Las Vegas

We got to Las Vegas at about midday. As has become expected on this trip, when we were about 10 minutes away it began to rain.I didn’t know it EVER rained in Vegas. So we arrived, as has become the norm under grey skies. Luckily after about half an hour the sun showed its pretty little face again, and the clouds cleared. It was HOT.

We took a stroll down to the strip and wandered into a couple of casinos. They really are huge. They’re very dimly lit except of course for the twinkling lights from all the rows of fruit machines, one after another after another.
We got some dinner, and decided to go back to Motel 6 for a swim and some beers. Then headed out toward the strip again, lost ourselves a bit of money and eventually headed back to our rooms and ordered a late night pizza.

LA Day 2

No one really felt up to spending another day driving round LA. Everything is really far apart from each other, and there is too much traffic.

Well technically I lie. We did drive round the corner to Phillipes. Phillipes is famour for its French Dipped sandwiches. These are meat sandwiches with bread dipped into the meat juices. It makes for a very soggy sandwich. I was actually quite disappointed with the sandwich itself. In my head I had been expecting a kind of deep fried sandwich of some kind. But that is because I am very bad at reading descriptions of things. I tend to read the words, then form my own idea of what things look like disregarding most of what was said. This is particularly true of characters in books. In my head Snape of Harry Potter fame was a very different man. I was quite shocked when I saw the film, that they could have disregarded J.K.Rowling’s description of him so entirely. It was only when I went back to check his description in the book that I realised the error was mine and not theirs.  Anyway, it was a cool place, with sawdust all over the floor, and it was absolutely packed so I guess everyone else does like the sandwiches.

We spent the afternoon lazing round a bit. Sam and I wandered down to a local park. It turned out to be a bit depressing as it was full of homeless people. We did wander round the shops around it. We went into a really strange little hall, that had about 15 shops/stalls in it, 6 of which were occupied. They were selling very random things including these
We looked up at the ceiling and realised the whole thing was painted with pictures of angels and clouds, and the walls had ornate decorations all over them. I’m not sure why it says ‘Asbestos’..

There was even a balcony overlooking the entrance. It seemed entirely out of place. I would absolutely love to know what the building’s original purpose was.

That evening we went to the Tim Burton exhibition at LACMA. It was fantastic. There were 3 rooms of his work, ranging from pencil sketches to full blown models and costumes. There was SO much to take in. Sadly we weren’t allowed to take photos, but we did purchase the book that accompanied the exhibition. It was totally inspiring, and I wish I could have had a couple more hours there, but time,  my back, and Sam’s leg were not on our side.

We spent the evening in the grounds watching a free showing of James and The Giant Peach. On the way out we saw these, which were really, pretty cool!

LA Day 1

Samantha had rented a GT Mustang for a day as Mark’s birthday present, so after breakfasting at a place that has apparently won awards for its pancakes (they were pretty good) we drove them to the airport.
We decided to make Venice Beach our first stop. I was keen to see the muscle men it is famed for. Not because I find muscley men attractive, (because actually I find extreme muscle unpleasant), but just because they are there to view. Except they weren’t. Well, there were three middle aged not so buff men on some of the machines, one of whom retreated inside as I tried to take a photo.There were lots of little stalls and shops all along the path beside the beach. There was one man selling ‘authentic bum signs’ which were simply pieces of cardboard saying things like ‘feed me’. I liked his entrepreneurial spirit. Sam got a little confused as to what exactly he was selling and though he was offering the chance to write anything you wanted on his bum and then take a photo of it. Oh how I laughed.

We returned to the car to find a parking ticket for $88. Somewhat unfair as their signage was totally unclear, but such is life.

The afternoon deteriorated somewhat at that point, as we’d had to leave without having time to look up addresses for the sat nav that morning. We drove around a bit, and eventually decided to stop in Koreatown for some dinner. It was the weirdest dinner I’ve ever eaten. It consisted of 2 raw eggs, some gherkins and ice cubes, random pickley stuff, 2 whole battered fish – with all their guts still intact, as I discovered when I started eating it, Some rice, a bowl of raw vegetables and some pork. What we’d ordered was some Teriaki pork, and a beef Bi Bim Bap. Unsure what to do with the raw eggs Sam suggested we break them on top of the rice, which was in a boiling hot bowl. As soon as we’d cracked them a waiter came up and scraped out the rice bowl, raw egg and all into our bowls. He then filled the boiling bowl with cold water so as to completely scupper any attempts we might have made at cooking the egg. It was an interesting experience!

We then went back to the hotel to meet Sam and Mark to go turtle racing.  It was a fun night. We rented a turtle, which lost (probably because Sam and Mark changed its name from Otter to London Pride at the last minute. Otters always win.). Sam avec turtle below.We drank lots of bud, and took some mac n cheese bites home with us. Very nice indeedy.

San Fran to LA

We set off early as we had a 7 1/2 hour drive ahead of us.

We stopped off in Santa Cruz for breakfast. I was mocked by the man in the cafe (in a not very convincing attempt at an English accent) for ordering tea. As we left the cafe this is what we saw..And look what it had on it!I also found this on the way back. I do love M&Ms
Then it was onward in the direction of LA. The drive mostly consisted of coastal roads. The kind of coastal roads that induce sweaty palms, and make it impossible to close your eyes because your imagination combined with the twisting of the car as it winds upward keep you feeling like you’re about to go over the edge at every turn.As the road began to flatten out we came across a beach full of elephant seals. They were not dissimilar to sea lions in the way they lolled about on the sand half on top of each other. Every few seconds one of them would flip its flipper up to recoat itself in a layer of sand. It was very amusing to watch them making their way down to the water’s edge.A few hours of driving later we arrived in Santa Monica. It was exactly how I imagined California to be – all blue skies, glistening sea and palm trees. Took a quick wander down the pier, then headed down to the beach. At which point disaster struck. We all took our shoes off for paddling purposes and entered the water. Close up it wasn’t so appealing – there was quite a strong current, so the sand was constantly being churned up creating murky water. Sam the fearless waded into those unknown waters, and those waters claimed their victim. Some aggressive sea creature, or piece of glass attacked Sam’s foot, slicing into his flesh and, as an added insult in the shock of the moment, his sunglasses fell off and were lost to that spiteful tide.

Luckily we were equipped with antiseptic wipes and plasters. After cleaning and plastering our poor hero we returned to the car to complete our day’s journey.

We arrived at Jerry’s Motel at about 8, and Sam and I decided to drive into Little Tokyo to get something to eat. Little Tokyo seemed very nice. There were lots of Japanese restaurants and a few shops selling Japanese things. After purchasing ourselves a mixed plate of stuff to take away we returned to the motel to eat then sleep

San Francisco

We woke up to grey skies (again),Crowded House might have something to say about this.

We started the day off with a trip to a real American Diner. Samantha got an amazing milkshake, made with real bananas and ice cream.. everyone else got bottomless coffee. I am slowly beginning to recover my love for coffee the longer we’re here for. It has stopped making me feel so dehydrated/sick which is most pleasing as I do love it! Maybe the bottomless cups have just made my body think it’s easier to accept it than fight it! Surprisingly I’m even enjoying the creamer.. strange times.

After breakfast we wandered up the street to find a tram stop – harder than it sounds as all they do to mark one is paint a bit of a lamp post yellow and write tram stop on it, in not particularly ‘Stop, I am tram stop!’ kind of writing.

Mission accomplished we headed into town to find the historic cable cars. We got out of the tram station and were welcomed by bright sunshine and blue skies – perfect. Not quite so perfect was the very long queue for tickets. Sam took the opportunity to do some experimentation with his camera..
We decided that if Mark and I were in a band this would be our publicity shot
Our patience was rewarded when 5 mins before the front of the queue a lovely lady offered us 3 travel passes that had a day left on them, and gave us unlimited travel around San Francisco. We split the last ticket price 4 ways and only ended up paying $3.50 each.

We then rounded the corner to join the next queue, this time for the cable car itself. After over an hour of waiting  we finally got to board, and discovered as it made its way up the hill that we could have avoided waiting altogether if we’d just walked up the hill to the next stop and jumped on as it came by. So a tip if you’re ever visiting, walk slightly up the hill (no more than 2 mins from the cablecar stop at the bottom), and you can wait at that stop, and then jump on as it comes by.

Sadly I couldn’t stand up and hang on to the poles as I’d been planning because in a bad outfit choice I’d decided to wear a skirt which was determined to fly up around my waist everytime I attempted to stand. Still, I did manage to get a photo of me on one while we were queuing so all was not lost, and it was pretty cool sitting down too, as you still had a perfect view going up and down the steep hills. 
The cablecar dropped us off at Fisherman’s Wharf. We walked around an old arcade which had the kind of machines you put a quarter in to watch strange little puppets dancing, or have your fortune read (is there a name for such things?). I paid a quarter for a foot massage, then had to stand on a metal vibrating plate for 5 minutes while a small group of little girls gathered around me to watch. Suffice to say I felt a little foolish. As far as I could tell it made no noticeable difference to the wellbeing of my feet, but Sam did delight in filming the incident so a quarter well spent.

We also spent a very reasonable in my opinion, $3 in a photo booth for some old fashioned looking black and white photos.

Outside Sam spotted a submarine, and seeing his excitement there was no way I could refuse to go and look round it with him. It was very claustrophobic, a trait of all submarines I suppose. I don’t know how people could ever do that as a job, I’d go mad if I had to be down there for more than an hour! Sam in submarine mode
And of course we couldn’t go to Fisherman’s Wharf without seeing the Sea Lions. They didn’t seem to have any respect for each other, hauling themselves out of the water on top of each other, and flopping down wherever they pleased – if another unsuspecting beast happened to be in that particular spot, then so be it! Amusing to watch, but not so nice to smell.
Next was Lombard Street – Some of the street is so steep that they had to build the road zigzagging back and forth so that cars could get up it. It was a bit ridiculous, tourists wandering all over the road, and standing having their photos taken while cars beeped their horns trying to get through. Still, an interesting sight to behold!
We went to Haight Street for dinner, which is apparently where the hippy movement originated from in San Francisco. It’s a very nice chilled out place with lots of cool shops – I still remain purchaseless though! We went to a barbecue place for dinner and got chicken with mascarpone polenta. Very nice it was too.

Then, to end the day we got the bus back to the beach down the road from our motel to watch the sunset. It was pretty cold, but it was a beach, so paddling was necessary. We took some photos then wandered back in the direction of our motel.

Crescent City to San Francisco

We set off before 9, and drove down Highway 101 in search of ‘The Trees of Mystery’ and the ‘Drive-Thru Tree’. Drove up the winding road, once again trees towered above, and off into the distance as far as you could see. The mist was even worse, it hung low over the road, and driving was slow. Looking out of the window you could see a row of trees and then nothing, just pure, thick, white nothingness. You could imagine it stretching to eternity, as if it was the edge of the world.The Trees of Mystery was a walking trail, with a skylift at the end which took you up above the canopy of trees (some over 300ft tall). The skylift was pretty scary! We saw our first chipmunk too! As you can see from the root, they were pretty big!

The Drive Thru Tree is exactly what it says on the tin – a tree you can drive thru. We were greeted by our first unfriendly American who muttered something about snail trails (we think), and had a sign up in her little kiosk saying ‘no photos, I just work here!’. The tree itself was a little smaller than we’d imagined, but being the adventurous types we are, we decided to give it a go, and we scraped through..just! And here is the proofWe arrived in San Francisco at about 8.30And this is where we stayed – The Ocean Park Motel

Day 3 – Portland to Crescent City

6 1\2 hours driving today.

We started off by stopping for breakfast at Dennys. All got ourselves a good American breakfast. Inquisitive, I ordered some grits with my breakfast. I will not be making the same mistake again.
After bottomless cups of coffee and coke we got back in the car wondering how far we’d get before we had to make our first ‘restroom’ stop.

So far I have resisted any purchases. I don’t know how long this will last. I am still quietly lusting for our interconnecting flight.
After a few hours of driving we started running low on petrol. Ominously, the first gas station we found was in ‘Wolf Creek’. Luckily for us the locals were perfectly nice, no secret drugging was done and we got away without being chased (even though we forgot to give him a tip – are you meant to tip gas station attendents?).

Took a brief lil detour to drive into Wolf Creek Park.. a real purdy lil creek in the middle of a wood. We even found some crayfish (maybe – certainly crayfishlike creatures).
Then it was back in the car.

After driving through Redwood valley for a while we finally found the Redwood trees. Wow. The road wound between trees towering above us on either side, and a canyon with a river runnning through it below. We rounded a corner to see trees stretching off into the distance enshrouded in mist. Really, truly, amazing views!Sadly my photos just don’t do it justice! It was about 400 times more impressive than it looks..

We eventually arrived in Crescent City. It is the most desolate, harsh and lonely seeming place I have ever been. It is a small town right on the coast, with a harbour. Grey seas stretched out to meet grey skies, and all you could hear was the screeching of gulls and the barking of seals in the distance. We came across a large group of seagulls on the harbour, tearing into huge chunks of flesh of some kind (we assumed left over fish from the fishermen), fighting each other for it, their beaks and white feathers stained with blood. I couldn’t have made it up. It felt very much like the setting for a Stephen King novel.

As always everyone we met was unbelievably friendly and helpful. Seriously, now I know why they say British people are so reserved!

Portland

The day started with a quick trip to the Fremont troll. Sam refused to climb underneath it’s fingers and pretend to be being got – disappointing. Here is Sam not being got..
VEeeery cool Hotel here. Full of Art Nouveau decadence, musical posters, and each door had lyrics written on it. Ours was ‘Somebody to love’. This is the bed (which was very comfy).We got a very squashed lift which just fitted 4 people and 4 suitcases in it, up to our room.
Another day, another market – this time the Saturday market (which is also there on Sundays!). Lots of food, lots of handmade crafts and lots of hippies. Had a wander through it all and got some lunch.Post lunch decided to get a tram to the Japanese Garden. We got off the tram and discovered you had to pay to get in – we’re tight, so we went for a walk instead. It was worth it for the impressive views, and we came across a very cool looking kids party with a band and everything, but we weren’t invited, so we just stared longingly from afar, then gatecrashed to get some water from the water fountain. Unfortunately even our englishness couldn’t help secure us an invitation. So we left.

Putting on a brave face despite the lack of invitation..

Got dinner in a Ringlers.. then a headache struck and lovely Sam took me home to bed.

Seattle

We arrived in Seattle at midnight. We drove past the docks – the cranes looked like huge giraffes looming out of the darkness (they were literally giraffe shaped), and after a few wrong turns we found the hostel.

The lobby was full of very cool paintings with essences of Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas. The room also had a mural on the wall. I’m not exactly sure what the square things are, all I could see was giant luggage tags, but I’m sure they actually have some deeper meaning..The next morning we all woke up at 6.30 after a not so good night’s sleep on creaky bunk beds.

First stop was the Space Needle. After a brief shouted conversation with a man who we eventually realised was actually having a conversation with a man behind us, we found it, in all its extra specially high glory. We went to the top. It was high. I confirmed the cranes were indeed giraffelike.

We then headed downtown (yep we’re in America) to Pike Street Market. It was suuuper crowded, but a nice atmosphere – lots of buskers including a man playing 2 guitars, and a harmonica while hula hooping with bells and shells tied to his feet! My photography skills at this point were not up too much..If you look carefully you can see he is balancing one of the guitars on his chin..

We wandered/shuffled through the market, and decided we’d cook dinner at the hostel. We had an embarrassing incident after deciding we’d buy some giant prawns – after carefully packing our 20 prawns the man at the counter told us that we owed him $86.. so after some shocked intakes of breath, foot shuffling and hushed whispers Samantha informed him that actually, whoops we didn’t have any cash on us, so we’d have to go get some. Suffice to say we did not return.

The afternoon was spent in the company of a large, very loud man called Steve, who Sam got a little crush on. This is Steve. He likes puppies.We took the tour of the underground streets of Seattle with said man – interesting stuff! In a nutshell they built the town on mudflats which flooded every day, there was a fire which burnt most of the town down, they decided to rebuild the streets above the original city, but as it would take 5 years to complete local businesses were unhappy and rebuilt their shops etc. on the original level, the streets were then built around them, leaving small walkways 8-30ft below the streets, meaning they had to use ladders to cross the road. This is my excellent and accurate diagram of how it was back then:
We also came across a toyshop where, amongst various other delights, we found an otter hand puppet. It was of course purchased without hesitation! It even managed to attract the attention of some (naive – we weren’t sure if they thought it was real) tourists when Sam gave it a trial run.

This is a cool thing I found in a coffee shop.And this is the lamp I’ve decided I want in the new house.

The trip..

My shop is temporarily closed because I’m away in America for a month as of 4th August. We’re going on a roadtrip starting in Seattle and ending up in New York.. I am reeeeeeeeeeally excited, and absolutely petrified of the flights there – 9 hours from Heathrow to Dallas, a lovely 8 hour wait between flights, ending nicely with another 4 hour flight – that must be a challenge for even hardcore plane loving people!! Hopefully it’ll be absolutely amazing, and I’ll come back brimming with inspiration for new designs.. I’ll also probably be a few stone heavier and horribly sunburnt (fear not, I actually have factor 50 suncream!)

And here’s where we’re planning to go while we’re there:

• Seattle
• Portland
• San Francisco
• Los Angeles
• Las Vegas
• Phoenix
• El Paso
• San Antonio
• Houston
• New Orleans
• Memphis
• Nashville
• Knoxville
• Washington D.C.
• Philadelphia
• New York