Day 24 (9 August 2016) - Grand Canyon South Rim and Page

The last leg of our journey was going east from Las Vegas to cover the main part of the Grand Canyon. Our original plan was to cover the north and south rims but the north rim was closed and so the route to the south rim was the default choice. This was just as well as getting to the north or south rim from Las Vegas is a mammoth four hour drive and there is no way to cover both rims in a day by driving the distances are too vast.

Our route to the Grand Canyon and onto Page which was our stop for the night is shown below.

The drive is a long drive so trying to do the South Rim in a day from Las Vegas will be pushing it. The South Rim is the main part of the Grand Canyon and part of the US National Park service. Its not part of the rip off west rim. This meant that our Annual Pass worked and the way to visit the rim is very similar to the other national park. There is a parking area and then you take the free shuttle buses to the various view points along the rim. We parked in the Grand Canyon Village and essentially walked the Rim Trail and took the free shuttle buses for the view points further away.

Grand Canyon South Rim

This is want you can expect to see at the South Rim.

As you can see from the top picture we managed to go on a spectacular day where its was raining over part of the canyon and the top picture captures this. After the initial awe at this sight it became clear that we were going to get a soaking.

While typically you would think that a this would mean a lovely cooling shower it became clear that the situation was a little more precarious. Apparently the rim is prone to lightning strikes and when it rained we saw a number of lightening strikes across the rim.

The national parks had to evacuate the rim and the shuttle buses which displayed a 15 minute periodic lethargy started to come thick and fast. It need the classic American urgency and anger to kick things into shape but things usually more when this happens the Americans really get things moving.

After a 30 minute wait with wet clothes and a whole load of shivering we boarded the bus back to Grand Canyon village. When we arrived at the village we were pretty much ready to drive to Page having concluded that we had seen enough sunsets on our trip. But the Grand Canyon had one last surprise for us.

We were gifted with a spectacular sunset, the photographs above do not serve any justice to the beauty. So it you go do ask about the sunset at the time of the year you go there and if its worthwhile given the weather forecast.

We left the Grand Canyon in the dark and drive the couple of hours needed to get to Page. Where we were staying for the night.

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Day 23 (8 August 2016) - Las Vegas

Rest, there are some days where you need a day of rest and for us Day 23 was our day of rest. This pretty much meant we work up without an alarm and it was a day of pool side laze. Our evening was spend on the Las Vegas strip got back over the best bits from our first three days.

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Day 22 (7 August 2016) - Palm Springs to Las Vegas

The day in Palm Springs began with an early morning swim in the pool. The hotel was hosting a salsa competition well into the night so we had the pool pretty much to ourselves in the morning. By 9am the temperature was gaining and we left the pool check out and headed off to the main thing to do in Palm Springs apart from laze about is the Palm Springs tramway. The tramway takes you too the top of the valley to an alpine environment and there are a number of hikes and walking trails up there. Whilst we did not do any of them we went up there for the view and ambience.

Palm Springs Tramway

The pictures below show the view from the top of the mountain. If you have the time its a worthwhile thing to do. We did not experience massive queues there.

There are opportunities to camp and make a long day of the time at the top of the mountain. We had a long drive ahead of us so we spent only a couple of hours at the top before the descent.

Route to Las Vegas : Joshua Tree and Mohave Desert

I had planned a slightly intricate route to Las Vegas, I wanted to cover the Joshua Tree National Park and experience the Mojave desert. Part of the route was also to take in the historic (old) Route 66. Our route is shown below

The key element of this route were to back track from Palm Springs to Indio and further on the Interstate 10. At the junction drive through the Joshua Tree National Park up to Twenty Nine Palms/ From there continue north until hitting Amboy where you hit the historic Route 66. You only traverse the Route 66 for a short distance (6.6 miles I was told my Mrs. themanishdiary). Then drive through the Mohave desert, we fortunately hit it at sunset as you can see from the photos. Once you've passed Cima you continue north until you hit the interstate that takes you to Las Vegas.

Joshua Tree National Park

The Joshua Tree National Park is a very interesting drive, at the southern end of the park are no Joshua Tree's but mainly different class of Yucca trees some of these were pretty interesting and looked slightly dangerous and toxic.

Joshua Trees

You'll have seen I hinted at strange cactus trees in my earlier post. As we drove through the Joshua Tree National Park it became clear that what we had seen were Joshua Trees. A few more daylight examples here. The park has a core drive thats worth doing we did the main segment and the view point (Key's view).

When you reach Key's View you're again looking down at the desert floor and towards Palm Springs. Once clear days you can see further a field towards Mexico.

Route 66

From Joshua Tree National Parks as you exit through twentynine palms we drove north towards Amboy. We picked up old Route 66 from Amboy for a few miles west before we turned north through the Mohave desert.

We stopped off at Amboy where time seems to stand still and it looks like a place that inspired the Cars movie. The picture below show the Route 66 sign with a long "rail road" train in the background. I got bored after counting 106 carriages!

Mojave Desert

We drove the Mojave just as the sun was setting, this means that we hit Las Vegas late at night but it proved inspired timing as we managed to catch the sun setting as we were driving some of our photo's below. We had driven through the desert earlier in our trip so hitting the desert at sunset was truely perfect timing.

We eventually hit Las Vegas late at night but the long journey was worth it. Las Vegas was really all rest and relaxation until we started our final traversal through the national parks.

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Day 21 (6 August 2016) - San Diego to Palm Springs

Leaving the Pacific Coastal Highway meant that the end of odyssey was near. In the morning we went to the La Jolla Cove where you can see more seals and down toward Ocean beach. We then drove up the Pacific Coast and had a final dip in the ocean.

Our route to Palm Spring was not the fastest route which is usually via the interstate or highways. It was over the mountain range and descending onto the desert floor. Our route is shown below

This was the more interesting route to take rather than sit on the freeway. This does seem to mean to descend into the desert valley. The route essentially crosses one side of the San Andreas fault but any fault formations were not apparent in the mountains. You essentially client from Aguanga up and descend onto the floor at Palm Springs.

Photo below is what you can expect to see along the way

You can see from the shots below that the road twists and turns up the sloped and its quite an interesting drive. Even more interesting is the transition from a desert to an oasis in the desert Palm Springs. Palm Spring is on the desert floor and form part of a set of connected towns. Its obviously a playground for the rich. The places is limited in size yet has a Beverly Hills feel about it. A number of the stars have home here which makes the mix interesting.

We were staying at the Renaissance Palm Spring and it was a great hotel. So this happened to be another afternoon by the pool. The pool waters were warm and we stayed until early evening and then set off for the main area where all the restaurants are situated. Our hotel had an shuttle service so we it took the stress of driving there and back away. Thankfully the main area was only a couple of blocks away but you do not really want to be walking there in the dry heat of the region.

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Day 20 (5 August 2016) - San Diego

San Diego felt like a real laid back place, we were staying in La Jolla which seem to be on the outskirts of the main San Diego which means especially laid back. Our day in San Diego was means to be one of our recovery days from the intense travel to date and the part of the journey that lay ahead.

So this page is not really going to be about San Diego and all the wonderful things we did, if you're looking for that the tourist website will give you the low down. We had seen many aquariums and zoo's before so San Diego was going to be an easy day.

We went to the main shopping close to La Jolla and it was one of the best shopping areas we had been to to date. It was relaxed and the shops were easy to navigate. Although it was baking hot, the San Diego experience was a taster for going back to the desert.

San Diego Sunset

We said good by to the Pacific Coast line with a San Diego set and whilst cloudy it did not disappoint. The sun and surfers put on an excellent show for us in the evening.

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Day 19 (4 August 2016) - Los Angeles to San Diego

Everyone who travels these days will TripAdvisor everything and for Los Angeles the Getty Museum and Villa rank highly. Being from London and have access to a large number of museums means that while the Getty visit was interesting it was not mandatory. But our day's driving to San Diego was a reversal. It started going backward, tracking back on ourselves to the Getty and then even further back to Malibu.

The Getty

The Getty was a short ride away from where we were staying and there are no entrance charges to the Getty but there is a parking charge (also give access to the Getty Villa). The museum is extensive and one of the nicest to walk around the buildings are spaced out and give you time to absorb everything. Technology is well employed throughout the museum.

The gardens are excellent too and the place is definitely worth a visit.

Malibu Beach

There were a number of exhibition going on that day we visited a few before we getting on with our continued journey down the Pacific coastal highway. We continued our reversal up to Malibu with  view to going to Nobu in Malibu for lunch we never quite made it and ended up going up to Point Dume State beach while was wonderful. Our lunch stop was just off Malibu beach at a place called "The Sunset". The restaurant is right at the end of Malibu Beach and makes an amazing spot to stop for lunch. Its the kind of place where you can look out of the window and know you are blessed for that moment.

Los Angeles to San Diego

We resumed our drive south from Malibu to San Diego. We continued to follow the Pacific Coastal Highway South.

We were staying around La Jolla Cove. The drive down too an absolute age while the indication on the picture above says 4 hours it took us closer to 7 hours. Yes we stopped but we also got caught up in LA traffic. We persisted with the traffic so that we could say true to the Pacific Coastal Highway but as soon as darkness fell that persistence felt misplaced and we went out to the interstate 15 route and on to San Diego. That was the last of our love affair with the coastal route and what a magnificent coast line it was.

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Day 18 (3 August 2016) - Los Angeles

After the previous day at the beach our second day was pretty much a day of arranged pre-planned activity. We had shunned the Universal Studio's tour on the pricing grounds primarily and opted for the Warner Bros Studio tour.

Tour of the Star's Hollywood homes

We opted for a morning tour of the Star's homes in Hollywood hills and Beverly Hills. There are a number of companies offering these that leave pretty much hourly. You'll be put in a bus and driven round for a couple of hours past people's houses. There are no photographs of these as while the stories and locations were interesting to see most of the houses have large gates and trees which largely mean the tours pretty much a drive around. You can maybe walk away with a view that you have been breathing the same air as all the people you know in the movies!

Our guide was quite funny insisting that Hollywood is blessed with "paradise weather", "exotic birds" and was an "earthquake zone so was prone to rock falls"

Warner Bros Studio Tour

The Warner Bros studio tour was a 4 hour experience which takes you through the set, wardrobes and functioning sound stages. You wont be taken where filming is going on but they take you to the set's of interesting and familiar programs.

The tour takes you through the process of filming and give you an insight into it's extensive history. Its an informative tour and the experience is largely driven by the guide's level of knowledge and how s/he holds you attention. The tour is expensive but worth doing especially if you are a Friends fan!

Back to Santa Monica

I couldn't get enough the previous day so i dragged the family back to Santa Monica beach with the objective of getting in a sunset. We arrived a touch late as the sun had gone down but the sky was still lit up with the hues of the setting sun. Dinner was at one of the many restaurants around the Santa Monica district.

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Day 17 (2 August 2016) - Los Angeles

We had decided that Los Angeles (LA) was a city for everyone and we all picked up on things we wanted to see or do. Our couple of day in LA started with something I've always wanted to so which is go to Santa Monica and Venice beaches and especially muscle beach. By the time we got to LA the fog that hounds the coast further not was gone completely. LA had clear blue skies with not cloud in sight.

Santa Monica Beach

A beach suburb of LA with a amazingly long stretch of pristine beach. The sight of Santa Monica and Venice beach are enough to want to make you relocate your life to that part of the world.

Muscle beach is a spectacle dependent on when you go there. We went to both the Santa Monica muscle beach and the more populous Venice muscle beach home to where Arnie used to train. The pictures below are from a mix of the two beaches. We had a showman doing his workouts and he treated the crowds to some muscle ups and handstands on the bars. Very impressive!

The whole LA activity scene got me really excited as this is the kind of place you want to be with access to all possible types of activities you may want to do. This place was very similar to the lifestyle you encounter in the Australia and South Africa (Cape Town).

As with everything LA - even a photograph cost money. So be careful the many with the insanely strong fingers doing the pull ups asked me for money. Obviously being of a more fiery nature and not used to being spoken to like that I told him where to go and did not take any more photographs!

Griffin Observatory

The other common thing to do is the Griffin Observatory, essentially this is a view point over LA and best visited at night so that you can see the city lights. They close the observatory religiously so you you will equally have to observe the times. There is along windy road up to the observatory and there are car parks at the top and people park cars on the road up. Note they actually close the road up to the observatory so do not assume that if you've parked on the road you're safe.

As something to do in the evening the view are worthwhile

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Day 16 (1 August 2016) - Santa Barbara to Los Angeles

Santa Barbara town center is very accessible and organise it has a single main street that ends at the Pacific Ocean. The street is littered with high end shops and restaurants. Parking is straight forward and just on the streets behind. The beach has easy parking too.

The beach is a very nice too, we came across and interesting sight in the car park of a decorated van. Whilst I did not have much interest in it my better half took some interesting capture of the diligently and very thoughtfully covered van. Ultimately it was a tourist gimmick and i did feel like punching the owner who made an insulting remark at the fact that Asian's (young Chinese lady) do not pay tips to take photographs. We'll do not park you colourful van in a public place muppet hide it away our build a museum and charge for it.

Santa Barbara

Some of the more interesting things we saw in Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara harbour and pier were lovely as was the beach generally see below. The only eyesore was the oil rigs on the horizon. Really I did not realise that the rigs came so close to shore.

Drive to Los Angeles (LA)

The drive to LA was a short one and on the way way down to LA we avoided Highway 1 and went through the freeway to pass through the homes of the Kardashian's in Calabasas. Why ? You may ask the only answer is the indoctrination of young children. The ride through was pretty painless and we arrived early afternoon and headed out to around the street of Hollywood where we were staying.

Our route 

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