From the UK to the UK via CA, NV, UT and OR

[dangermouse]

Day 4 – San Diego

Arrived at the campsite very late last night, so consequently was up late this morning, much to do, so off early.

The Coronado bridge connects San Diego with Coronado with spans rising to 248ft above sea level to allow the miltary hardware anchored at the local base to pass underneath.



The drive then takes in the famous Hotel Coronado – apart from the famous movie filmed here (some like it hot) there's another interesting back story to this place – the people who owned all the land here dodn't have the money to develop the hotel that they wanted, so they organised a land auction, advertised all over the US, the number of people who showed up ensured that by mid-afternoon on the first day of a two day auction they had not only recouped their entire investment, but also had enough money to build the finest hotel in the West



I'm a huge roller coaster fan, and the Giant Dipper coaster at Mission Park is one of the finest original wooden built coasters left.
There are no queues for the ride, and 6 bucks later Im left wondering where my lunch went!
Awesome!!



San Diego has a city tour with a difference, using old-style trolley busses rather than double deckers. The trolleys start from the seafront, so I park in the cruise terminal car parks (they're huge and cost $10 for the whole day) and climb on.
The tours are hop-on hop-off and I plan to use them as a way to see the city.

There's a great tour guide on the first trolley I catch, and his pun-filled narration causes the passengers to groan and laugh in equal measure – I'm not too sure about his claim that San Diego has its own stonehenge though!!



The trip also takes us over the Coronado Bridge again, allowing me to get a photo of downtown San Diego, Manhattan it isn't, but so far I'm impressed with the city.



Next stop is Balboa Park, this city park was designed and built more than 100 years ago, and is beautifully maintained today, it contains a number of great museums and tourist attractions.



The first of the museums that I venture into is the model railway museum, this is basically a number of historically accurate and very expensive layouts of various famous Western US railroads, it's good, but doesn't take more than 30 minutes to wander around.



The San Diego history museum is right next door, unfortunately it doesn't really deliver on its name, again it only takes 20 minutes to see, and my advice would be not to bother!

Hopping back on the trolley, I'm alarmed to discover that it's already 3.30, this means that my plan to visit the USS Midway has gone up in smoke, as the last admission is 4pm and by the time the trolley gets back to the sea front, it's closed.
This is a real shame, as it's the attraction I was looking forward to most in San Diego... oh well, I'll just have to come back!

My plans changed somewhat, I head to little Italy for an early dinner, before heading out to Point Loma to watch the sunset.



Heading back to the campsite, I'm tucked up early! Another day tomorrow.

[dangermouse]

Day 5 – Road Trip, San Diego to Phoenix

As per the title, the plan for today was to drive from San Diego to Phoenix, via a number of state roads and National Parks, staying off the Interstate as much as possible.

Heading out of San Diego, my first port of call is Anza Borego Desert State Park, the scenery all along my route is breathtaking, and the roads are simply awesome – I think I've permanently strained my face from smiling so much.



The Z is a fantastic car for the roads, fast and responsive, I'm not sure how I've managed to complete today without a ticket!



A ways down the road, the rocks and mesquite of Anza Borego have turned into the type of sand dunes I've not seen since Gran Canaria.



There's a scenic overlook here, and I pull off the road to find that the area has been taken over by people driving special vehicles over the dunes.
Chatting to one of the families, I'm told that this activity is not only completely legal, but is actually encouraged – just a small difference from the UK then!!

The vehicles are amazing, spaceframe chassis with a Corvette motor, specialist tyres and about 460bhp – the heights they reach whilst dune-jumping is quite a sight.



My last stop of the day is the Petroglyph site just outside of Phoenix, these engravings have been here for hundreds of years and are are presented along with displays of how the area used to look hundreds of years ago – an arid plain complete with wide flowing rivers – somewhat different today!!





Rolling into Morristown AZ I'm alarmed to discover that the campsite I had planned on staying in doesn't appear to exist and thanks to Nascar being in town, just about every hotel in the Greater Phoenix area is full – eventually I find a Motel6 for the night.

[dangermouse]

Day 6 – Phoenix

Busy day again today – aren't they all!!

First stop is the desert botanical gardens at Popago park – this place is simply amazing.
I'm already in awe of the scenery around Phoenix following the drive to get to the park this morning, wandering around here however takes it to a different level.



The variety of plant life and the way it's adapted to its environment makes for an interesting couple of hours.



Heading into downtown Phoenix, I stop at the Heard Museum – this is a small place, tucked away down a side street, yet it's one of the most famous museums in the Southern US.



It's famous because of its subjet matter, telling the stories of the dozens of tribes that lived in this part of the world, their culture, history crafts and current status.
It's both compelling and shocking at the same time, detailing the US attitude to Native Americans a scant 150 years ago.



I follow the Heard up with a visit to the Arizona Science Centre – this turns out to be mainly for kids, with dozens of hands-on exhibits and demonstrations – it's good though, and the kids present really seemed to enjoy it.
They have a Star Trek exhibition going on at the moment, but as I hate Star Trek I give it a miss!



Final stop of the day is Taliesin – Frank Lloyd Wright's Southern home. It's now a museum, open only with a guided tour – I just make the 4pm tour and I'm really glad I did,



The guide really knows her stuff and it's amazing to hear just how many things that we take for granted today have their origins with this one egotistical, eccentric man.
Things like car ports and open plan living areas started with Frank Lloyd Wright.



I picked up a flyer earlier in the day for an 'authentic steak restaurant' where the steaks are all cooked over mesquite – it's just down the road in Scotsdale so I decide to give it a try.
Pulling up outside, my Z is dwarfed by all thee trucks and I appear to be the only person not wearing a stetson – no one minds though and the steak is superb.

Im now in Show Low in northern Arizona, looking forward to a 700 mile day tomorrow.

[dangermouse]

Day 7 – Northern Arizona / Las Vegas

As I thought, a long day behind the wheel today, started off witth a scenic drive through the Painted Desert national park, there are more ancient petroglyphs here, 675 on one area of rocks to be precise



The view in parts of the park is genuinely out of this world.



It even includes a section of land that used to be route 66 – marked only by telephone poles now.



On my way to Sedona, I had two further stops to make – the first, as I'm an Eagles fan (the group, not the team) is Winslow Arizona.



Sadly there's no girl in it, but there is a flat bed Ford as I stand on the corner in this one-horse town,



Were it not for the Eagles, there would be no reason to visit this place, but they've built a successul little tourist industry based around that one song and the fact they're located on route 66



The second stop is two guns



This is an abandoned mining settlement that unfortunately is now totally trashed – the tip to stop off here came from a report written many years ago and I would update it by saying don't bother!



Sedona is a lovely little town, reached by driving one of the best roads I've driven on, the Z is well up to the challenge, unfortunately most of the other drivers on the road are not, and it takes 45 minutes to drive the 27 miles.



When I arrive, I park up and go and join a trolley tour of the area, this takes us up to a chapel that was built by one of the founders of the area, although she had links to Frank Lloyd Wright, she always claimed that he had no influence on the design – having been to Taliesin yesterday, I'm not so sure!!



Fantastic views from the site make it obvious why the church was built here.





It's a 3.5hr drive to Vegas from here, by the time I get to the MGM Grand which is to be my home for the next 4 days it's so late that there's no queue at check in.



There is still entertainment however and the duelling pianos in the Times Square bar in NYNY are a great way to end the day.

[dangermouse]

Day 8 – Las Vegas.

Woke up today feeling like the duelling pianos were still being played inside my skull, so had a relaxed morning exploring the Titanic exhibition at the Luxor.



This exhibition is amazing, it's a walk through the timeline of Titanic, from her build to that fatal voyage, everything on display has been salvaged from the wreck and there are panels with quotes from survivors.

I ride the coasters at NYNY,



Stratosphere and Sahara before ending the day by heading to the fountains at the Bellagio.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Good to hear that the car is handling well -- and great that you were able to find a way to post some more smaller sized images -- WRT the ones from San Diego, I may be able to resize and post them today. (if I can still open them on your storage server). (Are you attending the NAB show? I just wondered about the timing of your visit here. I'll be over at the convention center later this morning).

mark

[dangermouse]

Day 9 – Las Vegas

Today’s title should probably read Death Valley, as that’s where I headed early this morning.

It’s a longer drive than road maps would suggest to get there, but the road (highway 95) is fantastic, with open sightlines and straights that go on for miles, so the trip passed quickly!

First port of call is Rhyolite ghost town, unlike 2 guns a couple of days ago, this site is actually actively preserved and is really quite spooky.
It was originally a mining community, but when the jobs went away, so did the people.



Next stop Scotty’s castle.



This wonderful place never actually belonged to Scotty, nor did he pay a penny towards its near $2m (in the 1920’s) pricetag.
Scotty was a chancer of the highest order, swindling many people out of large sums of money to fund a non-existent gold mine.
He found a kindred spirit in a Northern money man though, and he built the castle, even going so far as to give Scotty a room there, despite the fact that Scotty conned him for thousands of dollars!

It’s open for tours only and is one of the high points of my trip so far.



Ubehebe crater was created 2000 years ago when pressures beneath the surface finally reached breaking point and vast quantities of rock was thrown hundreds of feet.



Badwater is the lowest point in the continental US at 282ft below sea level, it’s hot hot hot – 110 degrees at 3.30pm according to the car, fascinating place though.





Leaving, I pass through sea level again.



Zabriskie Point offers stunning views of Death Valley.



Artists Drive is a 13 mile one-way scenic trip through a landscape that looks like it’s been imported from the moon – utterly amazing.



The final stop of the day is Dante’s View. It’s 5479ft above sea level and some 18 degrees cooler than Badwater.

A couple of points to note for anyone that retraces my steps.
There is no fuel available at Scotty’s Castle anymore, in anything other than the most frugal of cars, you will not make a return trip from Vegas on one tank – my total mileage today was 428 miles.
There is fuel at Beatty on highway 95 and also at the Furnace Creek Visitors Centre (you’ll pay $1 a gallon more here though)
Take plenty of water and sunscreen – the heat is really debilitating and there is no shade anywhere!!

[dangermouse]

What's supposed to happen is that all images are automatically sized to no more than 600 pixels wide -- I am not really sure why this hasn't worked here.

Checking it now. (It appears that the images were too large for the auto-sizing application to handle). I've removed them temporarily -- )

Mark

If you want to give me the ability to edit my old posts again, I'll re-host those pics Wednesday evening which will solve the issue!

And no, I'm not here for the convention, just a co-incidence!

[dangermouse]

Day 10 – Las Vegas

My final full day in Vegas today, so I want to make it count.

An early phone call to Grand Canyon Tours reveals that there is space on the 1.30pm Canyon Landing helicopter tour. I was determined before I started this trip that I would do a helicopter trip to the canyon, so it’s duly booked, leaving me 4hrs to kill before the limo pickup.

I use this time to head out to the Hoover Dam and take a tour.



The dam is an amazing structure, hundreds of feet tall and more than two football fields thick at the base, it holds back billions of gallons of water whilst supplying 7 states with part of their power and water needs through the hydroelectric plant it contains.
Apparently the water level of Lake Mead is some 45ft below optimal – the white, lower part of the rocks above marks where the level should be. It’s not been there since 1983

You can clearly see the current status of the new highway that’s being built – scheduled to open at the end of 2010 apparently.



The tour was excellent, I would recommend the full hour tour though, it’s more expensive, but for anyone with an engineering bent it is real interesting, showing clearly the top 30ft of the 70ft turbines used to generate the electricity.



Back to the MGM in time for the limo to pick me up and take me to the helicopter section of the airport.



The tour I’ve booked takes about 4hrs door to door and was worth every penny of the pricetag.



The scenery we flew over, the picnic on the floor of the canyon and the flight up the strip to end with made it the most memorable experience of my holiday so far.







I even got a photo of my home for the last 4 days



Final call for the day was the American Legends show at the Stratosphere.



The less said about this the better, a very poor show, with look-alikes that only look like the real thing if you’re Stevie Wonder and, with the exception of the Christina Aguillera act, had poor voices to boot.
For some reason they also perform mainly obscure songs rather than the hits…. One to avoid I’m afraid.

[Southwest Dave]

I am enjoying the report and pictures and they are bringing back fond memory's ! I would love to have a day out in one of those sand buggy's, it must be awesome fun.

Shame about the legends show but looking at the last pic it couldn't of been all bad ;-)