Day 78 Tuesday 16th September
I vaguely remembered Bob getting up at 5.30am and leaving for golf but I soon went back to a deep sleep and didn’t stir until 9am. I had a shower, breakfast and sorted my clothes washing then sat out the front of the house with Pops reading my book while he read the paper. Then I spent an hour catching up with a bit of writing up this diary. Bob arrived back from golf just after 12 noon and Inderjit came home too for lunch. After Bob had a quick shower and a sandwich she dropped us both back at the train station to go back to San Francisco for the Alcatraz trip. This time we were going to try the CAL train to Millbrae (1 stop before SF )then the BART train to the Wharf. The CAL train was fine but the BART train dropped us at Pier 1 – we needed pier 33 so we had to walk about a mile to the pier, good job we had plenty of time. We asked if we could go on an earlier trip but they were all full so to kill half an hour we stopped at a bar for a drink. Very soon we were on our way across the river to the Island, it was only 15 mins before we were getting off and stopping to listen to a quick verbal guided tour by a Ranger then we headed for the cellblock at the top of the rock. Inside the guard house we were given a set of headphones and audio tape, the tape told us which way to turn, where to stop and what to look at as it explained life in Alcatraz. We just had time to look in the gift shop (not that we wanted handcuffs, pieces of rock or a tee shirt with Alcatraz on it) before we were back on the boat and steaming across the water back to pier 33. We only had 10 mins before the BART train left Pier 1 and with the absence of a bus or tram that wasn’t full to the brim we started to walk but soon realized we weren’t going to make it so we slowed the walk. 20 mins later at the station our day ticket wouldn’t work in the machine so we queued for 10 mins to be told they had been de-magnetiszed and that we shouldn’t put them next to our mobiles. They had been in Bobs pocket all day and he wasn’t carrying a mobile so she said she would give us a voucher to use the train, this took another 10 mins, by which time we had missed the next train. Annoyed we phoned Inderjit to tell her that we would be late and to eat without us while we waited for the next train. When we arrived at Millbrae we found there was another 35 mins to the next CAL train so by the time we reached Sunnyvale it was 8.45pm (some 3hrs 30mins journey) , Inderjit was waiting for us and as we were hungry we stopped to pick up Fajitas and rice to take home. When we got there Inderjits brother was there again so we sat and chatted while we ate and at nearly midnight he went home and we went to bed.
Day 79 Wednesday 17th September
Up and out early again, firstly to go and buy some presents for Inderjit and Paul as they had been such wonderful hosts. We came from different cultures, so it was especially nice that they had made us so welcome so we wanted to say thanks. Paul had said that they wanted to buy a picture frame for a photo of Adam and Tj at the wedding so we found a lovely one with red round the edge for them, also we bought them a digital picture frame and downloaded all our photos of the wedding onto it so that they could all enjoy it. Bob wanted a new reading book so we found a big bookstore called Barnes and Noble where we could browse books and magazines and have a Starbucks Coffee and snack too. Unfortunately the 4 books on my list I want to read were not stocked (obviously Americans read different authors to the British) so we left for home. We had planned to leave at 3pm to go to their other home in Livingstone some 2 hrs south east , hoping that this would help to break up the long journey by car to Las Vegas tomorrow. They were both delighted with their presents and said that it had been good to spend some time together and learn some of each others cultures. Inderjit had wanted to come with us to Livingstone and at the last minute Paul decided he would come too so we all set off in 2 cars at 3pm and travelled through SF and heavy traffic arriving at 5pm. Their “other”house was enormous, and beautifully furnished, brand new and apparently it was the show house and they bought it with everything in it at a knock down price they couldn’t say no to. It was a designer house with everything including all the carpets, beds, furniture, silk flowers and even ornaments. They have cousins who live in Livingstone and have visited many times and like the area so their idea is to retire here as it’s a very small town where everyone knows everyone. When we arrived the Spanish lady next door came to say hello, and an Indian family down the road stopped by, in the street are Portugues, Spanish, Mexican, and Indian – very multicultural and very friendly. After they had showed us round we called into one of the cousins houses and dropped Pops off while Inderjit, Paul, Bob and I went for an Indian meal. We suggested this as they had been eating “English” food during our stay for us so I had a korma and bob a chicken tikka with lots of other bits and pieces. We enjoyed it very much, expect one thing that was too hot for us. Returning to pick up Pop we returned to their house and Inderjit and Paul went to see another cousin and her daughter, 10 mins later they were back with them as they wanted to meet “Adams parents” too, so we chatted to them for a few minutes before Inderjit and Paul said goodbye. They gave us a key to the house which they said we could keep so that if ever we wanted to use it we were welcome too as we were now part of the family. We realized when they had gone about 9pm that there was no TV so we decided to shower and get ready for bed as we had set the alarm for 5.30am – Vegas was still 8 or 9hrs drive away.
Day 80 Thursday 18th September
We had planned the journey on a map as well as having Tom Tom but we didn’t quite trust it, (I keep calling it Tom Tom but it was actually a Garmin ) the trip was about 600 klms across to Yosemite National Park which had the most amazing scenery, out the other side towards the Nevada boarder into the desert, then right down highway 95 into Las Vegas. For the most part it was boring, miles and miles of nothing. We took some pictures of the lakes which were so clear and the mountains so beautiful and after a stop for lunch we arrived in Vegas at 4pm. We had barely got in the door of the hotel when someone asked us if we wanted dinner and show tickets for tonight ! We queued for 15 mins to check in and finally flopped in the room. A couple of hours later, after a nap and a shower we came out into the hot hum id heat and noise of Vegas. We walked up the strip until our feet ached, checking out the Excalibur, New York, and Bellagio Hotels and a few casinos and shops then we caught the metro back to the Luxor.
Day 81 Friday 19th September
This morning we decided to go out for breakfast so we set off in the car towards the outlet retail park south of the strip. This is a huge shopping mall with 150 stores where we had breakfast in an Italian restaurant and browsed the shops. When we were tired we got back in the car to go to a big electrical store close by called Frys. In here we found ipods at 199$ which is about half the price in the uk and 30 $ cheaper than the Apple shop so we bought 2 (so that we don’t argue over them). We stopped at a golf shop on the way back to the hotel. I switched on my computer to download the apple software for the ipods and it didn’t work, so I tried again – still nothing. Bob went off for a swim and to read his book by the pool while I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get some information, I tried the hotel internet company – no reply, so I went down to the business centre to see if they could help but it’s a different company. I texted and phoned Adam, text Lucy trying to find the address of an Acer dealer in Las Vegas – nobody replied. I was upset now thinking I had lost all my photos on the computer. After dinner in the buffet restaurant we went out for a walk to digest a huge meal and stopped at a ticket shop for flights to the grand canyon as Bob wanted to go. I did the trip 6 years ago so he booked to go on his own on Sunday morning.
Day 82 Saturday 20th September
This morning after finding a retailer of Acer computers nearby we got up early and went to speak to them. They would have charged us 60$ just to check it but the guy said he had never seen one so small so he was reluctant to look at it and charge us as he wasn’t certain he could come up with a solution. Accepting that the computer was not going to be fixed we drove to another retail outlet at the north of the strip for breakfast. Here we found a ticket office selling half price tickets for shows for this evening. We joined the queue planning to book to see David Copperfield the magician but a tv screen showing previews of the shows showed one of Penn and Teller, also magicians and we changed our minds and booked to see them. Cheered up now with a show to look forward to tonight, we got back to the car and drove to the Rio Hotel on the otherside of the motorway just off the strip to exchange our vouchers for tickets at the box office, as we were told that we could not reserve our seats until we had got the tickets. Tickets in hand and seats booked we drove back to the strip and parked in the Mirage car park (all the hotels have free parking so you just drive into any of them ) and continued down the strip to the Treasure Island Hotel, Venetian Hotel, the Paris and back into Caesars Palace Forum shops where Bob, bless him, continuing to try to cheer me up treated me to a new jacket to wear – oh and then he treated himself to 2 new windproof golfing tops ! To be fair, I had 2 as well as they worked out at around £10 each - the expensive ones were buy 1 get 1 free and the cheaper ones were half the price of the sale price even though they were already half price! Loaded up with stuff we went back to the hotel for a quick shower and to get ready for an early dinner so that we could be back at the Rio for 8pm for the show. Whilst Bob was showering I phoned Adam and again and told him about the computer and he suggested taking the battery out and putting it back in – amazingly the computer worked !!!!!!!!!!! Apparently he said that it was a “smart battery” and it thought it was not charged ??????? So I was very happy now with the computer working I downloaded the software for the ipod but that had an error on it so I gave up and got ready for the show. The show started with an hour of music from a jazz pianist which was very pleasant to listen to whilst I read the souvenir programme. Then Penn and Teller came on and had us in fits of laughter and on the edge of our seats with anticipation – a fantastic show which ended around 10.30 and then they came out into the lobby to sign autographs – we got both signatures on the programme and a photo each (although Bobs is a bit fuzzy).
Day 83 Sunday 21st September
This morning Bob went off on his trip to the grand canyon, leaving at 6.30am from the room he arrived at the front of the hotel in good time for the pickup which was late ! They drove to Boulder City Airport and got in a brand new cesnar airplane with only 5 passengers, Bob got the seat next to the pilot who was very chatty and explained all the workings of the plane and all the sites as they flew over the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and onto the Canyon where they alighted and got in a helicopter to go down to the Colorado river for a boat cruise, again, jammy sod, Bob got the seat next to the pilot so had a birds eye view of the canyon. (Around this time I would be getting out of bed !) After the boat trip, back in the helicopter to rise 4000 ft out of the canyon where they were taken by coach to the place where they had a barbecue meal and given time to relax and walk around with a time to be back at the coach. Bob, not wearing a watch or a Lyn on his arm didn’t realize the time and missed the coach back to the plane – luckily he managed to catch a lift from another coach and arrived at the plane which was waiting for him. The trip back to Boulder was uneventful and he arrived back at the Hotel late at around 2pm. I had been waiting outside the front of the Hotel to meet him from 1pm til 1.40pm and gave up then and went back to the room. As this was our last day we decided to go and pickup a book from the bookshop and then Bob went for a read by the pool while I caught up with the blog again and read my book inside – the temperature was over 90˚ and too hot for me – also I didn’t want to compete with all those bronzed Californian bodies laying round the pool. After dinner we went out for a last walk up the strip – we must have walked miles this last few days but I must say that Vegas was much more seedy than I remember, there are a couple of hotels missing since my last visit but there is a huge new one almost built about half way up the strip. I also don’t remember there being so many ticket touts on the street and in the Hotels especially the ones offering entrance to men’s clubs, there was a large amount of litter in the streets, most of it flyers with naked ladies on them that these touts were handing out. More amazingly they kept offering them to Bob even though we were holding hands !!! The casinos again became a blur, each one virtually the same but we still got lost in most of the hotels trying to find our way out. We watched several people getting excited over gaming machines and on poker, roulette and other tables we also saw the sadness in the eyes of those who had just lost a lot of money , so it seems that there are huge highs and deep lows of this town. Bob loves it and would come again – I on the other hand, have seen it twice, got the tee shirt and not bothered about coming back.
Day 84 Monday 22nd September
We woke to drilling noises outside around 7.30am so we got up and packed the bags, I had checked the airline for baggage allowance and it seemed that we could take 2 bags each of 50lbs each so we decided to call in the outlet centre on the way to the airport and pick up another bag as I was concerned that our bags would be overweight. We checked out easily on the tv and loaded stuff into the car. At the outlet centre we realized that they didn’t open til 10am and we had to check in then so we continued to the rental car drop off and onto the airport hoping to get breakfast and a bag there. No such luck, there were no bag shops in departures so we put our bags on the scales and thankfully we were just under. We continued to the departure lounge after a very quick and easy entrance through customs to find that there were no bag shops here and only a pizza hut and Mcdonalds for breakfast. Bob had a burger and chips and I got a pot of fresh fruit, expecting to have lunch on the plane. The flight was called ontime and we boarded having 3 seats between us so plenty of room, however, there was no lunch included so we were faced with dry rolls and ham for $6 each. We were hungry so had one each and settled down to read and to update the blog a bit more on the computer as the tv was pay to view too ! We landed 4 hrs later in Toronto some 3hrs forward in time so it was now nearly 8pm. Having eventually found where to get the shuttle to the car rental company we waited for half an hour before he arrived . He was a nice man and told us what to do in Toronto and where to go and how to get to our hotel, so we picked up the car and set off some 50klms east to Oshowa. We arrived after being stuck in a traffic jam at 10.15pm and dropping the luggage in the car went straight to the bar for something to eat. We sat for an hour chatting to the barmaid and some of the locals getting the low down on Niagara before retiring to bed at midnight even though it was only 9pm in our body clock.
Sep 23, 2008
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