America 2017

Thursday 26 th October We had to wake at 4.30am and caught the airport shuttle from the hotel around 5am. We had an uneventful check in and caught our connecting flight in Houston without any hassle. Once at BWI we took a supershuttle (shared minicab) to the Fairmont. It took over an hour but we weren’t in any hurry and it was quite an interesting ride although the driver was very uncommunicative. Once at the hotel, in a very nice room, we showered and changed, and went down to the restaurant for dinner, which was excellent, if a bit pricey! Friday 27 th October We overslept and didn’t wake up until after 9am. We missed breakfast but did my emails whilst having coffee in the public lounge where there is free internet. We could have got internet in our room but it would have involved filling in a long questionnaire to register so I didn’t bother. We then walked for about ten minutes to the metro stop at Foggy Bottom (we loved the name!) and sussed out how to get a ten-dollar...

Wednesday 25 th October We had a leisurely start and having successfully Skyped both Lizzy and Ryan we set off about 11.30am. We took the longer scenic route through the San Gabriel mountains to LA, stopping for brunch at a picnic spot where we finished off the remains of salad, rolls and bacon from our previous dinner and breakfast. As we drove further away from Wrightwood, rather than pine forest, the hills were covered in green scrub-like bushes rather than trees. Once we hit LA Iain drove and I navigated, with the help of the Sat Nav. Thank goodness we had one with us as even with it, it was a bit scary navigating the lanes and getting the correct lane to exit or continue on. Once we had dropped off the car we caught the shuttle and the driver very kindly dropped us off at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel as he drove past rather than us having to go to the airport and then catch the hotel shuttle from there. We took advantage of our Club room and had some appetizers in the Cl...

Tuesday 24th October Today we had a bit of a lie-in and then made our own breakfast of fruit, cheesy bread and fried bacon in our own little kitchen. We sat and ate outside in the sunshine before driving up to Inspiration Point where we parked and went on a four mile walk to Jackson Flat and back (only 500 feet of up!). The views were lovely - on both sides. The narrow dusty path wound up and around through Sequoia and Pine trees with open areas where we could appreciate the views. We came back mid afternoon and I re-packed ready for the flight day after tomorrow.

Monday 23rd October After an excellent breakfast at Cheryl's Diner (both the diner and the proprietor reminded us of Hilary and the Country Kitchen!) we set off around Lake Isabella. Numerous photo stops later we came down into more desert area where the trees gave way to Joshua Trees which we had seen last year in the Mojave. We then drove for many miles along straight and rather boring roads across the lower hills and plains until we started to climb again into forested hills and thence to Wrightwood. We are in a charming little house with livingroom/kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and a small sauna! We decided to eat in tonight as there was a good supermarket in town, and we may even have a sauna. it is nearly a mile and a half to the part of town that has restaurants and it is 300 feet up on the way back as we are on the outskirts, nearly into forest.

Sunday 22nd October We woke to another sunny day and after breakfast we started out shortly after 11am for the drive down ro Kernville. We stopped to use the facilities at the Giant Forest Museum/Visitors' Centre and had intended to drive back up to Moro Rock and climb the 300 steps to the summit but we had forgotten it was Sunday and everywhere was very crowded so we decided to give it a miss, especially as we had had such magnificent views from Pamoramic Point yesterday. Also because it was Sunday work was suspended on the General's Highway and instead of the two hour delay we had five minutes! I wish I could say this was good planning on my part but it was just how it fell out. The Highway was quite spectacular and had a maximum speed limit of 25 mph (15 through the roadworks) which was quite generous given the twists and turns of the road! Part way down we stopped at Hospital Rock which was an ancient Native American site. In 1860, Hale Tharp and his brother-in-law, John ...

Saturday 21st October Today was a beautiful but cool, sunny day and I woke feeling extremely lacking in energy. So, after breakfast (I had granola, yoghurt and fruit which was nice but rather sweeter than I am used to, so Iain used the honey on his toast) we drove 2.5 miles up a very narrow winding road to Panoramic Point. The Point was only quarter of a mile from the parking place and we enjoyed spectacular views of the mountains, before walking a mile along another trail along the ridge, through large rocks and pines with lovely views on the other side as well. Iain drove back down and we only encountered three other cars coming up, luckily at places where we didn't have to reverse uphill! We parked back at John Muir Lodge and set out along the Sunset trail which starts nearby. The path soon wandered away from the road and we found ourselves walking along a really pretty trail that wound gently downwards through rocks and pines, with no sign of anyone else. We stopped at a rea...