24 December 2011 - Well it's Christmas Eve and I woke to -5 degrees C - a bit cooler than Australia.,....just a smidge. :) No snow but the ground is white and the cars covered in a heavy frost so I'll have to wait till New York to get snow maybe.
We are having Christmas dinner today as all the other families are meeting up tomorrow - Christmas Day really needs to be 48 hours long. I'm missing my family - especially after reading all the posts on Facebook but I'm with good friends and there's going to be amazing food so all is good :)
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE - STAY SAFE AND ENJOY xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Saturday, 24 December 2011
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Making Travel Arrangements
20 December 2011- Christmas shopping done :) Had a scare when I couldn't find my Travel cash Card....found it in my Passport where I left it after booking in to the motel in Little Rock the other day...twas very late and I was tired when I booked in so I had just stuck them altogether. Will it never end (*cringe *blush)
21 December 2011 - went for another run - someone must have gone out during the night and made that damn hill steeper - was tougher than yesterday lol
Got on the internet and have booked to fly from Little Rock to New York on December 26. I will be there for 16 days till I fly to Iceland on January 12. Will get to see the New Year in in Times Square ...hmmmm.... may leave my purse and Passport at the hotel lol I have booked in to a hotel that's only 25 minutes on public transport to get to Times Square so will save time and money commuting this time. I want to revisit Central Park - hoping it snows - and go on the Statten Island ferry. Maybe I can catch another show too.
21 December 2011 - went for another run - someone must have gone out during the night and made that damn hill steeper - was tougher than yesterday lol
Got on the internet and have booked to fly from Little Rock to New York on December 26. I will be there for 16 days till I fly to Iceland on January 12. Will get to see the New Year in in Times Square ...hmmmm.... may leave my purse and Passport at the hotel lol I have booked in to a hotel that's only 25 minutes on public transport to get to Times Square so will save time and money commuting this time. I want to revisit Central Park - hoping it snows - and go on the Statten Island ferry. Maybe I can catch another show too.
Monday, 19 December 2011
Lazy days
19 December 2011 - caught up on some more sleep. I'm getting very used to this lazy life although I did go for another run. Up the hill and down twice and a fleeting thought of doing it three times....maybe tomorrow lol
The weather is unusually warm for this time of the year apparently so the chances of getting a white Christmas are as about as likely as snow in Alice Springs in December hehehehe When I head north after Christmas I will almost certainly see some snow and of course I will expect to see heaps of it in Iceland and London in January. If not I'll want to know why!!!!
Lee left Hawaii today to return to Adelaide and I feel even sadder than I did when she left LA to go to Hawaii...it seems more the end of something. She sky dived again in Hawaii so that's 3 times she has done it. I'll have to do it again now in UK and then back in Oz so I'll have done it on 3 continents and to catch up with her!!
The weather is unusually warm for this time of the year apparently so the chances of getting a white Christmas are as about as likely as snow in Alice Springs in December hehehehe When I head north after Christmas I will almost certainly see some snow and of course I will expect to see heaps of it in Iceland and London in January. If not I'll want to know why!!!!
Lee left Hawaii today to return to Adelaide and I feel even sadder than I did when she left LA to go to Hawaii...it seems more the end of something. She sky dived again in Hawaii so that's 3 times she has done it. I'll have to do it again now in UK and then back in Oz so I'll have done it on 3 continents and to catch up with her!!
Sunday, 18 December 2011
San Diego to Arkansas
15 December to 18 December 2011 - Well!! What can I say - the train trip was very very long - 55 hours and sleep was in short supply due train announcements, stops, starts etc etc. The actual seating was excellent - lots of leg room and comfortable seats. The train is called the Texas Eagle and most of the travel was through Arizona and New Mexico and Texas which means a lot of flat empty land - made me homesick for Australia lol but saw no kangaroos. I saw the Border Patrol at work in one area - helicoptors and lots of cars and flashing lights. They must have caught up with some illegals crossing the border.
I also met some lovely people - Dawn and Kassidy - from Arizona. They were on the way to Chicago to spend Christmas with Dawn's folks. I felt for them - I got off the train at 11.30 at night on Friday and they still had to travel till 2 pm the next day. Like I said - it is such a long trip.
I was lucky that Paul Slater had put some movies on a portable hard drive for me and I set my computer up and watched about a dozen movies. Kept me out of trouble and helped pass the time away.
I will admit to having another purse "incident" but this time it turned out much better and it was returned to me. I think if I hadn't got it back I would have thought three times and you're out and would have caught the next plane back to Oz. :( It leaves such a sick feeling in your stomach when you realise it isn't where it should be.
After arriving in Little Rock on Friday night I got a cab to my motel. The taxi driver was a friend of Bill Clinton's and showed me some photos on his phone of the two of them together. He also stated "he never had sex with that woman either" lol It was about 1.30 by the time I was in bed and the next thing I knew it was light outside and someone was knocking at my door. I was cranky thinking "why is someone waking me up so damn early" - it was housekeeping and it was 11 am hehehe....I had been in such a deep sleep too...at least I caught up with the last 3 or 4 nights sleep.
Kae and Ang picked me up about midday (YAY!!!) and we went to the Dixie Cafe for lunch- great food and so nice to be back with Kae and Ang.
Got up today and actually went for a run - it felt so good after so long cooped up in the car getting fatter by the minute :) I was very slow but it was a cold crisp morning and it felt wonderful - I was very tired after :) If I'm not in pain tomorrow I'll go again.
Ang outdid himself today and cooked ribs - so yummy - had seconds which I shouldn't have but couldn't resist!! Life is good.
I also met some lovely people - Dawn and Kassidy - from Arizona. They were on the way to Chicago to spend Christmas with Dawn's folks. I felt for them - I got off the train at 11.30 at night on Friday and they still had to travel till 2 pm the next day. Like I said - it is such a long trip.
I was lucky that Paul Slater had put some movies on a portable hard drive for me and I set my computer up and watched about a dozen movies. Kept me out of trouble and helped pass the time away.
I will admit to having another purse "incident" but this time it turned out much better and it was returned to me. I think if I hadn't got it back I would have thought three times and you're out and would have caught the next plane back to Oz. :( It leaves such a sick feeling in your stomach when you realise it isn't where it should be.
After arriving in Little Rock on Friday night I got a cab to my motel. The taxi driver was a friend of Bill Clinton's and showed me some photos on his phone of the two of them together. He also stated "he never had sex with that woman either" lol It was about 1.30 by the time I was in bed and the next thing I knew it was light outside and someone was knocking at my door. I was cranky thinking "why is someone waking me up so damn early" - it was housekeeping and it was 11 am hehehe....I had been in such a deep sleep too...at least I caught up with the last 3 or 4 nights sleep.
Kae and Ang picked me up about midday (YAY!!!) and we went to the Dixie Cafe for lunch- great food and so nice to be back with Kae and Ang.
Got up today and actually went for a run - it felt so good after so long cooped up in the car getting fatter by the minute :) I was very slow but it was a cold crisp morning and it felt wonderful - I was very tired after :) If I'm not in pain tomorrow I'll go again.
Ang outdid himself today and cooked ribs - so yummy - had seconds which I shouldn't have but couldn't resist!! Life is good.
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
OK......So we have a change of plan.....
14 December 2011- after communicating with Kae & Angie last night re "getting my ass to Arkansas" for Christmas and "getting my stocking stuffed" I figured I better book my train trip leaving San Diego on Friday 16 th after doing the zoo today. HOWEVER - when I got on line it seemed I left my run too late. Everything was booked up from Friday onward that could get me to Arkansas before Christmas - best I could get was arriving in Little Rock at midnight Christmas night :(
I tried bringing the trip forwards a day but no luck. Similar problem with the airlines - the only flights cost around $800 one way with a stop over. I then tried the train again for today and managed to get a booking - 10.40 am to LA (2 hrs 45 mins) then change trains to Little Rock leaving at 3 pm today gets in Friday at 11.30 pm (54 hrs).
It will be a long trip but it will be worth it - I have my kindle and lap top so all will be fine. I double checked an hour later and there were no bookings left at all - I must have got the last one...phew!!
Gordon and I went out for dinner - Irish Pub - and had a magnificent Shepherds Pie followed by hot apple pie and custard - ate way to much - again - but it was scrumptious.
I also found another couple of businesses I liked the names of and everything looked pretty with the fairy lights. I was obviously in party avenue because there was a lot of revelling going on most of the night and this combined with the fact I'm reading a REALLY good book stopped me from getting much sleep. I'll soon catch that up in the next few days on the train though. There was a lot of yelling at one stage and even though it was only 8 degrees Centigrade there was this dude naked from the waist up pushing a shopping trolley filled with his worldly goods and with a giant American flag flying above it screaming his lungs out. I couldn't make out what he was saying but the Police eventually came. Come to think of it there was a lot of police sirens and cars most of the night. Must ahve been a good party :)
I tried bringing the trip forwards a day but no luck. Similar problem with the airlines - the only flights cost around $800 one way with a stop over. I then tried the train again for today and managed to get a booking - 10.40 am to LA (2 hrs 45 mins) then change trains to Little Rock leaving at 3 pm today gets in Friday at 11.30 pm (54 hrs).
It will be a long trip but it will be worth it - I have my kindle and lap top so all will be fine. I double checked an hour later and there were no bookings left at all - I must have got the last one...phew!!
Gordon and I went out for dinner - Irish Pub - and had a magnificent Shepherds Pie followed by hot apple pie and custard - ate way to much - again - but it was scrumptious.
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| Gordon enjoyed his pint |
I also found another couple of businesses I liked the names of and everything looked pretty with the fairy lights. I was obviously in party avenue because there was a lot of revelling going on most of the night and this combined with the fact I'm reading a REALLY good book stopped me from getting much sleep. I'll soon catch that up in the next few days on the train though. There was a lot of yelling at one stage and even though it was only 8 degrees Centigrade there was this dude naked from the waist up pushing a shopping trolley filled with his worldly goods and with a giant American flag flying above it screaming his lungs out. I couldn't make out what he was saying but the Police eventually came. Come to think of it there was a lot of police sirens and cars most of the night. Must ahve been a good party :)
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| Market St |
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| Love it |
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
♫♫♫ It never rains in southern California ♫♫♫....Oh yes it does!!
12 December 2011 - Spent today getting ready to move on from LA. Walked a couple of kms in the pouring rain carrying a big bag of laundry. I used the laundry at the hostel once and the clothes came out smelling worse than when they went in :( so had to use the big one on Santa Monica. The song mentioned in the title of this post was playing in the laundromat so had a bit of a giggle about that. Carried it all back - still in the rain - to the hostel. Then had to get rid of all the food and drinks etc that we had been carrying around in the van which I obviously couldn't fit in my back pack. I left it all in the kitchen of the hostel with a sign saying Help Yourself and by the time I went upstairs to get my cup for a coffee and got back down it was all gone lol.
I packed another box to be posted back to Australia full of clothes and bits and pieces I wont be needing. It weighed 15 kgs and I had to carry that a couple of kms in the OTHER direction to the Post Office - still in the rain that never falls in southern California. By the end of the day I was over walking, carrying and rain!!
13 December 2011 - GOODBYE LA!!!! I got up early today as I wanted to be at Union Station as early as possible to avoid any timing disasters. All went smoothly. Everything fitted in my backpacks (just) and one large carry bag....the taxi got me to the station in plenty of time.....my large pack came in under the 50 lb allowed (just). I decided to travel business class as it was only $15 more. As it was, I got about $15 worth of free food, drinks and a newspaper so it was well worth it for the comfortable seat and WiFi. The trip was great with the line running parallel to the coast with some wonderful views.
There was also a Navy ship and some helicopters doing some manoeuvres - couldn't quite make out what was hanging from the bottom of the choppers.
San Diego obviously prides itself on the names it gives its businesses...some real corkers. Walked around the city for an hour and a half and am looking forward to going to the San Diego Zoo - hopefully tomorrow
Bugs#1465
I packed another box to be posted back to Australia full of clothes and bits and pieces I wont be needing. It weighed 15 kgs and I had to carry that a couple of kms in the OTHER direction to the Post Office - still in the rain that never falls in southern California. By the end of the day I was over walking, carrying and rain!!
13 December 2011 - GOODBYE LA!!!! I got up early today as I wanted to be at Union Station as early as possible to avoid any timing disasters. All went smoothly. Everything fitted in my backpacks (just) and one large carry bag....the taxi got me to the station in plenty of time.....my large pack came in under the 50 lb allowed (just). I decided to travel business class as it was only $15 more. As it was, I got about $15 worth of free food, drinks and a newspaper so it was well worth it for the comfortable seat and WiFi. The trip was great with the line running parallel to the coast with some wonderful views.
Bugs#1465
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Killing time in Los Angeles
10 December & 11 December 2011 - Well I Googled "Sights to see in Los Angeles" to fill in a few days I have left here. It seems, however, that I have already seen everything of note. I'm sure there must be more but I can't find anything. Yesterday and today I just went for major walks - miles and miles - and confirmed in my mind that LA is not in my top 5 cities....in fact not even in the top 10. Adelaide you look beautiful, clean and well organised and are user friendly compared to LA. I haven't felt threatened in Adelaide but I can't say the same for LA. The other day - just down the street on Santa Monica and Vine - a gunman just opened fire on motorists and pedestrians because he wanted to die. Suicide by cop. Why wouldn't he just go take something instead of shooting innocent people just out doing their Saturday shopping. I don't know...just a different mind set here.
Today I walked all up way past Santa Monica Bvd to Sunset Bvd and beyond. Being Sunday all the Porsches and Maseratis were out on display. It was a nice day - bit cooler than forecast and apparently we have a big storm coming in tonight. The smog this morning was pretty bad too - see the photo below/
Bugs #1263
Today I walked all up way past Santa Monica Bvd to Sunset Bvd and beyond. Being Sunday all the Porsches and Maseratis were out on display. It was a nice day - bit cooler than forecast and apparently we have a big storm coming in tonight. The smog this morning was pretty bad too - see the photo below/
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| Nice clean air lol |
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