Final Entry - Peru and Homecoming

This entry is a little late coming as everything post-USA has been a whirlwind – from arriving into Peru to returning to Australia, we have been run off our feet (good thing we had 4-months off leading up to this)!

Day 101-104, Sept 19-22 (Sun-Wed), Cusco, Peru

First things first – PERU. On arriving into Cusco airport, we successfully collected our luggage and proceeded to the curb where we successfully haggled our way into a reasonable cab fare to our B’n’B, “Second Home” (we’d read taxi fares should only be about 5 Soles, and dudes were trying to rip us off at 30 Soles a ride! Unbelievable! We ended-up paying 10 in the end which seemed OK). On arriving to Second Home, our lovely host Carlos greeted us with a cup of coca tea (to help with the effects of altitude – a miracle cure!), and had a quick nap to relieve our weary eyes from the overnight flying schedule. Being the seasoned travellers that we are, we pushed ourselves out of bed and stretched our legs on a slow walk through Cusco – our goal being to pay the balance on our Inca Trail/Machu Picchu tour at the Llama Path office (our tour operator). It was a Sunday and we showed-up at lunchtime, so they were closed (on a suspected siesta!) but the sign said they re-opened at 4pm. So we grabbed some lunch (one of those fabulous 3 course extravaganzas that European/previously-European countries enjoy!), then went back to Llama Path, only to find the doors bolted down! As they clearly had no intention of re-opening that particular Sunday (or perhaps every Sunday?), we counted our losses and did a short walking tour of some of the lovely plazas in our immediate vicinity – Plaza Regocijo, Plaza de Armas (where there was a parade of some sort going on), Plaza de San Francisco, Plaza de San Petro (where we visited some markets selling local produce, tapestries and tourist-type gifts) – fending off shoe shiners , postcard sellers, and girls with lambs/llamas the entire way. Among all the cathedrals that were built in the city we also managed to see some original Inca stonework which was pretty incredible – massive stones which had been shaped to other stones and laid together to form walls, using no mortar what-so-ever (an architectural foundation which was reserved for only the most important buildings – i.e., temples). On our way to dinner, we also saw a random dance ceremony happening in Plaza San Blas (all the performers were wearing masks and costumes) – why the dancing was happening, we don’t know, but it was interesting to watch!

On our second day we were still feeling some effects of altitude (sleepiness, headaches, shortness of breath, slightly accelerated heart rate… usual kind of stuff!), so we had another easy going day – which was a smart choice as it was day 1 of a city-wide strike (Peru was in the midst of an election while we were there). We walked through some more plazas (including Plaza Santa Ana which was a walk-up-a-hill away), and spent some more time in Plaza de Armas where we continued to perfect our “No Gracias” in response to the locals trying to sell us their wares. Feeling quite adventurous, we also walked up a massive hill (something like 600 steps according to Carlos from Second Home) where we enjoyed some sweeping views over Cusco which is nestled in a wide valley in the Andes), and we stumbled across an Alpaca Wool store where we bought a small rug as a piece of memorabilia (and we have never seen so much stock in a store – they need to pick-up sales in their general “everything” department!)

For day 3 we had a lazy morning, then embarked upon a “city tour” which is a guided sightseeing experience through some ruins in Cusco and on the city’s perimetre. The first stop on the tour was through the main cathedral in Plaza de Armas (where the main attraction is apparently the gilded altar). There was an additional charge to enter this cathedral, and we decided that we’ve seen enough places of worship that it wasn’t worth the extra money (!) so we met-up with the group after this and continued on the rest of the tour. Stop 2 was only a walk away to the Qoriqancha (“kori-kancha”) which was the Sun Temple in Cusco city that was overtaken by the Spaniards and converted into a cathedral (including painting walls etc). The local community have been restoring it to reflect what it was originally like, and the architecture was incredible – so strong (earthquake resistant). The aspect from outside the Qoriqnacha was lovely as it was a mix of original Inca architecture, Spanish architecture and gorgeous manicured spring gardens. The final 3 stops on the tour were to ruins on the edge of Cusco:
> Saqsayhuaman (“sexy woman” is how the locals claim its pronounced), a sacred area where they built some temples (to exactly which gods is a bit fuzzy), but the outside wall was built in the shape of lightning (presumably for one of the gods!) Its meant to be the head of the puma too, which is important in Incan history/symbology (representing the earth, I think!)… man, I should’ve taken better notes!

> Q’enko (“kenko”), a sacred area where they would do sacrifices (sometimes human, although more regularly animals) to Pacha Mama (the earth god).

> Pukapukara (said how its written), a fortress – the kechewan name means red earth, after the soil where it is built.

> Tambomachay (said how its written), another sacred area with a temple and a fallen fortress, where there is also an incredible irrigation/water supply, consisting of 3 or 4 fountains and a man-made stream/ditch to carry the water to the people and to farmers – incredible! This was probably the highlight for Stacey.

On the way back to Cusco after our city tour, we stopped in at an alpaca wool store (not the same one as yesterday, thankfully) where they taught us a bit about identifying authentic alpaca wool from synthetic materials. We were there for quite an extended period of time and were happy when the bus departed! And we had quite a surprise when a young man holding a laptop in the air started plugging a 2-DVD set of a movie about Cusco and a selection of images, then tried to sell it to all the tour participants. It was entertaining and quite a pitch, but we managed to decline the offer. Dinner that night was quite disappointing, so we picked-up a “jamon e queso empanada” (ham and cheese in puff pastry) on the way home and it was delicious!

On our final day in Cusco we decided to take it easy in preparation for the Inca Trail – we slept in, had a leisurely walk around town and spent some serious time packing and re-packing our duffle. That night we had our pre-trek briefing talk at the Llama Path office at 7:30pm, so we decided to have an early dinner so we could get straight to bed afterwards. The food was delicious, but the service was quite hilarious – after ordering, we could hear the waiter stomp out to the kitchen and yell our orders to the chef (kinda like a scene from the Italian restaurant in The Simpsons!) Later at the pre-trek briefing, we met our guide and the rest of the group at the briefing, and it was all very informative – except we got a little nervous when we were told to have a light/non-carby meal for dinner as it might upset our stomachs the next day (good to hear after we had a massive rice dish for dinner!) We left hoping that was just a precaution…. (and drank plenty of water to aid the digestion!)

Day 105-109, Sept 23-26 (Thurs-Sun), Inca Trail/Machu Picchu, Peru

Early rising and early to bed on the Inca Trail:

Day 1 (Thurs 23/9): Woke at 3:45am, Bus at 4:30am, Bed at 8pm

Day 2 (Fri 24/9): Woke at 5:15am, Breakkie at 6am, Bed at 9pm

Day 3 (Sat 25/9): Woke at 6am, Breakkie at 6:45am, Bed at 9:30pm

Day 4 (Sun 26/9): Woke at 3:30am, Breakkie at 4am, Waiting in line at the final check point at 5am, Back to Cusco 8pm, Bed at 9pm.

The Tour Group:

> 2 Guides: Raoul and Franco

> 2 Irish Honeymooners: Eugene and Emma

> 5 Irish Backpackers: Carmel, Claire, Anna, Steffi and Elaine

> 2 Canadian Backpackers: Melissa and Stephanie (who caught the eye of Raoul!)

> 2 Canadian “golden oldies” on a hollie: Valerie and George

> 3 British Backpackers: Alice, Ben and Hannah

Day 1

We covered a lot of ground early in the day… starting at 4:30am we met at Plaza Regocijo where we caught our bus. We had a breakkie stop in Ollyantaytambo (the guides/porters ate separately as they didn’t want the “gringo breakfast” of eggs/pancakes/muesli etc; they were more traditional with soup, and the like!) The bus left us at Kilometre 82 where our hike started – this is 82km from Cusco, and therefore 82km into the original Inca Trail… when the Spanish invaded, the Incas destroyed a large proportion of the trail from Cusco to Machu Picchu so the Spanish couldn’t find it. There were lots of locals waiting at Km82 selling last minute emergency supplies to the hikes, like walking sticks and bandanas – but fortunately we were very prepared, needing no more supplies! The hike was quite gentle on this day, and we saw our first 2 ruins from afar. Along the trail, Raoul would stop us and give us history lessons, one time showing us an insect that they used to squish and use the blood as blush/lipstick etc (he even demonstrated the blush on me – gross! – and on a fellow trekker, whom he actually had a crush on… hilariously he used the insect blood to draw a love heart on her cheek!)

Our lunch stop that day was very comfortable as our porters (aka “the red army” due to the red backpacks/uniforms they wear) ran ahead and set-up the dining tent, put out water for us to wash-up with, and greeted us with juice when we arrived – it was lovely and sunny too, so we lounged on the lawn pre/post lunch to recuperate. The scenery was breathtaking (and continued to be each day) with mountains as far as the eye could see. We also saw bromiliads growing off the side of mountains, and in the nooks of tree branches – so hardy!! When we arrived at our campsite, all our tents were set-up and there was warm water to wash-up with which was very welcome. We did a “happy hour” at 5:30pm where the chef had baked 2 cakes as there were 2 birthdays in the group (there was candles and singing too!), and we ate the cakes with hot milo to wash it down – all pre-dinner (so much food!) Over the happy hour, we also did a meet and greet with the porters, where we stood in a circle and introduced ourselves. Unfortunately no matter how hard we tried to remember their names, we seemed to be unsuccessful!

Day 2

The porters woke us at 5:15am with hot coca tea and more water to wash up with. This day had been the most anxiously anticipated as we had 16km to go, 2 passes to get over, and 1300m elevation gain to contend with. We were able to take our own pace most of the way and meet at designated spots, and the feeling of elation when we made it to the top of the first pass (“Dead Woman’s Pass”) was indescribable – and the final 20 steps before we made it to the top were the toughest we’ve done in our lives! It was very cold at the top and we layered-up with everything in our daypacks and cheered as members in our group arrived! At lunch it poured rain, but all (except an unlucky 2) were safely in the lunch tent so avoided getting wet – and it dried up as we finished lunch – perfect! Pacha Mama was on our side, and the mountain was happy with us (as our guide Raoul would say!) The 2^nd pass we had to conquer after lunch, and we expected it would be a breeze, but we were so exhausted that it proved more challenging than expected! At the end of the day we were rewarded with some incredible ruins and a beautiful sunset on the opposite side of a small valley from our campsite – the kechewa name of the ruins meant “inaccessible town” due to its out of the way position! We had another happy hour back at the camp (it was almost dark when we arrived after investigating the ruins) which consisted of popcorn and hot milo, and we toasted the day with a warm white wine sangria-type drink at the end of our dinner.

Day 3

“All downhill from here” after the effort of Day 2 (but still several inclines to deal with). We’d finished hiking by lunchtime (after encountering more terrific views and ruins). We all enjoyed a shower (for only 5 soles) and had some R’n’R before checking-out some nearby ruins. Somehow we found ourselves leading the charge to organise tips (and all but one person contributed), and fortunately the entire group was in agreement when we chose to forfeit the happy hour (they literally provided too much food!) After dinner some of us shared stories and a beer at the “discotheque”/bar/deli near our campsite (it was all a bit random, to be honest!) It rained overnight which we were mostly happy about so it would get it out of its system before day 4.

Day 4

Early rise as we needed to get in line at the final checkpoint (it opens at 5:30am and all the groups line-up to get early access to see Machu Picchu as early as possible). As it was very early, the views were gorgeous as the sun rose and the warmth started to clear the fog – but as everyone was “racing” to get to the Sun Gate to see M.P. we were encouraged to keep walking rather than stop to take photos. It was disappointing and the competitive edge in the air was quite distracting, but we were very lucky when we made it to the Sun Gate (after several steep steps) and had a clear view of M.P.!

At the Sun Gate Raoul and Franco handed out Llama Path t-shirts to us all as a gift (they carried them all that way!), then we took lots of pictures (it is enormous and takes-up the whole mountainside) then we did the final leg to M.P. (which was very congested – full of hikers stopping to take photos). M.P. was much larger “up-close” when we were inside than the Sun Gate view prepared us for, and after Raoul gave us a 2hr tour (taking group photos along the way and prompting us with phrases like “queso”, “llama llama” and “pisco sour”), we had 2hrs to explore on our own before lunch in Aguas Caliente (a 20min bus ride down a very windy road). Overall we thought M.P. was amazing and respect the effort and “advanced civilisation” aspects of it, but we were so happy to have done the hike and experienced some ruins with fewer tourists and also experience accessing the ruins how the native people would have.

From lunch in Aguas Caliente, we took the 1.5hr train ride and 2hr bus ride back to Cusco (thank goodness we didn't need to hike it!), and enjoyed a very comfortable sleep in our bed back at Second Home (after grabbing soup for dinner on the way).

Days 109-112, Sept 27-30, 2010 (Mon-Thurs)

We had a long commute back to Sydney via Lima (7hr layover) and LA (14hr layover). In Lima, we managed to kill some time watching TV downloads (gotta love technology!) and in LA we escaped the airport and spent the day at Manhattan Beach (and the weather was gorgeous, likely because it was the hottest day on record the day before in LA! Half our luck!) The flight from LA to Sydney was uneventful (except for our upgrade to premium economy!!), and we were happy to complete our immigration forms by answering YES to the question “Do you expect to be in Australia for over a year?”

Satruday Sept 18, 2010

Day 92, Sept 10 2010 (Fri)

Our time in Vegas came to an end, and we indulged in a big buffet breakfast to help us for the big day of driving we had in store (280 miles in desert heat with no air conditioning – ouch). To reflect on our time in Sin City, we particularly enjoyed the experience at the Shooting Range (we packed heat!), and had a fabulous time lying by the pool and reading, and also loved the Rat Pack is Back dinner and show (where we were seated next to a lovely four-some from Canada, and an especially gorgeous elderly Texan pair). The Grand Canyon was indeed Grand and Canyon-y, but we left feeling a little underwhelmed, especially after all the other amazing national park things we’ve seen on the trip! We are definitely glad that we saw it though, as we know we would’ve regretted it if we missed it.

We stayed in Palm Springs this night. Palm Springs is quite a pretty town, and historically was a really popular resort retreat for celebrities and the like. Even the budget Quality Inn that we stayed at had a decent pool as part of its facilities!

Day 93, Sept 11 2010 (Sat)

A leisurely driving day, we arrived into San Diego in the early afternoon and settled in with a good shower and some clean clothes (after another hot driving day!) We went for a walk through the historic Gaslamp District, to the sea front, then landed at the Hyatt Rooftop Bar for some drinks – where we met-up with Michelle and her Mum, Lorraine. It was so fabulous to catch-up, and we spent the evening together having drinks, dinner (Tapas at “Confidential”… shhh…) and a great, long, overdue catch-up!

Day 94, Sept 12 2010 (Sun)

Today was a fairly dedicated Baseball game. We went to see the San Diego Padres vs San Francisco Giants (Giants won very convincingly). There was a massive army troop (recruits, I think) there watching the game too, and it was quite a spectacle watching them file in, and answer orders from their Sergeant. The game atmosphere was quite similar to what we enjoyed on the East Coast, but the addition of Mexican food to the menu was a welcome one. We enjoyed a few happy hour drinks at a local bar before hitting the hay that night.

Day 95, Sept 13 2010 (Mon)

Our final day in San Diego consisted of a visit to the world famous San Diego Zoo – and it was definitely the best Zoo experience we’ve ever had. The facilities for the animals were spectacular, and we did a free guided bus tour of the zoo to start the day and help us get oriented. Here are some other highlights:

> Overall, the animals were quite active and easy to find, which really enhanced the spectacle of it all

> A panda returned to its enclosure to find a big bunch of bamboo had been left for it, and we were there to watch her rip into the bamboo trunks for lunch!

> Two brother gorillas (5 years difference in age) were playing (quite rampantly) with each other – flinging dirt at one another, biting each other – we stayed for ages watching them at their game!

> Keepers had put 2 live fish into the pond of the Lion/Lioness enclosure (something they do only once a month to help “entertain” the animals), and we were there at just the right time to watch them playing with the fish and trying to catch it (something they weren’t particularly good at – but they did manage to catch them in the end!)

> Sea Lion show (run of the mill, with waves and splashes, but always fun to see!)

> The 2 hippos were cool too – there was a hose constantly spraying into their pool, and one of the hippos kept opening and closing his mouth to catch the water (we imagine it was massaging his head/mouth too) – their jaws are incredible, and their teeth horrible!

> Seeing an elephant getting a pedicure! (you should’ve seen the size of the nail file!)

After spending most of the day at the zoo, we went for a lovely drive in the sun through Old Town (very touristy) and Cordoba. We kind of lost our way on Cordoba and found ourselves driving into the guarded Naval Base! Fortunately, the soldiers were quite understanding (must happen often!), and they held onto Tim’s ID while we did a U-Turn, and then they gave it back to us as we exited! Whoops. After that hiccup, we continued to Hotel Del Cordoba (an old school hotel on the beach) and enjoyed a cocktail in the sun. It was lovely!

Day 96, Sept 14 2010 (Tues)

Beach day in La Jolla (said La Hoya) and Carlsbad (no pronunciation guide necessary). Sun, surf, sand. Perfect. We also ceremoniously watched the season finale of the LOST series, which we began watching in NYC in May! (That’s right – 6 long seasons, in 4 months! Boom!)

Day 97, Sept 15 2010 (Wed)

Arrived into La La Land, ready to tour celebrity hangouts and lift our game. Proceeded immediately to Rodeo Drive (Beverly Hills Baby!) and walked through the shops (like we even had a chance of patronizing them!) We were pleasantly surprised by how easy the traffic situation was, and how cheap the parking was ($1/hr meter parking – unbelievable). The houses here are incredible – they know how to live, that’s for sure. And we took a drive up to view the Hollywood sign (just like it is in the pictures, but was great to be near there in person… we actually didn’t hike-up to the sign itself, just drove to a viewing point. As far as we’re concerned, you can’t see the sign when you’re right next to it anyway, so why waste the extra effort?!) Then we proceeded to our economy-lodging, and searched for a nearby Indian restaurant to satisfy Stacey’s craving (our diet hasn’t been particularly exotic of late).

Day 98, Sept 16 2010 (Thurs)

More LA sightseeing. This time, consisting of a 5 mile walk from Santa Monica Pier along the Venice Beach Oceanfront Walk, and back again. The people are definitely eccentric. And there are a few doctors’ practices soliciting business from the sidewalk, trying to coax people in for a marijuana check-up (i.e., to see if you qualify for medicinal marijuana!) One of the practices even had a billboard out the front advertising symptoms that you may be experiencing which will help you qualify for a prescription! Legit. Disappointingly, we’d been hoping for sunny weather at the beach for some more reading in the sun, but alas it was overcast and cool again. But good walking weather, I suppose! After, we met-up with Courtney (an old co-worker of Tim’s who recently moved here) for a spot of lunch at a nearby mall, then bought a Pandora charm to memorialize the road trip as we went to pick-up the Duke from the pier (again, parking ON Santa Monica Pier, and only $8 for the day. Bargain. Why do people complain so much about LA? This place is pretty awesome, and much better than we were expecting. I guess that says a lot for setting one’s expectations low, really….) We detoured via the Hollywood Hills (Mulholland Drive) to do some more house-perving on our way back to our classy EconoLodge.

More exotic food for dinner… Japanese this time!

Day 99, Sept 17 2010 (Fri)

Our last full day in America (sob). We took the Duke for a full detailing (a necessary extravagance to ensure he clears customs/quarantine in Australia… apparently they frown upon foreign dirt entering the country). Sadly, we also dropped him off to the shipping yard, where he will sit for a couple months before being loaded onto a boat and brought home to us. We collected a hire car from LAX (the bliss of power steering and air conditioning), and managed to fit in a final tourist activity – a visit to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Mann Grauman’s Chinese Theater. We went to a wine bar over the road (“Lou’s”) to toast the end to the road trip with some bubbles, and a classy cheese/meats plate. Lou’s was a really lovely place, situated in the middle of a really crappy strip-mall type area – but it was super popular, and was well reviewed in GQ too, so it appears that we’re all over the hip LA scene.

An LA observation: We’re surprised at how easy it is to buy knock-off designer sunnies here. Tim picked-up a nice pair along Venice Beach, and they were even on-sale in the office at the place where we got Duke cleaned. Its like Chinatown in every neighbourhood!

Another LA observation: The nice-to-look-at neighbourhoods (with pretty houses and tree-lined streets) are separated by less-nice-to-look-at, ghetto-type areas, so we’ve found it a little difficult to pinpoint the picturesque areas (with the exception of Beverly Hills and Mulholland Drive, of course!)

Day 100, Sept 18 2010 (Sat)

Our bags are packed, and we are ready to bid farewell to the USA. It has been a sensational, once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we will forever cherish these memories – and will count our blessings for being able to indulge in such an extravagant experience. We are prepared for the horrific flight schedule that will take us to Cusco, Peru, where we will embark upon the Inca Trail to visit Machu Picchu, and hopefully some Mayan Gods out there protect us from altitude sickness. We are so looking forward to this enriching experience, and dare say we’ll be at a loss for words to explain it.

Monday September 6, 2010

Day 82 - Aug 31, 2010 (Tues) San Francisco Part 1
> Left St Helena bright and early to get as much time in at the new destination as possible (was sad to say goodbye, but we were ready after our month long break from the road). Found a note on our car from our neighbours – Alex and her son Roman wishing us safe travelling and wanting to stay in touch so they can send us a Christmas card!
> Had lunch with Martha at the Ferry Building (lovely to catch-up of course and hear all her news... and share all ours too!) And on our way we had a random and surprising encounter with Ash and Nell (Tim and Ash met through Macquarie). Small world!
> Spent the afternoon doing a bus tour and ticking off sites such as the Painted Ladies (also known as the Six Sisters), Golden Gate Bridge (incredible how the fog creeps through it, and then disappears moments later), and Japanese Tea Garden (it was a little steep at $7ea for entry, but we got some great photos so was probably worth it)!
> Walked up some very steep hills (San Franciscans must be very fit!) and arrived at Lombard St, the “crookedest” street is what its known as. It was actually really lovely, and we tend to believe it was built for tourism purposes (surely a street like that couldn’t exist for any other reason).
> Had dinner in Chinatown – very tasty Chinese greens, seafood fried rice and roast duck! (sadly, we were actually inspired to have duck after seeing one in the Japanese Tea Gardens – ha!)
> Checked-in to our Oakland motel and had an early night – we were exhausted from a day full of activities! (Duke even got a prime street park right at the motel entrance)!

Day 83 - Sept 1, 2010 (Wed) - San Francisco Part 2
> Woke bright and early as we had booked ourselves on the first Alcatraz Tour of the day… and we were so pleased when it was a warm and sunny day (85F/27C, which is unbelievable for SF – lucky us)!
> Joined the masses on Alcatraz (the boat cruise out there was really lovely), and did the audio tour through the cell block. We both thoroughly enjoyed it, and managed to spend a few hours wandering the halls and reading every bit of information the National Park Service was kind enough to provide for us.
> Hopped back onto the bus for day 2 on our ticket. It was just lovely to be sitting out in the sun, cruising the streets of San Fran! We escaped for a late lunch on Chestnut Street (a lovely Main St near The Marina area), wandered to Ghiradelli Square, then hopped into The Duke and headed down US1 to our next destination… Santa Cruz.

Day 84 - Sept 2, 2010 (Thurs)
> Santa Cruz: Went to the popular Boardwalk area (quite similar to Coney Island in NYC). We were walking along the Boardwalk and thought we heard seals… so we went to investigate and sure enough there were dozens of seals lounging and playing underneath the pier! We stayed there for a while to watch them – and they were so close, we could have touched them!
> Soaked in the sun for a couple hours, grabbed some lunch and hit the road for Monterey (only an hour away)
> Dinner at the Monterey Fisherman’s Wharf, followed by a walk along a local seaside trail (it really cools down at night, so fortunately we got back to the car soon after sundown!)

Day 85 - Sept 3, 2010 (Fri)
> Day 2 in Monterey. Did the 17-mile drive (privately owned by Pebble Beach Company) – mainly we saw lots of Cypress Trees (including the Lone Cypress – the image of which is owned by Pebble Beach and copyrighted!), then did more US1 driving down to Big Sur for lunch. Monterey to Big Sur on US1 is much more picturesque than Santa Cruz to Monterey, which was much more like a freeway/motorway. We were constantly stopping to take photos, despite how foggy and overcast it was!
> On our way back to Monterey, we took a very windy and narrow road down to Pebble Beach. It was spectacular – we walked the entire length of it (probably only 1.5miles or so), and the warm sand in our toes was very welcome against the cold wind coming off the water. There were a number of people there with dogs, books, lunch, Frisbees, buckets for fishing etc. We stopped for an hour or so and did some reading, then got on our way. It was a fabulous detour!
> We had dinner at Denny’s that night (a chain American diner). It was as good as could be expected. At least we can say we’ve done it now.

Day 86 - Sept 4, 2010 (Sat)
> Left Monterey, and went to Carmel to visit the Mission there. The Mission had a very interesting history, and has been very well restored, has gorgeous gardens, and the primary school that is situated on the Mission’s grounds is gorgeous.
> Back on Highway 1, we continued to encounter beautiful views, although very foggy which added to the drama of it all! All the “pitstops” were few and far between, which meant that everywhere that was a lunch/toilet stop was very busy, and overpriced… but I guess that is what you have to deal with when driving so close to the coast.
> Our hotel in San Simeon was along a motel strip – the “town” consisted of about a dozen different motels, with 2 mini-marts and a video store, and that was all! Accommodating tourists is a hard job!

Day 87 - Sept 5, 2010 (Sun)
> Tour of Hearst Castle (built by media mogul William Hearst) which was much more interesting that we originally hoped… and incredibly popular too. His “castle” (which we learned was actually his ranch) was opulent and ostentatious , but it turns out he just loved European artifacts and went overboard with it all (nearing bankruptcy in the great depression… but who didn’t, right?)!!
> More US1 driving to get to Buellton, CA. We arrived too early to check-in, so we diverted to do a wine tour. By chance, the winery we chose (LaFond) on the Santa Rosa Road was only $5ea for a tasting (including the take-home glass), and we met the husband of our lovely host (Kathy and Mike), and Mike happened to invent the rubber-flooring used in playgrounds and also lives on the ranch next to “Jim and Suzie Cameron” (i.e., James Cameron, movie director, Titanic and Avatar!) …. Small world! ;)

Day 88 - Sept 6, 2010 (Mon)
> Driving from Buellton to Barstow. Barstow is nothing spectacular, and was only chosen as a half way stop between the California coast and Las Vegas!
> We found it really intriguing how the weather changes so dramatically the further we get from the coast – we’re in California desert now, and it looks like Ranch County USA (i.e., we imagine cowboys roaming around tending their herds, and whatever else they do). The temperature where we were on the coast was about 60F/15C, and here in Barstow it is 105F/40C – Crazy!

Days 89-92 , Sept 7-10 2010
Looking into the future in this post! We’ll be in Vegas, and are mostly planned, so can talk about what’s on the cards for our days in Sin City!
> On our way into Vegas, we’re going to stop in at The Gun Store to try our hand at shooting a hand gun/rifle/machine gun! The laws on shooting ranges are very lax here, and The Gun Store offers a “Ladies Special” on Tuesdays, so it seems perfect! (Oh my goodness.)
> We’ve booked a South Rim Tour of Las Vegas (flying in/over the Grand Canyon, doing a bus tour along the rim for some photo opps, then flying back to Vegas)… am sure more will come on this!
> Have booked a Rat Pack dinner and show for Thurs night! Enough said... but should be fun!
> Planning on doing a club night (provided the lines aren’t too unruly! Its just been the Labor Day Weekend here, so hopefully that means the crowds are slightly smaller.)
> Plenty of pool and magazine action to be had too, of course (we’re staying at the Bellagio, and are very excited about it!)

Friday August 27, 2010

Well we have been enjoying our time of lazy nothingness, interspersed with the occasional activity that requires a bit more effort than reading/eating/drinking/sleeping. Here are some bits and pieces that we've been enjoying in the Napa Valley since our last post:

> Ultra-decadent lunch at The French Laundry (Yountville - about 10 miles south of St Helena). The menu was delicious, and the meals were perfectly spaced for us to savour every flavour as we whiled away the afternoon of indulgence!

> Mudbath in Calistoga (10 miles north of St Helena). It was a very weird sensation floating in thick mud.... glad we did it, but was kind of happy to get out of it!

> Air Show in Santa Rosa (Sonoma Valley) - full of all the air acrobatics and military splendour we were hoping for! (There was even a classic car show exhibit there too which we reveled in... and Stacey found a gorgeous little '54 MG Convertible that is now on the retirement wish list)!

> More free music at the St Helena City Hall (with a couple bottles of wine and cheese/salami/bread for dinner).

> Farmer's Markets to pick-up fresh produce for dinners and lunches (and maybe a choccie croissant and a cinnamon roll for breakkie)!

> Burgers, Onion Rings and Shakes at Taylor's Refresher (the iconic Napa Valley diner)... it was OK, but probably not worth the expense (Tim makes much better burgers as far as Stacey's concerned)!

> A couple of hikes. One in Bothe-Napa Valley State Park (to Coyote Peak) which was pretty disappointing all around, except for the fact that it was a bit of exercise. Our second hike was the Table Top Rock Trail in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, which provided much better views and was therefore much more enjoyable (although we lost the trail at some point due to the shoddy maps provided by the State Parks systems here.... but we found our way back to the car, obviously).

> Consigment shopping (we only went in for a look.... but then there was a barely worn pair of Christian Lacroix strappy fabulousness that just had to be purchased, and at 50% off no less, thank you very much)!

> Ice cream from a local parlour on Oak Ave to soothe us on a 42C/107F day!

> Dinner and drinks at our neighbour's house (Roman, and he lives with his Mum, Alex, and his teenage daughter who just started back at the local high school). It was a really fun night, and great to meet some locals (about 10 of Roman's friends/family came over) and hear their perspective on what's good to do around here, and what they do in their spare time. A really fab night! And we took along some home made sausage rolls too, so they could get a taste of Australia (they were a big hit)!

> A couple of casual bike rides to get to know St Helena a bit better.

> Wine tasting in Sonoma Valley: Kenwood and St Francis.

We hit the road again on Tuesday morning (off for San Francisco Part 2), and we can't believe the month is over! It has been such a special time, and absolutely fantastic to settle down in one place for a little while. Next on our itinerary (after SF) includes US1 (and various stops along the way), Las Vegas, San Diego, LA... then Peru!

August 12, 2010

St Helena, Napa Valley, CA - Sun 1/8 to Sun 12/8 (Day 52-63)

Number of days on the road - 59

Number of miles covered - 10,800

Number of states visited - 25

Number of bottles of wine consumed prior to arrival in Napa Valley – 2

Expected number of bottles to be consumed in Napa over August - well, 31 days in August, times 3 bottles per day.... each......

We woke up on Sun August 1st very excited as they day had arrived where we could finally go to the Napa Valley and stay in our gorgeous St Helena pad for a month (our road legs were getting weary). Check-in wasn't until 4pm so we stalled in Modesto, and checked out around 11am, and set the GPS for Locke, CA (our lunch stop in the Sacramento Delta - a Roadfood reco). We arrived to Locke and each enjoyed a steak sandwich (a New York steak on a plate, with a side of toast, and peanut butter and jam are available on the table as spreads.... Along with the standard steak saucy/ketchup/mustard deal). Locke was very old and rundown and gave us our ghost town fix, then we headed off to St Helena!

The house is even more amazing than we'd hoped, and we unpacked our suitcase into the walk-in-robe (squeal!!), and enjoyed a cheese platter and home made dinner.

Activities we have enjoyed since our arrival here include:

- reading, washing, cooking, grocery shopping etc (aaahhh… domestic bliss)

- bought “summer bikes” (read: crappy bikes that’ll last for a month) from Wal-Mart in Napa, and rode them part way home and part way on the bus (buses only have 2 spots for bikes and only come every hour, so we luckily got a bus in Yountville to take us both to St Helena)… PS Tim had to replace his bike the day after purchase due to irreparable tire damage (read: punctures from staples)

- vaccinations for Peru: Typhoid Pills from Napa Travel Centre (plus a free tetanus booster for Stacey because she was nice to the nurse!); Hepatitis A&B from Safeway pharmacy (you can get vaccinations without prescriptions in America, and they’re administered by the Pharmacist!)

- wine tastings at seven wineries (over two days): V. Sattui, Raymond, Whitehall Lane, Flora Springs, Schweiger, Charbay, Keenan… you pay for wine tastings here, which means the glass is a little fuller than a taste, and there’s less guilt-related purchasing at the end

- free music concert (latin jazz by Los Boleros) at Lyman Park (St Helena City Hall), where we took a picnic and wine and enjoyed our time with the locals

- "Cheers! St Helena", where we bought wristbands for $35ea and enjoyed wine tasting in the sponsor stores on Main St (and we bumped into a man we'd "met" at Wal-Mart, when we showed him where to get bikes from. We exchanged numbers and may meet up with him and his girlfriend at some point)… our property manager pronounced “Cheers” like “share” or “Cher” (as in Sonny and), which we found very amusing, and have adopted as part of our lexicon

-drive through Sonoma Valley

- bought some “Two Buck Chuck” (Charles Shaw Shiraz and Chardonnay) from Trader Joe’s, just to try it out (yes, it is only $1.99, hence the nick name). The red was not bad at all… the white was drinkable, but won’t be bought again

- day-trip to San Francisco: Ferry Building, Fisherman’s Wharf (and some good seafood for lunch), cable car rides… scoping it out for when we visit it at the end of August

Next entry or two will just be short and sweet, bullet-point style… Maybe this will be a good break for you and for us too :)

Saturday July 31, 2010

Willits, CA to Santa Rosa, CA - Tues 27/7 (Day 47)
Quick note about the overnight stay in Willits: The hotel we stayed at in Willits was themed! It was an Old West Inn and we stayed in the Post Office (we were disappointed not to be in the Barber room which was next door because we were cutting Tim's hair that night!

To to get to Santa Rosa we detoured to US1 which runs along the Californian coast - it offered some gorgeous views of the shoreline, and got us excited for the rest of our time in the state (assuming the weather gets warmer!)

Santa Rosa to Las Vegas - Wed 28/7 (Day 48)
We had received some exciting news earlier in the month... Stacey's cousin Nick recently proposed to his fab girlfriend Loz and he and a few mates (including Stacey's brother, Anthony) were going to Vegas for a bucks show/boys getaway for a few nights. This obviously meant that they would be a lot more geographically convenient than they usually are, so we blew in and out for a night to see them, and it was so fun to be around them!

But of course, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas... (but pool time and drinks go without saying...)

We arrived mid-afternoon on the Wed (and stayed with Anthony in his fab room at the new Aria hotel) and...

Las Vegas to Sacramento - Thurs 29/7 (Day 49)
... returned to Santa Rosa late-arvo on the Thurs (we'll be returning to Vegas in Sept and can likely share more tales then!)

We were both feeling a little sore and sorry for ourselves, so we picked-up the Duke from overnight parking and headed straight for our hotel in Sacramento (it was in an awesome location, right near Capital Park). We got some take away and had an early night so we'd feel refreshed for the next day of activities.

Sacramento to Modesto, CA via California State Fair - Fri 30/7 (Day 50)
Our main objective for going to Sacramento was to visit the California State Fair (although we got a good vibe from the city and it probably would've Been a good place to spend more time). The Fair was just like an Easter show wi rides, sidshows, livestock, carnie food etc, but didn't have any show bags, which was very disappointing, and quite sad really.... Think of the children! We enjoyed the Fair like a couple of adults. Here's a recap of our activities:
- didn't do any rides (the monorail probably doesn't count), although we did pay $1ea to see the World's Smallest Horse (although we saw some pretty tiny horses doing tricks later in the arvo at the Cavalcade of Horses)
- thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the livestock areas (we even saw a piglet being born, which was awesome and gross all at the same time... There were 13 in the litter, and we only stayed for one!)
- did a Yellow Brick Road-esque activity rough the fruit and vegetable exhibition (collecting stamps at each station so we could get our free piece of fruit and single serve of nuts)
- toured through all of the exhibitions, which included school student art work (interior design, woodwork, photography etc), Bicycles Through The Ages and Digital Animation
- watched the Motocross show (and endured a woman behind us losing her mind over how awesome they were, while her fiancée sat next to her)
- saw a Horseback Gymanstics exhibit, and felt uncomfortable when the two 10y.o. boys did a joint-performance while "Bad Boys" played in the background

After we'd had our fill of Fair fun, we headed off to Modesto, CA which we were using as a base to get to Yosemite National Park. The first hotel we checked into had bed bugs (yes, our skin crawled too) so we promptly packed up and found a new, clean place!

Yosemite National Park - Sat 31/7 (Day 51)
We got up bright and early as we had a bit of a drive to get to Yosemite from Modesto, and we wanted to make sure we saw evereything that the park had to offer... Giant Sequoias, Waterfalls, Domes, Meadows, Lakes.

The night before, we'd planned to do a hike to Cathedral Lakes, the trailhead for which is at Tuolomne Meadows, and it took us 3hrs to drive there (partly because we were staying a while away, but partly because there were so many people at the Park itself - it has definitely been the busiest National Park, which probably has something to do with it's vicinity to major cities like Sacramento and San Fran). The hike we did was quite challenging - about 8miles return with an elevation increase of 1500feet, but like anything, the reward was well worth the effort. We went to lower cathedral lake, and the colour contrast between the granite mountains (with snow sitting in it's lower depressions), and the trees and the blue lake, with the marshy grass surroundings was all really beautiful. We stayed for a while to eat lunch, and wandered over to check out the snow (and throw the obligatory snowball), then headed back to the Duke. Our next stop were the Giant Sequoias which were really massive (so we can confirm that they are appropriately named), but weren't altogether surprising in their size as we'd only seen the Redwoods a few days before, and this was much busier than Redwood NP was (which also meant it was difficult to get the up-close look like we had at the Redwoods). Finally, we went for a drive through Yosemite Valley to check out some water falls and Half Dome. It was a rushed tour, but we managed to tick all the boxes!

As we drove back to the motel, it was magical feeling the warm breeze around us as we drove out of yosemite valley, and smelling the clean piney air - such a happy feeling that we will want to try and remember always. If only we could photograph a feeling like that! And we followed the winding path of the Merced River to the park entrance and beyond, and the mini-falls that were created along the way reminded us of water features that people try and install in their yards - although it's hard to believe that the natural beauty can be recreated.

We returned to Modesto around 9:45pm and were exhausted! We collected In-N-Out Burger for dinner, and it was incredible! No wonder every American boasts about how delicious it is (hopefully it's taste and how much we savoured it wasn't only a reflection on how tired and hungry we were!) 

Monday July 26, 2010

Yellowstone National Park to Cody, WY - Tues 20/7 (Day 40)
Checked out of the Dude/Roundup Motel establishment and drove through Yellowstone to get to Cody (surprisingly, no big animal sightings to mention, but we did see a pelican). The east entrance to Yellowstone was vastly different to the west entrance as it was much more mountainous and less congested; exiting YNP from the east we took the Buffalo Bill Scenic Byway all the way to Cody. Cody is named after Buffalo William "Bill" Cody who is famous for taking his travelling wild west show around the World in the late 1800s. He'd be proud of how Cody has continued this fervor for providing entertainment after the experience we had...

We tuned into the Cody tourist radio station and got a couple of tips for the night. Firstly, we went to the Shootout "exhibition" out the front of the Irma Hotel - this was a "show" where dudes (and one dudette) dressed-up in "authentic" Old West garb and did a Goodies vs Baddies gun shootout using blanks. The "show" only lasted about 10mins, but the prelude was about 30mins of selling Wanted posters, selling photo-opps, singing the national anthem, acknowledging the sponsors (although its questionable if these "sponsors" actually put forward any money given the show quality), and rewarding a soldier from the armed forces with a free Wanted poster (to which the audience delivered a standing ovation). It was memorable and hilarious in it's crapiness (but hey, it was free! On the other hand, they do the performance EVERY night, so we're surprised it's not a little bit more polished.... Loud dance music even erupted over the terrible audio system halfway through the actual "show"). For those keeping score at home, the goodies won.

Following this experience, we headed to the rodeo (we love a rodeo, and as Cody is the self-proclaimed Capital of Rodeo, this is the entire reason we detoured this way, and we weren't disappointed!) The girls who sold us the tickets at the visitor centre recommended sitting in the front row of the stadium where the cowboys gear-up and mount the bulls/mustangs, so we followed their advice and were generously rewarded for it, having a close-up view of the action! We were entertained by all the regular rodeo goings-on.... The cowboys, the clowns, the calf roping, bull riding (and they start young in Cody - there were entrants in a 12 and under category... With appropriately sized bulls of course). One of the cowboys was Australian (from some town we've never heard of), so the clown asked if there were any Aussies in the crowd, to which we excitedly screamed out! And we were the only 2 in the audience, so we took that as a personal shout out.

Cody, WY to Pocatello, ID - Wed 21/7 (Day 41)
Drove back to Pocatello (stayed there for one night again on our way to Oregon this time), and we visited an old "favorite" for dinner.... Sizzler! We were both shocked by how good it was. The salad bar was very fresh, the French toast was as tasty as when we were 10, and the endless dessert bar was moreish! We plan on going again, for sure.

Pocatello, ID to Ontario, OR - Thurs 22/7 (Day 42)
Driving day and stopover night. Recording it for consistency, really :)
We spent a bit of time at the pool (located almost in the middle of the car park) and tried to even out our hideous driving tans!

Ontario, OR to Bend, OR - Fri 23/7 (Day 43)
We arrived a little early to check-in, so went to the scenic viewpoint to check-out the city - gave a great vantage point, and the town is situated right in the middle of about 10 volcanoes (they're disguised as snow-covered mountains). After checking-in we did some poolside reading, had a couple of happy hour drinks and had a quiet night.

Bend, OR to Reedsport, OR - Sat 24/7 (Day 44)
To get out of Bend, we had to drive through about 20miles of volcanic debris, which was really awesome. There was all this black rock everywhere (and even a tower-like monument viewpoint that we climbed up to look out from), and it was so interesting to see the route that the lava carved for itself all those years ago (and the trees that were left standing were often in very unlikely places). That afternoon, we made it to the West Coast! And wouldn't you know it, it was foggy, overcast and only about 60F (15C). Boo. We drove around a bit, but mostly sulked in our room (with an $8 bottle of malbec we bought from the supermarket). There are some pretty incredible sand dunes in this area, which is what it's known for (unfortunately, the fog hindered the viewing and enjoyment of these).

Reedsport, OR to Crescent City, CA via Redwoods National Park - Sun 25/7 (Day 45)
We let ourselves sleep in a bit this morning (until 830, oh my!) and then headed for Crescent City, the entry point to Redwood National Park. Being on the coast, we were excited to have some fish for lunch (which we did) and then headed to the Park visitors centre, where the uber enthusiastic ranger gave us many options to entertain us for our 24hr stay. So with her advice and maps in hand, we headed off to the northern old growth area to witness some massive trees. We went for the Boy Scout Tree trail via a crazily narrow unpaved road, and saw some fantastically massive trees (apparently some of jurassic park was filmed in Redwood NP, to give you some context). And FYI keep an eye open for facebook photos... Stacey posed hugging a few different trees to give you the idea of how massive they are!! After the trail, we went to the popular Stout Grove, then did some scenic driving and stopped off at Myrtle Creek for a dip (more to say that we did vs being refreshed cos it was reallllly cold... Too cold for a swim, that's for sure!)

Crescent City, CA to Willits, CA (also via Redwood National Park) - Mon 26/7 (Day 46)
We awoke to another grizzly day with max temp expected to be 55F (ouch), then headed further south to explore the beautiful Fern Canyon. Did a fab loop hike through some old forest (though not as old as yesterday's apparently... Fewer massive trees), and Fern Canyon itself was amazing, so tranquil and a real "happy place", and one of our top 3 most beautiful places we've seen. Side note: It's amazing how the weather changes here - super foggy near the cost, and the moment you head inland it clears up; then as we headed south the sun started shining and the mercury inched up bit by bit.