USA! USA! USA! The land of dreams! Even better, the land of not snow!! The part we were going to anyway. I loved the snow and it was pretty special to see it for the first time but I was getting jealous of everyone's singlet wearing shots from back home.
We flew into LA and organised a camper van so we could get on to the open road straight away. We stopped in at a supermarket to stock up and were really excited about all the Mexican ingredients. We made chilli bean tacos nearly every night and we're not ashamed. Our first night we planned to spend by a lake just outside of Bakersfield. It was closed for the season which meant no bbqs, no loos and no running water. It also meant free camping! Man it felt good under the starry sky, cooking tacos (with corn tortillas Leroy!) drinking a beer. This is our kind of travelling. I think I've said it before but there's nothing like having your own vehicle. Especially if its a van with a bed in the back. Frosty and I love road tripping. Any who, the next day we set off refreshed by our nights rest and headed to Death Valley. The drive was spectacular. We drove up big hills and down into deep valleys with nothing but rocks around us. You could see the lines and different layers of earth running across the mountains as it had been pushed up from the crust. At one lookout we were admiring the beautiful hills and dead flat valley floor when a huge roaring sound came from the sky. Two fighter jets came flying out from a canyon and up the valley. It was really cool!
We passed signs that told us we were at 4000 feet above sea level and we got all the way down to over 200 feet below sea level. It's notorious for being the hottest place on earth (in summer) but we were lucky to get cool breezes and some rain. The cloudy sky just made everything look even better. We went for a walk up the golden canyon to red cathedral rocks and popped out onto one of the most breathtaking views I'd ever seen. Check the photos! We then checked out the artists palette drive where rocks are brightly coloured from the different types of minerals found. Lightly washed by the rain, they were extra bright for us. We retired for the night surrounded by retirees in their monstrously huge RVs.
We flew into LA and organised a camper van so we could get on to the open road straight away. We stopped in at a supermarket to stock up and were really excited about all the Mexican ingredients. We made chilli bean tacos nearly every night and we're not ashamed. Our first night we planned to spend by a lake just outside of Bakersfield. It was closed for the season which meant no bbqs, no loos and no running water. It also meant free camping! Man it felt good under the starry sky, cooking tacos (with corn tortillas Leroy!) drinking a beer. This is our kind of travelling. I think I've said it before but there's nothing like having your own vehicle. Especially if its a van with a bed in the back. Frosty and I love road tripping. Any who, the next day we set off refreshed by our nights rest and headed to Death Valley. The drive was spectacular. We drove up big hills and down into deep valleys with nothing but rocks around us. You could see the lines and different layers of earth running across the mountains as it had been pushed up from the crust. At one lookout we were admiring the beautiful hills and dead flat valley floor when a huge roaring sound came from the sky. Two fighter jets came flying out from a canyon and up the valley. It was really cool!
We passed signs that told us we were at 4000 feet above sea level and we got all the way down to over 200 feet below sea level. It's notorious for being the hottest place on earth (in summer) but we were lucky to get cool breezes and some rain. The cloudy sky just made everything look even better. We went for a walk up the golden canyon to red cathedral rocks and popped out onto one of the most breathtaking views I'd ever seen. Check the photos! We then checked out the artists palette drive where rocks are brightly coloured from the different types of minerals found. Lightly washed by the rain, they were extra bright for us. We retired for the night surrounded by retirees in their monstrously huge RVs.
Because we were only two hours away we decided to make an unplanned detour to Vegas for the a night. We found the only hostel in the place and settled in for the night. It was a major weekend in Vegas, fight night and Superbowl Sunday. What are the odds? We strutted our stuff up the strip buying expensive cocktails (oops!) And hitting the one cent machines hard. We window shopped expensive stores and watched the Bellagio water fountain show. Leaving Caesar's Palace we were stooped by a lady offering us free breakfast and $100 and all we had to do was give a deposit and attend a presentation. Sign me up biatch!! She doesn't know who she's dealing with. Our night continued in usual fashion of giggling and soaking it all up. I was surprised how much I loved the place. We loved it so much we booked another night in a proper hotel! Honest to god, a hotel!
Up early and off for our free breakky and prezzo. It was like a timeshares thing but instead of buying one apartment, you buy into this company and they have member exclusive five star hotels around the world you can stay at for "next to nothing" It was aimed at people who have never really taken a holiday. Well, what do you expect from us? Did I mention we're on an extended holiday right now? They tried the "mat! Doesn't kat deserve to stay in a nice hotel?" Now hold it right there sister girlfriend! Don't you make my Frosty feel guilty! Have you not read my blogs? Don't you know how he looks after me? Needless to say we got our deposit back and our free $100!!! So far Vegas had cost us nothing!!!!! We celebrated by eating giant nachos overlooking Caesars palace while watching the game and later drinking fancy cocktails, smoking cigars and hitting the slots on a rotating platform. In the Fear and Loathing casino of course! Man, so much fun!
Up early and off for our free breakky and prezzo. It was like a timeshares thing but instead of buying one apartment, you buy into this company and they have member exclusive five star hotels around the world you can stay at for "next to nothing" It was aimed at people who have never really taken a holiday. Well, what do you expect from us? Did I mention we're on an extended holiday right now? They tried the "mat! Doesn't kat deserve to stay in a nice hotel?" Now hold it right there sister girlfriend! Don't you make my Frosty feel guilty! Have you not read my blogs? Don't you know how he looks after me? Needless to say we got our deposit back and our free $100!!! So far Vegas had cost us nothing!!!!! We celebrated by eating giant nachos overlooking Caesars palace while watching the game and later drinking fancy cocktails, smoking cigars and hitting the slots on a rotating platform. In the Fear and Loathing casino of course! Man, so much fun!
OK, Vegas I love you but two nights is good. Get in our van and head to Sequoia National Park. Another beautiful drive. We started off by driving through the Mojave desert aka bat country. Before we knew it we were surrounded by lush Forrest's and patches of snow. There are two big trees you go to see out here; General Sherman and General Grant. It's true, they're big.
We camped in this amazing spot surrounded by trees and beautiful deer. They have these massive metal boxes that lock for you to out all your food and rubbish in. This stops the bears breaking in to your car. There are massive fines if you don't. I asked the ranger if there would be any around in winter and he you can expect them all year. I don't know if he was just being safe and I didn't care. I put everything in those boxes. They had this really cool photo of a giant brown (do you get those in California) bear leaning out of a car it had broken into like it was waiting for a mate. It was massive! We met this old guy who had been driving around the country for two months. He was really cool and reminded us of Cyd. He gave us fire wood so we gave him beer.
We continued on to Yosemite national park for more beautiful scenery and home cooked tacos before venturing into San Francisco. San Francisco was a doozy for us. We got fined at a bridge for not having the right money, had to stay an extra night because a giant storm hit and then we got a parking fine for not turning our wheels on the gradient. On the up side it was craft beer week and we found two of the best spots in town! We made new friends and had plenty of delicious beers. San Francisco also has a pretty big food truck scene and we pretty much stalked this one truck for three days. I think it was called The Chairman and they made the most delicious steamed bun 'tacos' you could imagine. Melt your face kind of deliciousness.
We got two good saying from San Fran;
"Why are you shitting on my cheerios?"
A young, female up and coming brewer in Toronado pub
"Hey man!I've got these taxidermist grade alien testicles. Big, green, furry balls"
Some bum selling the goods on Height street
We head back to LA for a night before our next big adventure in Mexico! Nachoooooooooooo
We camped in this amazing spot surrounded by trees and beautiful deer. They have these massive metal boxes that lock for you to out all your food and rubbish in. This stops the bears breaking in to your car. There are massive fines if you don't. I asked the ranger if there would be any around in winter and he you can expect them all year. I don't know if he was just being safe and I didn't care. I put everything in those boxes. They had this really cool photo of a giant brown (do you get those in California) bear leaning out of a car it had broken into like it was waiting for a mate. It was massive! We met this old guy who had been driving around the country for two months. He was really cool and reminded us of Cyd. He gave us fire wood so we gave him beer.
We continued on to Yosemite national park for more beautiful scenery and home cooked tacos before venturing into San Francisco. San Francisco was a doozy for us. We got fined at a bridge for not having the right money, had to stay an extra night because a giant storm hit and then we got a parking fine for not turning our wheels on the gradient. On the up side it was craft beer week and we found two of the best spots in town! We made new friends and had plenty of delicious beers. San Francisco also has a pretty big food truck scene and we pretty much stalked this one truck for three days. I think it was called The Chairman and they made the most delicious steamed bun 'tacos' you could imagine. Melt your face kind of deliciousness.
We got two good saying from San Fran;
"Why are you shitting on my cheerios?"
A young, female up and coming brewer in Toronado pub
"Hey man!I've got these taxidermist grade alien testicles. Big, green, furry balls"
Some bum selling the goods on Height street
We head back to LA for a night before our next big adventure in Mexico! Nachoooooooooooo