🙂 Venice Beach, Universal Studios, Golden Gate Bridge, Wine tasting, skiing in a bikini!
🙁 Walk of Stars – very dodgy area 🙁
Wednesday, 10 May 1995 – Tuesday, 24 May 1995
We had bid Chris & Rhona farewell in Honolulu and our Limo taxi arrived at 03h00 – I nearly got into the wrong one which had some guys watching a porno in the back! Hells bells! Managed to get into the correct limo headed to airport and flew over to LA. Watched Legends of the Fall on the flight which was excellent! Arrived at LA expecting Bregita to meet us – but no one was there. We spent ages trying to trace ANZ lost property and finally found our fishing rods. Took a shuttle – $40!! to the Backpackers in Huntingdon which was managed by Bregita and which is where Anne actually grew up Chatted to Bregita – no explanation as to why not turned up?! …. Headed out with her and her friend Susan we drank a Long Island Tea which I had never had before – it is a concoction of every spirit under the sun and nearly killed me. Bregita disappeared and I ended up walking on a road in the middle of nowhere with a guy offering me drugs and who showed me his knife – I was terrified and knocked on the first door and the lady called me a cab. I was in tears but Paul comforted me when I got back to the hostel – terrifying experience. Bregita is a strange one – she was a person that i considered to be one of my closest friends, she was a bridesmaid at my first wedding and made the effort to visit her in Huntingdon and always popped in to see her Mom in Durban and then in the Eastern Cape – one day she removed me from facebook and so I contacted her and asked her why and explained that I was upset – apparently i am ‘dead wood’ which she was clearing out – Nice.
Bregita leant us her huge cadillac which only had 3 gears! We drove to Beverley Hills and strolled around Rodeo Road and had lunch.
The next day we headed to Santa Anna so that I could buy Paul’s replacement PADI certificate for $20! Posted stuff to Andy & Libby. Got refund for Amtrak Rail tickets of $487.50. Then we arrived at Universal Studios in Hollywood – Back to the Future ride was excellent! Had a great day which Trent enjoyed. JAWS was another highlight! 🙂
The next day we headed to Venice Beach and walked to the market, bought hot dogs and a t-shirt. Got a pic with the rasta guitar guy – v cool! 🙂 Did the Hollywood Walk of the Stars … there was a girl who had taken a drug overdose with a needle in her arm in the MacDonalds!
We spent our final night with Anne’s sister, Vicky in Huntingdon and also met her other sister Kim. Called Dennis (Dave’s brother who said he’d pick us up in San Fransisco).
Sunday 14 May 1995 – 17 May 1995
We took the Amtrak train the next morning in a family coach with a nice Australian family.Drank lunch and had wine and a nap. Dennis was a bit late to pick us up but we got back to their place in the end and had a nice chat. He had broken his leg 2 months ago and was still in pain. The next day we slept in and then walked to the shops and took a tram and did San Fran things! Headed to a lovely place for food but unfortunately I ate something bad and was ill all night!
The next day we went shopping and bought new Ray Bans and Levis and a new Thermarest. Bumped into Denise’s friend Megan!! Small world!! Hired a car and drove up the steepest street, the crookedest street and Alcatraz – all the film stuff – so cool! Took pics of Golden Gate Bridge.
The next day we went wine tasting in Napa / Sanoma Valley – Paul said their wine tasted like his Dad’s home made! Hilarious!! Napa is the name of a town, and it’s also the name of the region, the Napa Valley. This world-famous wine region also includes many sub-regions (AVAs) to explore. People come from all over the world to sip the savoury Cabernet Sauvignon, rich and buttery Chardonnay, and fruit-forward Merlot.
Sonoma is the name of a town, name of the region, and it’s an AVA. Napa might win on being more expensive, but Sonoma is more expansive, spread out, and laid-back. (People often say Sonoma is “less commercialised” than Napa.) It’s almost double the size of Napa, and grows far more grapes than Napa in a variety of conditions. People come from all over the world to sip Sonoma’s creamy and zesty Chardonnay, cool climate Pinot Noir, juicy Zinfandel, impressive Red Blends, and refreshing Sparkling Wine. A fine day out.
Went to Chevy’s for dinner which was delicious! Gave Sandra and Dennis a bottle of wine and some glasses as a Thank You for having us… we had really enjoyed our stay in San Fran!
Monday, 22 May 1995
After leaving Yosemite at 07h00 we only caught th ebus at 08h30. Got to Yosemite Lodge at 09h00 where we printed our 30 Amtrak Tickets! We jumped onto the next train when I realised that I’d left the USA Railpass behind – disaster! Luckily the kind conductor called and arranged for it to be sent to a station where we could collect it – phew. We swapped trains at Sacremento and arranged to collect car hire at Truckee. Booked into a shady but cheap motel after an exhausting day of non productive travel. Up at 07h30 and ready for skiing at Lake Tahoe! Caught the TART – Tahoe Area Rapid Transport – LOL. Hired skis for $20 plus lift pass for $28. Loads of snow. I ski’d n my bikini and got very sunburnt! Had pizza and wine as Trent was playing up and we needed to calm our nerves!
Up early and headed to Sequoia.
Go To: USA
