It turns out that I’m that person every one feels comfortable with handing their camera over to so they can get a picture together. 👵

Lots of activities going on down there: a very enthusiastic basketball game, kites being flown .......

Lots of flowers out

Typical Laguna Beach architecture - very chic

Whale - obviously

Lots of sculptures- I think it’s some sort of bird

A beautiful sunny beachside town, full of restaurants, \240art galleries and pedestrian walkways along the coast.

It was the Dallas Cowboys vs Notre Dame

So much food. But they gave me a box to take the leftovers home for breakfast

Followed by a walk up to a lookout

Looking East

Looking out west at the Pacific Ocean

At this point I’m ready to get back into bed. The band is playing in Vagas when I’m there. I’ll catch them in November.

The good news was that Uber refunded me the fare.

I was pretty happy 😂

So scary driving but I only took the wrong turn 3 times today! Yay me! It’s exhausting though.

I got myself to The Getty Villa ✅ one of my must see places.

It in the Pacific Palisades California.

Pots, pots and more pot. Greek, Etruscan and Roman

It was awesome! Worth the hour and a half drive on the San Diego Fwy.

I then needed to find My AirBnB accommodation which was about 30 mins drive, going into LA.

You really did feel like you were inside a Roman villa.

And lots of bronze stuff.

Lots of really old stuff that is only really interesting if you’ve studied it.

The grounds were stunning

Statues big and small, whole and partly broken. It’s a bear btw 🤷‍♀️

Cool Roman helmet 150AD

It was amazing! As good as the MET in NY. But without the great company of my youngest child.

It’s a reconstructed villa from an original in Herculaneum that was buried along with Pompai when Mt Versuvius went off in 79AD.

Inside are the ancient artifacts. Mind blowing 🤩

And it’s rest time with a cup of tea

I got here by public transport!

I’d had enough of driving for one day. So I consulted Mr Google who told me to walk 0.8 miles to the nearest Metro station. There I purchased a Tap on card from a machine. Then I caught the train with lots of locals.

And I made it! 😁

They have these rental scooters everywhere.

Of course after the sunset it got dark 😳

But there were lots of people around so I caught the train back and got really brave and walked the 0.8 mile back to My AirBnb - in the dark, down LA streets 🤨

And breakfast was awesome!

The hotel is magnificent

Griffith Observatory- would have liked to come up here at night to see the view but not badly enough to brave the traffic and steep hills in the dark. An impressive building.

Somewhere out there is the ocean

So it’s apparently the most photographed sign in the world and cost $27000 per letter. As you ca see it’s not that big. 🤨

Got picked up at 9 o’clock along with two other couples. Everyone was very friendly and the guide was knowledgeable and entertaining.

He took us to 4 different stops and pointed out everything of interest as we passed.

First stop the Hollywood sign from Griffith Observatory

From there we drove down Sunset Boulevard - no stopping

Lots of big billboards and famous night clubs

The hand and feet prints out the front of here were pretty cool

LA the city of smog

4 million people in the city area. A total of 17 million in the county - out of the 40 million in the state. A lot of people.

Next stop Hollywood Boulevard - home to the walk of fame and the TCL Chinese Theatre - and lots of tourists and people who prey on tourists

There’s 2600 of them approx. 2.5 miles if you were inclined to walk it and read them all but as we found out there are lots we’ve never hear of.

Some famous director - that we’d never heard of was getting a star.

Then on to Beverly Hills

Homes of the rich and famous

The home Michael Jackson was renting when he died (in it). This is of course only the garage entrance

We saw lots of others but in a moving car it’s hard to get a pic and really who cares where people live 🤷‍♀️

We went to a nice shopping district called The Farmers market which had something for both my girls and Craig.

The home of Marilyn Monroe but not the one she died in

Home of Gregory Peck who died in 2003

It’s nice to have a water feature in with your expensive shops.

I then decided to leave the tour which was just heading back to drop puff in the downtown area. I was heading to the La Brea Tar Pits Museum

Along the way I saw some wildlife in a local park

Bec - October is Pumpkin month even in sunny LA

The people on this very shiny tram looked very board.

Craig, the line for the Apple shop - not that you’d care but nice that they put a sunshade up

This is about 400 of the 1600 ice age wolf skulls they’ve pulled out of the pits.

A lot of those poor buggers got stuck in there. It was because they are scavengers and we’re attracted to the other dying creatures that were stuck.

Ice age bear!

Cool greenery

Saber tooth cat - 1.5 times the size of an African lion.

I kept a safe distance in training for the real thing - like really scary animals (bears, bison etc..)

The Tar Pits were awesome!

I started out with a 3D movie about the ice age animals they have pulled out of the pits.

The actual Mammoth they got out

You could watch people working on the fossils

It was a great museum with an outside bit that I didn’t do justice to.

Finished the day with Starbucks for lunch and an Uber ride back to Airbnb to do some washing and rest. Still jet lagged but improving.

This was a giant sloth - it’s for Sophie - it was as big as a bear

The Fall season on display

And it was pretty cool inside too

The edges of Temple Square

It’s amazing how much money is in Religion 💵

It was beautiful. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe it.

I went into The Joseph Smith Memorial Building

It used to be a hotel. Now it’s offices with 2 restaurants and observation windows up the top

As you move around you get different glimpses of the surrounding mountains

Temple Square at night

Then I walked up, up, up the hill to the Capital Building

My first night I went for a walk. Found dinner and wandered around the city Center

Random building

It was a full day and I was stuffed.

Had Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha frappe (Sml) and Ubered home.

Went home and rested. Early start for the big drive to Jackson Wyoming

Salt Lake City has a lot to offer. So many things to see and do. Wish I had had more time there. It was an awesome place.

And they have an electric scooter/bike rental thingy. It works like the Uber app. You just look up where the nearest one is to you, scan it at it costs about $1-2

Had a big sleep in and bagel brunch

Salmon is cheap here 🤷‍♀️

Continued walking back to the city Center

I did a lot of walking that day!

The houses in SLC were stunning

From the top floor you could see:

Lady playing the piano in the foyer. I sat and had a little rest

Catholic churche

Whilst there I learned that The Sandlot Kids was filmed in SLC

The Americans do goo ceilings!

I didn’t stay long. Back in the car for the last 2 hrs to Jackson

And what a pretty drive it was. I did get any pictures of the fall colour because it’s really hard enough driving without taking pictures. But it was so pretty. As I drove through mountain passes there were rivers beside me with trees in fall colours interspersed with green pines. Even people fishing.

These were from before I got to the pretty winding road

It stopped so I went for a walk to the local shops where Halloween is in full swing

It’s big over here!

Then it started snowing again

The Visitors Center

There’s one of these arches on each corner of the park

I went back after 3pm because they were expecting a visit from the Raptor Center who bring exhibits

The town and surrounds are pretty

This is from the back of the Visitors Center

I was expecting a raptor that was a bit bigger 😳

After that I tackled the tricky situation of putting petrol in the car. Now it might not seem such a big deal but it’s tricky here. Some of their \240machines won’t accept our cards. Which was the case today. The card I had used across the road would not work at the gas pump. So I had to go inside and pre-pay. Which meant I had to estimate how much this car, that I’m not familiar with, would cost to half fill. I came pretty close I paid $30 and it came to $29.45. The guy behind to counter says they only take the amount that I use. Glad that’s done ✅

Early night. The sun is supposed to come out so I’m going exploring

Jenny Lake - so pretty

And then for the really glamorous part of OS travel- the laundromat.

So it was bloody cold up there and I remembered that I hate snow and even the idea of skiing ⛷

Going down

Yep, that’s -5 at the top with a wind between 30 - 40 km/hr. So colder than -5!

Back at the supermarket. An abundance of seafood 🦞

They take their skiing seriously here!

They have pies 😊

It’s a 15 min ride up

It’s always good to know the Avalanche risk 😳

All that Geography at work! You got plate tectonics, earthquakes, rising and subsiding \240and glacier carving. Mountain building 😊

I had really wanted to camp here but it was too late, the season is over and most camp grounds are closed. It was a lovely sunny 9 degrees in the basin today.

There’s a Waffle House at the top!

I had them with strawberrys and cream with a cup of tea. They were excellent

Then I drove on to the National Park

I had to drive about 4 miles on a dirt road with lots of potholes but it was especially pretty- through the forest. No pictures- both hands on the wheel.

And there’s a BEAR 🐻! Running. He disappeared into some trees but came out the other side.

We were quite high up so it was hard to tell how big he/she was. It was pretty exciting.

Didn’t really expect to see much wildlife so close to the village.

Visitors Center

You could feel the difference between the black and brown bears’ coats. The brown bear’s was much more wiry.

Then Oxbow Bend - so pretty

I was driving up the center of Yellowstone NP

So many things to see

Just to show it’s real 😝

I finally make it to Cooke City. A very little hamlet of 100 people. The place is closing up for the winter.

This was on the door of the restroom 😳

My first bison sighting - first of many

The gran canyon of Yellowstone- I didn’t walk out to the great view. Lots more driving to do!

Pretty river running alongside the road

Lamar Valley

Mammoth Hot Springs

It used to be a military fortress

A herd of bison

I saw 2 of these Proghorn deer in the way here but it happened too fast to get a picture. They were just next to the road.

Animal poop! Lots of it

Bear spay!

Lobby of my hotel

Driving to Livings MT - lots of mountains

Male elk

Hotdog 😊

North entrance gate to Yellowstone NP

Female elk crossing the road

This is now the Visitor’s Center

Biggest room I’ve had so far and it cost me AUS $74

The Grill - good food

Several female elk

It’s very windy- expecting snow tonight

That purple stripy bit is where I am

Driving along I passed a ranch that was breeding bison. It seemed sad to enclose them 😕

First to get through the city streets

This happened about 2 hours after a passed this spot:

Then to navigate the freeway with its 2 inchs of ice 🥶

Arrived safely in Bozeman

Had pancakes smothered in Nutella 🤨

After 3 hours out of the heated garage my car was cold

Went food shopping. Look Bec a Wings buffet

After killing some time in a movie “ad Astra” with Brad Pit, I made it to my Airbnb

It was warm and cozy and it was nice to know o wouldn’t be driving anywhere the next day

Rest day \240😊

What a difference a day makes

I took a slight detour to Big Sky Ski resort Montana

They have an annual PBR event here. One of the few outdoor events at the top level. It was truly a stunning place.

The drive is exceptionally pretty but a few spots of ice still around

The road ran between mountains with the river alongside it for most of the way. For the first half hour the Douglas Firs were decorated with snow. Very pretty.

I arrived in West Yellowstone and went to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center

The good thing about these springs are that they don’t smell of sulfur. It’s just steam.

Let’s hope this is the last of the icy roads as I’m heading back south tomorrow to Salt Lake City.

Pretty icy boardwalk

And that’s just one terminal

A beautiful city surrounded by mountains

Heading towards San Francisco

A one and a half hour flight and turn the clock back an hour.

I took an Air Train (train that goes around the airport) to the BART terminal (the normal train). Caught the train to Oakland. Took the bus to the corner of my street and walked to my Airbnb 😏 stuffed.

But Airbnb is nice and a full week of sleeping in the same bed 🥳

So it’s 10:30 at night and I’m sitting up finishing the last of my marking and emailing the results to my boss and colleague - and the whole studio starts moving! It sounds like a freight train is going through it! Then the building is slipping and sliding! I’m in the middle of a fucking earthquake! I kid you not! First blizzards! Now earthquakes! WTF!

I’m to the left of Berkeley! Scared the crap out of me!

What an adventure

Great fish and chips

Cell in D block - solitary confinement

Modal of Alcatraz

Eucalyptus tree ❤️

Civil war era building

San Francisco

Then starts the long journey home to Oakland in peak hour traffic 😱

Despite only being 12kms from the pier and 4 train stops, it took nearly 80mins to get back. I had to skip the first 2 trains going my way because they were full. It also costs a lot.

This is a very expensive city. Around about $15 AUS one way! That’s with the tram/train along the piers/wharfs(Like how Melbourne has the free city loop - except here it cost you around $3.50)

There are also a lot of homeless people. I counted 15 in one park. Then they are camped in tents and boxes under freeway bridges. I reckon I saw at least 50 homeless people today 😳

I’m really not sure that I’ve identified a cultural vibe to this place yet. I’ll reserve judgment for another couple of days. But so far I’m not feeling it.

The Oakland Bridge

Looking back on San Francisco

City Scape

Street sculpture - on the tram/train thingy

Now it really feels like I’m here - bridge and all

Markets outside the Ferry Building

Arriving at Alcatraz

Proof

The Ferry Building

Lots of restaurants and shops. Reminded me of Chelsea Markets in NY

High quality stuff

Of course to get here I had to go into the city where I had to pass a lot of homeless and smell a lot of urine

My happy place

Magic happens here 🧚‍♂️

Squirrel!

Outside Luke’s Lobster Shack

These magnificent trees are Coastal Redwoods. Their cousins, the Giant Sequoia, live inland California and are a bit shorter but can grow twice as wide. Hoping to see them next week.

The hotel I’d have liked to stay at

I believe Tiffany’s had a restaurant up there

That was just in a 20 feet stretch at 10am

Union Square - high end shopping

Fabric shop - not nearly as much Halloween stuff going on here

Rooftop garden - on top of their bus exchange - very much like the Highline in NY

Looking back on San Francisco

Sausalito - small coastal village on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lots of shops/eateries

We went there after Muir Woods - the end of the tour

Pretty fountain 🤷‍♀️

Looking back on Sausalito - a bit cold for kayaking

Catching the ferry back to the city. A lot of people hire bicycles and cycle across the bridge, then catch the ferry back.

And the Ferry Building welcomes you back

OMG! It tastes so good!

Real fucking food! Yay!

Local laundromat at the end of my street

At the end of the Pier

Military jets fly over - really loud!

After that I had some of the famous Clam Chowder. It was pretty good 👍

Then on the train home some young people entertained us with dancing and acrobatics to hip hop music 🤷‍♀️

Crazy shops

Seals. Lots of them.

Alcatraz - haze means you can’t see the coast behind it.

One of the hills they go up

Community garden

Then I walked to Chinatown and found a restaurant that seems to have had lots of famous people eat there.

It was nothing special but the food was good. Let’s face it, I think anything with vegetables is good now 🥬🥕🥦

Street art

Looking into the financial district - some famous tower 🤷‍♀️

Cool building

A Catholic Church in the Italian district. Looked like some good food

Pretty little park

Ditto

The foggy Golden Gate Bridge

The fog is due to the combination of very cold water from Alaska and warm air currents in the Pacific pushing the fog on shore.

Now we’re in one of the really cool areas. Made famous in the 1960s and the current decorative shops play to the tourists but it was very interesting

It was also really windy and cold!

I went downstairs - inside the bus after this

Interesting architecture

Lots of fire escapes

Looking back up at the bends

More buildings

This place specializes in Garlic! Including garlic wine and ice cream 🤨

The wharf district is full of touristy shops

Cool building art

Same

This little guy nearly didn’t make it. The people in front of me had to give them a push

Lombard Street heading UP to the bendy bit

It’s very steep

Interesting architecture

Historic trolley car.

Interesting fact: they were introduced because so many horses were dying as they tried to pull heavy loads up the steep streets.

Kat has cured me of the desire to travel on every tram/trolly car that I see. They are old and rickety.

Town hall

It was very pretty. It had lots of gold on it

Didn’t go in. I had my fill of clam chowder yesterday at Pier 39

Lombard street - view from the bus

Looking down at the bends - hard to see, I know

Top deck of the bus 😂 it seemed like a good idea at the time.

That’s enough for today. Climbed the equivalent of 31 flights of stairs 😕

Street art

I drove to the ocean side of the isthmus. I think the beaches are kind of ugly but they seem enamored with them 🤷‍♀️

I drove past San Jose and Santa Cruz. In between there was a very pretty wood/forest. Of course I couldn’t get pictures because I was driving and needed my phone/gps to stay in it’s holder - it’s difficult to get it in and out- needs two hands.

Made it to Monterey and it is delightful!

I wish I was here for longer

Outside tide pool - looking down at Cannary Row

Found Dory and Nemo

Now for my literary friends:

This Aquarium has been on my to do list for a while and it didn’t disappoint ✅

Kelp forest tank

People in kayaks looking at the kelp forest from above

The biggest Aquarium tank I’ve ever seen

And more

Monterey is just delightful 😊

Jellyfish

More jellyfish

After a rest from my drive, I took a walk down the Main Street. Quite pretty

Then I hit the road and drove across the state of California. I passed lots and lots of farms. Couldn’t take pictures because I was driving. They are in a drought so lots of the landscape was dry and brown. A huge reservoir that I passed was down to maybe half capacity.

I did see lots of green vegetables being artificially watered. I also saw orange trees, grapes, corn and cotton plants.

I drove down some remote farm roads - wherever Mr Google Maps told me to. 😳

Eventually I made it to the little town of Mariposa. I think it started out with mining and logging. Now it’s main trade is tourism - as it’s a 40min drive to Yosemite from here.

Even my motel is historic

It contains California’s first library

Lovely park

The grounds were beautiful

The basilica holds around 460 people

You can see the tiles have been worn to a shine

To think this was the technology they were using

This one’s for you Carlo! No I didn’t buy any

An early start for Yosemite tomorrow

More Main Street

I have the “cow” room

There isn’t much water around but what there is is pretty

It got warm

The changing like makes the view constantly change.

I found Fall! The colours!

From the car park

Mirror lake only has water in it in spring and winter. It was still a pretty walk and flattish compared to many of the other walks

A bolder - evidence of past glacial activity

The view from my Airbnb room - my little car. I’m an hour and a half south of the park (Oakhurst). I have to be back the by 9 am tomorrow for a tour.

I went on a hike

Steep towering cliffs

The Magestic Yosemite Hotel which is now called The Ahwahnee Hoel.

Too expensive for me but maybe I’ll have lunch there

There is a waterfall over on the right. The only one glowing in the park at this time of the year.

Then another bear!

This one’s been collard

Fantastic start to the day 😀

We saw mule deer - call that because of their big ears

El Capitan - famous for climbers

It was a spectacular day 😊

Then I went on an organization tour of the valley floor

We were trying to spot climbers

He or she was smart enough to cross at the sign so the car in front of me saw it in time.

Stunning views

Long tunnel - about 1 km

This is inside the National Park but not in Yosemite Valley. I’m still climbing up the hill before you descend.

All this forest used to be meadow but the change in climate has seen the drying up of the meadows/marsh land and the pine trees like the drier soil.

Better pic of the waterfall

They were very cool.

And you can buy a snake 🐍

Teriyaki chicken

And get a tattoo 🤷‍♀️

You know you’re in a classy neighborhood when .....

My little car is almost half the size of the standard US cars

Survived my hillbilly road trip.

Washing time again

I’m thinking I can post my cold weather gear home now 🤨

Quite nicely done

Then I headed back into town and enjoyed my first experience at Denny’s 😂

I eventually made it toCalico Ghost Town and it happened to be their Halloween season. It was going off. 100s of RVs were camped around the village. 😳

Mmmmmm broccoli 😊

And it looks so appetizing 😝

I had to take a 40min detour because the main road was being upgraded 🤨

Then there was nothing

First there were hills

Military

A float about Barstow’s future

Tank 😎

Random cars 🤷‍♀️

Then I got treated to an All American Halloween street parade

And even more military

And then fire trucks

Not very Halloweeny but the people lining the street were mostly dressed up.

They’re still going. A marching band I think

Lots more military

Police cars with sirens

And cactus

Then some random casino/theme park pops up. This is the 2nd one.

More distant hills

And then...... A Solar Farm on a massive scale! The US does big!

Then some salt flats with dust blowing around

That’s it. I didn’t get any pictures of Vegas. The freeway was too hectic. Had to concentrate 🤓

More distant hills

A quirky cafe in the middle of nowhere with the wind blowing the dust everywhere 🤨

At this point I changed my original plan to go to Red Rocks National Park and do a short hike. Hiking in gale \240force winds in the desert would not have been nice.

So I went up through the middle of Las Vegas - or rather over it.

But first there was a 120kms of desert 🌵

Some hills in the distance. They looked more impressive in real life 🤷‍♀️

Or nothing

It was amazing

And I have a lounge! I don’t think I’ve sat in a lounge for over a month 😊

Got to my hotel, that’s costing me $85 a night

Once inside the park they operate shuttle buses to move people around.

Waiting in line to get into the park.

The water is ice cold. The air temperature is only 4 degrees Celsius today

So many dogs here. These two little ones were shivering in the cold.

Diarama of the canyon

This is sandstone with lots of iron in it that gives it the red colour.

The whole area was an inland sea. The landforms have been carved by water.

Pretty little town of Springdale \240just outside the park

It’s much more impressive in real life

Then I took a detour and visited a Ghost Town. Not as touristy as the last one. A little more authentic.

It was a bit blowy

And the bridge which I then drove over

Amazing inferstructure and quite well set up for the many tourists

And canyons. At one stage I could see the Colorado River and it was beautiful

Then another 2 1/2 hours and I made it to Flagstaff 👍

Hydro turbines

Then there was some moon like landscape

Car park

Cool pink cactus

Looking down at the Main Street

Panoramic of the rock formations overlooking the town

They sell lots of Native American art and craft

This one’s for Craig 🤷‍♀️

My trip back to Flagstaff

Awesome stuff

The visitors info center had a cool video that was screened on a globe

Nice views. Lots of driving

It was stunning and I can see how as the sun moves overhead that the colours would change.

Squirrels that bite!

They have a very small dog where I’m staying

Bucket of soda!

Made it to my Condo - about a 20 min walk from the Strip. There is a bus

Looking forward to a week of PBR World Finals and relaxing in my own space.

Across the road at night

Across the road from my condo

The Strip

The Bellagio

This one’s for you Craig - Flint Rasmussen 😂

And the show begins!

A lolly shop

How not to dismount

How the current number ONE in the world does it.

Massive day!

Then 4 US Boarder Patrol rappel down

That’s follows by the singing of the US National anthem

Every night starts with the opening show

Actually before the noise they do a prayer for the riders and livestock.

$5 US for water! That’s about $7AUD - very expensive water!

And you can’t bring any into the arena with you 🤨

The World Finals came down to a showdown between the top 3 ranked riders

Chase Outlaw (number 3) who 16 months ago broke 66 bones in his face

Considered the underdog - but a crowd favorite. A little scrapper.

Jess Lockwood - a young 22 yr old from Montana, who already won the World Finals in 2017 (the youngest to ever do so). Number 2 in the world standings. Behind the leader by around 400 points going into the finals

Oh and he just got married last week to the world champion barrel racer.

The number 1 rider at the end of the regular season, Brazilian Jose Vito Leme.

An unknown in Bull Riding in the US until 2017 when he won the event and rookie of the year. Before that he’d been a professional soccer player.

He’d been on the number one spot for much of this season.

Oh and he seems to be a nice guy - you know, texts his opponent good luck, shakes his hand when the other guy wins.

Speaks little English

Also he’s riding one of my favorite bulls Cochise. Not a winning bull but constant and got a lot a spunk.

So Jess wins - the 5 day event and the World Finals.

He gets $300,000 for the event and $1,000,000 for the World Finals (and this is the second time he’s won - the first time he bought a ranch in Montana)

The arena was going off 🎉

Lots of fun.

A Lolly shop

Bellagio

Bellagio

Paris

Everyone walks around looking up for the first few days/nights

Lots of second hand weed smoke about

The Bellagio by day

Paris

US freeways 🤷‍♀️

A little bit if chicken fried - on a Friday night even!

Consumerism everywhere!

Mc Carren Airport. Bye bye Las Vegas- you’ve been unreal!

Powered by massive solar plants ✅

Across the street from my apartment at night

Vagas- a growing city

The Rio

Walk up daiquiri bars everywhere along the street and in malls

The Strip!

Paris

More Paris

Awww pretty

Caesars Palace

This here is what’s wrong with American cuisine - fried chicken and waffles??? Then they pour maple syrup on it 🤦‍♀️

Seriously over the top cafe

My apartment on the left

The Rio Hotel across the road

Fountain

Street level

Roof top bar of hotel

Pickle 😩

What a lovely little gem Avalon is.

Almost the opposite of Vegas

This is the quiet season and the middle of the week.

I think I’ll chill out here for a bit 😊

Cool architecture

Good old Carnival cruise was visiting the port for the day

Wow! What an amazing place!