Wednesday, May 24, 2017

22. San Francisco



San Francisco Photo Album






Oh boy...we were excited to come to San Fran for a couple of reasons....firstly we felt that after this stop we are officially heading east ...towards home and secondly we were going to stay at Ilona's  sister's house in Danville ( about an hour east of san fran)  Maggie and Max.  Upon arrival we were greeted very warmly in their  beautiful home. They had prepared a wonderful meal which we ate by the pool,  After supper we cheered to their 38th wedding anniversary....chatted for a while then off to bed.



The next morning Maggie and Max t made us delicious breakfast and
cappuccinos....yum....then took us to Mount Diablo State Park, which right in their back yard.....we drove to the very top as it was too hot to walk..( plus we''re not in shape ) . As we switch backed up this 3800 foot mountain, we saw many, many road cyclists scaling this mountain, it was quite something to watch and max said it was grueling since he had done it previously. Once at the summit it saw a beautiful 360 view of bay to the coast. We also went to the museum, took some photos while being attacked by earwigs.....yukkkkkkkkkkk ...I would even go as far as saying it was in infestation....so we quickly descended from the observatory deck.




The descent down from the mountain was worse for me as I actually got nauseous. That evening we were treated to fabulous meals at the Metro Restaurant in nearby Lafayette.. We met Max and Maggie's friends Mark and Heidi, also former Canadians living in the area. They were very nice people. We exchanged stories and ate some pretty scrumptious meals. I had the homemade pasta dish and peter had pork loin dish.















On Sunday morning we headed toward downtown San Fran to go watch the Bay to Breakers run...it was interesting to say the least...we didn't want to go by car so we took our bikes on The Bart (their metro).  The race began on the bay side and headed west 10 km to the ocean side. After the run we thought we'd bike to the golden gate bridge....well I certainly chewed off more than I could
chew....OMG I thought I was gonna die riding my bike in the hilly city....there was no way I  was gonna make it...so we took a public bus back to the downtown core ( it's cool that we can put our bikes on the front rack on the city bus). After eating a spot of lunch and downing a very good Starbucks Coffee, I found my second wind 
 So we bike to the pier and headed over to pier 39. The place was buzzing with people, we were treated to the sea lions sunbathing on the docks, a close view of Alcatraz and many street performers.  after several hours of strolling the pier we headed back to the house...i was absolutely fried....it was a very long and exhausting day .....







Monday was a complete rest day...I was still recovering from the excruciating bike ride of the day before...so we chilled by the pool all day long. When Max and Maggie got home we had a delicious stir fry and went our for an ice cream to cap off a perfect relaxing day.













Our final day in San Fran was Tuesday and we had 1:30 tickets for visiting The Rock. we started our day in San Fran on Lombard Street. I had NOOOO idea the street would be so beautiful and very winding and decorated with beautiful flowers. So we drove down the street in delight ( Plz see video in our photo album) Afterwards we went to Coit Tower; another great lookout, unfortunately the Golden Gate Bridge was covered in fog. So off we went towards the pier. 












We had found a cheap parking through SpotHero app near Pier 9. We hopped on our bikes and cycled to pier 33 to board our cruise. Alas we had arrived on The Rock. It was a short boat ride as it's only 1 1/4 miles away from San Fran.  I had no idea this prison was a military prison before is was turned into a Federal Prison. Alctraz was reserved for uncooperative prisoners regardless of their crime. we visited the c -d blocks, mess hall, morgue, library , isolation cells.  We enjoyed our visit here. 






















I've included a video on the most infamous escape of all!!


Alcatraz video



Finally after our informative visit at the Rock we decided to try to see if the Golden gate bridge was still shrouded with fog. We drove as close to it as possible at Fort Point and were surprised at how beautiful this bridge was, even though it was still covered in some fog.  We decided to take the bridge back to Maggie's house and that was a treat as well.....san fran was a definite hit for us!!

love always
Mary and Peter

Saturday, May 20, 2017

21. Pismo Beach, Moody Bay and Monterey




Pismo Beach, Morro Bay and Monterrey Photo Album


Hello everyone

We said our goodbye's with Jocelyn in los Angeles and hit the  road up north toward Pismo Beach....we chose this stop because it was half way between San Francisco and LA.  We checked in our campsite and biked around the camp a little while geocaching. I dropped off a travel bug I had picked up in Sedona and picked up a new one which i'll take home to Montreal.




















Bar's Motto
Peter having trouble choosing

Once again it was  too chilly to sit at the beach so we decided to drive up to San Luis Obispo which is Caltech town. We ended up at a bar where you can try 36 types of beer and wine. Basically the way it works is that you check in with your credit card and are given a bracelet with a chip. You go to the taps and decide which beer you wanna have, tap you bracelet and pour yourself a drink. They are a variety of beers at different costs of course. At the end of the night you can check out by paying what you owe with card and give bracelet back....I found the beer to be delicious and the system to innovative and cool. On our way back to the car we stumbled upon Bubblegum Alley....yep you guesssed it....it was pretty disgusting.....so I added mine too.....GROSS!!





The next day we drove to Morro Bay to see this giant rock...we also saw a school of sea otters playing in the bay and of course the wind was howling so we stayed for about an hour...took photos and had to retreat to the car for some warmth...


kite surfers...

And the piece de resistance was driving up the coast on Highway 1 to Monterrey...... OMG the coastal views of the rugged  coast with the beautiful bluffs and the deep blue ocean  was breathtaking ......we took our time and stopped frequently to take soak in the beauty. We watched the HBO series Pretty Little Lies so we wanted to go the the bridge and the cafe they filmed at on the show.....it did not disappoint....we got a kick of seeing these locations in real life.....then we drove south again on highway 1 towards Big Sur right to the end of the road, since the landslides have damaged the highway and therefore closed a huge section of the highway.  We promptly performed a U-turn and headed back north on highway 1. The next day we drove did the 17 Mile Drive at pebble beach....that was also pretty cool....we stayed to watch the sunset at one of the lookouts....spectacular....I  can't ever get enough of the sunsets !!!!
beautiful coastline
happy Mary and peter!!!


OFF to San Francisco!!!

Love always
Mary and Peter



Brixby Bridge in the show
Brixby bridge in the show

Cafe in the show


20. Los Angeles

Los Angeles Photo Album













WE arrived in L.A full of expectations since we always hear so much about this city.  So the first thing we did was check into our Airbnb house in North Hills. We were greeted by Jocelyn and her sisters. It was gonna feel good sleeping in a real bed and not in the van for four days. We immediately hit ti off with Jocelyn, Theresa and Pamela. They made us feel right at home. So the first order of operations was to figure out what we wanted to do in this town.












We decided to support local theater and went to a Green Day musical at the cupcake theater in LA. The theater was in an obscure part of town in very tiny place....the local artists did a fairly good job at singing and dancing in the musical but they were NO Jersey Boys that's for sure.

 The next day we decided to get into beach mode. We hit the coast and went to Saint Monica's pier and Venice Beach. Another cold day in Cali.....once again we did not swim in the ocean but we had a picnic lunch and met a lovely young girl from Nevada named Lexi. She was practicing her cartwheels so naturally we struck up a conversation!!!  , Heidi, her mom,  was very friendly and Lexi was delightful... she was  in grade 4 !!! After a 15-20 minute conversation we took a selfie and went our ways. We headed towards the Santa Monica pier which was an amusement park. We strolled along and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon.








We kicked off our second day with the infamous walk of fame on Hollywood Boulevard ( had to do it),  luckily we went early in the morning because we passed by later in the evening and was absolutely jam packed. So we did the touristy... thing took pictures of some stars on the walk. From there we went to the Chinese theater where we saw some footprints and hand prints of some stars and notably Marilyn Monroe was the only one that flowers on hers. We saw the  Dolby theater with the infamous red carpet....it was quite cheesy and we did feel very touristy but when in LA you got to do at least once right?










We stayed for a couple of hours and then decided to head over to the Getty Museum .....NOW this place is a spectacular place that's absolutely immense and it was very very well laid out.  There's a tram that takes you from the parking lot to the museum since the museum is up on a hill. The museum boasts some exquisite our collections from original artists such as then go Monet,Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, Van Gogh many etc. we enjoyed it so much we stay till the very end we actually closed the place down. Best of all it's all free!!
😮



As usual when we got back to the house we chitchatted and exchanged our day events with our house Jocelyn and her family, this time we met her daughter Stephanie....it was so cool the way  Jocelyn's  family embraced us .....they give us many tips on where to get free food ...seriously they should have a blog on how to get free food...and it was very very pleasant.  After about an hour and a half of chatting we decided to head to bed. 





Our 3rd was an exciting day......we knew we had tickets to the James Corden show so we decided not to take any chances and  headed down to the CBS studios. We decided to park her car in indoor facility and then headed over to the farmers market which was right nearby. Walked around the farmers market for a little while and had some lunch and then started to notice that the line was forming for the James Corden show so we proceeded to the line ourselves. Official check-in was at three o'clock  and we got in line  at 1:40 and so it began... waiting ....waiting.... waiting .....waiting. Suddenly  an intern comes out to tell us there should be two lines one for priority tickets one for general mission ....we felt lucky since we had priority tickets and we were fairly close to the front of the first line. At about 4 o'clock they ushered us into the first waiting area in the building after we had cleared security through metal detectors and then finally were given a bracelet. So basically Peter and I deciphered that if you were young and hip you were given two colors purple and gray ....if you were not you were given just the purple and if you're lucky you're given a gold bracelet (gold bracelet meant that you were invited by somebody who worked at the show ). While in line we met some young kids from Montreal ....they  were actually from France but are working Montreal ...doing a work stage ...they were all in their early 20's ...so when we were ushered in  and we thought we're gonna sit together but noooooooooooooooo..... they got the two bracelets (young and hip) so  they were sent immediately to the front and we were sent to the middle ............oh well I guess if were 20 or 30 years younger. Once we got inside and told where to sit,  I was struck by the size of the studio 56....it's very very small and intimate ...so every seat was a good seat....and there were A LOT of people working behind the scenes.  The director gave us strict instructions to cheer at the top of our lungs in certain specified moments ....which were a lot of them..... and we were NOT to jeer or yell out  words.... just cheer and clap very loudly. He certainly cracked his whip and made sure that we did this.... he told us to fake it if we have to but we have to clap and cheer as loudly as we could!!!!  by the end of the night my voice was shot my triceps got a work out...... but it was kind a neat to watch a live show and it was so fun to be in the audience......James is very affable although he did not come to the audience to say hi how are you doing...thanks for coming....oh well!!!!

tomorrow we're off  up the coast to San Luis Obispo at Psimo beach



Sunday, May 14, 2017

19. San Diego, California


San Diego, California photo album










hey hey everyone


I  hope you're keeping well ....sooooo we made it to Califonia....it's the furthest west we have ever been and we're sooo far from home, as you can see from the pic. I must admit, it was pretty cool smelling the pacific ocean and putting our feet in the very frigid water. Our timing is not good at all, as it's unusually cold in California this week compared to last week's temps of 90 Fahrenheit. Oh well, good thing we're Canadian and we have winter jackets. In fact we had to switch our campsite because the wind was howling so badly that we couldn't even cook. Anyway, we settled in and decided to go check out the downtown area.






We quickly stumbled upon fisherman's village and the USS MIDWAY Naval ship.....she was a beaut, acting as a backdrop to the Unconditional Surrender Statue; a man kissing a woman  after V-J Day as you can see from the original picture.....so we did like all the other tourists ....took a selfie in front of it....lol......we strolled along the oceanfront geocaching along the way....it was a really good intro to San Diego.!!!







The next day we decided to go the the Cabrillo National Monument at Point Loma. National parks are fantastic because there offer free tour guides explaining the preservation of a natural resource such as the park forests or tide pools or caves etc.  Our guide told us that Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was the first European to ever set foot in California but it was Gaspar de Portolà who established the first settlement there...interesting facts huh?  So we went to his statue...looked out to the bay and we could see Mexico across the bay. Tijuna was right there!!! wow so close.....afterwards we proceeded to the lighthouse then the tide pools and called it day.....we had to hurry out of there and pick up some supper because we had a show to catch....Jersey Boys at the civic theater. We absolutely loved the show!! Of course it helped that the music was so good and of course the acting was spot on. I didn't really know much about Frankie Valli's story ...I cried a couple of times too. Anyway totally recommend this show. 




The last day we were in San Diego we decided to beach it. So we went to La Jolla beach and it didn't disappoint. although it was a super cold day to swim, it was hot enough to sit on the beach an vegge out while Peter went for a hike. He found some hand gliders doin their thing and some beautiful homes on the beach. we spent a deal of time there and recharged our batteries. 

We headed back to our campsite for supper ...woohooo, fajitas. We met some kids from Kansas next door to us who had trouble strign a fire. .....so we went over with our hatchet and help split the lod into kindling.....they were very polite and offered us a beer bu way of thanks.....so we hit it off....we had supper then hung out by the fire pit exchanging  stories... mostly about what it was like growing up in Kansas.... they were hilarious , and delightful.....a great night all around.....tomorrow we head off to LA.


love always
Mary and Peter  


Monday, May 8, 2017

18. Joshua Tree National Park


May 8-9

18. Joshua Tree National Park, California Photo Album
















Hey everyone,

We started our day fixing our mirror which had fallen off at Lake Havasu...then we were off towards California at the Joshua tree national Park. We pulled up to the campground called Black rock Canyon campground and then decided to hike up to one of the peaks near our site. We had difficulty finding the trail head for the peak and then  came across an ex- Marine who was shooting squirrels with his pellet  gun on his property cuz they were "vermin around here" so we asked him for some help and he pointed us in the right direction. It was about a 30  minute hike up the mountain ...as usual look outs on top of mountains are absolutely beautiful .


The next day we got up early because we needed and oil change.... so we went to Walmart then off tot the national Park. Upon arrival to the park we were quite surprised to see how many boulders were there in fact just as many boulders as Joshua trees. Our first stop was the cholla cactus garden ...it was quite interesting to read about about the different types of cacti and how they survive in these extreme conditions. The layout is similar to the petrified national forest whereby you drive along this huge park and you pull off at the specified locations where they want to show you some pretty neat stuff.



Our second stop was the skull rock .....as you can  see from the photos the boulders shape resemble a skull ...we found others like the old man....the big toe....etc. We also decided to go check out Barker Dam ..only we got lost there again!!!  we started off on the trail and somehow we went off trail for about an hour and retraced out steps and found barker dam. Barker damn isn't as attractive after 1.5 hour hile to go see it....arghhhhhh.......  We headed over to  hidden Valley for a picnic lunch...this was was kinda  cool because you picnic  amidst the boulders....they provided shade and very pleasant view. Finally to finish off for day we went up to Keys View which was a good 10 to 15 minute drive up the mountain over 5000 feet in elevation and the view was absolutely fantastic .....wowwwwww....we were able to see the Coachella Valley .....Salton Sea..... Palm Springs and the San Andreas Fault ......big caveat .....there's also quite a lot of haze which was quite apparent....... caused by the pollution in California....what a shame!!!!!















The part about travelling that we love is meeting people.....today we  met a very young couple from Texas named Kelly , Christopher and their baby Ezra. Christopher was so familiar to us because he look just like my sister's nephew Christopher Neves. We chatted with them for 10 minutes or so and took some photos and went on our way. We also met Sandra and Rohan from Australia...they helped us get back on track when we came off the trail while bouldering..... were super nice.... they are visiting the area here for eight weeks or so. We were going to stay for the sunset but we were tired and hungry because we got lost twice so we headed back to camp had supper...did some star gazingand called it a night..... ... we enjoyed our stay here at Joshua tree....tomorrow we're off to San Diego...



PS the Joshua Tree is not a succulent as many believe....it got its name from Mormons who said it resembled Joshua praying with arms spread to the sky.....

love always
Mary and Peter.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

17. Sedona and Lake Havasu Arizona


May 3, 2017


Sedona and Lake Havasu, Arizona Photo Album













good morning,,,,


I want to go have one last look at the Grand Canyon before we left for Sedona ,  so we did just that......and the canyon was just as magical and as s spectacular as the first time I set eyes on her three days earlier !!! Except this time we met a nice French couple from Calais....we chit chatted for a while then hit the road for Sedona. The drive was easy, only 3 1/2 hours...we were  aback by all the beautiful rock formations that surrounding  the city.....kinda reminded me of Jasper with the Rockies in the background except here we have the Canyon formations....one word simply beautiful ....we immediately  we set off for the shops area did a little bit of shopping ....we stayed at Dead Horse Ranch State Park about 20 minutes south of Sedona in the town of Cottonwood.





The next day we decided to hike up to the famous Cathedral Rock ....we decided we were gonna start to go up as much as we could and take frequent break in the unbearable heat. So we did....the climb up was tough on the old cardio but technically not bad at all....there was one section that was steep but a crevice gave us extra security to scale the rocks....anyway we made it the "NOTCH" and the view was absolutely  spectacular....so we took a few photos and hustled down cuz we had a reservation for a pink jeep sunset tour of a local canyon at 5:30. We learned a lot about these very old rock formations and enjoyed the sunset in the canyon. Coming down was more fun and easier than i thought it would be....i am super happy we hiked to top ... it felt super good... a real confidence booster....oh yeah we also went to the famous church on the rocks...

we had an awesome time and day in Sedona....highly recommend it...


Lake Havasu

wow who knew??? Lake Havasu is a mega water playground, resort town complete with speed boat races , which were cancelled because of the wind. We met a local couple, Tammie and Dave who were super nice and extremely hospitable ..so they extremely affable and we hit it off right away......they invited us out for supper at a local Mexican restaurant where they were celebrating Cinco de Maio. What an awesome night!! Huge shout out to them for making our stay here very nice ...someday we'd like to repay them with our Canadian hospitality...

Also, Lake Havasu is also the location of the original London Bridge.....which was not sound enough to support modern traffic in London England , was put up for sale.... so a local man bought it for 2.1 million ...had it dismantled and each brick was numbered, then rebuilt here in the 70's ....who knew??? tomorrow were off to Joshua Tree National Park.....

love always

Mary and Peter