sonny blog

Off into the Wild West

Laking up in Lone Pine was wierd. it was pitvh dark when we arrived the night before but as we peeked out the window we found ourselves surrounded by roaring mountain ranges. the place is often used as a backdrop to cowboy movies and you can certainly see why.

back in our trusted steed we departed off by the foot of the mountain range. the roads were windey moving between mountains and past crystal lakes.

we passed through more tiny villages with strange names like Bishop and Independance. we also zipped through Big Pine but didnt stop lest they realised we had come from Lone Pine (no doubt there is a healthy rivalry between the Pines)

We made our way in through the gates of Yosemite and begrudgingly handed over the entrance fee (since when has mother nature charged???)

What a vast and amazing place. It took us 3 hours to drive through with only a few stops along the way. You creep up a skinny mountain path along the cliff (trying not to look down to the 4000 ft drop) past frozen lakes and breathtaking views out over the park. then back down through windey tree-lined roads and out you pop the other side full of natures awe.        

Right San Fransisco Next for some heavy drinking!!! woo hooo

Leaving Las Vegas (but with more alcohol)

Wow its hard to keep up to date with these things but I know my faithful supporters are waiting with baited breath.

woke up on our last day in Vegas and realised the front right tire of our rentacar was completely flat. after dismantling it and bringing it to the garage we returned to find the other front tire was nearly flat aswell!!!!!! so after a few hours fixing the puncture and an argument or two with the rental people we set off into the desert armed with our dreams and a bandy automobile. It is absolutely beautiful in the desert. there is nothing around for miles and we drove into death valley as the sun began to set behind the mountains. the whole sky went a strange orange and the desert became violet colour.

thats where the beauty ended. basking in the tranquility of the sunset we glided straight into death valley (one of the most inhospitable and deserted places on the planet) just as the land transended into complete and utter darkness.

we meandered around cliffs and through valleys with no street lights, no other drivers and well...nothing really! we drove for about 2 hors and the petrol gague began to fall desperately low. on we soldiered into the abyss until finally a shell station in the distance.

after filling the tank within an inch of its life we embarked back into the blackness for another hour of terror before we reached Lonepine, a tiny cowboyish townin the middle of nowhere.

Lonepine has a motel and a dinner and not much else but thankfully those two establishment were exactly what we were looking for.

Food and off to the land of nod for us.

Vegas Day 2

Rang home on Tuesday and found out my Grandad had died. He was very old but it was sad all the same, he was a great guy RIP Eddie Kearney.

We sat out in the sun and soaked up the rays for a while.

That night we decided to see as many of the casinos as possible.       Since we were staying at the far south end of the strip we got on the Monorail (like the simpsons!!) and went all the way down to Mandalay Bay Casino. The place is massive (even for Veas standards) with a long impressive enterance. We had a couple of beers in the House of Blues and decided to go to the Aquarium down stairs (yes they have an Aquarium...I know ..wierd)  We watched the hammerhead sharks and piranhas and jellyfish which was terrifying for me as I hate all things aquatic (from the time I was attached by an octopus in spain..different blog another time)

Next stop was the casino Paris...what a wierd place. you walk in and the whole place looks exactly like an old french village (i´ll try and get pics up...think im over my limit) The cieling is painted sky blue with little clouds and the floor is cobbled. We had some dinner and decided to go gambling...whoo hooo!   Strangely I actually won a few quid playing blackjack! People had told me you get free drink if you gamble........... and its true!!!! Got drunk for free in about half an hour.

Next stop was the Bellagio, Its the casino they rob in Oceans Eleven. We watched the amazing fountain display outside which goes to the classical music pumped out on the street. enough of thaty...time to start gambling again!

Sat down with the blonde and we had a few games of blackjack (we were to scared to play with the dice because we didnt know the rules)    I won a few quid but she won $60!!!! shes a pro.

We went over to the Venetian which is beautiful on the outside. It looks like an old Venetian Palace with streams and gondolas. There wasnt much going on inside so we headed over to The Wynn hotel which is very new and grand looking. I sat down and lost a good bit of money in a few minutes, Emma didnt have much better luck.

We moved to another table and the kind woman dealer said she would help us because it was obvious we didnt know all the rules!!! we still mangaed to loose most of our money (about $150...not bank breaking material) Emma played on a bit (with my help) and won some of our money back - we decided to call it a night after our semi-win, so light headed on free booze and the vegas skyline we shuffled off to bed.

The city of sin

So after the credit card fiasco got sorted we needed to rent a car.

We drove around LA looking for the place we spotted on the internet which was doing a deal - $175 for a regular car for a week. couldnt find the place anywhere but i remembered seeing a place beside where Alex lived so we pulled up there.

The guy was some whacko from eastern europe and spoke little english. He tried to rent me a car with a broken seat, when you drove it you began leaning to the right on top of the passenger...not ideal!

Eventually we got sorted with a Ford Galaxy with AC so we hit the road and said good bye to LA.

Leaving the city isnt as easy as you think...the traffic during rush hour was terrible and roads are massive to say the least. Anyway we made it out on highway 15 as the sun began to set. Its a funny old drive, there are no lights on the road and everywhere you stop for supplies there are people returning from Vegas drunk and a bit crazy!

We drove and drove (well I did anyway) and as soon as you enter Nevada there are small bright pockets of Outlet stores with casinos and diners which look (to the untrained eye) like the great Las Vegas. So every few miles you'd hear me shout out 'Here we are...Las Vegas!' and then we would drive straight through in about 4 seconds...back to the silent darkness of the desert.

Around 9pm we arrived and found The Sahara Hotel quite easily. This particular establishment is at the southern end of the strip...a little bit out of the way but cheap ($95 for a room for two days) The interior walls have great pictures of Elvis and Sinatra outside the hotel and you can imagine in the 60's this place was the real deal. Unfortunately the big money came into Vegas in the 60's and 70's and the giant theme casinos took over peoples attention.

We went out for drinks and a pleasent walk down the strip to take in the vibe of Las Vegas. It was monday so pretty quiet. Shattered we went to bed looking forward to a full day of Vegas Fun.

Hollywood Baby!

So we arrived in LA about midday on Sunday, the sun was shining and everything was great.

Alex and Vanessa (friends of Murphs from when he stayed in Santa Barbarra, now our frieds from when they visited London) picked us up and shuttled us across the city.

We got to see a bit of the city before we hit the Hollywood hills where the girls live in a lovely bungalow off La Brea Avenue (the road you take to Vegas...later)

That evening we drove around seeing the sights like Sunset Bld (the sun actually set as we drove down it...lovely), Chinese man theatre and all the Hollywood stars, The Viper Den, Whiskey a go go & The Capitol Records Building.

Next stop was West Hollywood which is the gay district and the busiest place on Sunday. We went to a Bar called 'The Abbey' which was heaving (litterally!) and drank cocktails while listening to 80's hiphop.  The three girls got invited to a lesbian party called 'I love Vagina' (The name was written in big bold letters across the lady inviters' t-shirt. I didnt get an invitation and asked the woman was it because I had a penis, she begrudgingly handed over a pass. 

Next door there was a club which we made our next stop. A few cocktails later I managed to lose my wallet with my credit card in it...my only link with Barclays in good old Blighty.

With a heavy head and light wallet I rose the next morning at seven and rang the bank to cancell my card and reissue a new one.....lets hope it gets to LA before we leave on Monday for Peru....oh well the blonde is rich!