First Class California - Day 13 & 14 Los Angeles

Day 13 - Los Angeles (Tuesday 28th May 2013)

After almost two weeks of touring and 2 full on days in the heat of LA, we were in need of a more relaxing kind of day, so had planned to spend the next two days around Marina Del Ray and Santa Monica.

After the normal morning routine, Celia headed off to the Ritz-Carlton hotel just around the marina for a Pedicure and I head off for a run. I was slow but did manage almost 3 miles in just over 32 mins before heading back to the room, for a shower and to wait for Celia to get back.

After a hour of relaxing by the pool, we decided to head off for a walk to see Venice and Santa Monica. We first went through Venice itself with the Canals. This was beautiful and would be somewhere where I could live in LA.

After Venice, we headed down to the Pacific and Venice Beach, which after the tranquility of venice was a lot more busy and tacky. The whole place had that slightly seedy feel, helped by the "medical" marijuana shops, where you were asked to pop in for an evaluation to see if you needed some, from the smell it would seem that most people who enter do need it.

We soon also walked past Muscle beach with the bodybuilders working out.

And then the tacky shops started to become less frequent and the whole place become less crowded as we made our way from Venice into Santa Monica. Now you could just take the wonderful sandy beaches from the boardwalk with pedestrians having one "road" and the cyclists having there own "road" just to the side. It took us about an hour 20 mins to walk the 3.5 miles to the Santa Monica pier, and this was a great relaxing day, with nowhere to be. Once at the pier we had a look around and I had a ride on the rollercoaster, before grabbing some lunch at Rusty's Surf Ranch and then heading back to the hotel.

That evening we headed back to Santa Monica, this time by car to have dinner at Chinios on Main, this was Chinese food, done big and well. This was also the only time we saw anyone famous during the entire trip and that was Julie Hagerty (Elaine from Airplane). After Dinner we headed back to the hotel.

The following day was even less busy spending almost the whole day sitting by the pool, bar a quick walk to the cheesecake factory for some post lunch cheesecake (well actually two walks as the first one had Coconut on it so was binned after 1 bite). Dinner was taken at a lovely local restaurant, Le Cellier which had some lovely beer and an interesting combo of French and Asian cuisine.

After these relaxing days it was time to repack and head off to the last hotel of the trip and 2 part days in Disneyland.

First Class California - Day 12 Los Angeles

Day 12 - Los Angeles (Monday 27th May 2013)

By this time in the Holiday, the Time difference and long days were starting to catch up with us so it was a bit harder to get up this morning when the alarm sounded, but as we were off to Warner Brothers Studio there was a good motivation, so after the normal morning routine and breakfast in the hotel, where service was a little bit faster but still laid back, we were into the car and headed for the freeways.

We had decided that the next couple of days we would rather just spend around the hotel rather than continuing to explore LA, as after just the one day exploring yesterday and knowing that we will also do some more today that that would be enough. So whilst Celia drove to the Studios, I was online (got to love a working US 3G Sim) cancelling our reservation at Spago and instead booking a table for two at Chinois in Santa Monica. Both of these are Wolfgang Puck restaurants.

We had taken the 405 (Santa Monica Freeway) and then the 101, both of which were quiet and we were very glad that today was a public holiday which must have limited the amount of traffic on the roads, so we were early getting to the Warner Brothers Parking lot. After a quick chat with the Security guard and a photo with the Bronze statues of Bugs and Daffy we headed pass security checks and into the Store/Waiting area.

Most of the store was based arround just a couple of franchises "Friends", "Harry Potter", "Game of Thrones" and "Big Bang Theory", but it still looked like some nice stuff, we were soon up for our tour and lined up to enter through a door into a small cinema where we had a short film on the history of Warner Brothers, and then we were divided up into 2 groups for the tram tour.

The tour was fascinating and it was so interesting to see that even the carpark and offices were fare game for production use.

The carpark doubled as the Helicopter pad for years on ER.

and these offices also were used as the production office in Argo.

The rest of the backlot part of the tour spent time in streets that look mostly like big cities or more open suburbia areas but all are generic enough that they can be changed to look like anywhere USA. We were told that the only rules on using these backlot areas was that the place had to be returned to exactly as it was handed over, so we did see a house that they had driven a car into and was now being returned to working order.

After the backlot we were taken past the manufacturing shops to a store area where they had multiple vehicles from various movies.

After this we were taken into a spare lot, now most stages are disposed off once the show has come to an end, but at WB one show was so popular and loved that they kept the set after the show has been long gone.

Welcome to Central Perk.

The main view is how small and crowded the set was, but we were assured that it was always this small and the actors never walked directly from the door to the couch as that would have made it seem small, so they always zigzagged to make the walk longer.

From the set we headed to the props store, wow it was like the worlds largest home store, with everything you could ever want all with price tags attached to hire by the day, week or month. Some of the stuff was real, others fake

The bowls were rubber/plastic rather than the wood that they look like.

The tour was coming to an end now, but we did have a quick drive through the sound stages, all had signs showing the major productions that had been shot in them. We were taken into 1 set, which is where they now shoot "Big Bang Theory" but the sets were in clean down mode as the show was on a break for the start of summer. we were also banned from taking cameras (or even phones) into the set.

And with that we were done the 3 hours had shot by, we would so recommend this tour to anyone with any interest in TV or movie in LA, and a lot better than the homes tour we had been on the day before. After a quick few bits picked up in the store, couple of T-Shirts and some pins, and we were done. As we were in Burbank we did not head straight back to LA as there was somewhere I needed to see, so after a short drive we found ourselves on Alameda Avenue and the entrance to Walt Disney Studios.

Sadly Walt Disney do not do public tours so I was left to just look on from the gates, but at least I had been there, then we got back in the car and headed back to LA. We parked up at the Beverly Centre and decided to walk to Rodeo drive, as on a map it did not seem that far, but in the heat of LA, it was a good hour or so, so it was gone 4 by the time we got there and there was a distinct lack of anywhere to eat, so we walked half way back to the beverly centre, before seeing a bus that gut feel said was heading in the right direction we hopped on, to be told that the cash fare machine was broken BUT we could ride for free.

We finally had lunch just after 5 pm at Souplantion (which is the other name for Sweet Tomatoes) a great cheap place for food, as the all you can eat Salad bar, plus breads, soups, drinks and desserts is a great concept. Filled up and with the day heading to an end, we were going to leave LA and spend the next two days in and around the hotel, but on the epic walk earlier we had noticed that LA now has a Georgetown Cupcake shop, so we had to see if they were still open on the drive back to grab some for me, as Celia still had hers from Babycakes NYC that we got yesterday.

We got back to the hotel and had some of the cupcakes and had an early night.

First Class California - Day 11 Los Angeles

Day 11 - Los Angeles (Sunday 26th May 2013)

Our penultimate hotel and we had unpacked full for the first time since we had arrived in the States. After a lie in and the normal morning routine we headed down to breakfast in the hotel, which took ages. This was partly due to it being a holiday weekend, as it did get better, but it was never fast.

We finally left the hotel for Hollywood around 11:20 and after a short drive in little traffic, we parked up at the Hollywood and Highland car park. The plan was to do a Starline tour of Hollywood stars homes , so there office was the first stop and we were booked on the 1pm tour, meaning we had an hour to kill.

The Hollywood and Highland shopping mall, had been filled out since 2008 the last time we had visited and we popped into Sweet (deciding to come back after the tour) and Hard Rock (where I got a few pins), before heading out onto Hollywood Boulevard.

I have to admit that you have to do Hollywood Boulevard on a tourist trip to LA, but the crowds were heavy and it is not the greatest neighbourhood in the world. But we saw the Chinese theatre, some of the walk of fame, popped into the Soda fountain and a tourist shop to get some presents for our nephew and niece.

After the wander, we headed back to the Starline location and found our ride for the 2 hour tour.

The tour was entertaining and our driver was fun, till near the end when it became a slight begging plead for a tip. Most of the actual tour in the hills all you really see are gates but it does give an idea on how small some of the these properties are, and how much they must all cost.

For example this is Bruno Mars' house.

and this is Katy Perry's which is on the market for $10M.

After the tour we were in need of lunch, but there was nothing in the area that grabbed our hunger, so we decided to find an old favourite "Rosa Mexicano", now we had been introduced in DC a few years ago by a good friend, and had also visited there location in New York 2 years ago, So we drove off via BabyCakesNYC to grab some cakes for Celia, and headed back round to Beverly Hills and Sunset Boulevard for Rosa. The parking was a bit interesting as we missed the entrance to the Car Park as we drove past the first time and had to turn around and try again, but we did make it and they treated us royally. After we mentioned Celia's food intollences they made special version of the Crab Empanadas (behind my Nacho stack)

The rest of the food was just a good and they even made a special desert for Celia with no Gluten or Dairy.

After we had finished we had to hunt around to pay for the parking, as most of the machines seemed to be faulty, but we did drive back to the hotel, shattered from the heat of the day and questioning our plans for the week.

The late lunch was supplemented by a cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory just around the marina from the hotel and we had an early night, as tomorrow we were off to Warner Brothers to see a studio.

First Class California - Day 10 Santa Barbara

Day 10 - Santa Barbara (Saturday 25th May 2013)

We awoke in the 5th different hotel of the trip and with a week before we would be back in London, after the morning routines and a lovely pancake breakfast for me in the hotel restaurant.

We loaded up the car yet again and headed off for Los Angeles, or well Marina Del Ray to be exact and as that would only take a couple of hours we decided to divert on this the Saturday of the Memorial day weekend and go to an Outlet mall for some serious shopping.

We arrived at the Camarillo Premium Outlets just after 11am and wandered into more stores than was safe for our credit cards and slowly loaded the car more and more with brown bags and more and more stuff.

We had been to every corner of the mall by 5pm and after Celia had grabbed a salad from Panera bread confusing the seller by not wanting cheese, fries or bread with the salad, but taking an apple, we headed out to In n Out Burgers for me to grab a Double Double with Lettuce and Onions and Fries and a Milkshake for Lunch (ish) which we ate our meals in the car as a true drive thru experience.

After eating we headed back down to Highway 1 and drove through Malibu and Santa Monica to Marina del Ray and the Jamaica Bay Inn which was our base for the next 4 nights. Our room was huge, having a bedroom part.

a Lounge part

A large bathroom with Shower and bath.

and a great view of the marina.

and finally what we thought was a wardrobe turned out to be another bathroom.

After sorting ourselves out and relaxing for a while we had to decide where to go for dinner, Celia wanted Cuban so a quick Google and Foursquare found a nice Cuban just a short walk away at Mercedes bar and Grill. Our run of good food continued with great authentic cuban food and a wonderful atmosphere.

Tomorrow the plan was to head up to Hollywood and look at doing a tour.

First Class California - Day 9 Monterey

Day 9 - Monterey (Friday 24th May 2013)

Day 9 started slightly differently with the Sunrise breaking into the room, as it seemed to good a chance to leave the curtains open facing the ocean. We had a slow rise and morning routine, grabbing some breakfast in the restaurant, before Celia had arranged a Pedicure and I hit the gym for a attempt at a run on a treadmill overlooking the pacific.

We finally checked out and left the hotel around 10am and headed around the Monterey Peninsular. First up was Sunset Point.

and from there we entered the 17 Mile Drive, this is a toll road but they do provide a guide to what you are seeing as you drive around and the views are stunning and worth the $10 or so we had to pay. We continued arround to Pebble Beach golf course as at the complex there we could grab some fruit and water for the next stage of the drive.

I am not much of a golfer, but the resort at Pebble beach was impressive and included a collection of trophies that have been played for there, including the US Open.

After a while we had seen our share and decided to take the top down on the car and head off down highway 1.

I can include some photo's but like Yosemite before on this trip, they really don't do the scenery justice and I would just say that you need to do this drive at some point in your life, I would not try and get from Monterey to Santa Barbara as we did as that is a LONG LONG drive and if we ever try again, I would stay for a couple of nights at the Monterey hotel, maybe doing the 17 mile drive again on one of those days, maybe on Bicycles this time and definitely split the highway 1 drive at around Pismo beach.

But that's not what we did and so off we went down the coast. just pausing at Big Sur for a pit stop and stopping the car every so often to admire the scenery.

The actual highway goes through different areas, you start with the wild coastline, before heading into the forests around Big Sur and then back to more dramatic coast and then into a more gentle wilderness as we headed into San Simeon. We had planned to stop there for lunch, but as we turned off the highway we realised how small a town it was and the one store did not have anything Celia could eat so we knew we had to head on to Cambria. We did stop at the beach to use the restrooms but did time this badly as a school group was just leaving and every child wanted to change out of their swimming clothes one at a time.

We also stopped at the Elephant Seal beach just before we got to Cambria, the smell was overpowering but just to see them all was a great experience if a little cold as the heat of the day had been blown away by the sea breeze. So we lifted the roof back up for the next part of the drive.

Arriving at Cambria at 4pm, we struggled to find anywhere open for lunch, until almost about to run out of town having walked back to the point we drove in we noticed that the Main Street Grill was open, this was a BBQ joint but the food was hearty and tasty and hit the spot. Celia again had a salad, and I had the Tri-Tip Sandwich.

After Cambria, Highway one got a bit boring, the grand vista's had gone and with the expected time of arrival in Santa Barbara heading towards 8pm we switched to the 101 for speed. Making up some time we made it to our hotel for the night The Harbor View Inn just after 7pm.

After a quick unpack of the car and impressed by the size of the room, and from the balcony we could see the sea, even if we hadn't paid for a sea view, we headed into the Harbour for dinner. A colleague at Celia's work had suggested Brophy Brothers so that's where we were going. After a bit of a wait (as the place is tiny) and it was high school graduation day and we had loads of family groups also looking for somewhere to celebrate we got a table. The food is great and the whole place has a buzz, but the music style made us feel like it was the 80's. I had the Fish and Chips, Celia the Mahi Mahi.

After dinner and a nice walk back to the hotel we slept soundly till the morning.

First Class California - Day 8 San Francisco

Day 8 - San Francisco (Thursday 23rd May 2013)

After a week in the states this was the start of our Pacific coast highway adventure and the drive that was the central plan for this trip. The morning was delayed by a lie in and we headed to Lori's Diner that we had seen the previous morning, but as we entered we asked about  Soya milk so that Celia could have a coffee (and probably some oatmeal) but were told they did not do Soya, so we switched back to Sears Fine Foods (which is owned by the same group) as we had enjoyed the breakfast there so much the previous day.

After being fed we decided to head back to the hotel and head off for the drive, this car we were picking up at the Airport so after checking out we got the Hotel to arrange a town car and explained to the driver to take us to the Avis rental car area rather than any of the actual terminals.

The queues are the airport were horrendous and as all the hire companies are in the same building it was a mass of humanity in there all trying to get a car. We were offered an upgrade to a Jeep with a hard roof, but declined as it sounded like if we had the roof off we would have nowhere to put luggage as we needed to carry the roof. So we were back with the Mustang equivalent as this time it would be a Chevrolet. Paperwork finally done we headed into the garage to find our car, it was a lovely white hard top and the boot looked a good size, till we started to work out how to drop the roof and then the boot would only contain a briefcase, so that was never going to work as we had 2 large wheeled suitcases, a large duffel-bag and 2 carry on bags. So I started to head back to the office space, but had a helpful Avis employee ask what was wrong and we showed him the bags and the car and explained that we had managed to get all this luggage (well almost - as we did have a small bit of extra shopping) into a Mustang. He said to wait a minute and headed off with the paperwork, returning a few minutes later with a blue mustang, RESULT. So finally we loaded in our bags and headed out the airport car park and headed south.

We stopped in Palo Alto as Celia had been there a couple of weeks previously whilst visiting Google and it had been a pretty neighbourhood. We parked up at the start of the main shopping street and had a wander, It is very pretty but the star find was a shop called Rocket Fizz, which is a US version of Cybercandy or American Soda so selling stranger sweets and soda, its weird to see Cadburys and other UK chocolates as obscure but I did pick up some Wonka Kazoozles which are my favourite. Although it was midday due to the late breakfast, we just grabbed some fruit as a snack and decided to carry on to Santa Cruz for lunch.

We left Palo Alto and took the 82 past Stanford University, going up with the 85 and then onto the 17 for the route through the mountains.
By the time we got to the Santa Cruz it was 3pm as the drive had been a bit longer than expected but we managed to find some parking and tried to find somewhere to eat, heading towards the beach front.

We finally found a small cafe, South Beach pizza company where we could get some food, celia had a nice salad and I had a burger and fries. Fed and watered we headed back to the car and started the drive down Highway 1 to Monterey, for this leg we had the top down, which at the start when we were stuck in traffic felt like a good idea, but as we got closer to Monterey and the speeds went up it got very cold with the sea breeze.

We arrived at Monterey and found our hotel the Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa, and wow this was luxury, we drove into the car port and they took the luggage and valet parked the hotel. We knew we had splashed out on this hotel and the room was huge, but the view was the main selling point.

we almost tried to work out if we could stay here for a second night, but the route had been picked out and this was 1 of two single night stays so we didn't really unpack. We did just book dinner in the resturant and had a wonder down Cannery Row as the shops were closing till it was time for dinner.

It was interesting to see how this area had redeveloped itself and the strange juxterposition between the tacky stores on the land side and some very posh hotels on the water side of the road. It was strange that although we had only been driving most the day and had a lie in we were shattered and we knew that tomorrows drive was the longest of the trip, so we had arranged a 7:30 dinner.

We were given window seats and were able to spot a couple of dolphins playing in the bay whilst we waited for our food.

Celia had some lobster and I had some Shrimp, the food was great but the shows from the dolphins was the star of the evening.

First Class California - Day 7 San Francisco

Day 7 - San Francisco (Wednesday 22nd May 2013)

After we got back from the Restaurant last night, we had another look at the Bus routes and the more we looked the more we decided that none of the routes now looked like a good idea, So we didn't set an alarm and decided to just have a shopping day.

We actually woke up at 8am and after the morning routine we wandered towards Union Square looking for breakfast, which we found in the form for Sears Fine Foods on Powell street and with the Server Roger, we had a lovely breakfast and would so recommend this a a good breakfast spot, but the queue outside did gives us an idea that this would be a good spot.

After breakfast we headed down to the Westfield Mall, which was quiet and from there we wandered around the roads around the Union Square area slowly getting more bags.

The highlights of the day was the Tiffany shop, where we managed to find a lovely bracelet.

We finished the shopping in the large Macy's and after some more shopping we ended up at the top floor where there is a Cheesecake factory. Now the factory has always in the past been a favourite place for us to go, but this time after a short wait we were seated outside which did slowly get cold as the sun had set over the building. Then we tried to order, but as we told then about Celia's intolerances we were told that almost nothing on the menu (which is very very large) could be produced without Gluten or Dairy as its sounds like most of the menu is prepared significantly before it gets to the restaurant. We did finally get some meatloaf for me and some plan salmon with rice and brocolli for Celia. But it was a real downer that somewhere that we liked so much in the past, just could not produce anything but the most plain food for Celia.

So after dinner/lunch we took our purchases back to the hotel and headed back out to grab a bus up to the North beach area and BEACH BLANKET BABYLON.

Now beach blanket is a very strange long running show, a small cast of 11 actors who all play lots of different roles and the basic story is Snow White looking for love, but has lots of comedy sketches with them all dressed up as famous figures, but as they come on they had a large sign with their name so you know who they are supposed to be. This is not a great explanation but this is a great show and something that should not be missed in San Francisco for adults.

After the show we grabbed the buses in reverse and were back at the hotel by 10pm, this was our last night in San Francisco and at just short of half way through the holiday we were off down the pacific coast tomorrow.

First Class California - Day 6 Yosemite

Day 6 - Yosemite (Tuesday 21st May 2013)

Our second morning started a little bit later and we knew from the start that we had an appointment in San Francisco at 6:45pm. So it was slightly quicker morning routine and after a al la carte breakfast (Oatmeal for Celia, French Toast for me) we checked that all our stuff was in the bags and headed for the car.

We reordered the bags for this trip, which allowed us to only have 1 bag on the back seat, with the other 4 in the boot and we set off from the hotel, the first stage was to the village, as we had not seen many places to stop for lunch and with a fixed time for dinner that evening we decided to grab some sandwiches for the trip, along with water and some snacks.

Leaving the valley the first plan was to stop at the Tioga road, where there is a small grove of Giant Sequoia trees. So after 45 mins we finally made it to the small car park with a rustic loo (a cabin around a hole in the ground) and locked up for the walk down to the trees.

Around the first bend we came across a group of deer which were the largest animals we had seen since we arrived in Yosemite.

We continued down to the grove, which was another good mile walk and although it was a gentile downhill we did understand that the walk back was going to be a bit harder. The early morning air (it was around 9:30am) along with the shade from the trees made the walk very pleasant and the downhill part was done in just over 20 mins.

Again the scale of these trees was so impressive, and you know that these are around 1000 years old and there are only 12 of them around this grove, but you can only see a couple of them, and they are awe inspiring.

Just to put some context on this photo, I am 6 foot 6, and around the same reach.

This last tree had a gash in it, which was large enough to walk into but seemed to be a healthy tree.

After 20 mins or so, we knew it was time for the walk back, it took 30 mins (10 mins more than the walk down) to give an idea of the slope. Back at the car we emptied our bladders and go into our mustang for the drive back.

The drive back was much more of a chore than the way out as there was nothing new to see, we made it back to Oakdale by lunchtime, stopping at the Raley's for a pit stop and to get some fresh water, we then ate the sandwiches we had brought from Yosemite in the car and refreshed on we continued. We took a slightly different route then diverting onto the 108 towards Modesto, but then heading north again on the 99 back to Manteca where we rejoined the main freeway.

As we knew that this second leg would be more motorways we had left the roof up and just hammered it back to San Francisco, the main fun was trying to work out if we had enough fuel to make it without having to re-fuel.

We crossed over the Bay Bridge with 30 miles to spare on the fuel gauge and we made it to Hotel Vertigo by 4pm, but there was no bell hop, so we had to empty the car ourselves and leave it on the road whilst we checked in. Leaving Celia safely in the room, I headed off to grab some gas and return the car. Slight mistake.

Now my GPS has gas station as a Point of Interest so I though no problem I will just go to the nearest one and fill up and then back to the avis office on Post Street. BUT that was a slight mistake as both the first and second gas stations in the GPS didn't exist. I was just about to give up on the third when I saw it on the right side of the road, but I was in the left lane and this was one of the on roads to the Bay Bridge, but with a lot of pushing and hoping I made it across I was at the 76 on 1st and Harrison and the women inside the cabin, obviously didn't have to deal with Englishmen trying to return a hire car before. If you are returning a car full, you need to fill a tank, but you have no idea how much petrol this will take and as you don't have a ZIPcode for any credit card you have to prepay. But the women would not let me pre-pay $100, just $50 so I took the 50 and still needed more so got another $50 and then got a refund of 36. But at least the car was full and I managed to not end up back on the bay bridge and was soon pulling into the Avis garage, with the decision that the next hire we will take the full tank option.

Car returned I walked back the 2 blocks to Hotel Vertigo, expecting Celia to have showered and freshen up, only to find that the sink in the room had a leak and she was waiting for a plumber who arrived just after me and he was only here for a moment until he worked out what he needed and headed off to get it, so Celia showered, he did arrive back and fixed the issue whilst she was in the shower which was slightly weird, but soon we had both scrubbed up and the sink was fixed and with an hour to spare before dinner we decided to walk to Union square in the hope that it would be easier to find a cab.

On the way into Union Square, Celia saw a Sketchers shoe shop and I saw a cash point and I knew that we were getting low on cash, so Celia went to look at shoes whilst I drew some funds. The joint account card failed, but I did get some from my own account. I borrowed Celia joint account card and that did work. Ah so we were 1 card down on this trip now, as Barclay's then texted to try and confirm if I was trying to use my card, but as I was in the USA and they use a UK text number they could not handle the Yes I texted back.

But cash and shoes got, we went into Union square to grab a cab, they were a bit low in numbers, but one did stop to drop someone off, and he put his available light on, so we went to get in saying where we wanted to go, to be told NO, he wasn't going there. I have never had this before in any city, but he was certain so we got out and headed around the square trying to find another option.

We managed to sneak into the queue at the Westin hotel and the nice doorman there grabbed us a cab and we were off to Atelier Crenn.

We arrived and were seated and when we saw the tasting menu we knew this would be an interesting evening, as the menu did not give away much.

• Spring has come with its cool breeze
• Where the broad ocean leans against the Spanish land.
• The glowing ocean and light ecume de mer
• A gentle smell, oceanic, of yummy feeling
• Mellow serenades of colors licorice and orange
• the half moon, silky and smoky
• Woody and stone
• Nature rejoice, chasing childhood memories
• Walking deep in the woods, as the snow might have something to spare
• Birth which gives its morning mystery
• Spring....Where birds sing and are causing ripples in the nearby water
• Dotting the fragrant flora
• Spring has come and full of sweet surprises

for me this was accompanied with 2 beers served as wine, small amount in a large wine glass and very strong. Celia went with a Rose wine. This was probably our favourite meal of the trip the food was wonderful and we met Ms Crenn about 3/4 of the way through the meal, which allowed us to let her know how great the meal had been so far.

The Strange point was the Asian couple on the next table who arrived as we were almost done, as he did not eat anything green, and we both thought then why are you here if your not prepared to try. Now Celia has some food intolerances but this green issue seemed to be a want rather than a need and you could see that even the Waiter was confused as to what to do. For the first course which is all we saw before we left he was picking the small amount of garnish out of the dish as that was green.....

The meal over they called us and cab and we headed back to our 3rd hotel. Tomorrow was going to be a shopping day and a chance to get Celia's present as Tiffany's was on Union Square.

First Class California - Day 5 Yosemite.

Day 5 - Yosemite (Monday 20th May 2013)

Waking up in the quiet of Yosemite, we did see the benefits of the Cabins, even with our less than ideal location. After getting up slowly we headed over to the main building for breakfast. Again the food was ok, but the buffet was overpriced with only a few options, but fed we headed to the bus stop to get a bus to the Lodge where the Valley tour would start.

At this morning time, we were at the Bus stop at 9am, there was a bit of a crowd and the bus was crowded having come from the public car park, just before our stop, but we managed to get on and the bus cleared out at the next stop as we reached Yosemite village and even more at the bottom of Yosemite falls.

The Lodge looked like a nice hotel but the rooms did seem to be very spread out, the reception area was nice and the dining options seemed to be better than those at the Ahwahnee, so we thought that it would be a better option for lunch after the tour. The tour picked us up from in front of the lodge it was a sort of truck with a long set of seats behind, with a guide up front who talked us through what we were seeing.

The tour took us along the valley, past Camp 4 which is the main camp for the climbers heading up El Capitan. We paused just at the foot of El Capitan as our driver was also a climber and he came out of his cab to give us an explanation on the history of climbing and answered questions on climbing El Capitan, which takes 3-5 days and is the height of 3 Empire state buildings.

These photos of Yosemite do not really show the wonder and magnificence of the beauty of this place.

Our first full stop, where we could get off the ride was at Valley View, which had a great view back up the valley.

and also contained a sign showing the worst flood of the valley in recorded history.

From the Valley floor we headed up to Tunnel view, passing Fern Springs, the smallest waterfall in Yosemite. It is difficult to see in the picture but is is no more than 2 feet tall.

Tunnel view has the most classic views of the Yosemite valley, and helps to show that man's intervention in this valley is insignificant compared to the size and scale of the valley as a whole.

From Tunnel view we headed back around the south side of the valley, the talk turned more animals especially bears and the old act of firerain where ashes from fires would be pushed of the side of the cliffs so that the lit up the sky from the valley below.

The tour was a great sampler of what is in Yosemite valley and we arrived back at the lodge just less than 2 hours after we started at 11am. As that was to early for lunch we walked back towards the village from the lodge passing the start of the short walk to Yosemite falls.

We arrived in the village and had a look at all the lunch options and a quick look in some of the shops, deciding to have sandwiches from Degan's Deli as they also do Gluten free sandwiches which meant that Celia could also have one. Lunch finished, post card sent to friend from the post office and more water collected, we grabbed the bus to Stop 16 which is the start of the Mist trail, as our afternoon target was to be the 1 mile walk up to Vernon Falls.

We had thought that this was going to be an easy hike, but had miss understood something and so going up 400ft in 1 mile, meant that our normal pace which would have resulting in this being a 20 min walk turned into a 45 min walk with a couple of stops on the way up, but the views on the walk and at the top were worth it.

The walk down was much easier but I am glad we were fit as it had still be an exhausting afternoon, We grabbed the bus back to the village and stopped at the main store to get some water and gifts, and walked back to the Ahwahnee for a break before getting the bus back to the Lodge for dinner in the Mountain View room. Dinner here was more basic but nicer than the Ahwahnee. Celia had a Gluten Free Quinoa and lentil burger, I can't remember my choice.

After a long day with lots of walking we were exhausted so got an early night as tomorrow we had the long drive back to San Francisco.