mybigadventures.com

I got up to the alarm, while Ben ignored it. I went down to Starbucks to get breakfast - they were particularly busy, so I had to amend our order. We had tea and I had a yoghurt granola pot and Ben had a classic sausage sandwich. While drinking our tea, Ben had a bit of a chat with Audrey on Skype and I got ourselves organised to leave.

We headed down to check out, posting our postcards on the way, at about 11:15 AM. Checked out, paying $125 (for parking). In the garage, we had to get a valet to move the car blocking us in, and then we were off!

On the way out of LA, we stopped to get petrol at the 7-Eleven and we also got some drinks and chocolate chip cookies for the journey. About 90 minutes in, we stopped at an out-of-town shopping centre for lunch. There was a Walmart, which we went in as we wanted to compare the prices. It was quite an odd place - food seemed to be very minimal - it clearly prioritised other items, from fishing rods to TVs. We had a look at the Lego - a bit disappointed to see the Lego set we had bought for less, but nevermind. We were going to buy some more, but decided against it. Bought some other bits and then went to the in-store McDonald’s for lunch. We were served by a teenager who seemed new, and consequently the service was a little slow… Ben had a Big Mac meal and I had a bacon cheeseburger. The regular size came with large drinks by UK standards, and, it has to be said, most of the other customers were quite large... We had to wait for our number to come up to get our food - slightly unusual for ‘fast-food’! Took our food out to the car to eat as the actual McDonald’s was a bit quiet and depressing.

Got back on the road again and almost immediately got stuck in a huge traffic jam. The SatNav kept telling us the road ahead was closed and suggested a diversion that would take an additional three hours. Despite this, we persevered on the original route and stayed in the slow moving traffic for about an hour before we hit the cause of the delay. There were a number of fire engines and helicopters carrying water, that seemed to be dealing with a smouldering hill. Traffic gradually picked up speed again and we cracked on for another hour, stopping for a break at another McDonald’s before we tackled the desert stretch. It was already very hot, so we had an ice-cream each (an Oreo McFlurry) and enjoyed the air conditioning in McDonald’s.

Set off again, planning on diverting off the interstate to go up Death Valley Road for a bit, to see the ‘infinite road’ (the road that seems to go nowhere!). However, about 30 minutes on from leaving McDonald’s - having gone in the wrong direction for a junction - we slowed to a stop. We were on a dual carriageway, with no alternative route, as we were going through the Mojave Desert. We crawled for over an hour, covering about 10 miles. It was nearly 6 PM and we still had about 170 miles to go. It was quite frustrating, not to mention hot. We had to keep turning the air conditioning off to prevent overheating. But we did manage to take some fun photos of Bruggers ‘driving’ the car. Eventually, we got going. Even once we got going, cars kept weaving in and out, which kept slowing everyone down, so we didn’t get up to speed for ages. We decided against going up Death Valley as we were already much later than planned.

The final stretch seemed very long, but we finally saw the lights of Vegas emerging. Followed the signs to the car rental return, which was so easy! Remarkable, in fact. ‘Checked in’ with the car rental, as it were, got our stuff and left, with a little receipt. Got into a taxi, and $17 later we were at our hotel.

Joined the substantial queue at check-in, but didn’t have to wait too long. We were disappointed to not be staying in the pyramid itself, as it is on a first-come, first-served basis. We instead got an ‘upgrade’ to the tower; a few extra feet and a bath. Whilst checking in, we tried to reserve a pyramid room for the night after Grand Canyon, and although the receptionist put us down for it, it is not guaranteed. Headed up to the room and dumped our stuff, a little underwhelmed. We have to pay $18 a day for services - which we can’t really use, as the Internet is wired. We went downstairs to get something to eat, heading to the food court. We had chicken and chips and then had a wander around the casino. We won a few dollars on blackjack and had a drink in the bar. We were appalled to find our 2 pints of lager cost nearly $20!! A little staggered, we decided to venture out, to explore some of the Strip. We walked through to the adjoining Excalibur hotel and casino, which looks a lot like a Disney Palace. We had a go on some fruit machines and roulette with mixed success. Went to bed about 2 AM, a few dollars down, I think.

After our long day yesterday, we decided to take things a bit easier today. We had a later start, grabbing Starbucks for breakfast again before leaving the hotel. We decided to spend a bit more time in the nearby parks, having only really walked through them enroute to other places the last couple of days. We started in the public gardens, sitting by the lake for a while and watching the dragonflies floating about. There was also a cormorant diving close to the edge of the lake for fish, which was interesting to watch but difficult to photograph as it was tricky to know where it was going to pop-up.

Moving on we wandered towards the Frog Pond in Boston Common, stopping off to take photos of the 'make way for ducklings statue' and also managing to get photos of a white breasted Nuthatch and a Southeastern Blue Jay on the way out.  Reaching the frog pond, there were lots of children playing in the water, Dani had a paddle and a wander but retreated after getting splashed a bit by some of the children.

We decided to have a wander down by the harbour, near the aquarium and started heading that way, stopping at Pret for some lunch and then again a bit further down the road at Tatte for some cake. We eventually reached the harbour about 4 o'clock wandering around for a couple of hours before heading back towards the hotel, stopping at Five Guys for tea. As we were walking back through Boston Common, they were just seting up for the last night of Shakespeare in the park which was due to start at 7. We nipped back to the hotel to drop some bits and then headed back to watch the play. The play finished around 9.30pm, giving us a bit of time to sort the cases out ready for our bus to Philadelphia tomorrow.  

So that day came around as it always does, the one where teachers are at least as anxious as their students - results day. No-one quite knew what to expect this year as it was the first year of the new 9-1 grades in English and Maths and on Wednesday evening in an effort to distract ourselves, we decided to plan a quick jaunt up to Liverpool for a few days away. Well the results turned out pretty good, which is more than I can say about the drive up. We set off after a morning of results on Thursday and arrived here 6 hours later after quite a bit of queuing on the motorway.

Liverpool as it turns out is quite the northern gem, and anyone reading this who hasn't yet taken the time to visit should plan a trip poste-haste! We're stopping close to Liverpool One which is pretty central and have managed to get about quite a bit. We've been down to the Albert Docks a few times - including today when it seemed to be hosting a folk festival with lots of musicians performing all around the docks - very exciting! We've also been to see the Cathedrals - both of which are less than 100 years old and one of which is celebrating its golden anniversary this year, having only opened 50 years ago!

You can't get too far without bumping into a bit of Beatles mania and amongst other things we saw a canal boat painted up as a yellow submarine, passed by the Cavern nightclub and stopped by 'a case history' which is a sculpture featuring cases from many of Liverpools famous faces including the Beatles. We also visited the central library which is a fantastic bit of architecture and features a wonderful circular reading room set over 3 levels - Dani was in her element surrounded by all the books. 

Anyway, we had a fantastic time, but sadly will be on our way tomorrow. Enjoy the photos!