Almost over

When I woke up Thursday morning I felt SO much better. It was great !

We returned the rental car and then decided to do the Hop On Hop Off bus tour so that we could get a bit of a look around LA and Hollywood. Jackie came with us which was fun. The HOHO in LA offers several different routes and you can transfer between them at no added cost. Bonus.

We caught the Yellow route from Santa Monica to near Beverly Hills and then transferred to the Red route which goes through Hollywood.

My cold or whatever it was had transformed itself again by now and I had begun to think it was more like an allergy reaction. So frustrating !

We hopped off the bus in Hollywood near the Chinese Theatre and had lunch before wandering along the walk of fame for a bit, and then completed the loop back to transfer onto the bus back to Santa Monica. 

Another visit to the drugstore and hopefully the right cure. There was just time to squeeze last minute things into our cases, and enjoy our last meal with Jackie and David. Then off to the airport, to find traffic chaos !!

Goodbyes and thank yous were said and we made our way to check in. They were pretty slow, particularly at security. It is such a pain, but I'd much rather go through all of that and know that everything possible to ensure my safety has been done.

As it turned out by the time we were finished at security it was almost boarding time. So some rushed purchases were made, and we made it to the gate. I was starting to feel a little better as well - and hoping that I would make it through the flight okay.

The thought of my own bed kept me going.

Sun, Deserts, Cars..

So this morning we packed up our things which seem to have multiplied in the last three days, and collected our rental car.

All went well there, and we managed to navigate our way the few blocks to the freeway. I-10 East. We were on our way from Santa Monica to Flagstaff. It is a l-o-n-g way. We made a stop early on to get food before we ravenous, as that is a mistake we ALWAYS make, There was some debate about which was the best route, but we decided in the end to stay on I-10 past Palm Springs and then take the 95 north to Needles as that was a place on the list. We probably should have taken a slightly different route because we missed the town sign that said "Needles". Never mind. We stopped at a gas station at the same time and almost melted when we got out of the car ! The temp on the dashboard was telling us 109F. What IS that in celsius ?? I'm sure it must be well over 40, and it certainly felt like it while we stood there like dumbos trying to work out how their self serve, pay at the pump, pump worked. Thankfully someone came to our aid !

So then we were off again this time on the I-40. I found driving not so bad at all, once we had navigated the multiple lanes on the freeway out of LA. That is one BIG city. Most of the rest of the roads are at least two lanes in either direction and the two directions are sensibly separated by at least 100 metres of land, often more. (just like a lot of roads in the UK) NZTA could learn a lot from other roading agencies around the world.

Just outside Flagstaff (our destination for the next couple of days) an Elk casually strolled across an exit lane and our two high speed lanes in front of us and a bus. We had seen signs about Elk for miles and miles with no signs of any potential wanderers anywhere and thought maybe they were just for show, like they seemed to be at home. But no, it would seem not. no casualties though, thanks to great brakes and a sudden spurt of urgency on the Elk's behalf.

So, then we found our hotel and some dinner, and have sat down and been lazy in front of the tv for the evening. What's on the agenda for tomorrow ? You will have to wait and see.

Hooray, Hooray, it's a holi-holiday

So, the time since we bought those amazingly inexpensive flights has flown by and we're here !!

The flight was good - even the Friday night traffic on the way to the airport was not too bad. Getting through immigration was a wee bit slow - but not so slow as it was for the big queue that came after us !!

We found our bags, and went to meet my cousin Jackie who was picking us up. A few text messages later and we spotted each other, so our bags were bundled into the car and we set off on our way to their house.

We've had a great couple of days being shown about and treated to some yummy meals. We have walked and walked - from Santa Monica to Venice (and back) and today we did a bit more shopping on Main St and 3rd St Promenade. Probably more looking than shopping to be truthful.

It was gorgeous and sunny when we landed on Friday afternoon (that's right - we had TWO Friday afternoons) but the "marine layer" came in and it has been a bit misty or just high cloud most of the time. That has kept the temperature a bit cooler as well.

We've had a great time and tomorrow we will set off on the next part of the adventure.