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Well, our polar bear and road trip adventure is over. Not without a little adventure at the end. Los Angeles was expecting Santa Ana winds - winds which sweep in from the desert - about midnight the day we were leaving. They arrived with 70 MILES per hour winds at 6.00pm. The wind was coming into our hotel room through the aircon and disloged one of the seals so the wind was whistling in quite loudly. We were on the 10th floor when the power went off. We'd checked our luggage in at QANTAS at 3.00pm and gone back to the hotel so only had carry-on to worry about but I still don't know if everything was packed. Couldn't see - and we had to walk down the stairs. Better than the poor people who were walking up. The whole district, including LAX airport was in darkness. You can imagine the chaos at an airport that size. Our plane was three hours late leaving and was very bumpy on take off. Our first time in an A380 - seats a lot more comfortable in cattle class than in other planes. Had a good flight home once we got airborne - both of us sleeping for about 7 hours. Obviously the people who should have been sitting beside us didn't make it to the airport - poor things probably still stuck in a lift somewhere in the blackout. We had four seats to ourselves. Our friend Judy, her daughter Emily and grandson Jack came to pick us up but arrived at the airport at 9.00 am. We got in at 2.00pm. That's what I call real friends. Now it's back to reality and trying to work out how on earth we managed to spend so much money and why isn't there anything much left in the bank. Well - you only live once so they say and we certainly had a great trip. John researched, planned and booked everything and nothing (besides being bogged in the snow for an hour) went wrong. I love going to the US but I'm also pleased when we leave. Great to hear Australian accents at the airport. Great to get home and see friends. Not a good idea to go away for six weeks when you live on an acre - despite the efforts of our housesitter and friends, LOTS of garden work to do. Better than being bored. Don't know where our next trip will be but we do want to get an AMTRAK pass in the US at some time. Everyone pray for the stockmarket to skyrocket - when that happens, we'll be on our way. Until then....there's the garden.

Santa Barbara photos

 

 

The building is our motel; we could hear the sea lions on the marker buoys for most of the night

Santa Barbara

     

Santa Barbara

We're back in beautiful Santa Barbara. Yay - it's warm. We can wear Tshirts instead of hiking boots, thick socks and big coats with fur hoods. Because we've stayed at the Oceana Motel before, they upgraded us to a 'partial' sea view room. Last time we were here we had a ground floor room with a small courtyard and a 'full' sea view. But, 'partial' is good. The motel provides bicycles for guests at no charge so this morning we rode along the beach as far as Montecito (Oprah lives there). We were going to visit but it's rude not to call first and we don't have her phone number. We then rode back to the other end to the harbour but there's a 2 hour limit so had to take the bikes back. There were huge bush fires there a couple of years ago and you can still see a distinct line in the hills where the limit of the fire was. Walked up town - the architecture is Spanish - all white walls and terra cotta roofs. The median house price here is $1.5million or it was last time we were here. Beautiful gardens everywhere both in peoples yards and in the streets. This is the last real day of our trip - bus to LA tomorrow which will take up most of the day then the following day we fly out. All there is to do now is to go for a walk out along the pier and the harbour wall and have dinner.

Old (and new) trams

 

 

 

San Francisco photos

  

 

Photos: Thanksgiving dinner; shopping centre with circular escalators; the cables running all the cable cars; big balls; trapped in the tram dee-po; John riding the outside of the cable car

Amtrak - SF to Santa Barbara

I left my heart in San Francisco - Oops!!! Someone has already said that! I really enjoyed SF. It is a vibrant city, easy to get around, multi cultural (and multi-sexual) a beautiful setting and plenty to do. Has a downside of the occasional earthquake but, hey, what city doesn't have its negatives. On our last day we went to the cable car museum. Not only do you get a history of the cable cars but it's at cable car central where the cables for the four lines run continuously. They run under the streets and the gripman on the cable car pulls back the lever and it grips on to a running cable. Didn't appreciate how they work until I saw that. John just sighs and rolls his eyes! There's a big story about a woman who fought city hall to keep cable cars and she won – eventually. They also have the “F” line – which runs along the waterfront and up Market Street. Lots of old trams from all over the world work this line. John and I rode a tram (modern) out to Balboa Park but didn't get off at the last stop – Well, we're tourists, how are we to know. We ended up in the 'Dee-po” (Tram Depot) where all the old trams go to have a rest. Just had to sit and wait for the tram to leave again. Were going to Sausalito on the ferry for lunch on Ron's recommendation. When we got to the ferry wharf we found we'd looked at the weekday timetable and not Saturday. Again tourists, how are we supposed to know what day it is. The ferry left 30 minutes beforehand and the next one wasn't for two hours. We're now on the train, Amtrak's Coastal Starlight, going to Santa Barbara – passing by many other saints – San Jose, Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo, the Santa Theresa, Santa Louisa mountains etc... The train is full. Must make a note to myself never to travel at Thanksgiving ever again. Didn't realise that it is a four day holiday – on the Wednesday, everyone is travelling to family, on Thursday, everything is shut. On Friday (it's called Black Friday) it's similar to our Boxing Day – shops open at midnight and it's mayhem with sales or else they go to Fisherman's Wharf. Saturday, sales continue and Sunday everyone travels to wherever it is they came from. The equivalent to our PSS (Passenger Service Supervisor) on this train is very upbeat and amusing. We went through a bird refuge and he listed some of the birds here – got to gulls – the ones which fly over the sea, seagulls and the ones that fly over the bay – bagels- ha, ha. Also pointed out the seals and sealions – said the seal on the right was called Lou Seal. Will post some photos later.

San Francisco photos

  

SFO houses; cable car; sea lions; Alcatraz

San Francisco

Well - Spot the tourist!!! Yesterday, we did all the touristy things (well some of them). In the morning we used our 'Muni' three day pass and took a tram to the end of the line at Ocean Beach and had a quick walk on the beach. As beaches go, I prefer Beachmere, but we got a good view of SFO suburbs. We then went back into the city and to Fishermen's Wharf. VERY touristy spot with thousands of people milling around. The Cable Cars are also included on our pass. You can't go to SFO without riding on a cable car. I didn't realise how far the cable cars went, how steep the streets actually are or that the cable cars are used by locals as their usual form of transport. The first one we rode on was crowded and John rode hanging on the outside. The second one was more crowded and I had to ride hanging on the outside as well. Fortunately, the last one I got a seat. We saw the sea lions at Pier 39 - they are so entertaining with their antics. We went back to the BART on an old tram which runs along the waterfront. San Francisco is a beautiful city with lots of atmosphere, unlike LA. Had to have an expensive Thanksgiving Dinner last night at a waterfront restaurant. We are staying in Oakland and this was the only restaurant that we could find opened on Thanksgiving. Still,it was a very nice dinner (and bottle of wine).

More photos

 

     

San Francisco/Oakland

Well - travelling has got in the way of blogging. We drove into Oakland yesterday - a lot of fun on the freeways!!!! checked in to our motel and returned the car to the airport. In the past few days we've driven through Washington State - past hundreds of wind farms. They're a good idea for generating electricity and look stark and graceful against the sky. They're environmentally PC but the downside is they have to build huge high tension wires to carry the electricity across state - not pretty. We drove down the Columbia River gorge - absolutely spectacular - not what I was expecting. Oregon was a surprise as well - first we had to drive across the high desert country (covered in snow). Didn't know that existed. Trees are stunted and they receive 20 inches of rain a year. After we negotiated Wilamette Pass - everything was wet and green - the trees very tall and beautiful fall colours everywhere. The first we'd seen. I'd just said to John that we've probably finished with any wildlife viewing when we saw three deer run across the highway and then passed a whole herd of elk. Elk were the only things we'd expected to see but hadn't up till then. Saw huge ponds of cranberries. We then drove down the coast from Coos Bay to Fort Bragg where we spent the night. What heaven - I got to ditch the boots I'd been wearing for weeks and wear my sneakers. The north coast of California is very rocky and wild, with VERY windy roads. We got to go for a long walk along the cliffs and stayed at a motel overlooking the ocean and the cliffs.

A couple of strange things about where we've been:

. In Idaho (and until very recently, Washington) - if you want to buy 'liquor' - vodka, rum etc. you have to buy it from state run alcohol shops. Hotels and supermarkets can't sell it. And in Idaho they are called state run liquor dispensaries. We had dinner in a local bar/grill and the bar attendant there thought it was hilarious and decadent that we had 'drive-through' alcohol shops.

. In Oregon it is illegal for you to put petrol in the car yourself. There are 'people' to do it for you (usually bundled up in gloves, two beanies and a huge parka). As everywhere else in the US, you pay with your card at the pump before you put the petrol in. Often you have to key in your zipcode into the petrol pump. As we don't have a zipcode, made life just a little difficult.

Yesterday, we wandered around San Francisco after first managing to buy tickets for the BART (local trains) which also wasn't easy. We now have a three day pass to ride on cable cars, street cars, ferries etc. It's Thanksgiving today so most things will be shut..just hope some food places are open.

Oakridge - Oregon

Sorry, but we've had computer problems for the past couple of days. Will try to post something this evening. We've been visiting with a friend of John's who is also a railway man who has a model train layout - O gauge for those who care. Drove over Willamette Pass yesterday - the road was ice and it was snowing. All the truckies had to stop and put chains on their wheels and we weren't supposed to be there unless we had traction tyres. We made it with our 'all weather' tyres and didn't slip once. Was glad to be over the other side though. I can say we haven't been anywhere on our trip where the scenery hasn't been amazing. The last two days are no exception. Will post some photos tonight if the computer cooperates.

Photos

 

 

Wallace Photos

 

 

People at the prize draw; street in Wallace; the old Northern Pacific railway station; Paradise railway station - all railway men will be pleased there is a railway in paradise.

Walla Walla, Wa.

Couldn't wait to write that. Wa. is the abbreviation for Washington State. Last night, we stayed in a town called Wallace, Idaho. The whole town is on the national historical register - no new buildings allowed apparently. After getting stuck in the snow for an hour and having to be dug out - it was too late for us to continue to Walla Walla, Wa. (don't you love that name). We stayed in the Brooks Hotel, a heritage listed building, in the middle of town. There was a competition happening whereby stores opened until late and residents had to get stamps from about 20 businesses then there was a draw for the winner. We were in the bar/restuarant next to the hotel having dinner when lots of people came in for stamps. What fun it was. Lots of chat and laughing. We both love staying in small towns and talking to locals. They also seem to like talking to us. Were talking to our breakfast waitress today and asked her, after giving her the option not to answer, what her rate of pay is She is paid $3.18 per hour and depends, as does a lot of the US workers, on tips. These are few and far between in winter. There is a ski resort nearby whose season opens soon. She said business (and pay) will pick up then. We've just arrived in Walla Walla, Wa. yes, that's Walla Walla, Wa.
Will post some photos of Wallace, Id. then just some scenic stuff along the way. On the downhill slide now. We'll be in Oregon tomorrow.

Poulson - Montana

 

Photos: The lake at sunrise; The lake trout; another view of the lake.

Poulson - Montana

Drove from Essex to Whitefish - a ski town then down the shores of Flathead Lake. We stayed last night at a Best Western motel owned and run by the Salish and Kootenai Indian tribes. It was on the shores of Flathead Lake on the Indian reservation - with the usual stunning Montana scenery. There should be a new superlative coined for Montana. We went for a walk - freezing cold and starting to snow. We walked out on the marina jetty and met an Indian man fishing. He said he lived four hours away but came to Poulson for an emergency - the emergency was that the fish are biting. He caught this lake trout (photo) and nearly fell in trying to land it. He was so rugged up he had to remove two layers of head covering before he could hear us. John was impressed because he was wearing Carharts. John has Carhart jeans - any real man in rural America wears Carharts. On our drive we stopped in a little town called Paradise - so we've actually been to paradise - read into that what you will. There is a railway station so all railway people will be pleased there will be trains in paradise.

Essex photos

 

 

Photos: Part of locomotive's interior; the exxterior; this is not blurred, it's the way we saw the road through the snow; John beside the engine; cleaning snow off the car.