San Diego Sea World

 
 
 
Sea World was also great, with weird and wonderful fish in the aquarium and a chance to see Shamu in the Believe show (which was great, apart from the cringeworthy Anheuser Busch bit where they talked about "American heroes" and asked people from the U.S. armed forces (and those from the U.K. and other allies) to stand up and for everyone to applaud them).

Where are we?

San Diego Zoo

 
 
 
San Diego Zoo is really impressive. Here are a couple of pics we snapped while wandering round. We went there as it was on our City Pass, which is really great value. It gets you into Universal Studios, Disney (3 days!), San Diego Zoo and Sea World. The Zoo is massive!

Palm Springs, Joshua Tree and Disney

 
 
 

While in LA we went to Anaheim to Disneyland. We spent a day at Disney's California Adventure (the pic is of the California Screamin' rollercoaster, which was really good). We then went to Palm Springs for a few days to chill out. Nothing but desert and wind farms around there and very, very hot. On the way back to Disneyland proper we passed through Joshua Tree National Park. We got out of the car at one of the oases but had to run back as we were attacked by a flying beetle with orange wings (Andrew said it was like something from Starship Troopers and Ash used his standard joke - "it's like a dog with wings"). We stayed mostly close to the car from then on (though we were warned that bees/wasps hang around cars as they are attracted to the moisture from the air con so you have to get in/out quickly!). The joshua trees themselves are strange looking, as you can see in one of the pics.

The Disneyland bit of Disney was a bit disappointing. Various rides were out of order throughout the day and there were too many children for our liking (though we managed not to kill any of them). We did enjoy competing against each other on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters (Ash 2: Andrew 1) and Space Mountain (it's different to the one in Paris) though. 

Where are we? (Joshua Tree)
Where are we? (Disney)

LA, Hollywood and Universal Studios

 
 
We changed cars in San Francisco (to a convertible!) and have been driving down the California coast. We stopped off for a few days in a lovely ranch resort in Carmel. We had an open wood fire in our bedroom and were obsessed with using it! We then spent a few days in LA. We spent a day in Universal Studios at the start, which was really good. On the backlot tour we got to drive down Wisteria Lane (from Desperate Housewives). Then we stayed for a few nights in the Standard Hotel in downtown LA. The rooftop bar there is really cool though the staff are a bit up themselves! We spent an afternoon wandering around Venice Beach and did the touristy bus tour to see the sights. We've included a pic of the Hollywood sign and Joan Crawford's signature/handprints/footprints from the Chinese Theatre (when we saw it we were reminded of the scene in Mommy Dearest - "No wire hangers - EVER!").

We're also including a link to an advert which is running on TV here at the moment for new chicken fries at Burger King. We laugh every time we see it and find ourselves saying "maybe I do" all the time. Check it out:



Where are we?

Oregon: Wildlife

 
 
 
Bumper update no.3: Ash has taken an interest in (trying to) take pics of wildlife. He managed to get a picture of the sea lions from one of the viewing points at the Sea Lion Caves and then lots of pictures of birds along the coast (we included this one as the bird is in action!). Then we came across this chipmunk at the Oregon Caves National Monument and managed to catch a couple of pics of it. Hopefully more to follow from later in the trip.... 

Oregon: Oregon Caves National Monument

 
 
 

Bumper Update no.2: In contrast to the Sea Lion Caves we loved the Oregon Caves National Monument. For $8.50 each(though we didn't have to pay as we bought a pass for all the National Parks/Monuments) you get to go on a 90 minute tour of the caves with a guide. They are really impressive. The story goes that the caves were discovered by a bounty hunter who entered the caves to save his dog who had run in to the caves in pursuit of a bear. He managed to get back out and tell everyone about the caves. Ash has been caving before in South America (in the "Grutas de Huagapo" - the tour there was slightly less organised!) but this was Andrew's first time. The caves are lit by artificial light but it was cool when the guide turned the lights out and we experienced "complete darkness" (caves are one of the only places you can experience complete darkness). We also found out that caves are the second safest place to be if there is an earthquake (the safest place to be is in an aeroplane, obviously). 

Oregon: Silver Falls State Park and Coast

 
 
 
 
For one reason or another we haven't managed to post for a while so this is going to be a bit of a bumper update. We've now started our road trip. We hired a car in Seattle and drove down through Washington and Oregon. The Oregon coastline is mostly state parks and very picturesque. We also went to Silver Falls State Park where we got to walk behind waterfalls! There is a picture of South Falls in SFSP and then a picture of a lighthouse. This was taken from the "world famous" Sea Lion Caves on the Oregon Coast. Admission was $8 each for bad attitude and the pleasure of taking a lift down to a dark, smelly cave with a small window (covered by a grate) through which to peek at the sea lions. We were not overly impressed! We did love the stacks on the coast though and wandering along the quiet sandy beaches. 

The last days of Canada...

 Here are a couple of pics from the last day of Calgary Folk Festival. We saw Dar Williams three times and managed to snag her after one of her slots so that Ash could get a picture with her. After days of scorching weather it started to rain on the last day so Andrew went back to the hotel but Ash stayed for Ani diFranco. He was impressed as she was really great (he's gone off her a bit in the last few years).
We flew back to Vancouver on WestJet. It was a good flight and we were particularly impressed by the fact they have live satellite TV on the screens in the backs of the seats! We were playing with the channels for the whole flight.
 

We went for dinner with France and Candace, friends who we met while they were travelling in Paris. We went to Watermark on Kits Beach - the food was great and the views of English Bay were lovely. On our last night in Vancouver we watched the "Celebration of Light" fireworks. It is the only contest in the world of fireworks set to music. We watched the Czech Republic and the theme was "Rhapsody in Blue" - fireworks set to soft jazz. It's quite tricky to take good pics of fireworks but we've included a couple anyway.