Livin' La Vino Loca

We’ve just arrived in Williams, a tiny town near the Grand Canyon after a 4 hour drive from Vegas. Oh my word, it’s such a refreshing change! Firstly, it’s below 100 degrees here so I can breathe properly again.Our hotel has been around since 1871 and the corridors are all sloped and wooden with old photos, sofas and rugs scattered around. The lady on the desk welcomed us like old friends and gave us a choice of rooms, showed us where the games cupboard was and our communal bathroom! So different from the 2,000 roomed non personal giant we stayed at in Vegas….we did have a great time though and I was seriously impressed by the creativity, scale and extravagance of the city. On the first night we strolled down the Strip, dipping into the hotels for air con breaks and marvelling at the themed decor & architecture replicating a medieval castle, ancient Rome, Venice and The Eiffel Tower to name a few! We stopped outside one for a water fountain show to music which happened to be ‘Lord of the Dance’. “Dance then, wherever you may be, I am the Lord of the dance said he”. Reminded me that Jesus is as much in Vegas as anywhere and to enjoy the ‘dance’ there. We managed to bag 2 free shows and dinner for the 2nd night, the only cost being 2 hours of our time to view a new hotel complex. Hmmmmm, the Americans are great sales people and we were this close to coming home with a 5 star 15k timeshare in Vegas!!! Grand Canyon tomorrow…x

We leave LA today after 5 quality days here. I must say, my expectations of this place were far from what we’ve experienced. I was expecting to see beautiful, busty blondes rollor blading down the beach front & feel pretty intimidated by the glamour & wealth of the city. I ain’t seen no one on blades but plenty on bikes, most of LA seems to be made up of Freeways, Hollywood was very non glamerous & even Michael Jackson’s memorial venue was more like a giant stationary outlet! Yesterday we sat on the roof terrace with the most buff, American looking guy you’re likely to see while he told us about being a PE teacher and blew bubbles!!

It’s been nice to stay at a friend’s home after going from one place to the next on the way down from LA. I’ve felt less guilty about paying for hotels & felt connected to our house back home by cleaning the bathroom here. Tony’s benefitted from Gareth’s gym pass, bikes & barber as well as his indepth knowledge of the best places to visit & eat in LA.

Some of my best memories thus far have been sat in cafes (albeit next to a Freeway) munching on scrummy & wholesome vegetarian food (not just fries & veggie burger!) lovingly prepared & served by these friendly people. My fave was french toast with cream cheese & fresh berries. Mmmmmm! Tony’s still waiting for his mega steak experience!

We finally ventured into the sea yesterday on Newport beach - both the water and air temperature hasn’t quite been optimum but as soon as we were in there we wondered why we’d left it so long cos it was lush……oh yeah…the sharks!

Vegas here we come!

We’re staying about an hour away from all the Micky Jackson action in LA. Just watching it on CNN but heading downtown later to rub shoulders with Lionel Ritchie and the gang!!! Should be interesting!

So yesterday we hired Kayak’s and paddled down a Marina near Newport beach with herons, pelicans, massive houses and luxury yachts. It was all very beautiful but felt good to be in our little yellow Kayaks surrounded my wealth.

In the evening we went to see LA Angels vs Texas Rangers play baseball. Reminded me of playing rounders at school but with the ball travelling 85 mph faster! Awesome!