California: Death Valley to Disneyland

We entered California through Death Valley and immediately smoke began to issue from one of the tires. We pressed on because surely someplace with a name as happy as Death Valley couldn't be dangerous.

It looks downright hospitable.


People have died trying to cross those sand dunes!


Populated.


Thankfully we made it accross and continued on our way to the Yosemite valley. Note that the entrance is high enough that there is packed snow still there at the end of summer. That's right snow.


The valley itself is substantially warmer but still very comfortable. I went climbing to get a better view of the famed Yosemite Waterfall.


The views on the way up weren't bad either.


The waterfall is a bit disappointing at this time of year because it has very little flow. However it is considered by some to be the highest fall in North America. While it may not look it from here. Keep in mind i did climb 1000 feet to get to this view.




This is it from the ground.


Next stop was San Fransisco. This is it's "Curviest Little Street".


Some of it's iconic architecture.


An octagonal house.


Alcatraz


The golden gate took a lot of effort to get to, but it was worth it.




If only for the views of the city.


We started to head down the coast to San Simeon where WR Hearst (of Citizen Kane fame) built his castle. He picked a pretty nice view I think.


The pool is a bit much though maybe.


The main house, this is just the biggest house, there are 3 guest houses that would satisfy most large families.


His internal pool has gold leafing. But at least he went for a minimalistic approach.


Whatever you think he certainly picked a good defensible location.


Today is my last day on this trip and I will be going to Disneyland!

The Famed Yellowstone Pictures are Revealed!

Our welcoming party upon arriving at the Park.


We saw the main sights like Old Faithful on the first day in the park, it was very impressive.


But the best part of the park was the wilderness that was all around me. I will let the pictures say the rest.






(This is a boiling pot of mud)












Our cabin for the 3 nights.


I preferred to be out by the fire though. Really who doesn't like to play with fires, crazy people that's who.



I will try post all my pictures from California from Death Valley to Disneyland before I fly back to Mexico.

Tetons to Vegas

A bison crossed paths with us.


The Tetons.




Salt Lake City was not the most interesting stop on the trip so far, the Salt Lake itself didn't make a great first impression with the first point we stopped at being a bit pungent.




Our next stop was Bryce Canyon, you can just make it out in the distance.


It is much more impressive up close though.






After our quick stop at Bryce Canyon we hurried over to Zion National Park to catch the last of the day's light.


Zion was the most amazing of the parks that I had seen up to this point and the pictures don't do it justice, largely because they were taken from a shuttle bus.




After a day's rest we headed off to the Grand Canyon (almost completing the Canyon experience)






We hopped quickly only a light aircraft tour of the canyon. Surely the smaller an aircraft is the less chance it will fall from the sky right? That is just simple logic!




Fortunately it was a great trip and the views were breathtaking, best $100 spent so far.
















Our doom postponed we headed further west to Vegas, the Hoover Dam is situated between Nevada and Arizona.


In Vegas we stayed at the Sahara which is one of the oldest hotels on the strip. Seeing as it isn't much to look at here are some photos of the big theme hotels.

The Luxor Pyramid/Casino/Hotel/Death ray.


New York, New York, with 90% more gambling! and 100% more tackiness!


Ray, Pat and Calvin met us in Vegas.


The Mini Brooklyn Bridge is what convinced me that I was truly in New York and not in fact in the middle of the freaking desert.


Paris manages to take a cultural heartland and turn it into a wasteland.


The Bellagio is possibly the least tacky place, wait...the fountain is choreographed to Enya, ruh-roh. In Vegas I managed to avoid gambling too much, it really is boring unless you are playing the tables with cost too much anyway on my budget. It was good to see the New Haven guys again though, we had a great couple of games of poker. I somehow managed to skip my Yellowstone pictures, so they are up next then it will be a California megapost!