Goosenecks and other buttes in surrounding area Utah

This morning we revisited the twin towers restaurant and went into their huge shop . 

It sold only Navajo crafts and it was a wonderful display. Very different and although pricey it was good authentic wares.

We bought a few souvenirs 

At Goosenecks SP the sun was behind us and we caught different scenes 

It was 78*f I have to keep recording the temps as this time next week I’ll be in the cold and rainy Thornbury weather!

We are going to have a lazy day viewing the red rocks and the san Juan river one thousand feet below us. The river was originally on a plain but the land rose and the river remains below eroding the rock strata from millions of years ago. Look it up it’s worth reading

We went towards the valley of the gods on a tarmac road. It changed to a gravel road so we turned around. We got some lovely takes of the red rocks

and then decided to revisit The Mexican hat.

It really stands out from all the surrounding hills 

Today we wanted to scoop up all the remaining places we wished to visit one of them was the 4 corners where 4 states meet. BUT we turned around it was such a long road and not pretty. So we are back in Bluff sitting in the shade outside our room. We are going out for dinner to the smoke room down the road later. Xxx

I took some photos of the Navajo crafts to remember them. 

Monument Valley Utah

Last night we sat outside on picnic chairs watching the sunset and then the stars came out in the darkness. It was still warm.

We ate our breakfast outside too.

The town of Bluff says established 650AD

I don’t know how they prove that! 

So now we headed to monument valley.

East mitten, west mitten, each of the buttes has a different name. 

We photographed the iconic view where Forest Gump stopped his long run, a few more views and then went to the park entrance.

There is a visitor centre with lots of lovely gifts and a great viewing platform 

We decided to drive part of the dirt track along by the buttes but stopped by the first viewing park. The road was very very bumpy and dusty 

Hope you like the pics we got here….

We returned to Bluff for lunch by 2.30pm

87*f and very pleasant.

There is a Navajo run community restaurant and craft shop here called two towers. It sells delicious food with Indian corn bread. We stopped there for a sandwich. In true USA style it was 3 layered with meats and salad and fries. I had to take a doggie bag🤣

We went to explore Goosenecks state park. It has huge meanders 4000 feet down from the rim. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing! The sun was fierce in our eyes so the direction was bad for photos. We are going to return there tomorrow morning.

It was so funny a biker from Ohio got talking to us. He said yesterday he met a British guy called Ben (he didn’t know his surname )but he was travelling USA for 6 months and had just flown his wife into Las Vegas for a week to see her sent her home and continued his travels. Next question “ do you know him” 🤣🤣🤣🤪

So once again I’m sitting outside in the warm doing my blog and sorting my photos. Xxxx

Canyon de Chelly Arizona

84*f today and blue skies with fluffy clouds We are making the most of this sun before we go home to rain and frosty mornings😎

This is canyon de Chelly. We are in Navajo Indian country in Arizona.

Here the ancient pueblo peoples lived in the caves high up the cliffs. Also the Hopi Indians 

but before they even came people have lived here for 5000 years, the basket peoples lived high up on the ledges of the canyon. The Spanish conquistadors exterminated as many pueblo people as they found them in the canyon and hiding on the ledges. So merciless…The tall tower is called Spider Rock

So now we are staying in Mokee motel on the 191 near to monument valley. It is basic but clean and the only kind of accommodation available in this area. We are in Utah and so lost an hour again.

We have been worried about these 3 nights all holiday wondering if it was a mistake but to our relief the room is ok

Only one week left now but we will continue enjoying the experiences each day. Hope you are not tired of reading about our adventures xxx

Journey LA to Flagstaff Arizona 

A very misty start in LA and up onto freeway. The traffic after about thirty miles out eased for our side but not into La side. 

The sun shone fiercely and we soon got the high temps after 2 hours driving we stopped for a coffee break 346 miles turn right!

We crossed miles of desert the Mojave’s desert At the rest area it was 100*f and signs warning for rattlesnakes! They are active at night but lurk in the shadows in daylight eek!

We crossed the border to Arizona at needles mountain

Stopped at a subway for a salad bowl and the temp was 104*f Sooo hoooot

There’s not much to write about today but good to know we have arrived safely after 9 hours journey but that includes 3 half hour stops

It’s 86*f here so more bearable.

We returned next day to Huntington Botanical Gardens 

We returned today to catch up with all we missed. It is such a vast place and so much to see 

We saw the cactus area the jungle the lake the rose garden the herb garden and the magnolia area. 

The library and museums are very grand buildings with lecture halls and exhibits 

It is much hotter today so we find plenty of shaded areas to sit in.

I hope you like the photos I’ve uploaded.

We have been looking forward to going to the Cheesecake Factory and today we went to one in old Pasenda. 

The variety of cheesecake flavours and the tastes are so yummy

We have a very long journey tomorrow so setting off early and calling at 2 places on the way 

The Huntington Botanical Gardens

It only took 10 minutes to drive here and we arrived early! It’s because we didn’t use the highway and took the town roads.

We spent 5 hours in the Chinese and Japanese gardens. They are huge peaceful and so different from western gardens.

We had a Chinese salad sitting in the shade as by lunch time the mist had lifted and it was hot

A Chinese man sat playing beautifully

We saw most of the Australian garden and some of the palm area then tried to find the rose garden. We were weary from walking but after a drink of coffee we set off again. We’ll sleep well tonight xx

Thirty miles to reach Long Beach from Pasadena in slow moving heavy traffic both ways. We don’t like the LA traffic and all the lanes and fly overs it’s very stressful.

It took both of us deciphering the sat nav to find the berth of the ship once we were near.

But success. we parked and bought the tickets$45 each 🥺

We went on board and had a small one hour history tour of the first class areas. It is very art deco from the 1930s era. Her maiden voyage was may 1936. She has an interesting history being a troop ship in WW2

She arrived at long beach december 1967 to be made into a floating hotel , convention centre and tourist attraction.

After our tour we had lunch in the ships restaurant overlooking the harbour.

We watched a fire ship doing tests and got some fab photos

You can stay as long as you like exploring most of the ship except the hotel guests area.

It was in the 70*s and we enjoyed the sun decks

I hope you can get a good idea of what we experienced. We loved it.

We did not love the journey back to our hotel but that’s another story. But 2 hours to drive 30 miles in manic traffic should explain.., too stressful!

We had a lovely day on the ship though and good memories made.

On our way to Pasedina

We had been travelling for about an hour and a half, passing miles of orange and citrus trees in every direction 

Then it became more industrial with fields of nodding oil donkeys pipes and also I solar panels. 

We needed a break but getting off the highway became complicated to say the least but cracker barrel saved the day😂

By chance we came near one yummy

I couldn’t manage it all and it will last me all day. 

Is it Halloween now? Or Christmas?

You should see all the family houses decorated for Halloween 

We got back on the highway 119 surprisingly easily. Now we were 90 miles away from LA and 4 or 6 lanes to contend with 

We were calling at Santa Monica pier first. 

There was still agricultural fields and also citrus trees 

It looked like we were travelling into a bank of smog you could barely see the hills 

We saw one grass fire as we climbed up through the rockies 

91*f now! We were almost there vince managed so well in the traffic and we followed the sat nav instructions 

Got to the pier and the mist had rolled in and it was 63*f there! We had to put on jumpers …

We stayed on the pier to soak up the vibes  

And next we braved the traffic hoping to avoid the rush hour. It was a slow journey with 6 lanes of traffic 

Eventually we arrived in Pasadena the same hotel we stayed in 5 years ago so that helped as we knew where to turn into.

Sorry to hear all of Oxford is flooded so much. Schools shut and buses stopped 

Keep safe love you all.

(It’s 17.08 and 83*f here. At the hottest it was 99*f. So different)

Today is another birthday!

Alice is 8 years old today… happy birthday to a lovely energetic pretty girl!

Exeter California exploring the foothills of high sierras

We have found the heat again today 91*f 

Not a cloud in the sky just a heat haze 

We had a lazy start doing a ton of washing and then we set off. 

We went to the bigger town of Vestalia and then as we decided not to do any hairpin bends today we explored the foot hills in this area. 

The land is very flat up to the hills and is covered in acres of orange,lime and lemon trees in huge organised rows. 

There are vines and olives groves too in places.

We stopped for lunch in a little town called

Springville, at a Mexican restaurant. Ok Mmmm there was no other choice so I explained I can’t eat chillies and was given a chicken salad with guacamole and sour cream and enchiladas. It was so good.

We asked for coffee but were told they only did beer or wine…. So we had Diet Pepsi 😉

I didn’t take many photos as there were no stopping places or viewing points.

The area is very interesting to me to see all these orchards. We found the small towns are run down near the hills but smarter in the orchard areas.

Huge tall palm trees tower above the small fruit trees. It’s a desert area using underground water sources to irrigate the land.

We went back to the hotel at Essex and enjoyed the air conditioning it’s so hot outside and the heat will continue for several days. 

We travel to LA tomorrow only a 2 to 3 hour drive. 

Leaving Yosemite travelling south to Exeter via sequoia np

NB (I have 5 days of Yosemite park to upload but having problems…watch this space 🤣😉)

It was an early start and sunrise shining golden over the mountains. Feeling sad to leave but more adventures to explore 

It was misty in the valley bottoms and just above freezing down there.

We left the south entrance and the hairpin bends and steep drops gradually left behind. We were on the 41 to Fresno and soon the countryside changed to flat yellow fields and autumn trees.

Little towns and palm trees started appearing. We passed through gold mining areas now we were on a long straight road at last not a fit tree in sight 

At Fresno we joined the 180 and headed east to sequoia park. We passed acres of nut trees and vines and oh dear smoky haze 

Again we had to drive up and steep drops hair pin bends with no crash barriers 

This n p has many pull outs for nervous drivers to use so as not to hold others up

Our first sequoia was just through north entrance

There were view points and trails to stop at 

We saw a fire engine did he know something we didn’t know  

We turned for the parking for the general Sherman tree. Now we were in a huge queue of cars all with the same idea.

General Sherman is the world’s largest living tree the giant sequoia is 275 feet tall at the base the circumference is 102.6 feet … taller than a 27 story building…

It took half an hour to reach the car park and ten a half mile walk 68*f in the sunshine

The road through the sequoia park now became very very scary 

We descended from 7000 feet to about 3000 feet on hairpin bends . The high sierras to the foothills. I’m still shaking never again! We had planned to go there tomorrow but not now. 

Now the sequoias had finished and it was all deciduous trees in autumn colours very pretty if we hadn’t been so scared 😱 

3 rivers was a beautiful area and a river with a reservoir. Lots of holiday homes.

We saw cacti and palm trees and many acres of little nut trees. Everywhere was so flat near our hotel at Exeter

We ended the day at a small French restaurant

Le Monet the meal was superb xxx

Missing you all xx