Viva Las Vegas!!

We had an early start today – meeting for breakfast in LA overlooking the Marina and the Queen Mary Ship.  Another buffet style breakfast and another impressive destruction of the buffet – we tend to eat for two meals when we breakfast so we don’t have to/can’t do lunch!  Value for money you see.

We then headed out to Vegas on the last part of our road trip. It was like the Cannonball run as we hot footed it through LA and out into the dessert bound for Vegas.  The driving was focussed, Scatty Nav was behaving for a change and progress was good.  The scenery was stunning – huge swathes of open dessert interspersed with arid mountains shimmering in the 100F heat.

We stopped for a leg stretch, coffee and toilet stop in a town literally in the middle of nowhere.  The heat hit us as we got out the car – we had left LA in 72F heat and here it was 102F – oppressive but nice.  The choice of refreshment was shall we say limited – Rednecks BBQ – (It’s Guaranteed Greasy was their logo) or Area 51 Alien Fresh Jerky UFO Stop – albeit with crashed UFO and Alien Family outside!

Next stop Vegas!  I was so excited and could not wait to see what lay in wait. 

It could be said that Las Vegas represents extreme consumption on an apocalyptic scale, fed by the parasitic economic power houses of the corporate classes who are bleeding dry the innocent consumers hooked on the promise of false riches and taking them for every sub-prime dollar they don’t possess...well WE say it’s a great fun place to be and let’s get it on and do VEGAS, VEGAS style!!

We checked into the MGM Signature Hotel - wow what a stunning hotel.  The room was amazing – Jacuzzi Bath and a balcony view overlooking the strip. I was like an excited little boy exploring my new home. Even the toilet had a phone and the bathroom had a TV!!

We chilled out by the pool and sunbathed in the afternoon – a highlight being a nice chilled beer in the outdoor spa which was so hot. 

We had some of our Napa wine  in Peter and Sonya's room before heading out for a pre-dinner cocktail – always a good way to start an evening! Sonya had a blood red orange margarita cocktail that was so strong it was like fire water! Peter and I had Berry Mojitos which were divine.

Then we hit the strip – I was open mouthed as we walked from Casino to Casino at the sheer scale of the place – shimmering Sky Scrapers promising untold riches to those that played their games.  The streets were pulsating with people racing from Casino to Casino, shop to shop, restaurant to restaurant.  I was stunned, even though I had been warned about how big it was.  We saw some fantastic sights – New York New York, Paris, Caesars Palace, The Bellagio, Planet Hollywood all lit up in their neon wonderfullness.

Unfortunately Sonya took a fall in New York’s on a water spillage in the toilets – this resulted in a full 911 situation as they called the Paramedics, who raced in with stretcher – she had banged her wrist – painful as it was a stretcher was not needed!!  Sonya was checked out and although in a lot of pain, it being both bruised and swollen she soldiered on and my tour of Vegas at night continued. It takes more than that to stop Sonya when in Vegas!

We saw a stunning light and fountain show set to music outside The Bellagio – even if the music it was set to was Celine Dion!!

Our first “gambling” was in Caesars Palace where we all came out dollars up so a good start. The free beer they supply when you are on the slots was an added bonus – you just had to give the hostesses a tip so a bottle of $7 Bud cost you a $2 tip plus whatever good cash you were throwing down the neck of a fruit machine!!

Dinner was at midnight in Caesars Palace although we did eat 21^st century American!  We then walked back up to the strip to our hotel – getting in at a record breaking 02:15.  Our latest night out yet. Collective feet and legs were aching as a result so bed was urgently required.  I took advantage of the amazing room facilities and had a Jacuzzi in my bathroom in a bath big enough to swim in...well almost! Top tip - don't use bubble bath in  Jacozzi bath - I had foam 3 feet deep on top of my bubbling bath!

Malibu, LA and a little girl called Molly

Glad to say goodbye to the Holiday Inn and set off for LA once we woke up ‘scatty nav’ - she takes 20 minutes to wake up in the morning needing coffee & a fag first.

My sister Michelle gave us a great tip to visit Paradise Cove in Malibu, and what a find - A beautiful beach and fantastic restaurant and a pier full of pelicans.  

We then drove down to check in at our beautiful Double Tree Maya Hotel in LA. (well picked by Peter). Our rooms overlooked the Marina and the Queen Mary Liner. 

A quick tan top up by the pool before heading up to West Hollywood to see Michelle, Stuart and their beautiful baby Molly. Molly has grown so much since we last saw her in June - she is a right little character & utterly enchanting. Disturbingly I looked so orange in photos against their english rose skin.

Michelle then took us for a cruise around Hollywood, Sunset Strip and Beverly Hills - past the Viper room, Rainbow bar, Whiskey a go-go club, kodak theatre & then up where the stars like the osbornes, beckhams & the cruises live. Then us adults all went for dinner at an incredible Argentinian restaurant.  

So all in all a great day - just wish we had had more time in LA with my family!

Wine Tasting Santa Barbara style

Today started badly, we had to endure breakfast Holiday Inn Express style, and it was a style best not repeated. A mixture of strips of grey fat they call bacon, small folded omelettes made from powdered egg and tray of lumpy grey stuff. I was told by a follow guest that it is a sort of biscuit in gravy and to pour it over your muffins......When in rome. No no no...it tasted just liked it looked, cat vom...! 

We decided to drive up to Solvang to do a little wine tasting as we were missing Napa. This was a beautiful danish town, full of Danish Buildings, Vikings and Windmills and everybody was called Sven or Helga! (a little odd for california) It also had nice restaurants and bakeries, and of course wine tasting rooms!

After sampling some fantastic wines @ Lions Peak we hit the road (not literally) and headed North to Fess Parker Winery where we were forced to try a few more. It’s a hard life!

We soon headed back to change and head out for a Mexican. 

Tomorrow we head for Malibu and LA to catch up with Michelle, Stuart & Molly 


                                                                                                                                                Posted by Peter

The Road Trip Part Deu Carmel to Santa Barbara

Today was our road trip down to Santa Barbara via The Big Sur.

We started off with a walk on Carmel beach and some shopping in the beautiful town of Carmel by the Sea – we now know where the shops are after yesterday’s fiasco of us walking down every street except the ones containing shops and restaurants - we really believed it was a ghost town!! Carmel is delightful and so posh that even the town clock is made by Rolex!!

 A quick coffee stop (no cake!) and I then fired the Charger up and we headed off down 17 mile drive. It’s the first time I had driven in America and loved it. Careful observers would notice that drying out in the back window was Peter and Sonya’s underwear that they had washed the night before!  I have included a picture in case you want to see how it looked...

The views (not of the underwear) were stunning and we stopped off many times en route for some great photo opportunities.  We all decided we wanted to live on 17 mile drive in the $10m plus houses that line it. Pebble Beach golf club was a particular highlight with amazing views over the ocean front.

We wound our way down The Big Sur on Pacific Highway 1 – a stunning drive with spectacular views that the photos will do a lot better job of describing.  Dramatic seascapes, plunging cliff faces, crashing waves, and mountain views.

En route we thought we would soundtrack our journey with some great American Radio – oh how we wished it was so easy...we got plenty of Latino stations playing weird Mexican type music, Country and Western music, or God Squad preaching music – at one time the only station we could pick up was a Jazz station...nice , great, smoooooooooth, Jazz. Most of the journey was sound tracked by skipping radio stations.

We visited a stunning beach called Pfeiffer Beach and you would never guess who was sunbathing in her Bikini there...well it wasn’t Michelle unfortunately!  We also stopped off for a drink at Nepenthe which had stunning views of the ocean.

We stopped for dinner at the Moonstone beach front restaurant which had stunning sunset views - we were all busy pre dinner taking artistic shots of the sunset. A couple of drinks and some good food later and we were on our way for the last dash to Santa Barbara.

We got to the hotel late and checked in and then headed out for some well earned drinks.  The hotel is right in the heart of a lively part of town. We checked out some bars where in one I got details of a great beach to visit called Santa Clause beach from a barmaid – not sure if she was winding me up but we are going tomorrow...it was loud in there and only heard intermittent snippets of our chat but feigned my way through it well!

Our last bar was visited as we had to make a dash from a total nutter.  Sonya had noticed he had been following us for a while and he just threw himself onto the floor behind us and lay motionless – due to him following us we thought it was a trap so headed to a bar to get help in case he had hurt himself when he suddenly sprung up and chased us shouting “why did you just walk past me”  Peter tried to reason with him but he was having none of it so we ducked into a live music bar until the bouncers got rid of him and had another drink – I met a NBF at the bar, Jody,  who was concerned about our welfare – he played drums in a band that played a gig there earlier and we bonded over our shared hobby of drums, music etc. 

When we were about to leave the nutter returned so we snuck out the back and headed back to our hotel pronto!!  Welcome to Santa Barbara.

Leaving San Fran - Hello Carmel

We checked out of the lovely Hyatt and left Sonya in the lobby while Tom and I walked up to to collect the hire car, and what an experience - The price we had agreed on the internet was suddenly on the hike...Insurance! All we wanted is all inclusive cover at a set fee, and cheap. Oh no, there are levels of cover to confuse you, “what happens if you lock your keys in the car” drones the assistant, “I won’t” I reply, “ but what if your battery goes flat, or you get a puncture, or get towed for parking in a car park!!! Tom and I were getting bamboozled by tirade of motoring disasters that could befall us. Anyway we signed the papers safe in the knowledge that if a meteor hits or a piano falls out of a window, we are covered. 

As we left we drove straight in to a massive eco procession protesting against emissions, Tom and I started to butt clench and ducked in our 3.5lt muscle car as we roared through the first gap! 

All of this took time and Sonya was getting worried that people might think she was a posh bag lady with all the luggage she was minding at the hotel - although she was missing a shopping trolley! 

We headed South out of dodge and pulled off the highway to get some lunch; my choice of exits led us to a local supermarket, wonderful we thought, should be able to get a sandwich here... We left Tom to protect the car, and Sonya I walked into this Chinese supermarket!!! The smell was awful; if we wanted a freshly hung duck and some pan cakes we were sorted; my chinese was a little rusty but we escaped with some drinks! Not to be defeated we walked around the block and found a Bakery - fantastic I thought, but they made all the sandwiches by hand and they only spoke Spanish!......Ahhhh

We eventually arrived in Carmel, checked in to hotel california, FFS I haven’t seen so much chintz since Laura Ashley had a Sale back in the 80’s!

After hitting their wonderful beach with its stunning cypress trees we then went on the strangest and longest walk to find a beer ever! I had asked the hotel receptionist where the nearest shops and bars are, emphasising the word BAR. Anyway 2 miles later, I started running ahead to check streets out ahead of us, and eventually ran into a guy that had seen us much earlier wondering aimlessly; he then pointed out that we were finally 30 yards from the bars and shops...... Ahhhh again! 

We had a fab meal in an oyster bar & then made our way back to the hotel to listen to Twiggy and Leo Sayer!

Leaving Napa Valley

Today we bid farewell to the vineyards of the Napa Valley and head back to San Francisco before embarking on the next phase of our holiday...the road trip.

We had a bit of a lie in today as the vineyard did not open until 10:00 hrs but we soon rolled up at the very plush Domaine Carneros Vineyard – home of Taittinger Sparkling Wine for a tour and tasting.

The tour was led by a VERY French man – Gerard Depardieu in appearance, with a hint of Inspector Cluso and notes of “Allo Allo”.  We had a really interesting tour on how they make sparkling wine – although they seem quite bitter that they can’t call it Champagne – so much so that at every opportunity they do refer to it as Champagne!

In one tasting room he was talking about the wine and clicked a button and what looked like a wall behind him was in fact a giant screen which rose to reveal a large glass window and the winery behind him – it all felt very Bondesque and I was half expecting to see James Bond suspended over a tank of shark infested champagne with Gerard Depardieu talking him through his slow demise.

After three generous sparkling wine tastings we then hit the Pinot noir which was all a bit much for me before 11:00 but I struggled through as Peter and myself chose a couple of bottles for purchase for the road trip. Delicious...Sonya was still tasting the fizzy stuff as Peter and myself moved onto the reds. 

Before leaving Peter assembled the Pensioners on the steps of the house to take a group photo before we all dispersed – NOT an easy task assembling a group of geriatric Americans who were half cut, baking in the midday sun, whilst facing a constant stream of guests who simply could not wait for the picture to be taken and had to barge through the middle to get to the winery. He did it eventually, and with great patience!

Next stop was Sausalito – a nice town in the hill side opposite SF.  We stopped to take a look at our tour guide Ted’s houseboat which he was very proud of. In the town we saw the Cafe Roma where Francis Ford Coppola wrote The Godfather!  Wowser!! It was in Sausalito we saw one of the greatest Marinas I have ever seen - The Richardson Bay Marina...What a great name!

 

We had lunch here whilst overlooking SF and the famous fog rolling in whilst Sonya was fighting with a flock of seagulls. The baying seagulls were after her and her lunch - it was a tough fight but it was fair to say Sonya won that one! Ice Creams followed and then it was coach ride back to the hotel in SF.

To be fair to the “Saga Pensioners” who we went with most were really nice and good fun.  Contrary to our bets there were no deaths although one old boy who looked close to it most of the trip, managed to pull through. We were lucky to meet the very nice and good fun Pam and Beth who were more our age range. 

Dinner tonight was meeting Sonya’s friends in a great Vietnamese restaurant in The Ferry Building – we had a good fun night and some great food and some odd service.  We had a waiter who was a little Basil Fawlty in attitude and another guy who was quite like Manuel  who didn't understand basic instruction as he didn’t understand much – for example topping my half drunk beer glass up with water!  When I mentioned this to Basil he made out it was my fault as I had poured my beer from my bottle into a glass similar to that which they use for water...oops

Bed at after midnight tonight was our latest yet!