Petrified forest and painted desert

The trees are fossils! Compressed over time and slowly being being replaced by semi precious materials make them rainbow coloured.


We were very tempted to take some but in the information centre they make you feel really guilty for even considering it.....


Shame would have made a lovely piece of furniture......


There were quartz formed in the rock as the glamorous assistant is pointing to in this picture....


Painted desert, exposed layers of the earth showing their colours providing a beautiful terrain. Completely different to anything we'd seen before.


The different colours represent different stages through history...


It was very hard to limit our photo taking... We now have a vast picture collection of different types of rocks..... (spot the archaeologist!)


More rocks.....


More.....


Oh and a bird....


Actually a raven who was after some snacks, he wasted no time and greeted me by the car door. Any one seen the horror film 'birds'?!

Location:Holbrook, Arizona

Palm Springs

Welcome to Palm Springs! Palm Springs has its own micro climate, it's in the desert but right next to mountains, whilst we were there it was like a beautiful hot summers day in England during daylight hours. At night it cooled down to jumper weather.


Every Thursday night there is a village festival the main street is closed off for a mile there are musicians, street stalls selling all sorts, jewelry, massages, soaps and food stalls (all local businesses) Great atmosphere.


Our next day in palm springs was spent here :o) board shorts and bikini in January!





Happy hour! Cocktails and dinner on a rocking bench and table, different and funky.


Fed and fueled and on to the night spot, live band in one room or DJ and dance floor in the other. We got a bit of both. The whole place went crazy when a Ludacris song "how low" came on.


Palm Springs is a beautiful place, clean streets, laid back people and amazing weather. Chloe loved the boutique shops too. We would definitely go back.

Location:Palm Springs, California

Hollywood!

On to LA by car, a 5 hour drive through many, many hills. We stayed in a hostel just off Hollywood boulevard and immediately came into contact with the many crazies that flock to Hollywood! It was quite a sight to see a guy dressed as batman having a very heated conversation with a little person dressed as a native American about spiderman encroaching on "his patch"!








As you can see we carefully chose who's stars we had our pictures with....





The next day site seeing....


World famous Rodeo Drive, here we pulled up next to 'Prison Break Star - William Fichtner' ...saw the Best car in world ever made Bugatti Veyron and went for Bagels in Beverly Hills














Venice beach was the next stop.


So being the gym addicts we are we took the opportunity to work out at the renown beef cake area....





White men can't jump is a favourite film of the Mason brothers so we got a snap of the hustlers playin' ball...


We had some relaxation time in the sun too after our work out session





...next stop Palm Springs

Location:LA, California

San Francisco Leg

Our first day in S.F we were greeted by Chloe's uncle Simon and he and Angela took us to the San Jose mission, a beautiful building built 1797 by the Spanish when they were discovering America.





This is a saddle used by the Spanish, made of wood and leather... Looks impressive but I wasn't convinced on the comfort.


...then naturally we went wine tasting. This was a small wine maker where the tastings took place in this barn with the fantastic view.





Simon bought a bottle of their Red Cabernet Franc which was great with dinner cooked by Chloe's cousin Emily. Day two - 8th Jan - Clear Sunny skies, mild Redwoods in Muir Forest Park


With cousins Emily and Thomas





This Redwood grew from 909 to 1930 After the Redwoods we utilised local knowledge and went up to this look out spot for an amazing view of the Goldengate bridge, San Francisco and the view out to the Ocean.





Then onto the most crooked street in the world Lombard Street, we drove down it very slowly, the people who live on that street must go through brake pads quickly!


A walk through the largest Chinatown outside of Asia


Visit to a fortune cookie factory, you can have your own fortune cookies made!


Today: 9th Jan Weather: clear skies, sunny, mild - warm in the sun We went to Alcatraz, we did the tour of the cells and found out about the limited attempts to escape. The guards who worked in the prison also lived on the island with their families....no thanks!





...do I really fit in?


Cell block


Chloe doing hard time in solitary...


We were told we HAD to try the S.F clam chowder in Sour dough bread and it did not disappoint. It was delicious with a Corona and some popcorn shrimp.


Saw a bush man scaring people, very random but really funny to see.


Took a ride on a famous cable car, we hung on all the way. The cable car is thee way to see down town SF. You really get a feel for the steep hills, bay views and inner city buzz.





The pointy building is the trans American building








San Francisco is a beautifully scenic place, everywhere is clean and it's such an easy place to get around. It does help with family as tour guides! We've been very well looked after here and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Location:San Francisco, California, United States