What a trip!

So its been a few weeks since my last blog....but just in case you weren't aware, Daddy and I were on VACATION! two glorious weeks in California and Nevada...wasn't sure how I was going to blog about it, but decided to do a massive write up on our trip, along with some photos.

Journey there was ok though the jetlag was bad, its about a 13 hour direct flight from Brisbane to Los Angeles. We didn't really sleep at all as you fly during the day. We left at 11am Sunday and arrived at about 7am Sunday....strange. We arrived into LA and went straight to the Hertz office to pick up our car, a silver Mustang convertible (automatic), cool car with the top down. Being the man that Daddy is he let the pregnant Mrs G. drive first and I must say I did well, only went the wrong way once. Must admit the GPS was a godsend as I think it would have been allot more stressful without it - think we will get one.

After our 13 hour flight we drove for about two hours out of LA and along the 101 to Santa Barbara for the first stop. Knackered when arrived so went straight to sleep for about 4 hours, then got up and had a look around for about 5 hours and had some dinner. I thought it was a really pleasant place, not sure there would have been too much to do but a very nice area, retirement heaven I would think. A nice pier and lots of Vietnam veteran's for some reason (not sure why) Left SB and drove along the 'Big Sur' ... Big Sur - 8/10 Despite the strange jetlag (sleep at 9pm - 12am, then wide awake between 12am and about 4am, then sleep again - affected both of us), beautiful day so had the hood down. Really nice drive, similar too the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, lots of rolling cliffs gripping the ocean and nice little towns along the way. We burnt the top of our heads and the arms, but worth it.

Carmel/ Pebble Beach - 8.5/10 Stopped for the second night in Carmel which Clint Eastwood was Mayor, really nice place, sort of like an old English country town , so not what you would expect in California. Weather was a bit chilly, but had a nice meal and then off to bed. Slept poorly, but still really enjoyed Pebble Beach - 17 mile drive the following day, really amazing place to live, stunning houses, scenery and of course the golf course wasn't bad either. There must be about 4 different 18 hole courses on the complex so the perfect place to retire if you were a millionaire. After a well needed coffee at Pebble Beach drove to San Francisco... San Francisco - 7/10 Knackered by the time we got into SF and drove across the impressive Golden Gate. We weren't aware of how cold SF was, it is bloody freezing, mainly due to the bay winds etc, but still it is California, so I think this probably took a point off the evaluation. It is a nice place with lots of different styles depending on where you go, reminded me more than a little of Melbourne.

In summary:

Day 1 - Golden Gate Bridge/ Shopping/ Room Service and Bed as extremely tired.

Day 2 - Fishermans Wharf/ Tram Car Ride & Museum (of Tram Cars)

Day 3 - Open Top Bus (freezing) to golden gate park, Botanical Gardens, Twin Peaks & The Mission to eat Salvadorian food (where all the Hispanics live)

Day 4 - Tour of Chinatown and Alcatraz

We packed lots in and the Salvadorian food was good but for us the highlight was Day 4 (possibly the best day of the trip), the Chinatown tour was surprisingly good, and Alcatraz is a must do I think, really interesting and pretty cheap overall about $35 per person.

Finally over the jetlag we were ready for Vegas..... Las Vegas - 8.5/ 10 Plane was delayed so the Virgin staff started offering to play blackjack while we waited.....there truly is no place like Vegas...Flew in and it must have been around 37 degrees when we got there...so a welcome return to the heat after the chilly SF.

Day 1 - Wynn and look around Wynn, Venetian/ Palazzo, Ceasers and Treasure Island (Daddy gambled $5 - lost $5)

Day 2 - Belagio, Belagio, Belagio....champers watching the fountains (gambled $0 - lost $0)

Day 3 - Relax, shopping outlets, chill by the pool and went to Freemont Street (gambled $0 - lost $0)

Day 4 - Grand Canyon, Room Service and early night (gambled $0 - lost $0)

For us the highlights were enjoying some cheesy singing and champagne while watching the stunning Belagio fountains and the Freemont Street experience....It is more chilled out than the strip but still got the street shows, casinos and booze on the street....even got Daddy to take a pic with Elvis (though topped by the one of me and the dog with shades and a bow tie). Overall had an excellent time in Vegas.

After an incredibly early departure from Vegas we were off to LA for our final stop.... LA - 8/10

Day 1 - LA Tour - Venice Beach, Sunset and Hollywood Boulevard's and the Farmers Market

Day 2 - Universal Studios and Plane Home. To our slight surprise we were more impressed with the glimpse of LA than we were with SF, clearly we went to the nice tourist areas, but we thought it seemed like a pretty cool place. Daddy got his hands and feet where the great Al Pacino's had been, and got the pics to prove it!! Universal Studios was also really good, interesting and impressive but probably more for the kids :)

And then off to LAX for our 13 hour trip back to Melbourne via Brisbane....overall, a brilliant honeymoon with lots of sightseeing, and now we start our countdown for our next adventure...baby room here we come!