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Our last day in Vegas was the most memorable (so far).

We took a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon. I have always dreamed to see it from an early age.

We were not disappointed – It’s simply breathtaking.

We booked the 3.5 hour trip with Sundance Helicopters. It wasn’t cheap at $450 USD ($600 AUD) each – but I just had to do it.

The tour included pick up from the hotel in a stretch limo (la de dah). Helicopter flight over Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, over and into the canyon itself. We landed on a ledge about half way up the canyon wall for 30 minutes photos and lunch. Then back on the helicopter back though the canyon and over to the “Valley of Fire“, with its red rock formations. Before going to the airport the pilot flew us down the Las Vegas  “strip”.

Check out the photos – they don’t it justice (even with my great photography skills).

Wednesday night we saw the Penn & Teller show at the Rio Hotel.

I’m a big fan – I’ve always wanted to see them live. They didn’t disappoint – it’s a great show.

We got there early and found our seats – about 10 rows back. There was a barrel and crate on the stage already. The guy doing the pre-show music invited everyone to come up onto the stage and inspect the items. We did that – they seemed solid with no obvious “trap doors”.

When the show started – Teller appeared from inside the crate!

I bought a souvenir cup with a “signature” cocktail called “liquid magic”. A green (very) sweet concoction. At $18 it was an extravagance.

The show went for an hour and a half. All great tricks and entertainment.

The finale was making an elephant disappear. It wasn’t really and elephant, it was a cow dressed up as an “Spotted Pygmy Elephant”. Impressive none the less.

 

The guys did a meet and greet after the show. We were lucky enough to have some photos with them.

I thoroughly recommend seeing this show when in Vegas.

Phew what a day!

Sacramento > San Francisco > Los Angeles > Las Vegas

We started in Sacramento at 4am and arrived in Las Vegas about 5pm.

We had to get up early for a 8.30am flight to LA. First we had to drive from Sacramento to San Francisco.

Thanks again to Zelle and Dave for getting us up early and driving the two hour journey. Then we caught the United Airlines flight to LA and arrived at 10am.

Then the excitement kicked up a gear. We picked up a Mustang Convertible for a  self drive to Las Vegas.

I was very nervous about driving. There was a number of firsts for me:

• First time hiring a car
• First time driving in another country
• First time driving a left hand drive
• First time driving a convertible

First we had to negotiate the LA freeways. Getting in the right lane for the exits was the key. I missed a few exits (blame navigator Jane). The GPS got us back on track though.

Once we left the busy freeways and got on the open road my confidence grew. I started changing lanes and overtaking the people driving non-convertible non-sports cars. Suckers!

I was surprised how fast people drive here. The speed limit for the freeways in 65mph (105kph). Most people were going faster than that. I was told to keep up with the traffic and found myself doing 80mph (129kph) most of the way. Once, when the traffic was clear, I pushed it and brought up the ton. 🙂

The landscape and climate changed quite considerably in the 420km trip. LA was quite cool and overcast. The landscape changed from urban to hills then to barren desert.

Thanks to Courtney Griffin from Flight Centre, Galleria for organising the car and hotel in Vegas.

I loved the trip. Driving was great fun. I was exhausted by the time we reached Vegas though. That didn’t stop us going out onto the “strip” that night.

More about Las Vegas later.

Sunday we (Dave) drove to Yosemite. A lifelong dream of mine fulfilled.

It’s simply stunning.

I don’t have many words to describe it. Just look at the photos

We were quite lucky with the weather. Even though it was a bit drizzly and cold the park was open and visibility was OK. We couldn’t see the half dome because it was in the clouds, but there was lots of water falls.

The three hour drive from Sacramento was good too. Lots of changing landscapes – from flat farm lands to steep and windy alpine roads.

What a fantastic day!

Saturday we drove into San Francisco City and spent the day there.

It was a thrill to cross the famous bridge. Pity it was such a lousy day. The bridge had its head in the clouds.

A must-do photo for me was the Painted Ladies. A row of houses featured in many San Francisco movies and TV shows. It was unreal to see them in real life.

I also wanted to see the streets. Were they really as steep as they are made out to be in the movies (and the game “Crazy Taxi”)?  Yes they are.

We took the tourist cable car ride from Powel street to Lombard Street. Lombard street is said to be the “most crooked street” in the world. At the top it offers a great view over the city and bay.

Overall I liked San Francisco. A clean city with great character. Pity the rain made her look a little dull that day. I would love to go back and spend more time there.

Thursday we flew to San Francisco. Our friends Zelle and Dave (and their dog Toby) were there to pick us up and take us to their home in Sacramento.

Before we left San Francisco we went to Pier 39 at Fisherman’s  wharf for a look around and have dinner. This was my first glimpse of the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz.

We ate at “Chowders“. Their specialty is clam chowder in a big sour dough bun. It was delicious and just what we needed because it was cold.

Sacramento is the state capital of California and is 2 hours drive from San Francisco. We got back late and went to bed.

The next day we spent the day in Sacramento.

We ate breakfast at Black Bear Diner. Pancakes, bacon and maple syrup of course!

We anticipated a huge serving – and it was. Jane and I shared.

We asked for extra maple syrup and the waiter brought 4 extra glasses. I guess you can’t have too much maple syrup.

We then went to the capital building. Ronald Reagan and Arnie Schwarzenegger’s portraits were on the governor’s wall. There was a whole room and statue dedicated to Ronnie.

The architecture of the building was stunning.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at “Old Sacramento”. A historic section of downtown, with shops and restaurants and things to photograph.

 

Wednesday we visited Universal Studios in Hollywood.

We were undecided whether to go or not. But I’m glad we did, it was really good.

Everyone told us the Harry Potter ride was great. It was newly opened. We got there early and it was a little cold and drizzly. Good for us because it meant less people – smaller lines. We’d heard we might need to wait 90 minutes or so. Turns out we only waited 15 mins.

It was fantastic. 3D surround. We were strapped in a roller coaster type chair and all of a sudden we’re flying around with Harry through Hogwarts and playing quidditch.

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We did most of the other rides and tours. The King Kong 3D show was brilliant. As was the Waterworld show.

All very good.

One thing I forgot to mention. At the end of the day we bought two souvenir cups. When we paid for the them the checkout girl says we can fill them up will a cool or hot drink for 99c. Then it’s free refills for the rest of the day! So if you’re going – get you souvenir cup first thing.

We went to Santa Monica and Venice beaches Tuesday.

I had to dip my feet in the North Pacific ocean. Part of my “get my feet wet in every ocean” bucket list.

Santa Monica has a Pier with restaurants, a carnival, street performers. It has a great atmosphere. The beach is clean and wide. It was a cool day so there was not many people in the water.

We had lunch a few streets back from the beach in Santa Monica Place. A place where they had foot long hot dogs and shakes. The hot dog wasn’t nice but the peanut butter shake was great.

We then caught Uber to Venice beach.

We immediately walked in on a show “just starting”. Some sort of dance show on the street. We decided to stick around a watch it, since it was “just starting”. They kept staying the show is “about to start”. But they were obviously trying to build the crowd. They even did a count down to “show time”. It wasn’t until 30 minutes after that they started doing warm ups.

They eventually started the show and did one small act each. Combination of dance and acrobatics. They were very talented.

Then they pulled people out of the audience. “The beautiful girls”, “four rich white guys” (their own words), “one Asian guy” and three kids they called “the future”.

I was cringing at this stage. I was petrified that they would pick me. Thank goodness Jane dyed my hair and I didn’t look old (and rich) enough. I was safe. But I felt sorry for the other guys.

As predicted they proceeded to make fun of all these people. The audience laughed and cheered… mostly because they were glad it wasn’t them. I wasn’t laughing (well not much).

They gave the kids $20 each – I guess to prove how nice they were.

They said the grand finale was one guy was going to jump over ALL of them. But before that they asked for “donations” They’re just some young guys trying to make an honest living. blah blah

They made a big deal about people giving money. Some people were giving $50.  Really?

We gave $20 – which in hindsight was $19 too much. Of course they scare people into giving a decent amount or they’ll point you out and embarrass you.

Anyway the grand finale was not as grand as promised. They dismissed the kids – then the girls, and one of the old guys (cos he paid $50). So that just left 4 guys to jump over. Cheated!!.

As I mentioned earlier (Hollywood) we decided to use Uber to get around LA.

This was a first for Jane and I. We’re on holiday in a strange city, what could go wrong?

I already registered and had the app on my phone, so it was just a matter of searching for the destination. The app knows where you are and most destinations are easily searchable. You just need an internet connection. It’s at good thing to plan ahead if you don’t have access to the internet. We did it from within a coffee shop with free WiFi.

Prices vary quite a lot. Our first trip from from our hotel on Sunset Blvd to Rodeo Drv. Thar cost $6.87 (USD) at 2.30 in the afternoon. The ride back cost $18.32. Its not the time you spend in the car, as with taxis, the fare is calculated before you accept the ride. There are “surge” charges for peak periods.

 

The drivers are all very friendly and surprisingly the people we’ve “pooled” with are very friendly too. They asked where we’re from and suggested things to do, places to eat in their city.

We’re loving it. We’ve used it 6 times now. We’re about to find a Uber find to Universal Studios.

We spent the day in and around Hollywood yesterday.

Movie stars, rock stars, pavement stars and Starbucks.

There’s a lot of repeating stores on Hollywood Boulevard: Starbucks of course, goes with saying. Lingerie and costume shops. Costume shops maybe, but why so many lingerie shops?

Also “Smoke” shops. Pipes and Shishas etc they say … but they’re bong shops let’s be honest.

The whole street is a bit run down and some of the stars on the pavement are cracked. Surprising, because of the amount of money going around there.

We did the two hour tour. It cost us $30 each, which we found out later we could have bargained it down to $15. Also we felt obliged to tip the driver $20, because he said he doesn’t get paid by the tour company.

We toured the Walk of Fame, Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive. It was quite good. We didn’t see any “stars”.

After the tour we decided to go back to Rodeo Drive. Jane wanted to do some shopping – I immediately cancelled all credit cards.

She has been after a necklace from Tiffany and Co for ages, Just kept changing her mind every time. This time I was determined to not waste time… err I mean make sure she gets her dream. Guess what she got it. whoo hoo!

 

We got Uber to take us to Rodeo Drive. Another first for me. It’s fantastic! I will post about that experience later (Uber post)

Today is beach day. Santa Monica and Venice beach.