Washington DC

First day in DC was warm, sunny and quite amazing. Our hotel is really well situated for seeing all the National Monuments, but not so good for going out at night. There are no restaurants nearby and when we walked down to the Potomac River on dusk we didn't really feel all that safe. Actually there was a really big outdoor seafood market going on - I've never seen so many crabs, prawns and all sorts of fish just straight off the boats. We asked a woman for some directions and she indicated that it was not a great place for us to be walking around at night - make sure you look purposeful and don't pull out your map!

Part of War Memorial near the reflecting pool - all part of the National Mall.

Mr & Mrs Tarsnakes with Lincoln Memorial and reflecting pool in the background.

Abe

Obama T shirt - I think the $5 price tag says something!

Vista of Lincoln Memorial and reflecting pool.

More War memorial. Actually there were heaps of WW2 veterans at the war Memorial for a get together, mainly in wheel chairs but each one with a minder. Many had their army or marine hats on and all were in orange shirts. These men must all be well past their 80's and it was kinda nice to see them all out at the various memorials talking, shaking hands and reminiscing together.

Below - Washington Monument

Squirrels everywhere

The White House

 Tarsnake's son once described him as 'grim looking' most of the time.

Original Smithsonian

Smithsonian air and space museum

Leaving Las Vegas

I'm glad to leave Las Vegas, it's not my sort of place! However, Las Vegas served as a good staging point for our trips out to Zion National Park (a day trip) and to the Grand Canyon (over-nighted there) and to fly out to Washington DC.
 POST SCRIPT: we flew with Southwest Airlines where one gets a boarding pass but there is no seat allocation on the plane at all - just pick a seat and sit down. Great, except by the time we boarded there was not 2 seats together anywhere for the 1.5 hr leg to Denver, Colorado. Then when most Denver passengers departed the aircraft, we walked to the second front row of seats and sat together right up the very front for the 4 hr leg to Washington DC. Arrived at 11.00pm local time Friday night and had to take a taxi to our hotel, the Residence Inn Marriott Capitol.

Here's a few more pics non Vegas pics.

Grand Canyon Arizona

We got up early and drove the 275 miles from Vegas to the South rim of the Grand Canyon. Encountered some severe weather (there were warnings on freeway overhead signs and radio - we saw on TV later that there had been 4 tornados about 80 miles from where we were that had destroyed homes). At the Grand Canyon there was an unseasonal thunderstorm and and some sunny breaks. We were freezing cold much of the afternoon!

Nothing can prepare you for the magnitude of this place

 Pictures just don't capture the depth and breadth of it all.

Just how often do you walk into a cafe and find a sign like this at the door?

Of course, it's Arizona!

It was also strange to see motorcyclists riding the freeways without helmets. I was gobsmacked to see people on the motorcycles helmetless at 75 mph out on the Interstate. Lots of them!

Zion National Park Utah

We hit the open road to Utah to see Zion National Park - a place I've had my heart set on going to since we first talked about a trip to the US. We left a warm Las Vegas around 8.00am, however by the time we got to Zion it was cool and drizzly - strange in a desert environment. Yet I have seen torrential rain and lightening over Ayers Rock in Oz which is not that common either.

As an aside, it was s strange feeling to be cruising down the highway legally at 75 mph, past two police radar traps and they did not give us a second look.

Zion is really well run. Cars are left in the car park and a fleet of step on - step off free shuttle buses that travel all the main beauty spots and hiking trail heads. These buses travel run in both directions and you never have to wait more than 5 mins for a bus - it makes for a much better experience than Yosemite with cars everywhere.Accommodation in and near the park is an issue though, so we did this as a (long) day trip from Las Vegas. We could have easily stayed a few days at Zion.

 A wild turkey - for real!

Hoover Dam, Mystere & The Phantom

Monday we went for a short run over to the Hoover Dam.

There is nothing very compelling about Las Vegas to a non gambler, however one of the things that we have enjoyed are the live shows. Sunday night we went to 'Mystere' by the Cirque du Soleil which was spectacular and then followed that Monday night with 'Phantom of the Opera' - very different performances but both were excellent.

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Death Valley CA & Nevada

A few pics from our run from Lone Pine through to Las Vegas via Death Valley.

Some video footage here

Yosemite National Park CA

We drove down the East side of  Lake Tahoe, into Carson City Nevada down Hwy 395 back into CA. This is an Alpine desert road, really pretty in a desolate sort of way - we even saw a coyote up close. From there we took the Tioga Pass to enter Yosemite from it's Eastern entrance. This place is breathtaking. It is everything and more than we expected. I will let the pictures talk for themselves.

El Capitan

Many people out living their dreams motorcycle touring. Just about all of them in big HDs or Honda Gold Wings, I don't think that I actually saw a sports bike all day.