We had a good journey from Kingman to Hoover Dam, then past Las Vegas and onto Death valley and up to Beatty where we are staying.

This is the view from the highway towards the Hoover Dam and you can see the Colorado River after it has passed through the dam.

First place we stopped near Death Valley was Zabriskie Point. We walked right up the pavement to see the view down to the Death Valley. Can you see the 2 people on the rocks, it shows how huge the mountains are.

We saw snow on the mountains above Death Valley too, what a contrast in temperature!

It was 80*f today….lovely xxxx

Today we followed the famous Route 66  through the Mojave desert. It was a steep mountain pass over the Black Mountains stopping at Oatman and then on through Fort Mojave indian reservation to Topock where we picked up the motorway back to Kingman. It was an interesting journey.

The desert looked yellow because of all the wild flowers and shrubs in flower.

The road was steep with scary hairpin bends.

When we reached Oatman, it was a weird place with hippy type people in shacks selling teeshirts, jewellery, snake skins and trashy souvenirs. It had a goldmine up to the ww2 and there was a ghost town nearby.

What is granddad up to with the gold???

There were wild donkeys (burros) wandering around and the smell of donkey poo in the heat made me feel sick.

Lily look what this shop was called!

The next part of the journey was not steep and we crossed the Mojave indian reserve.

We are now back in Kingman and tomorrow we have  long journey to Beatty near Death Valley.

Hope you are all having a lovely Easter. We had our Good Friday fish  at cracker barrel Matthew and Blandine! enjoy your break away with the children. Lots of swimming Louis and Alicexxx

Hope Anona  has made Otis  an easter egg hunt , he was telling me all about it.

Have a nice time at the farm Lily

and a good time in Thornbury Alex with Otis and Xavi and Anona ……safe journey back to Sheffield.

love from me xx

 

Do you like my butterfly photo? I’ve entered it in a competition at the Phoenix Botanical gardens!

We left Phoenix following route 60 then 93 until we reached the famous route 66 at Kingman. The road follows alongside the railway track and we saw huge trains pulling hundreds of containers behind them; pleased we didn’t have to stop at the crossings to wait until they went by!

We  loved the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts. The environment is very dusty with orange and red soil/mud. Everywhere it was covered in mostly yellow flowers, also orange and red at times. We saw many huge cacti like organ pipes and lots of prickly paw paw cacti.

Then we passed by miles of Joshua trees in a forest. They aren’t real trees but from the Yukka and Lily family of plants. They only grow in this Mojave desert and nowhere else in the world.

We stopped for our lunch at a place called Wikieup

When we stopped to looks at the views I saw a long lizard.

At Kingman we visited the museum and I stood next to the famous Sante Fe Steam train.

Its VERY windy here and about 78*f

These cars and shops used to travel along route 66.

More news tomorrow. Our hotel room is huge in Kingman pleased we are here for 2 nights.xxxxx

We spent nearly all day in the beautiful botanical gardens. I managed to see a road runner with a lizard in its mouth! Look hard Louis and Otis and you will see it.We saw lots of humming birds. A lady showed us a humming bird nest. It was smaller than a chickens egg. The tiny birds pick up soft bits off the ground and bind them together with spiders webs. Their eggs are as small as a jellybean and when the chicks start to grow the webs allow the nest to expand without it falling to pieces.

It was very hard to photo them as they are so quick and I was very lucky to capture them.

We saw the butterflies again and they live between 1 and 6 days only, once they emerge from their cocoons.

The flowers and cacti are so amazing here and hope you can see them one day

We travel to Kingman tomorrow for 2 nights to visit Death Valley again. Its going to be even hotter there. Its 98*f today. lots of love xxxx

We arrived last night after a 10 1/2 hour flight. Very tired but happy our stay cation has started.

Today we went straight to the Phoenix botanical gardens. The temperature was just right and we saw masses of different types of cacti,many in flower.

There were birds….woodpeckers, American robins, humming birds, quails, finches, starlings, sparrows.

Other animals we saw were ground squirrels, chipmunks, lizards and butterflies. Lily you would have loved the butterflies!

We are back in our motel for a couple of hours as it is so hot and then we will return about 5pm as the gardens are open until 8pm.

We are really pleased with our photos. Grandad nearly left my camera bag on the airport bus but a lady saw it before the bus left, how lucky was that.

Hope Lily Louis and Otis will mark Phoenix on the map 🇱🇷

Love to you allxxx

 

Going home today after a brilliant time. (We have packed our suitcases and booked the room all day so we can leave the cases and have a shower before we leave for the airport this evening) we are going to see the whole of Hong Kong from a high up viewing platform and then to go to the Chinese gardens again at Nan Lian our plane leaves at 23.55 and we arrive in London Heathrow at 04.50 am Thursday. Hopefully the taxi will be there and we should be home about lunch time. Will phone when we arrive home and it will be good to hear your voices xxxx love you all

Tuesday in Hong Kong… We got on the underground and travelled to Central. Outside the art exhibition was a huge microphone. You shout in it and then it starts with karaoke music and words to sing on a screen. I had a go! We went in the cultural centre and there was a photographic exhibition of outstanding photos from China and HongKong. Very interesting to us. When we got onto the waterfront there was a junk boat and it put up its sails and sailed by us very slowly. How lucky was that to be able to see it. Again the weather was murky and foggy and cold. We got on the bus and went to Stanley market and Stanley beach. Not much to say about either! Got back on the bus and went to the shopping centre in Central. we enjoyed the best food we’ve eaten in Hong Kong in a chinese cafe. Expensive though but it is our last full day on holiday! We got back on the underground in rush hour. I couldn’t believe the seething mass of humanity we encountered. We couldn’t squeeze into the first train that came along but just about managed to on the 2nd! We were relieved to get back to the hotel as the streets were full of people too. Photos later

Well today we had loads planned and did only half of it as what we saw was so beautiful we stayed much longer than we expected at both places!

We travelled by underground train all day, it is so easy and cheap travelling too. We arrived at the wrong station for the first stop though. These station names are so similar but on different lines. Anyway we were not too far from the correct station Whoops!

We found the path to take up the hill to the monastery and prepared ourselves for the many steps up the hill. I did it all, very proud of myself and so pleased I did it.

All the way up either side of the path, there are golden Buddhas. Each one has a different face and different pose.

At the first level we found the beautiful shrines and painted buildings. You are not allowed to take photos of the temples and Buddhas  here which was a shame as they are magnificent. Wild monkeys roam around and jump in the trees.

From this level you walk down many steps to the monastery, we gave this a miss as we wanted to carry on further up.

We then took the steps higher up into the hillside. here we found women buddhas and more temples and shrines. At the very top of this valley was a pool of large koi carp and then the water flows down to another pool containing large fish and turtles. They are “life enabling” pools.

We had vegetarian food at their café and Chinese tea. It was  delicious meal. Now we were all set for the descent!

We got down quicker than we did going up. BUT both of us were suffering, me with my knees and Vince with his ankle which is all swollen up now.

We got back on the tube and headed for Diamond Hill station. Here there is a classical Chinese garden to tour “serenity in the midst of hustle and bustle” is how it is described and it was. The gardens are set out with bonsai trees, Buddhist pines a banyan grove and beautiful boulders. A lotus pond with Zi-Wu bridges  containing huge Koi carp and a tea house and terraces. It is connected to a nunnery. We got lovely photos of this garden, hope you like them.

We have to finish our sight seeing tomorrow. As we fly out Wednesday night we will have Wednesday to visit some places.

We arrive in London on Thursday morning, not Wednesday as we thought!!!

 

 

Right we knew where we wanted to go, so today we had to use the HongKong underground. Once we found the nearest station, and worked out how to buy the tickets we were on our way! The weather sadly was the same as yesterday….. Foggy.

We reached Lantau Island and then joined a long queue for the cable car tickets. As we ascended the mountain we could see a bit of the land beneath and the airport and the sea. We had a crystal cabin ie it had a glass bottom but as the cloud closed in we could barely see anything. The cable car was a 25 minute 5.7km ride.

At the top is Ngong Ping village. The Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastry.In spite of constant rain we had a lovely time. Our journey of enlightment ha ha! I really hope the pictures explain what we saw.

Vince walked up all the steps to the top to visit the Big Buddha, which from the bottom was just a vague outline in the cloud and rain. It is 34 m high made of bronze and weighs 250 tons.

The Zen Buddhist temple, Po Lin Monastery was so beautiful. There were areas for burning incense sticks. The colours were amazing on the Monastery walls and designs on the roof.

The inside was all mostly gold and took your breath away. There were sacred cows roaming through the area and a tea garden. People were offering prayers and lighting incense and hanging cards on trees. A real cultural experience and a first for me.

By the time we got back to our hotel we were soaking wet and needed a rest. But I still can’t get used to so many people everywhere you go.

For Louis Otis and Lilyana. Greedy granddad eating popcorn and drinking loads of chinese tea. ha ha xxx

We managed breakfast at the hotel, it was 1 choice from 7. I chose option 5: pancakes and syrup,hard boiled egg, 2 small beef sausages,tiny portion of baked beans, fruit salad and a mug of milk, orange juice and coffee. Not too bad? Vince chose option 3: cornflakes,milk,fruit salad, yoghurt, toast and jam. Thought you’d be interested lol!

We bit the bullet and ventured out via taxi to the harbour. We bought a 48 hour ticket that allows us to do and visit lots of things.

So today turned out to be a success! The weather wasn’t good though. It is cold and foggy with poor visibility 14c, but felt colder. Gone are the summer days of 25c😟.

First we went on an open bus tour so we had to catch the ferry over the harbour from the cultural centre to Hong Kong island. The tour was 2 hours and we got off once to go on a sampan boat to see the traditional boat houses in that area of the harbour.

We were freezing when we got back to the place we started. There was a huge shopping mall on 3 stories with designer shops and nice cafes. Soooooo many people though I don’t like it but I feel safe here. We ate a small salad and warmed up with a hot drink.

Next we went to the marine museum. It was very interesting and lots of exhibitions. There was an interactive simulation of steering a large ship into Hong Kong harbour. It was great fun. The sea could be calm or stormy and the weather could change. It was so true to life and I felt sea sick! I turned the ship right round and went fast and slow through the waves. Every age would enjoy this from Otis and Louis Lily Anona and Grandma!

Next we went on the ferry on a harbour tour. The harbour skyline was impressive although gloomy weather. There was a guided explanation of all the buildings around this deep natural harbour . One of the 3 only in the world. Phew it was phenomenal!

So now we had to get back to our hotel. We got back on the ferry to Kowloon, then called at the tourist info to find out where the taxi rank was. What a day shared with thousands of people! Hope the weather is better tomorrow as we are going to see a huge Buddha on top of a mountain