Month: May 2016

We woke up and had breakfast. A really busy breakfast room and I had cereal and coffee.

We then went over to Adrift Adventures and caught the bus to Colarado River which was around 25 mile drive.

We rafted down the Colarado River for around 7 miles from Hittle Bottom to Rocky Rapid. (AM half day trip.)

A lot of gentle rafting and some class 1 rapid all the way up to class 3. Some were pretty cool and we got completely soaked.
It was pretty fun although I will say I expected more rapids it was fun but not as adrenaline packed as I originally thought. Good experience and we can now say we have rafted down the Colardo River.

This same river can offer upto class 5 further south.
The class ratings are given to how dangerous the water is at that point.

We drove quickly around Arches National Park and took a few photos. The arches are cool I guess but the viewd are not as good as the ones we have previously seen. So we left the park pretty quick. We had a 4 hour drive so couldnt be there long anyway.

We drove all the way to Panguitch in Utah which was an interesting drive. We stopped at Cowboy’s Smoke House for dinner.
Wow the best beef ive eaten! Just fell apart and the fat was tasty. It was so moist.
I then saw an Orio desert so had to order this even thou I had no room!

I had a strawberry lemonade which was huge!

We then travelled to Crimson Hill Hotel in Parawan near Panguitch in Utah and were told to keep an eye out for deer and police as its graduation day today.

We woke up at Wayside Motor Inn in Marichello and had breakfast.
Chocolate flake cereal, coffee, boiled eggs and a donut.

We made our way to Moab and we had already booked are expensive Super 8 hotel there ready for us to check into later as hotels and motels in this area are very expensive. So had to book this in advance to get it cheaper.

We went to a few places on the main street through Moab to get prices and dates for rafting. I found a place called Adrift Adventures and we decided to book the rafting in the morning as the water will be more rough and it allows us to travel and relax on our way to Arches National Park. It only cost $55 and we have to meet at their shop and then they drive us to the part of the Colarado river that we will be rafting down. They will then return us to the shop.

We then went to Dead Horse Point State Park.
$10 to get the vehicle in. Then we walked around the whole walk apart from the last viewpoint as the weather was a bit stormy and windy.
Amazinf views here highly recommend the first part of the walk from the visitors centre. The last part was less interesting but still worth walking. We saw lizards, birds, chipmunks and insects.

We saw several lizards.

We checked in at Super 8 Hotel in Moab which was £92.27.

We then had dinner at Dennies and I had a Bourbon Burger for $12.79.

Another photo of our beast.

Some small cars we saw.

We had breakfast in the Econo Lodge which had the biggest selection of food so far.

We visited Mesa Verde which was a huge place and plenty of driving and view points and places to stop. The views from up top were great.

Look closely underneath the cliff.

We had a quick selfie with a wild bear at the side of the road.

We stopped for a Navajo Taco at Jack & Janelles Country Kitchen for a small bite to eat. It was an amazing taco and I had salad bar with it for an extra $1.25.
Let me mention this is the biggest Taco I have ever had and also the biggest meal I have ever had. I struggled extremely hard to eat this and had to ask for WiFi access to buy a little more time to eat this and update the blogs as I am behind with the posts. I also left them a 5 star Google rating on Maps.

We then got some fuel and washed the car and drove to Monticello and stayed at Wayside Motor Inn for $93.91.

We woke up at the Glen Canyon Dam took a few photos then went to Dennies for an ‘All American Slam’ which is scrambled eggs, sausage, toast and bacon. Unlimited refills on coffee was cool.

We stopped at a view point called Glen Canyon Dam Overlook near Dennies. A great view.

We then went to Horseshoe Point which was a 3/4 mile walk up and down hill on sand. That also had a great view and it was very busy there.

Monument Valley – Cost $20 and the Navajo’s own the land I believe as they work at the barrier and in the shops. A very impressive view.

Forest Gump Point – We took photos of the famous Forest Gump road from the Forest Gump film.

Natural Bridge National Monument – It was a bridge that had formed from water running into the stone and eroding it. It was pretty boring or maybe this was because we were both so tired. So we took a few photos and went quickly.

Devils Canyon Drive – We drove down this dirt track which got worse as we drove down and thought it would be a good idea and and a good view. We soon realised this was a bad idea. We got there and the cliff was not near enough to us so we carried on with the drive.
We saw some giant turkeys and some deer in the woods.

We drove through Blanding.

Marichello – We visited the Dollar store for some snacks. Most stuff cost more than a dollar. Must mean a dollar and upwards..

Cortez – Econo Lodge
We checked into Econo Lodge in Cortez. Cost $71.45.
Very nice place and polite staff and lovely rooms.

Dennies – Avocado Beef Burger and Fries for dinner. You can see the place to the left of the photo.

We did a Helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon with a company called Papillon which cost $182.

We stopped at Wendy’s for a spicy chicken burger and large coke and fries.

We went to the Grand Canyon National Park and took a good look around that with plenty of walking.
We got a shuttle from the visitor centre to Abyss then walked to Monument Creek Vista then shuttled to Pima Point and then we shuttled all the way back to the visitors centre. We then walked the Rim Trail and then shuttled back to the visitors centre. We then drove to the Desert View Watch Tower had a look at the tower and the great views. We also saw a large deer.
We then left to travel towards Page.

We stopped at a scenic view point called Little Colorado River Gorge which had a nice view of Colorado river.
This had the best view I have ever seen in my life.

We stopped at a petrol station for dinner. Cookies, crisps and a large coffee to keep me going. I didnt need too much food as still full from Wendy’s.

We pushed on and made it to Page and all the hotels we tried were full. So we had no where to stay. It was a shame because we decided to push on and drive further through the night and then found there was no accommodation. Having no phone data signal didnt help this issue. We then found a Safeways store and connected to their wifi and all the hotels were full on the Hotels.com app and bookings.com. We spoke to Leroy who worked there. He was a Navajo and he said it would be a nightmare to find anywhere near by so we would have to maybe travel 1 hour to 1 hour 30 mins to find a place in another city. We were both extremely tired so we decided to goto Glen Canyon Dam. We slept there so we could take some photos in the morning. We slept in the car this night due to being so tired and no accommodation being available.

We stayed in Williams in the Grand Canyon Gateway Inn. This was by far the worst place we have stayed at and very unorganised and they had no bowls for cereal. They originally gave us a room and when we entered they gave us someone elses room and it had all their stuff in there. So they had to move us to another room.

We woke up earlish and visited Winslow – ‘Standing on the corner’ where North Kinsley Avenue and Old Highway 66 meet. “Take it Easy” was a song by the “Eagles” and is very famous. We spoke to a few people that had motorcycles and were riding Route 66 for a charity.

We then went to see the Barringer Meteor Crater not too far from there. Then we went up route 40/66 in the north west direction.
It cost $18 for a ticket each. We went for a mile or so hike with a lady who lived there on top of the crator and she was our tour guide.

It was very interesting and extremely windy the guide said that they can get winds of 100mph occur up there. We came down with a headache as it was so windy the whole time. An amazing view of such a large crator.

We then went to a Taco shop for lunch that was on route to the Sunset Crater Volcano. We had shrimp tacos and a chicken one with macho fries and a drink.

I bought the annual National Park pass to allow us to get into all national parks for free it was $80 and well worth it.

Inactive Volcano – We visited the inactive volcano and there was volcanic rock everywhere and it had really good views.

We ate at a Goldies Route 66 Diner opposite the Rodeway Inn that we stayed at. I had Trout and soup and fries and tasted very good.

We used the tumble dryer to dry our underwear that Ryan washed in the bath for us. I think it was 25c for 4 minutes or so x3 and it was all done.

I went and had a look around the shops in Williams because some were open until around 10pm at night.

Alot of shops seem to sell these great looking metal ornaments and they are pricey.

Travelled towards Flagstaff through Prescott and Jerome.

We drove up through Prescott as Ryan recommend this was a nice scenic route with some nice roads.

Lady at the petrol station where we saw the Slingshot Polaris vehicle recommended we go through Jerome.

We stopped at Jerome at Bobby D’s BBQ and had half a rack or ribs with seasoned fries and a lemonade.

A lot of the roads go up so high around 3000 to 6000 feet so you find your ears popping quite a bit even on the drive to Blythe.

We then went to Montezuma Castle took about an hour or so to talk around it. Brids were nesting under the cliffs and there was a Bees nest in the cliff face.

We had a quick look around Sedona and it looked awesome but was very expensive and very busy!

We went to the Lowell Observatory as we were not able to visit the other national parks as they all close at 17:00.

We had a look at Jupiter on a telescope and could see the two orange stripes.
We saw Mars although it was very small and bright.
We looked at the moon and that was really clear. The moon was really clear and big without the telescope.
We also saw two galaxies next to each other. And they are apparently going to cross paths with each other in billions of years time.
Spoke briefly about Andromeda.

We also saw the huge telescope that was made to look at Mars.

They showed us a photo of what the humble telescope captured that took over 500 hours. I cant think what it was now.

We then stayed in a hotel called Rodeway Inn in Winslow just off of route 66/40.

We woke up a little late due to the phone alarm not going off properly.

We then had a coffee at reception and went to San Diego Old Town to take a look around. Very old historic tourist town. It had a old western style to it. We bought some cigars in the Cigar shop there. The choice of sugars was huge and even another room for more! They were selling guns, knives, pipes and all sorts but mainly smoking related products.
They did huge cigars and even the guy behind the desk was smoking one whilst he served us on the counter. He was a friendly guy dressed up with the western theme like everyone else that works in the town. A cool experience.
I ate a sandwich with egg, pesto and bacon. Tasted very nice but it was very small. I also had a bag of potato chips.
We then walked around and looked at some cacti and we saw two donkeys.
Dogs are not allowed near the donkeys because they apparently give off the same scent as a coyote which hunts the donkeys.

We then tried a caramel filled Chirro. It’s like a long donut with a filling.

We then went over to San Diego Zoo. Brilliant zoo and it was not that busy which was nice . It was very rare that you had to queue or push through crowds.
A lot to do there you could easily spend a full day there.
Looks like they are expanding the zoo with loads of developments going on around the park.
Food and drinks are very expensive.
I do recommend going there.

Look closely below at the picture there are two animals in there.

We then watched the Ice Age 15min film in 4D. Below is a photo of Sid and myself.

We then went to an “In and Out” restaurant. It is like the Wendy’s but not as big and not as many options. I personally didnt think the fries were as nice as Wendys.

We then started travelling down Route 8 to the East (8 E) to Blythe.

The drive down was about 150 miles and the road went through the middle of the deserts and loads of sand was blowing over the road. There were big sand dunes everywhere it would have been a great view in the day. It was very dark.

We also had to stop due to Border Patrol officers. Questioned us to where we ste going and what we are doing etc. They wanted to see our passport but i said it was packed in luggage and he said dont worry drive on.

We stopped at Budget Host Motel in Blythe.

We woke up to a waffle maker, cereal and coffee and a little cake.
I poured the batter in the waffle maker, closed it and flipped it over then waited a few minutes and it was ready to eat. Poured some syrup over and ate it. Quick and easy tasted ok.

We quickly drove to the San Diego California Temple to take a few photos of the outside as we were passing it.

We visited the USS Midway Museum which was very interesting. Plenty to look at and that could have easily taken a whole day.
We went on a simulator where we fly a plane and whatever we do in the game the simulator does. Even flips and rolls trying to shoot down other AI planes. We even flew upside down and attacked the other planes was hilarious hanging in your harness upside down and was an experience for around $8. The computer graphics are very out dated but the simulator impressive.

We drove through the Gas Lamp area of San Diego and it was solid traffic at 17:00 as bad as London but many more lanes and many one way streets and no right hand turns etc.

We drove down to Pacific Beach and stopped at one Inn on the front and it was very expensive so we went to a Motel just around the corner and that was much more reasonably priced at about $111 and was near the restaurants and pubs and sea front. It was called Mission Bay Motel.

We went for a meal on Pacific Beach I had guess what…?! Another burger and fries to make a change.

We then went to a few bars and they all required passports as a driving licence ID was not good enough as thats what the local police request the bars to only accept.

Had a couple of drinks and watched people dancing and then we went back to the motel.

Vagabond Inn – Breakfast – Woke up late for breakfast 9:48 and breakfast closes at 10 and our alarm didn’t go off. Plus we were really tired from the previous day and night. We paid $80 for a double bed room.

What did i learn… not to eat little yellow jalapeños on the at Carneys on the train. The consequences of eating jalapeños are so not worth it when you are travelling!!!

We ate all the donuts in the restaurant. Pretty funny!

We then headed to Shoreline Village and parked up and had a quick look around the Hat shop and a few other shops there. $2 to park for an hour. You have to put your credit card in the machine for that exact parking bay. Each bay has its own machine. It flashes green when youve paid and flashes red if you havent or have overstayed. Probably easier for the ticket warden to see if you have paid aswell.

Stopped at Gardena in South Los Angeles at Wendy’s a fast food restaurant. Had a quick meal at 16:00 which was a Davids Triple Beef Burger with large fries and a large soda. It was huge and I tried some root beer from the drinks machine. Pretty cool you can try all the different drinks just fill the cup up with what ever you fancy.

It is hard to appreciate how big that drink cup is!

We visited Compton and as we were coming in we could smell a very strong amount of mariuana blowing into the car. Everything was gated and fenced off. The windows and doors had metal bars all over them. There were lots of police around. Looked like one of the Five-O had gone into a shop and one was standing outside guarding the entrance. It was like they expected company and he was looking around a lot.

To be honest I don’t think the area was for me but worth a look to make my own opinion. It didn’t feel like you could relax just driving through. The area did certainly change as you went into Compton from the surrounding areas. Nothing seemed to be in nice condition and very messy and just looked like its being run into the ground.

We drove to “Rolling Hills” there is a road called “Eastvale Road” which has Peacocks walking around the housing estate which had large houses on. The peacocks were on thr roofs, in their gardens and everywhere. Pretty cool noises they were making. You can see one in the front garden posing for me.

We then travelled over “The Vincent Thomas Bridge” on Route 47 then onto East Ocean Boulevard and stopped at Long Beach. Yoga classes were being done there and loads of people doing keep fit stuff on the open grass near the beach.

Just incase you cant quite see whats going on..

Lovely scenery!

We then made our way through to Route 1 to carry on down to Laguna Beach.

We had a quick look around and then we went on Route 5 South towards San Diego. Time was getting on and we wanted to have a more organised evening for once, so we decided to stop earlier than San Diego at a place called Oceanside. This seems a really nice area and there are lots of shops and places to eat.

We finally checked in to a hotel called Super 8 on “Mission Avenue” early which was at 21:40. (early for us!)
Cost $63.42 all in including a 10% discount code i found.