In 1927, Keystone South Dakota, like the rest of the USA, was in the midst of The Great Depression. When work was offered to construct a monument on Rushmore Mountain, there weren’t any second thoughts. During the next 14 years, between 1927 and 1941, some of the 400 workers reported wondering at times what on earth they were doing and whether the vision of Danish … Continue reading Mount Rushmore

WOW Wyoming. We stayed in Cody last night. Wyoming. At a ranch. I was going to skip talking about Cody and therefore Wyoming, but they have deemed themselves worthy of comment. Firstly, we never did see a grizzly in Yellowstone. Turns out we could see one between the Dairy Queen shop and Buffalo Bill’s Irma Hotel and Restaurant. Right there in Cody town. Apparently they … Continue reading Wyoming

I just want to get out of here alive. As I take photos 30 feet away from a black mumma bear and her three cubs. We woke to 6 degrees Celsius, the coldest morning we have experienced so far, and thought a walk into beautiful Jackson – or Jackson Hole as they call it – might be in order. Jackson Hole is a pretty full … Continue reading Grand Tetons and Yellowstone

Well we made it. To Elko. With me driving on the wrong side of the road. Well actually the right side of the road. Average speed 78mph, translate that to 125kph, sometimes faster, not often slower. Driving across Nevada was much like you would expect. Barren, dry, clumps of unattractive foliage as far as the eye could see. No doubt hiding those nasty rattlers. The … Continue reading Idaho

The US roads, even the secondary ones, are better than many major roads in our home countries of Aus and NZ. The rumble strips are in the centre of the road. Good thinking 99 😜 As we got closer to Redding, the air grew thicker with smoke. Just recovering from the latest fire, where 1030 square kilometres of both residential and bush were burnt out and … Continue reading Redding

Another few days of firsts. My first trip to Arnold, what a gorgeous spot and fabulous place to have a holiday home or retire. ‘Arnold is named after Bob and Bernice Arnold, who, in 1927 opened the Ebbetts Pass Inn. Prior to that, the community consisted of two large ranches where logging was the main industry. The inn served as a stop for people traveling … Continue reading Arnold and Carson City

Today. There are no words.   Continue reading Yosemite

Today, I’ve seen it all. Beaches, mountains, amazing bridges and the biggest hairiest spider in the world. You can’t appreciate how big this mother was. And of course you can’t because we didn’t get a decent photo of it.  I wasn’t getting closer than 5 foot away from that! Seriously it was nearly as big as my foot. Even the hotel owner came and shut … Continue reading Monterey, Pebble Beach and Carmel-by-the-Sea

The light switches are upside down. And there is something fundamentally wrong with this picture. I sat in the passenger side and kept wanting to look in the rear vision mirror so I could see what was behind me, even though I wasn’t driving. When we cruised back into SanFran we decided – due to the implications of a ten day cruise – we should … Continue reading Take2 San Francisco, and Auburn

“Victoria exudes old-world charm and fragrant and colorful flowers are everywhere. Founded in 1843 by James Douglas of the Hudson’s Bay Company, the city was first known as Fort Victoria. By 1848, Vancouver Island was a British colony and Victoria was its capital. In 1858, Victoria was a tent city and the base for some 25,000 prospectors on their way to the Frasier River gold … Continue reading Victoria – British Columbia