Days 37 & 38, 19-20 May. San Francisco

Day 37-
Spent most of the night awake as my cold bug kicked up a notch to match how my neck feels -haha. Felt so blah and as we didnt have any tea making facilities in the room so couldnt make hot drinks to help, bum. But when Graeme woke up in the morning, he got me to cuddle up and I crashed for a few hours.

We got up and went up the block to a starbucks cafe- a really flash one in a huge warehouse type building like our hotel. Had a yummy cereal, berries & greek yoghurt brekky and hot drinks then went to a store to buy some essentials, tea bags and cinnamon whiskey lol!!

Louis had told me about the famous sea lions at pier 39 on the wharf and we found them by the noise- they are great to watch, all basking out in the sun on pontoons and the antics they get up to!

      

Dropped that off then wandered all round fishermans wharf today on a gorgeous perfectly clear and sunny day. So lucky!!  It started to fill up with people and added to the atmosphere and there is so much to see & do here being right on the seafront.  We had a stop or two to quench our thirst with pina coladas & beer - as you do, then wandered round the shops again before going to the infamous Ciopinnos for dinner. Italian owned & operated, it has a plentiful menu - more clam chowder but in a bread bowl this time - so yummy and afforable here.

This glass sculpture was $40,000! 

Trail marker in the pavement 

Clam chowder in a bread bowl 

Day 38-
Slept way better last night and not feeling so crap today, but Graeme is trying to catch it now! So took our time then went to Starbucks again for breakfast as it is right across the road from the iconic cable  car we want to to take into the city. When we got there, 2 very unhelpful young workers said it was wasnt working today so we were talking to a couple from NZ & Australia when suddenly another worker came along and said they had decided to open the cable car now. So we all hopped on and luckily got the seats outside the sit sideways. Enjoyed the ride up and down all the streets- certainly is hilly on this side!

The mechanism of the iconic cable car

A funny looking NZ flag 

We hopped off at the end of the line just past Union Square and into a loud march for workers with placcards etc -thought we were back in Aussie for a min with union protests!!  We wandered around the area having a look and bought some gifts. There are a lot of beggars and homeless who are off their nuts over here on this side of San Fran . One lady told me she had come face to face with a young person injecting themselves with heroin in the street this morning? Pretty sad.

The queue for the cable car back to fishermans wharf was huge with over an hours wait and we werent fussy how we got back, so decided to go round the corner a bit and catch the trolley car - like an electric tram and it was one of the old authentic ones. It was getting pretty warm by then and the tram was getting full but there was a gap in the middle and we found out why. There was a young skinny looking homeless guy who had taken up 2 seats & the stink everyone could smell was coming from him.  Another passenger said he had crapped himself and it was all up the outside of his clothes. It was rank and then the driver just kept squeezing more and more people in. There were no opening windows and it must have got up to neary 45-50C in there. Everyones hair and faces were drenched in sweat, so you can imagine what it was like being stuck near the homeless guy. Graeme was almost gagging as well as sweating!!  Pretty freakin bad but there was a weird sense of comraderie with everyone, trying to breathe/not breathe while standing up for 40 mins in an airless tram!!!

We finally got to fishermans wharf again and straight into a pier 39 bar where we practically inhaled our pint of icy cold beer!! Thats was followed by a pina colada or two and by this time we had cooled down and stopped feeling nauseas lol!

Went back in the lovely sunshine, back to the argonaut hotel and had a lay down - zonk! Crashed for an hour. Not a good idea when its late in the afternoon, youve been drinking and havent had any food!!!  Mouths like  the bottom of a birdcage, we got up at 5pm, had showers then walked back along the seafront and found a lovely restaurant overlooking the bay and alcatraz, for dinner.

Pina colada & a lime martini! 

Restaurant overlooking Alcatraz & the Bay 

Our hotel at the far end 

I have been spoilt by all the lovely p.m's & messages on FB today, as it is my birthday in Aussie and NZ- so I am getting a 2 day milestone birthday with the split time  zones as tomorrow is my birthday here!! Noice, very noice!

Days 35 & 36, 17-18 May. Grand Canyon by Helicopter then on to San Francisco

Day 35-

Woke today and was laying in bed when my neck muscles just weirdly went into spasm & left me stranded in the bed! It ia sooo painful cos I couldnt move to my left. Graeme worked on it while I whimpered haha then had a hot shower and lots of meds to try and ease the spasm a bit.  Didnt want it to affect our first helicopter ride as we are flying out over the grand canyon today. We usually mostly do a lot of walking when we are away on a big trip and dont spend a lot but this is a oncer that was too good to pass up.

And it was the best $380pp we spent, especially when you find out the chopper you are on is worth USD$3million!!! I got the price down $100pp as I had seen a special online but knew we hadnt booked the 5 days in advance for it, but after he tried to sell me the more expensive tour, he looked and found 2 spots left so we got that at a much better price.  Its a 75 min flight with 2 stops and 35 mins on the ground as well.

Our pilot was Tim, he reminded me of a better looking Ron Howard!  Funnily enough, after not meeting any other kiwis on our trip, the other passengers today were 2 english girls and 3 kiwi's from Christchurch!! Heard the accent and thought- really??!! Plus we were on an "all Black" chopper which we joked was most approriate lol.

We flew out over the desert and a maassive solar farm which is only 3 yrs old, then over the Hoover dam which we really wanted to see. Dont think Id like to work in that power station- it is directly below the dam, so if it ever gave way, you would be a goner!! Next we flew on to query the west rim and Tim put the chopper down for half an hour for us to look at the majestic canyon and river below. It was quite surreal, then we moved around seats and flew to the next stop where there are some bigger joshua trees- apparently they can go for 2 years without water!  Flew back over a town that was built for workers in the surrounding area - alot of houses all identical in neat grids of streets.

Hoover dam

The flight was very worthwhile and something we will always remember. Hard to believe you are traavelling at approx 250km/h cos it feels so slow! We did hit one massisve updraft which threw us all up then weightless back down- Tim aid that was the worst he has felt and makes pilots uncomfortable! But he handled it well.

Tim the pilot photobombing!

Giant solar farm in the desert 

The shuttle too us back to the Aria then we went back to the hotel to rest up for a bit. I have been fighting a bug for the last couple of days and have had a really sore throat. You notice that a lot of older asians cough and sneeze withoout covering their mouth and I had one yesterday give me a full blast sneeze right in the face with no apology. So am  now paying the price I think..grrr.

We decided to go to the Bellagio for a buffet meal tonight as its our last night in Vegas but there was a very long line and it didnt move, so we wandered over to the Aria and found they had one there too that we got into quickly. Could not complain, they have e.v.e.r.y. Type of food you could ask for and as usual the customer service in the States is really good - although what you have to pay in tips here is painful...but its the way it is so we dont begrudge service staff who are on low wages and rely on the tips to make a good income.

After dinner we went down to the lake at the Bellagio to watch the fountain lights  they do on the half hour to music. Its funny, that hotel is very popular with asians and they are delightful to watch when they are oooh'ing & aah'ing over the fountains dancing! Although one guy came along late and decided to try his luck and ducked down under the 2 guys beside us and popped up in front of them in  the front row, where everyone had been waiting in the cold wind for ages. The guys were so shocked they just stared at him - I go 'Aah no, thats this mans place' while Graeme taps him on the shoulder and indicates for him to go!! He knew he had tried his luck, so ran away quickly- was quite comical!!! The hotel also has pretty impressive displays with an asian inspired theme, plus  indoor flower beds - all very pretty.

Day 36-
Up today and packed as we move on to our last destination on  the american map! Off to San Francisco- we got an uber to the airport and check in outside actually! They offer a tip service, curbside check in where the guy also wears a uniform & hat like a pilot - only in Vegas! We bought a wheelie cabin bag since everyone else here takes a backpack and a small wheelie bag onboard, so this time our bags werent over the limit!

Went through border control - the staff there were really nice and hilarious. Our guy called out our first names and something funny as each person went through. Some were like 'aah....' and didnt know what to say but we all ended up cracking up at the back and forth banter he gave us! Saw on the departure board after we got through that our plane was being delayed 2 hours - bum, but what can you do. We wandered round the shops then got lunch in a nice diner. The  departure time was then moved forward a little, as the plane issue had been fixed.

Flight was good, only 1 3/4 hours and we were in San Fran. I had emailed the shuttle service we have used all over the States, to let them know we were delayed and that was all good cos they monitor your flights anyway. Got  out to the kerbside agent they had for supershuttle and checked in online. They usually allocate you a van within 5 mins or so, but nothing....... Their staff member was pretty ineffective and just kept looking at his clipboard. But after 40 mins Graeme was starting to steam and since it was a booked anad prepaid shuttle, it shouldnt have happened. The guy told us there were no vans nearby,  and we ended up waiting an hour. Just as we said we are going to make our own way, a van  finally showed up - and surprise suprise it was right when a later flight with passengers arrived for their pick up! Then we saw other shuttle vans from this company sitting in the carpark we realised they had been there all the time and were stringing us out until the later passengers came.  All the other cities we have used the company have been good, but this franchisee was not! Dirty email went their way.

So finally got to our hotel at the end of the stops - Fishermans wharf is gorgeous and I can see why people say to stay there and not in town, it postcard perfect and very cruisey.

We chucked our bags in the room then out for dinner- seafood chowder heaven, its served everywhere here and is really affordable. Will crash tonight, my. Neck is  still pretty sore with all the travel tooo.

Days 33 & 34, 15-16th May. Viva Las Vegas!

Day 33-
We didnt have to get up early today so was nice to sleep until 7.45am and take our time. We got ready and went for a wander to get our bearings. The V'dara where we are staying is right behind the Aria in the middle of the strip, so we walked through to its huge lobby and casino- so much louder in other hotels as ours is casino free and smoke free! The Bellagio next door is massive and has Murano glass chandeliers in its lobby.We found the Planet Hollywood shoppping mall which is pretty much over the road - they have this freaky ceiling that looks like it is the sky, its kinda surreal. Had breakfast at the La Salsa Cantina there.

  

Bellagio foyer

"Sky" ceiling in the Hard Rock mall

We walked  the strip for some hours quite a way along. Man-anything goes here, there are  so many contrasts of people....people in singlets and shorts, people in Prada and it seems very normal to walk along with these long plastic drinks glasses you get from some of the hotel with your drink. But no-one is obnoxious at all, its all very relaxed. There are casino's for Africa!!! A lot of the big hotels have upwards of 6 casinos and lobbies that are like shopping malls. Everything is on a gigantic scale and excess is the theme - opulence everywhere and hawkers trying to give you stuff on most corners. Took heaps of photos then we came back and put our feet up for a while before returning back to it for another walk in the other direction! You cant cross the road here apart from at walkways that go up and over the roads above the strip, so its quite a walk to be able to cross if you dont plan it!

Bought bits and pieces for home, stopped for a drink at another Maragaritaville. Same as the one we visited in Cozumel, Mexico for margaritas! Then wandered to the Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant as we had visited the one at Sanata Monica and liked it. Got coconut crumbed shrimp this time - they are more like prawns and so yum. They have memorabilia everywhere from the Forrest Gump movie.

We staggered back after walking over 10kms today, to have a lovely hot bath and soak our tootsies!

Day 34-
Had good sleeps as usual - walking over 10k steps a day tends to help with that!! We had bought some yoghurt and fruit last night, so we had that for breakfast this morning and caught a cab up to the old part of Vegas. The driver pointed out Elvis Presleys vegas mansion which he left to his gardeners and house staff and some of them still love there apparently.

It can get a bit dodgy up this end of the strip we have been told at night, so you dont walk around drunk up here or you find your wallet gone! Its prefectly safe though during the day and we got the taxi to drop us a couple of kms short of Freemont st as we wanted to visit the place of the tv show Pawn Stars, where the Old Man, Rick, his son Corey and Chumlee, who made it famous. Its actually not a big shop at all and apparently the stars 'family' arent seen much anymore. Probably dont need to with their fame! They had some nice stuff in there though.

Then we walked about half an hour over to the Mob museum and spent an hour or two there. Pretty interesting how it all got started, laundering or skimming money off casino incomes and how politicians, judges and lawyers ended up being involved. The museum is actually in the court house where a lot of the mob were brought to justice, but sheez so many people were muurdered on both sides.

Freemont st is just down the road so we went there to have a look around and do the Zipline experience, where you get strapped into a harness and zip down the line over the st. Its pretty cool, it was a bit disorganised and omg they harnesses are tight between your legs haha! But we did that then walked around looking in the stores as the prices are a lot better than downtown in the newer part of Vegas. We bought a cabin bag as our luggage is growing and everyone  over here seems to take on a backpack and a roller bag - some are massive and they seem to get away with it, so hopefully we will.

We went to an Irish pub for a late lunch/early dinner with a pint of guiness for Graeme and a raspberry beer for me- rather nice. There are a lot of beggars who do not seem to be destitute here, including one guy who had a sign saying "Not gonna lie- want $$ for drinks and ciggys"!!

We caught a cab back to our hotel, changed then out to see a the "Vegas Show" which w as very, very enjoyable. It followed the time line of Vegas with Sammy Davis Jr, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Cher, Aretha Franklin & Elvis - along with the gorgeous dancing girls. It was so energetic and also had comedy in it with jugglers, hula hoops, a hilarious juggler called Michael Holly and some magic. Super great show.

Walked back through the Hard Rock mall again and bought a few things then back to relax!