Day 50-Returned to SYD-20 Aug

After a 15 hour flight we arrived at 6:30 and were through Customs by 8am.
View over Sydney.

Farewelled the Hogans and headed to Tristan's to collect our car.

Day 49-in flight LAX to SYD 19 Aug

In flight.

Day 48-Los Angeles-18 Aug

Our last day we did "A Day in LA" mini bus tour. This was a great way to see the sites with great commentary without driving through the insane traffic. All the way from Santa Monica beach to Griffith Observatory.  At the end of the day we returned to the hotel to pick up our bags, got changed and took their shuttle to the airport. 

Palisades Park, Santa Monica:

Palisades Park, Santa Monica:

Twisted Melaleuca in Palisades Park, Santa Monica: 

One of the signs on our bus: 

Venice Beach Sign:

The Venice Skate Park:

This is what happens in Venice beach when you leave your locked bike unattended:

The Original Farmers Market a great place for lunch no matter what you feel like:

The joys of Rodeo Drive were lost on me but there were some nice parts of Beverly Hills: 

The Hollywood Sign at Griffith Observatory:

Griffith Observatory - a fantastic place to spend a few hours:

Luckily we passed over highway 405 also known as "The Highway from Hell" or "the 405 parking lot" at peak hour - at 5pm it was at a complete standstill: 

Day 47-Yosemite NP- 17 Aug

On the way to Yosemite National Park we stopped atrphisto where the butterflies from Yosemite come to lay their eggs in the winter. 

El Capitan is pretty impressive a as it is one piece of granite 1117m above the valley floor or 2000m above sea level:

Bridalveil Falls unfortunately my photographic skills leave a lot to be desired (a tree is right in the way!) I'll replace it with one of Rons soon:

Yosemite upper and lower falls. Unfortunately it is summer and the fifth year of drought so there was no water in the falls! 

Blackmailed Deer Fawn:

The falls (!!!) flanked by trees:

Ponderosa pine bark:

This tree is about 600mm diameter so the bark pieces are huge.

The tunnel at Tunnel View:

The view at Tunnel View with El Capitan on the left and Bridalveil falls on the right: 

We arrived at Union Station about 7 and caught a taxi to El Segundo straight away and arrived st 7:30. 

The Marriott residence inn at El Segundo had a lovely complimentary meet and greet spread with beer, wine and a few savoury and sweet offerings that were lovely at that time of night. The room was lovely. 

The fire to roast marshmallows that they supply:

Day 46-San Francisco-16 Aug

San Jose to Stanford with our bus. Then we went it alone and found the Palo Alto Transit Centre to catch the baby bullet to Embocadero Station in SF. Took our lives in our hands as we caught a taxi to Fisherman's wharf to meet with Dylan Tours. The driver drove like a maniac and was convinced he was a famous singing star and a circus star. Didn't want to burst his bubble and ask why he was now driving taxis. Dylan's tour of San Francisco was on a small bus with Pear (it's Scandinavian!) which started at Fishermans wharf:

Cable car:

One of the laneways:

View from the millionaires Row:

The Presidio NP which used to be an army barracks but is now rented out to various individuals:

The Golden Gate Bridge in partial fog:

We had lunch in Sausalito where I would live if I lived in San Francisco.  It was really small and is warmer and has less fog than San Francisco which is just over the bay.  The Golden Gate Bridge again from above Sausalito:

Alcatraz:

Muir State Forest.  A really lovely little place with huge sequoia.  Paul and Sandra consulting the map to find out where they wer:

One of the huge sequoia:

Then we met up with our bus again at City Hall: 

City Hall main staircase:

Stayed at Clarion Inn at Medesto outside of San Francisco on the way to Yosemite for tomorrow. 

Day 45-San Francisco-15 Aug

We are taking a bus trip to Yosemite National Park.  First stop Santa Barbara.

This is the beach. I have to say that we are very lucky with our beaches in Australia.

Monterey 

Saw some people playing grid iron.

Saw a fawn and a deer. Drove along the 17 mile drive. This is near bird rock. Lovely wild coast line: 

Bird Rock. Only 60m from the shore forming a protected little area where sea kelp grows and provides shelter and nutrients for sea otters and seals: 

Little further north along the coast:

Staying at Holiday Inn, San Jose, San Francisco.

Day 44-Sedona to LA-14 Aug

Left at 8 and stopped at Kingman on Route 66 and went for the full experience with a hamburger and fries for lunch at Mr D'z Diner! Ronnie ordered a grilled chicken sandwich from the sandwich page not the hamburger page (because we saw someone else with a grilled sandwich as we would make it) and he got a chicken hamburger! Not sure if they made a mistake or not. 

And the car with Route 66 on the side:

Hoover Dam, which supplies drinking water and electricity for Las Vegas: 

Above the dam, luxury marina:

The dam wall:

The new bridge that diverts traffic from the road over the dam wall:

Returned the car to the Las Vegas Airport and flew into Los Angeles. 

Driving from Sedona to Las Vegas and flying to Los Angeles. 

The virgin America plane pulled back from the gate on time them sat on the LAS Tarmac for 40 mins before taking off for the 45 min flight. We arrived in LAX and sat on the tarmac there for 45 mins. The luggage took a further 45 mins to appear. We should have got to the Hitel by 10pm but didn't get there until midnight. 

Marriott Residence Inn LAX El Segundo emailed to say someone smoked in "our" room and they won't have it ready for us. At first they offered us one room at the Marriott Courtyard but when I said it wasn't suitable for the four of us they gave us two rooms, a few minutes away for free! After a mix up at the airport with us getting on the Marriott Courtyard LAX shuttle rather than the Marriott Courtyard LAX El Segundo shuttle (both black Mercedes vans) we settled into our beautiful rooms for brief night before our tour. 

Day 43-Sedona-13 Aug

Grand Canyon to Sedona. We tried to visit the top ten places in Sedona but a few of them were by the river so, as it was a hot day, everyone else was there as well. So we chose the less populated spots.

Scenery along the way:

Midgley Bridge:

Snoopy Rock.  I think this might be snoopy lying on top of his kennel looking up towards the sky:

The beautiful Chapel of the Holy Cross:

Bell Rock (shaped like a bell) and Courthouse Rock:

Cathedral Rock: 

Dinner at the Barking Frog where we saw a lizard eat a moth. We stayed at the Days Inn, Sedona.