San Diego & LA, Caifornia

18/8/12 - La Jolla, California

La Jolla is an affluent suburb of San Diego.  This is the view taken from the Crab Catcher restaurant. We had a terrific meal - not cheap but worth every mouthful.

This sleepy little seal was having his siesta oblivious to the attention he was getting.

Torrey Pines Golf Course

We spent a couple of days with Lisa and Diego at their home before heading for home.

Hummingbirds appreciating the sugar water put out for them by Lisa on their back patio. What a gorgeous home they have!

Diego took us to the Ronald Regan Library which is actually a museum located at Simi Valley.This is a replica of the Oval Office - beautifully appointed.  My immediate reaction to the Presidential Desk (although rather irreverent) was..wow not much room for Monica.

This museum is a treasure trove of memorabilia of one of the more popular past US Presidents...well worth a visit.

Air Force One/SAM 27000 a Boeing 707, used by President Regan during his term - amazingly quite cramped inside compared to the current Air Force One used by Barack Obama which is of course a Boeing 747-200. Subsequent Presidents used the B707 until 1990 when George W Bush replaced it with the B747. The aircraft officially becomes Air Force One when an incumbent President steps on board. The present call sign for the 2 B747s is Sam 280000 and 29000.

Amarillo Texas

11/8/12 to 14/8/12 - Amarillo, Texas

One of the tourist attraction in Amarillo was the Big Steak Challenge - you had to finish a 72oz. piece of steak, along with a baked potato, salad, dinner roll and a shrimp cocktail in an hour.

The place is loudly decorated like an old time saloon but oddly enough it had good ambiance   The prime rib steaks we had that night must have come from cows that did workouts...they were chewy.  There was a couple from Chicago next to us and they complained about their steaks as well.

 Transport to and from the restaurant is provided if you are within a certain radius of the place...a white Cadillac that's seen better days but hey, its not often one gets to ride in a Cadillac.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park-20,000 acres of hiking, horseriding, camping facilities. It is also where "Texas,  the musical show is held.

A native American Indian giving us the historical background to the area ...part of the pre-show entertainment. We opted for the chuck wagon dinner and show - basic food of pork, sausages, iceberg lettuce/tomato salad, beans and jelly for dessert.  No alcohol served as Canyon is in a dry county.

It was a hot, sultry night with the makings of a thunderstorm - we went prepared with rain ponchos and umbrellas.

The beautiful Pioneer Amphitheater-it is carved out of and nestled into a natural basin of the canyon. Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon in Texas.

What a spectacular show - starting with a lone horseman atop the 600ft cliff, carrying the Texas State flag. Half way into the show, we were treated to a show from nature - there was lightning and thunder, then a heavy downpour - those ponchos from the Dollar store came in mighty handy.  Show was suspended for about 20 minutes.

A bit of excitement on our bump out day at the KOA RV Park...a snake. It was swiftly dispensed with by the guys with a rubbish bin and a broom.

Sidney to Denver Colorado and local area

Folks, we ran out of blog site space last year, so here are some of the pics from the tail end of last year's trip. We stopped at Sidney, Nebraska which has one of the largest sporting shop we've ever been to. 

Hillside Golf Club where Tom had a round - one of the things on his bucket list is to play a round of golf in every state in the USA.

One of the many wind farms that we passed on the route to Colorado from Nebraska.

Denver, CO - on our way to Mount Evans.

Sweetwater - one of the towns we passed on our way to Mt Evans.

 Denver - interesting architecture, we were too far away to see what it was.

A working gold mine that we passed.

Mt Evans - as the sign says, the highest paved road in N. America.

Lovely green forests hugged the road to Mt Evans.

Beautiful Echo Lake enroute to Mt Evans.

Vegetation got scrubby as we ascended - these trees appear to be petrified and just barely clinging on to the mountainside.

As we climbed to approx. 10,000 ft we could see weather coming in. This side of the mountain being brilliantly blue and clear.  See pic below for the nasty stuff heading our way.

Nail biting drive heavenwards!

Summit Lake is approx. 10,000 ft - the water is amazingly blue.

Photo op for Tom at Summit Lake - check out the vegetation.  It is so cold only Tundra vegetation grows here.

Postcard worthy photos of this beautiful lake.

A little further from Summit Lake is a chain of 3 lakes called The Chicago Lakes.

Pretty wild and windy at this spot.

One can truly appreciate the name of this road - there are no safety guards on this trek up the mountain.

Mountain goats along the roadside - check out the rain falling in the background miles away.

This couple from Montreal cycled all the way to the top - must be extremely fit!

More mountain goats - still shedding their winter coats.

These white beauties are Mountain Sheep - amazing how they keep their coats so white.

Adventurous tourists on the top of Mt Evans - I had enough adventure just getting up the mountain!

Gorgeous views.

Mama sheep and baby eating the soil for the minerals.

14,128 ft without oxygen.

Just to give you an idea - in a Cessna 172 aircraft, you might get to an altitude of 7,000ft when flying.

Now they tell me - I felt dizzy and then depressed for a couple of days afterwards.

We were so lucky to have come across so many Mountain Sheep - you are not supposed to mingle with them as they are wild animals but this lady decided it was worth the risk.

Saw this little cute Marmot on our way down from Mt. Evans - he looked as if he was velcroed on t the boulder!