r gaining a fifth member (after Claude and 'Larry the Laptop') a crazy Swede, Mats, that we met in Seattle, we picked up our rental car and headed off towards Yosemite National Park on our 9 day road trip! On arrival we headed straight for the Grand Sequoia trees (the largest living things in both weight and size, both past and present) which were big... very, very big. On route we finally saw, and if wasnt for some Swedish rally driving would have hit, a medium sized black bear! The dam thing ran out in front of the car. A fairly awesome sight.After resting
at the 'Yosemite Bug' in a our tent/cabin/shack thing we headed for a full day at the park. I cant even begin to describe how good the scenery was, you would get bored of all the superlatives. Just go and see it (or look at our photos... though these also do absolutly no justice to the place however). In the evening we headed for a hostel in Santa Cruz at the start of the Route 1.
Now a day just driving may not sound like a good, fun day. However, we have driven some scenic drives both here and in the UK but nothing, literally nothing compares, to the views as the road hug the pacific coast for mile after mile. The day also included seeing some Californian redwoods (not as good as Sequioas in our opinion) and a sunset at a beach just north of Santa Barbara (Photo of the moment at time of writing. We then headed for San Fernando where we were to leave Mats the following morning and stayed at a very, very dodgy, 50 dollar a night (3 in a bed), proper American Motel and lived to tell the tale!
Today has just involved blasting the car to get into Flagstaff, AZ. We only had one run in with the Highway Police... Ready for the Grand Canyon tomorrow, followed by Vegas for 2 nights, Death Valley, then LA for a Clippers game before our flight out on the 13th.Basically, the trip is just getting better and better, its really hard to put into words how good the West Coast is. We are exhaused but loving it! Anyway how is everyone enjoying work at the moment?
Sounds amazing and pictures are great!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you met up with the local bobbies!
Dont loose too much money in Vagas!
Stay safe
Stu`s DAD
Stu, sometimes I hate you, especially at times when I'm sat trying to do a investment appraisal of a building I really couldn't care less about and ur swanning around with a swede pretending to be the boys from mamma mia. Oh, and happy birthday! El xxx
ReplyDeleteHey Stuart, Have a great birthday!!! what a place to be! Take care, Ali, Tony & Lewis xx
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Stuart
ReplyDeleteHave fun!
Hi Lads,
ReplyDeleteThe drive west sounds fantastic, just had stu's nan and grandad round and spent hour and half showing them all your photos of the trip so far. When you look at them all together it certainly makes quite amazing viewing of the trip so far.
Have a great birthday Stuart, choose your 'table' carefully at the casino, dave's choice would be the roulette wheel after you took him to the Nottingham Casino and he left £70 richer.
Keep Safe
Stu's mum xx
Happy Birthday Stu!!
ReplyDeleteHope Vegas is treating you both well - a birthday to be remembered I'm sure. Keep up the good work with the blog, I look forward to your weekly installments, so many incredible stories already! You are my inspiration...am desperatly saving my pennies to follow in your footsteps. Anyway - hope the birthday is fabulous and that you WIN BIG.
Big love to you both - Vicky Sticky x