to put some black and silver on so I don't get confused for a Kansas supporter. I gave up trying to explain about english proper football!
I was quite disappointed with the game as seemed even more drawn out than when watching on TV, too much stopping and starting and waiting for ad breaks to finish. It was an experience though and Kansas won 28 - 12, so convincing that the ground was empty with 10 minutes left.
Left San Fran and headed to Fresno as a base for Yosemite National Park. Yosemite has some amazing scenery, drove up to Glacier Point which gives a great view of the valley and the surrounding mountains. Half Dome is my favourite, but the overall scenery is staggering. Decided to drive up further into Park and took road out to Olmsted Point and Tenaya Lake, again the views at certain points are great, very quiet on the roads so nice to have place to yourself.
Following day headed into Yosemite Valley. Tunnel View on the way down gives probably the best view of them all. Headed into valley and Yosemite Village and it becomes harder to see the views as trees tend to take over and obscure the views at times. Yosemite Falls were just a trickle at this time of year, but I took the falls trail up the side of the mountain, which was steep and stoney, but the views above the tree line of the whole valley made it worth the effort. Took an hour and a quarter to get up about 2 miles but only 20 minutes to get back down.
Headed next over to Death Valley. Entered the park via Father Crawley Vista and then headed into the park. Very strange place, looks like you could be on Mars, very desolate place but scenery is good, even at this time of year it is hot. Managed to lose my camera in Death Valley! No idea how I managed that but it could have been a lot worse, I changed the sim card 2 days before that had over 2500 Photos on it, the new one only had about 100 on it. Still not happy about it.
Stayed in a little town called Beatty, Nevada near Death Valley which sums up the gambling in Nevada, there was a huge Casino in the town which was packed out in the middle of the week.
There are some weird formations in Death Valley. Badwater basin at 290 feet below sea level is a salt flat area which on approaching looks like snow, devils golf course which again is salt deposits but formed into mounds and artists drive which has many coloured rock formations which are very colourful and just stand out from the normal reddy rocks.
After Death Valley headed to Las Vegas, first stop Best Buy to get a new camera.