Los Angeles Part 2

We have had a busy couple of days in LA.  Yesterday (Friday) we spent the whole day at San Diego Zoo.  We got picked up at 8:30am and we didn't get down there till nearly midday.  Lunch was our first stop so we could see which way we were going to go around the zoo.  We started out down one trail with monkeys and birds on it.  Then we came to the panada exhibit, we waited half hour to see them but it was well worth it, we were lucky as one was sitting right in front of us eating bamboo.  It was so so cute, we got some great photos and footage of them.  There was so much to do and see at the zoo, it was just incrediable.  The monkeys were very cute and they even had koala bears and kangaroos.  We got lots of great photos and footage.  We got through most of the zoo though it was very rushed and we finally got picked up at 6pm to head back to LA.  It took 3 hours to get back as the traffic was just crazy.  We got back to the hotel at 9:15pm, luckily the hotel restaurant was still open so we had a late dinner which was pretty good.  On Saturday we headed to universal studios, we met up with a few other people from the tour so we spent the day with them.  We bought the front of line pass and it was the best investment we could of gotten.  We didn't have to wait for any of the attractions it was awesome.  We did the backstage tour and got to see the old sets from the movies and the current shows like Desperate Housewives.  We saw the Jaws set and I jumped and screamed like a little girl when the big shark jumped out at the bus. Katrina thought it was very funny.  The best rides we went on were the Mummy ride and Jarassic Park.  They were so much fun.  They had a ride called house of horrors, we all walked in and Katrina got so freaked out it was the funniest thing I have seen, she screamed quite a few times.  I laughed so much I got a sore stomach.  We were finished at Universal by 5pm and we saw everything we wanted which was awesome, so we all went and had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, it was really good.  What was even better was we were back at the hotel nice and early for an early night.

Los Angeles Part 1

We have so far spent 3 full days in Los Angeles.  We arrived on Monday 1st August at about 3pm so we just relaxed with the other people from the contiki group.  On Tuesday we left the Kyoto Grand Hotel and headed for our home for the next 6 nights the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn.  We arrived here shortly after midday and we were lucky enough to get checked into our room straight away.  For the rest of the afternoon we did washing.  For dinner we met up with the people from contiki and we headed down to Santa Monica Pier for dinner.  It was a really pretty place and the food was pretty good as well.  We wandered along the pier for a little while before we headed back to our hotel.  On Wednesday we did our hop on hop off tour around Los Angeles.  It was a really big day, we saw all the major sites like the chinese theatre, hollywood walk of fame, Madam Tussards, Rodeo Drive, The rest of Santa Monica and lots lots more.  We didn't finish doing that till 6pm and we made our way back to the starting point which was Universal City and we had dinner.  You don't realise how big the city really is until you are actually here.  We got back to the hotel pretty early as we were both stuffed from the day.  The tour we decided to do on Thursday was the Movie Star home tour.  We got picked up from our hotel and taken around to all the different areas the stars live in like Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and the Hollywood hills.  We saw the homes of Shirley Temple, Julia Roberts, Bob Barker, Tom Cruise, Orlando Bloom, David and Victoria Beckham and many many more.  It was very cool and for some of them we weren't just looking at the gate, we could see the mansions as well.  We also got to see the Hollywood sign, unfortunatly we couldn't go up to the sign but we got to see it from a distance and it was still pretty cool.  Once the tour finished we got dropped back off at the hotel where we had some lunch and walked to the post office to post yet another parcel home.  Tonight we are just going to stay around the hotel for dinner as tomorrow (Friday) we are heading to San Diego Zoo.  So stay tuned!!!!!

Las Vegas Round 2

We have finally reached the final 2 nights of our tour and we finish them off in Las Vegas.  Along the way we stopped at Zion National Park and it was really beautiful,  we spent a couple of hours there so we could go for a walk.  The walk we decided to do was up to the waterfalls,  we got to the first section and there was still a little bit of water running.  What was good about the trail was it went behind the waterfalls it was really pretty.  We decided to walk to the upper part of the waterfalls, it was a really tough walk up hill and in sand, I struggled big time.  I did eventually make it up there and the waterfalls had dried up so it was just a pool of water, it was a bit of a disappointment.  Once we made it back to the starting point we hopped back on the bus and headed straight to Vegas.  We arrived just after 2:30pm which was awesome as we got to go shopping before dinner and Katrina found a really pretty dress to wear.  For tonight Katrina, Katy and I decided to go see a show called Peepshow, it's the one with Holly Madison in it and the bonus was we got a 3 course meal with the ticket.  The meal we got was huge but amazing and the show was awesome.  The seats we got were just in front of the stage and we could see everything.  Once the show finished we met up with everybody else at the Palms and we went to Rain nightclub.   We both had an amazing night.  A few of us left at about 2am and we were lucky enough to get a stretch limo ride back to our hotel and even better was we only had to tip him.  There was no charge for the limo itself and that was awesome.  Once we got back to the hotel we decided to play blackjack for a while which was a lot of fun.  We didn't win much but we had a great time which is the main thing.  We all headed to bed at about 4:30am.  I woke up pretty early the next morning (Sunday) so I went and played the slots for a while until Katrina woke up.  We then went and had lunch at a grill, which was awesome.  We decided to go shopping again that afternoon and I found a really nice dress to wear that night which was awesome.  That night Katy and I had tickets to go and see Celine Dion, We ended up having dinner at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant and the food was completely amazing.  Celine Dion was also really amazing, we had great seats and she was amazing.  We couldn't of asked for a better show.  Katrina decided she didn't want to go to Celine so she hung around the hotel and had dinner at a steakhouse which she said was the best piece of steak she had ever had.  We met up with her after the show for the Limo rides up and down the strip which was a lot of fun.  The nightlub we went to after that was called Pure, I didn't stay long as my feet were sore from my high heels and I had a really bad cough. So I headed back to the hotel for some sleep.  Katrina follwed shortly after that.  In the morning (Momday) we got back on the bus for the last time and we headed back to Los Angeles. 

Kanab (Grand Canyon)

We left Salt Lake City at the normal time and we headed for Kanab.  Along the way we stopped at Bryce Canyon, it was really beautiful.  It is very hard to describe, it was lots and lots of erroded ground that formed peaks in the middle of the canyon.  There was lots of different colours of reds and oranges, really pretty.  We were there for a couple of hours and had the chance to go for a walk.  Katrina did the trail that went down into the canyon and I did the one around the rim.  The drop off the side of the trail didn't agree with me at all.  Once everyone had returned from the walk we continued on our journey and finally reached Kanab.  It is a very small town and the only thing it is known for is the wild west movies that were shot in the area.  Being so small there wasn't a lot to do so we all had a carpark party.  A lot of people went to bed early that night.  The following day (Friday) we headed into the North rim of the Grand Canyon.  It was very different to the South rim, there were hardly any trails down into the canyon and there wasn't much of a rim trail either.  A few people did the trail down into the canyon and they said it wasn't very good.  Katrina and I stayed at the top and just had a relaxing day at the lodge.  After spending most of the day there we headed back to the lodge and we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in our room before another carpark party that night.  On Saturday we were headed back to Las Vegas.

Yellowstone National Park

We had a jam packed day today.  To start off we headed to the Grizzly and wolf discovery centre where we got to see Grizzly Bears and wolves and learn a bit about them.  The guide told us all kinds of information about how they came to be at the centre.  Once we finished at the centre we saw an Imax about the first discovery of Yellowstone park and all the pretty features it has in it,  It was pretty interesting.  We headed into the park after that where our first stop was Lower and Upper Falls.  We got dropped off at Lower falls and it was beautiful, the vantage point is on a cliff in front of the falls so we got fantastic views.  To get to the upper falls we hiked along a trail that cut really close to the edge of the cliffs, it was very scary for me I didn't like it much.  Upper falls were just as beautiful and we got some great photos of both of them.  The bus picked us up from the upper falls and we continued along to Mammoth Hot Springs, along the way we had to stop because there were some mountain goats on the road with babies, they were very very cute.  We eventually reached the hot springs and we got to wander around them, it was a really big walk with a lot of steps.  We didn't make it all the way to the top but we came close and the springs smelt really bad from all the sulfer and there was a lot of steam coming out from the water.  It was very interesting to see.  Once we finished at the hot springs we headed back to our hotel.  Along the way we saw Elk and deer out on the plains, it was very cool.  The only thing we didn't see was a bear and that was just fine with me.  We eventually reached our hotel and we all had a quiet night at the hotel bar with pizza and drinks.  It was good because the next morning (Wednesday) we had a massive 12 hour drive to do.  We stopped at Grand Teton National park which is a massive mountain range that was just beautiful, very picturesque.  We got some great photos.  We stopped in Jackson for lunch and it was a pretty little town set in a valley.  Other then those two stops and a couple of smaller ones we were on the bus for the rest of the time.  We eventually reached our hotel in Salt Lake City about 6:30pm.  We didn't really do much once we got here except go out for dinner.  Katrina did decide to go out for drinks so we'll see what time she gets home.  Tomorrow we head to Kanab for 2 nights.

Cody to Yellowstone National Park

We had a massive day of travelling to get to get to Cody. We stopped at Devil's Tower national park, we got to go on a hike around the tower which is basically the inside of a volcano that's been left over from errosion.  From there we did a quick stop at a field where all the priarie dogs live.  They remind of meerkat's they are very cute.  We made an unscheduled stop when we spotted snow on the side of a mountain and we had snowball fights with everyone, it was a lot of fun.  Katrina got hit in the head with a snowball, it was very funny. When we eventually got to Cody we only had an half hour to get ready to go to the rodeo.  It was heaps of fun, my favourite event was the bull riding and what was even cooler was a clown blocked a bull from a rider and he got flung up into the air, he was alright which was good.  After the rodeo was finished we got dropped of at a bar and it was super cheap. I bought a malibu and pineapple juice for $3.50, it was the cheapest drink I've ever bought.  In the morning before we left Cody we got the chance to go whitewater rafting.  It was so much fun, Katrina was up the front and she got soaked and the water was so cold it took your breath away.  I was laughing the whole the time.  After we finished rafting we did a quick change into dry clothes and got back on the bus and we headed to Yellowstone.  It was only a short drive and when we got into the park we made a stop at the mud ponds, it was boiling water that is so hot that it brought the mud to the surface, the smell was really bad. It was cool to see. Our second stop was at the lake, it was really beautiful.  The water in the lake was crystal clear and on the banks of the lake there were hot springs that were so hot there was organisms living in the water and they make the water a very vibrant blue colour.  It was awesome to see.  Our last stop before the hotel was at Old faithful Geyser, It's basically a hole in the ground that builds up pressure and when it releases it's pressure it shoots steam and boiling water into the air.  It's a really awesome sight.  After we saw the geyser go off we headed to the hotel to relax.  In the morning (Tuesday) we head into the park for a full day of hiking and sightseeing.

Mt Rushmore

We had an awesome day today.  We started out at Mt Rushmore where we had our group photo taken and we got to wander around the famous faces.  They are massive, we couldn't go all the way up to the top of them but we got right to the bottom.  It was awesome to finally see them, and they are out in the middle of no where.  Once we finished there we moved on to crazy horse monument, this one is still under construction and has been this way for the past 50 years.  The monument is being carved out of the mountain like Mt Rushmore, only this one is dedicated to a native indian.  It's going to be spectacular when it's finally finished but I can't see that happening anytime soon.  After there we went and did the horse ride.  It was awesome we went in through the woods to the base of the mountains and we saw deer with their babies and turkey's.  It was really pretty, definately a highlight.  Our last stop for the day was a little town called deadwood, it was a very small town and all there was to do there was gamble and eat.  So we went to a saloon and had a drink and then decided to have an early dinner.  We had steak and it was awesome!!! We are moving on tomorrow and heading for Cody.  Should be exciting!!!