New York New York

I found New York to be a great city. Enjoy the clip

My Bear Encounter in Yellowstone National Park

Here's the video footage of my bear encounter in Yellowstone National Park. I got such a shock when this bear walked right by me that it took some time for me to focus the camera. The grizzly followed a few minutes later.

Route 66

I guess, everyone knows something about one of the most famous roads in the world, Route 66 which ran from Chicagp across the USA to Los Angeles. It was a also known as 'Main Street of America'. Route 66 was officially removed from the US Highway System in 1985 as it did no longer fit into the new US Road Numbering System.

Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico and Arizona have been designated a National Scenic Byway with the name of 'Historic Route 66'. Whatever its name, it terminated in Santa Monica CA where the famous sign still stands.

At the end of the Road (Route 66)

For more information on this historic rout

CLICK HERE

Foxy is walking

Foxy took his first steps yesterday and we were here to see it. How lucky was that?

Alas our US trip has come to an end and we're flying back to OZ tonight.

Back in L.A.

We are back in Los Angeles with Sonya, Bernie and Fox. We fly home tomorrow night.

We went to the Apple Store in Hollywood where we bought the iPad before we left for New York. They fixed it so now I can post blogs with the iPad, so we'll need to do the trip again.


Diane in the helicopter flying into Grand Canyon.




Flying over the Colorado River Nevada

It was an amazing trip. We travelled 6,687 km from New York to L.A. Through the heartland of the United States and we saw some amazing things.

My blog is now over but I'm sure Diane will post more details on her blog when we get home, so stay tuned and thanks for watching and commenting.

Cheers,

Bill

Las Vegas - Calico - Los Angeles

We travel back into California again with a stop at Calico Ghost Town to relieve the wild, tough days when miners struck it rich. Through the Mojave desert and over the San Gabriel Mountains back to Los Angeles.

Calico Ghost Town

Mojave Desert

Off to Sin City (Las Vegas)

We head to the unique phenomenon of Las Vegas, where today's fortune hunters try their luck at the 24-hour gambling tables of the "Strip." We have a two-night stay at the Tropicana - Las Vegas.

Who knows, we might just try our luck... or maybe not!

Grand Canyion Here We Come

After leaving Cedar City today, our first stop is Zion National Park, a landscape that was carved out by rushing streams over a period of a million years. Through Kaibab National Forest to the less visited north rim of the Grand Canyon, with views over the mighty Colorado River.

Zion National Park

Grand Canyon

Bryce Canyon - Cedar City

We leave Salt Lake City and travel through the sagebrush landscape of southern Utah to Bryce Canyon National Park with its breathtaking sandstone and limestone cliffs and ever-changing colours. We head west through Dixie National Forest and Cedar Breaks National Monument to Cedar City for our ovrernight stay.

Bryce Canyon

Best Western at Cedar City, UT - our hotl for the night

Grand Teton National Park - Jackson - Salt Lake City

Today, we head south into the magnifiscent Grand Tetons with saw-toothed, 4,115m high ridges crested with snow most of the year. Through "Western" Jackson with its wooden sidewalks and swing-door saloons, and we'll arrive in Salt Lake City, the centre of the Mormon religion,  in the late afternoon where we'll take a brief orientation drive before reaching the Red Lion Hotel for the night.

Grand Tetons

Jackson

Salt lake City

Yellowstone National Park

most interesting Day. Sorry no pictures.


I was sitting down on a park bench this afternoon, waiting for Diane, when someone shouted to me,"Sir, there is a bear heading your way."


I stood up and sure enough a fully grown black bear walked by me about 10 feet away. I got my camera ready but by the time it was running I just got the back end of it. By now lots of people came running to me telling me ho lucky I was not getting eaten.


a few minutes later someone else was shouting, "Bear,"

when we saw a grizzly bear following the black bear. well this time I was ready and caught it on camera, just as a ranger ordered everyone back into their vehicles, well, our bus was about 500 metres down the road so we returned to the bus and hoped for the best.


nothing can now beat this experience.

Yellowstone National Park

We leave Cody and drive through the Shoshone National Forest to Yellowstone National Park, following the Grand Loop Road to Artist Point with views of Yellowstone Canyon and the Lower Falls, nearly twice the height of Niagara. Next, we visit the geyser basins with bubbling mud paint pots and finally the reliable "blow" of Old Faithful, Yellowstone's great geyser.

We stay two nights in West Yellowstone, the western gateway to the park. Located in Wyoming, Montana nd Idaho, it is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bisons and elk and we hope we'll see some of those (from a distance).

Old faithful

Yellowstone National Park

We stay two nights in West Yellowstone, the western gateway to the park. Located in Wyoming, Montana nd Idaho, it is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bisons and elk and we hope we'll see some of those.

Keystone - Cody

We head through the rich, mountainous country to Buffalo, where open-range cattle kings made war on the sheep ranchers of the 1880s. We drive past Sheridan, the scene of many fierce battles between the U.S. Cavalry and the Sioux, Cheyenne and Crowe Indians.

Then we climb over the Bighorn Mountains en route to the overnight stay in Buffalo Bill's frontier town of Cody.

Town of Cody

Badlands National Park - Keystone

First a drive through Fort Pierre National Grassland to see the prairie as it once was when only buffalo and the Sioux Indians occupied the land. Next we go to Badlands National Park, where 37 million years of wind and water have carved out a remarkable colourful sight. Then we head deep into the Black Hills and behold the granite faces of Mount Rushmore, a giant monument to four American presidents - Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt.

Mount Rushmore Monument

Sioux Indian Nation

Today we travel into the rich farmlands of South Dakota, homeland of the Sioux Indian nation. We'll stop in Mitchell to see the Corn Palace, a remarkable moorish-style building where the interior and exterior are covered with designs of corn outlined with grasses and grain. Then we take a scenic drive through the Crow Creek Indian Reservation and along the mighty Missouri River to Pierre, the state capital for our overnight stay.

Mitchell Corn Palace

Minneapolis

We begin the day with a city sightseeing tour of the bustling downtown area as well as the many beautiful parks and gardens and residential neighbourhoods.

Then we head out to the fabulous 'Mall of America', the largest shopping centre in the USA, featuring more than 400 speciality stores as well as several large retailers.

Tonight we go aboard a paddle wheeler on the Mississsipi River for a dinner cruise.

Mississipi Paddle Wheeler