Monterey to Santa Barbara

Originally we thought of stopping about halfway between Monterey and Santa Barbara, but in the end, we just couldn’t decided on where to stay, so we ended up driving the entire 4 hours. On the way we stopped at Carmel-by-the-Sea, often called simply Carmel. It is a small city in Monterey County, California, founded in …

Monterey

It was a reasonably short drive from American Canyon down the highway to San Francisco until we hit the Toll booth. The traffic was horrific, but the $6 per car the government charges is a cash cow for them. After we battled the traffic, the drive to the Golden Gate bridge was seamless. It was …

Kendall Jackson

Sonoma is just a short distance from Napa, it is separated by a mountain range and there is stiff competition between both regions. Some of the wineries have setup tasting rooms in a quaint town called Healdsburg, which saves driving between the wineries as the distances between them is quite vast, and also because a …

San Francisco

We had an start to the day, we checked out of the hotel at 7.30 am and went to our usual breakfast restaurant, Ihop. They serve a 2 egg, hash brown, toast and fruit for 7.69 and it’s quite good, however the coffee is ordinary. We have to go to either Starbucks or the Coffee …

Hoover Dam & Vegas

Our last day in Vegas so a drive to the Hoover dam is on the cards. It’s a short drive to the border of Arizona where the dam lies. Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US …

Mesa Grill Las Vegas

Last night we dined at one of the best known chefs in America, Bobby flay who owns a number of restaurants around the country. The Mesa Grill,located at Caesars Palace and the restaurant is a vibrant and busy place so bookings are essential. We had previously made a reservation and only had a short wait …

Red Rock Canyon

The Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is located just a few miles west of Las Vegas and encompasses 195,819 acres within the Mojave Desert. Red Rock is an area of world wide geologic interest and beauty. Historically, the area was once home to the Kawaiisu Indians, who left petroglyphs in the El Paso mountains …

Vegas Day 2

It was yet another beautiful day in Vegas as it seems to be each day. After breakfast (Denny’s) we headed off to The Valley of Fire which is about 1 ½ hours north of Vegas. We spent a good few hours at the National Park and saw the most amazing landscapes. Being spring all the …

Vegas Day 1

It was a bit of a sleep in today, well until 8.00 am. Today was going to be a lazy day, as Mark had a shoot in the afternoon so we went to WallMart and Target to get a few things. We went back to the hotel and met the model (Anna) who Mark had …