PDA

View Full Version : Matt & Ally's American Adventure


Tezcatlipoca
20-03-2009, 01:34
Well, the time is nearly upon us. Not long now until Ally (Mrs D) and I are in the US, for the start of our 1st Anniversary American Adventure [delayed-proper-] Honeymoon Road Trip*.

On Friday afternoon, we get the coach down to Heathrow airport, and then head over to a hotel for the night.

On Saturday morning, we have to get up horrendously early, and will then be off to the terminal to check in for our flight to San Francisco.

Several hours later, and we'll be in The City by the Bay :) [Or "Frisco", which apparently the local residents hate it to be called]

We're going to be spending four nights in San Francisco, and will be seeing a variety of stuff in the city itself and the surrounding area, including of course the infamous Alcatraz.

From San Francisco, we'll then be heading off in a hire car down the Coast, for a three day drive South to Los Angeles (staying in a hotel each night). On the way, we'll have California's Pacific Coast on one side, and the Los Padres National Forest (http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/lospadres/) on the other side. Gorgeous (just hope the weather is good!).

We're going to be in LA for a few days, seeing various different things in and around the city, before then driving off towards Death Valley.

After Death Valley, we'll then be off to Las Vegas for the final part of the trip, which will include a trip from Vegas to the Grand Canyon.

And then... from Vegas back to the UK. And then probably major jet lag and lots of sleep.

If anyone is actually curious as to where we are and what're we're seeing and doing, I will be aiming to post updates and stuff (when possible) to my Twitter (http://twitter.com/) account @MJDodd (http://twitter.com/MJDodd/) throughout the trip, via SMS (and also via Tweetie when there's free WiFi), plus will also post Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=525475970) status updates (when there's free WiFi). I'll also be taking photos using my iPhone's rather meagre 2MP camera, and will post some up on Twitter (via Twitpic) and Facebook when possible.

For "proper" photos (rather than phone camera ones), I'll be using Ally's Canon IXUS during the trip (sadly my trusty old Canon Powershot died some time ago) for "point & shoot" stuff, while Ally takes even better photos with her Nikon D40 Digital SLR, so we should have a whole load of photos at the end of it...


I hope I don't miss too much fun here at CF over the next two & a bit weeks ;) :)





*[The funny thing is that Ally will be doing all of the driving, as I can't drive... Hey, doing a road trip / driving holiday was her idea...]

danielf
20-03-2009, 01:52
Good stuff. Enjoy :D

You should get proper road trip music. :)

TheDaddy
20-03-2009, 02:32
Good stuff. Enjoy :D


Ditto :)

icestar2
20-03-2009, 02:38
Sounds like a brilliant trip Matt. No doubt you'll have a great time buddy. Just watch out for them drive-by's in LA I hear they can be a real pain ;)

LondonRoad
20-03-2009, 10:05
Sounds great. Enjoy every minute. :tu:

zing_deleted
20-03-2009, 10:55
My daughter did that with the ex and her new hubby a couple of years ago only they went the other way. There is a national park on the way they stayed in might have been Yellowstone but I cant remember

Hope you have a great time mate :)

Fingy
20-03-2009, 12:54
Have a great time. Most McD's etc have free wifi out there.

Halcyon
20-03-2009, 19:15
I wish you both an excellent holiday!
I look forward to reading about your trip when you get back.
Have fun :)

AntiSilence
20-03-2009, 19:37
Cool... Have fun both of you.

Russ
20-03-2009, 19:42
Pah, I can beat that.

I'm going to Llanelli.

bopdude
20-03-2009, 19:45
Have a greeeaaaat time.

Tezcatlipoca
09-04-2009, 22:26
Best.Holiday.Ever :D

Back in the UK. Meh :(

I wish we'd had the time & the money to just keep travelling around the US...

It was... awesome :)

We arrived at San Francisco on the Saturday, after a night at the Hilton at Heathrow, followed by an early 10 hour flight to SFO (too early to travel to Heathrow on the Saturday morning, hence the hotel).

San Francisco was brilliant. Spent four nights there, saw loads of stuff (including Alcatraz & the Golden Gate Bridge). Amazing city, & somewhere I'd love to live. The hotel (Chancellor) gave us wine, champagne, & chocolates.

The drive South down California's Pacific Coast (mostly via California Highway 1 aka the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) aka Scenic Highway 1) was gorgeous... the coast, mountains, state parks/beaches/reserves, Los Padres National Forest, Big Sur (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Sur), etc. Spent a night at Monterey, then Cambria, then Santa Barbara.

Monterey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monterey) seemed really nice - didn't see much of it though.

Cambria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambria,_California) was nice too, but too small & remote for somewhere I'd want to stay very long. On the way from Cambria to Santa Barbara we saw Hearst Castle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearst_Castle).

Santa Barbara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Barbara,_California) was lovely, & like SF was somewhere I'd happily live (although I preferred SF). Like SF, the hotel gave us a little something (champagne, plus a "Congratulations!" banner).

After Santa Barbara, we then drove to Los Angeles. We stayed in LA for 4 nights.

LA was strange. Some nice bits, some tacky bits. We did have a good time there, seeing Hollywood, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. Studios, La Brea Tar Pits, & Griffith Park Observatory, plus hired a couple of push bikes & cycled from Santa Monica beach to Venice beach & back.

From LA, we drove through the Mojave Desert (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave_Desert) to Death Valley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley) (the hottest, driest, & lowest place in North America, & the location of the highest temperature ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere). Stunning. [And very hot...]. Before hitting Death Valley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_National_Park), we saw the Calico Ghost Town (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calico,_California), along with Boron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron,_California).

After a night in Death Valley, we drove around the area a bit more, seeing more of the Death Valley National Park (including Badwater Basin), and then set off for Las Vegas in Nevada.

Vegas was very strange. Stayed there 4 nights. Even more tacky than LA (much more so), & seemed basically to be an Adult Theme Park (Dilli would love it - Vegas has the highest number of rather busty ladies I have ever seen anywhere).

We saw the hotels/casinos on "The Strip (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas_Strip)" (some fancy, some unbelievably tacky & cheesy), and also visited the Atomic Testing Museum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_Testing_Museum) (very interesting), & the nearby Hoover Dam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Dam) (massive!).

The highlight of Vegas was actually an organised day trip to the Grand Canyon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_National_Park) (South Rim) in Arizona. Stunning, amazing, breathtaking, etc... Words & photos do not do it justice, you really need to see it... and then just stare in wonder...


We left Vegas on Monday afternoon...9 1/2 hour flight back to Gatwick, 8 hour time difference...Very tired on Tuesday.

Got back home on Tuesday afternoon (which as far as my body was concerned was Tuesday morning...). Back at work for Wednesday & today, & thankfully have a nice handy Easter break now.

Final mileage we clocked up on the car was around 1500 (not including the Grand Canyon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon) trip as that was in a minibus), in a little Yaris that wasn't always too keen on some of the more steep/twisty/gravelly roads in some places lol.

Glad to be home, but... I want to go back.

The only things I don't miss are the tipping, the strange thin American toilet roll, & the scarily enormous "cars".

Hugh
09-04-2009, 23:02
Congrats to you and Mrs Matt on a wonderful adventure.

haydnwalker
09-04-2009, 23:07
The funny thing is that Ally will be doing all of the driving, as I can't drive...

I wouldn't fancy driving in the US anyway...just scares me!... Though I guess they have the open roads towards Death Valley :)

Hope you get a nice car - my friend said that the car they had (cant remember what it was) had what we would think were arm chairs for seats!

---------- Post added at 22:06 ---------- Previous post was at 22:06 ----------

Safe Trip!!

---------- Post added at 22:07 ---------- Previous post was at 22:06 ----------

Hmm only just seen the thread and noticed your back....hope you had a good time!

Tezcatlipoca
09-04-2009, 23:14
Congrats to you and Mrs Matt on a wonderful adventure.

Thanks :)

I wouldn't fancy driving in the US anyway...just scares me!... Though I guess they have the open roads towards Death Valley :)

Hope you get a nice car - my friend said that the car they had (cant remember what it was) had what we would think were arm chairs for seats!

---------- Post added at 22:06 ---------- Previous post was at 22:06 ----------

Safe Trip!!

---------- Post added at 22:07 ---------- Previous post was at 22:06 ----------

Hmm only just seen the thread and noticed your back....hope you had a good time!

Cheers :)

We had a Toyota Yaris. Perhaps not ideal for some parts, but it managed it OK, plus we spent hardly any money on "gas".

Ally found driving in the US strange at first (wrong side, funny speed limits, right turns on red, etc.), but quickly got used to it. [Plus satnav helped!].

Halcyon
09-04-2009, 23:28
Sounds briliant! Shame you have to come back to the dull UK weather.
Do post some photos too.
I'm glad you had a happy trip out there.

Tezcatlipoca
09-04-2009, 23:45
Yeah, it really was brilliant.

We were very lucky with the weather too. We were expecting San Francisco to be foggy & not too warm, & instead it was clear & sunny. LA had good weather, DV was baking of course, & although Vegas started out a bit wet & windy it cleared up after the first day.

iPhone pictures:

Facebook public link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=113462&id=525475970&l=caf2140c03


Twitpic:

http://www.twitpic.com/photos/MJDodd


Ally's proper photos taken with her D40 should be going online at some point, once they've been sorted.

icestar2
10-04-2009, 00:33
Meh :(

Welcome back Matt, Glad to hear you had such a good time. Its something I'd like to do myself one day to :)

Now were have I seen that Meh before . . . . . . . . . . . Ah ! your PS3 Status lol.

Lord Nikon
10-04-2009, 05:05
I personally have no problems driving in the US, all you have to remember is that the steering wheel remains towards the center of the road.

Right on red is easy as well, makes more sense than having to wait at an empty junction for the lights to change.

Tezcatlipoca
05-07-2009, 21:14
Ally's proper photos taken with her D40 should be going online at some point, once they've been sorted.

And, three months later, Ally has finally finished combing through the two or three thousand pictures she took with her Nikon, & has put 230 of them online:

Western USA - Honeymoon and First Anniversary Galleries (http://alison-dodd.smugmug.com/Vacation/795311)


Her other galleries can be found at http://www.alison-dodd.co.uk

TheNorm
05-07-2009, 21:43
And, three months later, ...

Very, very good! And the weather seems to have been very kind to you (especially when at the Golden Gate Bridge) - or are there a thousand "cloudy and raining" photographs in the recycle bin?

superbiatch
05-07-2009, 21:54
Looks amazing Matt, hope to do the Wast coast to East someday (yeh in an open top lol) but i don't mind driving abroad. After driving in Greece, you have no fear of driving anywhere in the world :rolleyes:

alferret
05-07-2009, 22:23
And, three months later, Ally has finally finished combing through the two or three thousand pictures she took with her Nikon, & has put 230 of them online:

Western USA - Honeymoon and First Anniversary Galleries (http://alison-dodd.smugmug.com/Vacation/795311)


Her other galleries can be found at http://www.alison-dodd.co.uk


Some superb pics there Matt, Ally has a great eye for taking pics :tu:

Tezcatlipoca
06-07-2009, 03:06
Cheers all :)

TheNorm - The weather was very good to us, even in San Francisco (where we expected it to be very cloudy) :)