Dad & I at Heathrow Airport

Hello,
Well we're off and running. After all that worrying, my passport was not a problem - in fact we got waived through many of the checkpoints and then sat there watching many of the other passengers having their personal belongings torn apart.

We're a bit worried having just seen the Captain of our plane who makes Douglas Bader look sprightly - he could also pass for the pilot from 'Airplane'!

Cabin Crew looked as though they had escaped from a Nursing Home - never before have I been seeen so much botox and silicon dripping from a group of senior citizens. Drinks and food kept coming - so can't complain, although it was difficult getting to the toilet as you had to vault their Zimmer Frames.

In the picture you can see Dad and I having a pre-flight drink at Heathrow before we said goodbye to Mum and Nan.

See you in LA.

Adam & Steve

written by  Adam & Steve Balcombe on June 23, 2007 from Heathrow, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Adam & Steve's Best of the West USA Road Trip 2007!
tagged HeathrowUSA
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When the woman found out that we were touring Brits she tried to flog us an SUV for $49 extra per day and more insurance - we politely declined her generous offer. She then told us to go out to the car park and pick up any 'Mid-Size' Car. There was a large selection of Mondeo types and then we spotted an SUV parked in the Mid Size space. I grabbed the keys and quickly ran over to an attendant and asked whether we could choose any 'Mid Size' car, even if some were bigger than others. His response - "If you see something you like, just take it" - We didn't need to be told twice, jumped in and screeched out of the depot at 3mph.

The 5 minute journey to the hotel was quite enough for Dad for today and we decided to walk around the vicinity and purchased a cool box which should come in handy. We then had a nutritious American meal from In 'n' Out Burger - Yum!

We're knackered so it's off to bed now. Sorry for the lack of photos but we will make up for it when we return to LA at the end of the holiday.

See you in Palm Springs.

Adam & Steve

Los Angeles Airport - Saturday Evening

Whoops! Adam gets excited as he unpacks for a night in LA.

A big test for Dad today as he had to drive a long distance for the first time in America and barring almost reversing into a car as we left the carpark this morning he did very well. Dad thinks it's ironic that we've gone all the way to America (Home of The Automobile) and we end up with a heap of Japanese shit! Hopefully it will last the trip. The SatNav has been a lifesaver although it does leave it late sometimes to give out instructions. We managed to accidentally get off the freeway and ended up lost in a very seedy neighbourhood - it's never a good sign when you pull into a street and you can't see any of the houses through the 'Police Caution' tape around the front gardens!

Stopped off on-route at Desert Hills, an out of town shopping outlet that had every designer label under the sun. Us not being the designer types, I ended up leaving with a Bates Motel 'Phsyco' T-Shirt.

We arrived at Palm Springs around 1pm and headed for the Visitor Centre who advised us to take the Aerial Tramway to the top of the San Jacinto Mountain. It was a long way up there and the actual cable car rotated 360 degrees which prompted many over-the-top reactions from our American co-passengers.

The weather in the morning had been pretty cool and Dad had expressed his disappointment. Little did he know that as we moved away from the coast it becomes bloody hot - they say 105f, I say bullshit! They even said that it would be 40degrees cooler at the top of the mountain but that was in no way the case!

We checked into our hotel and then went shopping, Dad bought some alcohol and wasn't asked for ID, unlike yesterday when he tried to buy some cough medicine. I've also discovered an addiction for Frosted Animal Cookies - I'm sure to be bringing back many packets of these!

We couldn't decide where to go to eat but fancied a Steakhouse - so as we have a SatNav we decided to let it choose where we went. We ended up at Ruth's Chris Steak House...

Words cannot describe how out of place we were in this restaurant. The service was immaculate - bordering on the obssessive. Never before have I been so informed about was has happened to my steak from birth through to plate - and very hot plate at that ... it burnt through the table cloth!

Got back to hotel at 10:15, I was asleep by 10:15:30.

Scottsdale next ...

Our very own Toyota

Well Hello ...

You wouldn't believe that we've just walked a 15mile hiking trail in 120f!

He's Got A Pineapple ...

Left hotel at 9:15 with the temperature already well into the 100's - thank God for Air Conditioning!

After the Breakfast disappointment we decided to hit the road and stop off for lunch at place recommended by the Tour Operator. This place is right on the California/Arizona border and called Blythe.

Now as soon as we entered Blythe we should have known it was a mistake ... three legged people walking down the Main Street is never a good sign. We quickly did a U-Turn and headed into the safety of the local McDonalds. For once the people working in McDonalds were considered relatively normal.

Dad also decided it was about time to fill up with fuel. But which type? We plumped for Petrol and to date the car is still running.

Back on Route 10 for another 130miles and we were greeted by some lovely scenery which made the journey fly past. When I opened the windows to take some pictures it was like opening the door of a furnace. We also passed a junction for the State Prison accompanied by a sign warning us to not give HitchHikers a lift.

Eventually we hit some traffic and we knew that we were entering Phoenix. Through Phoenix was Scottsdale, our home for tonight. We've been at the hotel for about 2hours now, rung home and also scouted a location for tomorrow's big American breakfast - the first of the tour.

I'll update you with what we get up to later today on tomorrows blog.

See you at The Grand Canyon - I'm so excited!!!

The Open Road

Some rocks ...

...some more rocks!

Cactus!

Phoenix - America's 9th Biggest City

A longish drive to The Grand Canyon National Park today and we headed straight for the Heliport. We booked up a flight and waited in line with loads of other people. It just so happened that when it came to our names being called out, we were the only two on the helicopter - it was a little more expensive trip, although it was probably because with our weight they couldn't safely load any more passengers.

The Grand Canyon was beautiful and we managed to take loads of photos and video. We then booked into our hotel and drove into the park itself to have a stroll along the rim.

We had dinner at a real American Western Steak House right down to the waiters wearing Cowboy hats - classy! We happened to be served by a cowgirl equivalent of Basil Fawlty who you feared that if your answer to her question of 'Is Everything OK?' was negative, that she would simply reply with 'Tough!'. She was definitely a real Cowgirl, she had the walk of somebody who had been straddling a magnificent animal for a good many hours!

Las Vegas tomorrow!

written by  Adam & Steve Balcombe on June 26, 2007 from Grand Canyon Village, United States
from the travel blog: Adam & Steve's Best of the West USA Road Trip 2007!
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We still got a fairly early start and headed back down the route we took yesterday as there is only one road in and out of the Grand Canyon. We made a stop off at Seligman which is a little town situated on the historic Route 66. Many of the businesses closed with the downfall of the road itself although there were a few shops open cashing in on the tourists and also a rather interesting Cafe (see picture), who's motto is 'From Your Grille To Ours!'

Back on the main road and we hit the Hoover Dam. This consisted of a rather large queue for a good 20minutes before we disappointingly saw very little as roadworks had cordoned off many of the roadside viewpoints.

Crossing the Dam marked our entry into the third and final state that we will visit on this tour - Nevada. It was a short drive from here to Las Vegas where we experienced the longest check in queue so far. We also have our biggest room number - 111406. If you look at the picture, we're nearly in the pointy bit at the top!

We've all heard about our fatter cousins over here but up until now we hadn't seen any - that is until today. It seems that if you are over 40 stone you qualify for a free mobility scooter - I can't wait to buy some T-Shirts ... XS!!!

We went out to explore some Casinos and so far have got as far as New York New York and the MGM Grand - the world's biggest hotel! We must ahve walked around that place 5 or 6 times! We were also invited to take part in a special advanced TV screening and then give them our feedback which was a bit of fun and a much needed sit down!

Next we found M&M World ... what a place! Never before have I experienced 4 floors 'choc-full' of M&M memorabilia. You could also pick your own colours, which of course we had to try.

We had dinner and then decided that we would go to the cinema. 'Live Free, Die Hard' came out today over here and so obviously we wanted the privilege of seeing it before all of you lot ... especially with a crowd of excitable Americans - Yippee Ki-Yay, Mother Fucker!!!!!!!!!

Yummy!

Adam And A Mate In Seligman

Hoover Dam Back

Hoover Dam Front

Our Hotel - The Luxor

Dad's Favourite Place!

New York, New York

So back to Vegas ...

Whilst we were typing up our last blog, we were drawn to the text that was being typed into the screen to our left. A small asian man, going by the name of Ming (the merciless probably) was perusing a website www.women4head.com and typing out his desires, time and room number to some "minger" via an email. Any women out there interested? He's staying at the Tropicana, Room 23*%!

Made it back to our room last night at about 2:00am and then the alarm clock failed to work meaning that we didn't arise until 10am! But we were out by 11, hitting the strip which we eventually worked from end to end ... which is no mean feat! - I had to carry Dad the last two miles!!

The trip was made encompassed many shops, in fact I seem to be getting in touch with my feminine side and blitzing the clothes shops, looking for T-Shirts. We also meandered through many of the hotels including the Bellagio, Caesars Palace (Sinatra's fav!) and Circus, Circus. I also managed to get Dad on the New York, New York Rollercoaster which you can see in the pics from yesterday.

We caught the bus back to the hotel where we got talking to a couple of English people from Yarmouth, indeed they said if you put a bubble over Yarmouth, you would have Las Vegas ... a bit of an overstatement me thinks!!!

After a freshen up we went for our dinner at a Steakhouse in the GameWorks. Unfortunately we don't have a photo, though I have it on video, of Dad's starter - "Sliders". This was 6, yes 6, burgers with buns and salad ... for a starter!!! Don't worry Michael, Dad only ate the burgers!

After dinner, we purchased an unlimited games card which allowed us to play on all the arcade games until they closed at midnight. We made our way back to the hotel, via the Hagen Daz Baileys milkshake stand and Dad lost $20 on the Wheel of Fortune. Well we had to try didn't we ...

Death Valley next ...

MGM Lion

The Strip

Caesars Palace

Inside(!) Caesars Palace

Le Hotel Paris

Off to Death Valley today, where its hot ... can't really say much else!!

The scenery is superb - we could really do with a Jon Cunningham-esque panoramic camera - although we have taken to picking our nose just to see something green!!!

Booked into our Ranch for the evening ahead and then off to Badwater which is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere ... and even hotter!!

Tried to book up for a game of scorching hot golf on the worlds lowest course but we were a bit too late. Went back to the room and woke up at 9:15pm, too late for dinner so back off to bed.

An enjoyable day in which we saw a lot but also caught up with a lot of sleep!

Yosemite's up next!

The Desert

Looking up to Sea Level Marker

The Lowest Point

Set off this morning on the longest drive of the tour with a hearty breakfast inside of us ... only the second so far!

We left at 9:45 and when we typed in our destination into the SatNav it estimated our arrival time at 5:13pm!! Dad said he'd have to stop for a pee!!

It's definitely getting cooler as we head West, thank God, and we have started to see some foliage again!! The trees were amazingly tall in the park and Dad had to be on his guard as some of the roads went periliously close to the edge of cliffs.

A fairly uneventful journey, again the changes in the scenery which we have captured on video have been incredible. We did pass a massive landslide which you can see in one of the pictures and just goes to show how dangerous these roads are .

We finally arrived at our hotel about 6:30pm and walked into the local town for dinner.

San Francisco up next, Dad's getting the Lycra, make-up and stick-on moustache prepared.
All together now - "YMCA" and "In The Navy.."

Greeeeeeeen!

Landslide!!

Time for bed said Zebedee ...

Drove into San Francisco this morning over the Bay Bridge which was an experience having had to pick a queue for the correct toll booth about 1/2 mile away from the signs ... thank God for my binoculars which will hopefully come in useful again at the various beaches in Los Angeles.

To find our hotel we had to drive through some choice areas including the infamous Tenderloin district. We dumped our bags and headed for the cable car down into town. A side note - It's bloody cold!!!

Got on the cable car and managed to sit next to "the nutter on the bus" who collared Dad and explained that he was related to a Knight of the Round Table. We stayed on the cable car to its termination and then quickly decided to jump back on and head back to the hotel having reviewed the gangs of vagrants in the local area. To be honest, this is the most unsafe I have felt on the trip so far.

Had dinner in the hotel and then off to bed.

Cable Car

If you look closely, you'll see Dad in the distance on his bike ...

San Francisco From Hotel Room