THE TRIP - Epilogue

The end, well almost. Just the small matter of a 10hr flight to London then a quick hop up to Manchester. Back in the hands of the UK national carrier, British Airways. So far, in all my journeys, only BA have misplaced luggage. Not to disappoint, they did it it again. I got back to Yorkshire on the Sunday and my bag arrived on the Wednesday. I thanked the courier who delivered it to me and he said, "no problem, I've got three drops in Leeds, two more in Wakefield, one in Pontefract and one in Weatherby", they don't misplace many then!

On the subject of pros and cons, sorry my GE friends....Plus Deltas!

Deltas.....
BA, LA traffic, touts in Bangkok, Kruise America Camper vans and their products and service. All things considered, that's not bad after 91 days on the road!

Plus.....
Everything else!

Particular mention and thanks to,...... how can I do this in an even handed way? How about chronologically. So, thanks to God who created the heavens and the earth..... ok, not that far back maybe. How about starting, thanks to ME for taking the decision to do this whole thing in the first place? Why not, thanks Hamish!

Then, (please don't let me forget anyone, please!!)

Mum, for not looking too shocked when I told you what I was planning and for being on the end of the line throughout.

Adam, for doing a good job looking after my Yorkshire affairs and being on the end of the line when you were not playing poker!

Pete & Ryan, for letting me use the free parking in Poynton.

Graham, Kaye, Henry Dude and all the family and friends who made my stay in Australia and my 50th birthday so very special. (Don't think for a moment that I wont be back!)

In New Zealand, Maui Camper vans, thoroughly recommended if you ever fancy a freedom trip there. A place called 'Flat White Cafe' in Waihi (told you you would get a mention!). Doubtful Emma, thanks for enjoying the dark beer. Cousin William for the lovely meal. I Tunes for getting me back in to my love of music. And thank you New Zealand for being much much more than my expectations, and my expectations were high! Mount Cook can hide, but I will find you one day and that's a promise!!

West coast USA, thanks to John for a good meal, chat, big boys toys shop at Frys, the route advice and the more than welcome sleeping bags. I hope we meet again so I can return the hospitality. Thanks also to Alex Lester (radio 2 DJ) who engaged in a fun e-mail exchange with me, good luck with your Mustang adventure, stay out of LA or upgrade your insurance!! Then there was the rescue party from Wakefield who had decided that I had been gone to long and took two weeks to persuade me to come back! Graham, Colin and Elaine helped me enjoy some wonderful times in California and Nevada.

Finally, thanks to Jude and Al who went out of their way to get me from the airport back to my car, and refreshing me with a calming Ribena!

Full circle as McDuck returns to source, what a responsibility that's been!

Till the next time........

......This could be the end but if you would like me to continue letting you know by e-mail that there has been an update on this blog, please e-mail me to say you want including. I'll continue doing it but I don't want to be a pest. Thank you for all your comments and encouragement over the last few months.

THE TRIP - WEEK 10,11,12,13 (part 4) - USA

Heading slowly back towards Los Angeles, via some back-wood kind of places. Lots of varied wildlife around here. I suggest you click on this one and see what is in there.

Tamest little squirrel I have come across, thought at one point he was going to mistake my leg for a tree.

Who forgot the marsh mallows?

To be specific that's the Pacific.

No, I've not changed nationalities, I just thought this was a good shot to say goodbye and thanks to America. Fly home tomorrow, it's a big world and I've had a little slice of it.

Don't cheer to soon, I have plans to compose some sort of epilogue when I am safely back home. Remind me, where is home?

THE TRIP - WEEK 10,11,12,13 (part 3) - USA

When I left you last, I was about to head south to LA again to pick up my friends from the airport. On the way, I had two more nights on the road. On the first one, I was invited by the folks next door to toast some mallows on the camp fire, very nice!
Next day was pretty much a return trip but a stop at a different site where this cheeky chap decided to nick my crisps!

No McDuck, the steak goes on there not you!

On the way to the airport, this is the traffic at half six on a Saturday evening. Don't these people have homes or pubs to go to?!

They're here! Eating chocolate already!

Don't worry McDuck, we've got people to help with the house work now!

This a view of the extremely busy campsite in Calico, scene of the Ghost Town.

It was so quiet, we decided to burn down the van. Nearby bench seats, actually, that someone had conveniently left!

What a difference a day makes. Bonfire in the desert one night, and next day watching the famous Bellagio fountains in the heart of Las Vegas!

There's a campsite in the car park of Circus Circus at the end of 'The Strip' it meant a lot of walking but very convenient. McDuck was overwhelmed by the size of things.

Another big tower! This time the Stratosphere. We decided to do this at night as well, so we booked a table in the revolving restaurant at the top. (I know a lot of you will remember it from last year!)

Spotted this on Freemont Street. Religious artifacts in the foreground and a strip club in the background. Funny old place!

As promised, the meal at the top of the tower.

Had to get a Vegas cache. This ammo box was, incredibly, neatly hidden, just a gambling chips throw from the Strip.

Last year I said that the helicopter trip over the Grand Canyon was a once in a lifetime experience, I lied!! Oh well, it makes up for the missed flight at Mt Cook.

Landed in the middle of the dessert to re-fuel. Just before we landed, we flew over a certain ranch that many of you will remember!

Hard to believe we had a meal down in that last night!

I know...... I'm in one!!!

Well that should give enough dutch courage for the white knuckle ride.......

......it did! We all got a bit wet on the log flume.

Amazing to think, theme parks, full blown aquarium, botanical gardens, a zoo, and one or two slot machines, all inside hotels.

Graham found the car of his dreams.

A big Harley in a wall.

Paris at night, hmmm!

Ok, a volcano, enough now!

Colin auditions for the lead role in the remake of 'The Fly'

The aquarium, previously mentioned. The croc is from Thailand, a bit like me then!

Gate way to 'Death Vally' and the worlds biggest thermometer.

Another geocache, find (well done Elaine for spotting it) this time in the middle of a desert.

That's all for now. Another one blog should wrap up this trip of mine, I head for home at the end of this week!

Duck Tale

Many of you will remember the last trip update was McDuck free and I promised to reveal what he had been up to, so here goes.

McDuck had heard shocking rumours coming from Scotland, that some uncaring humans annually indulged in canardoside. So, I agreed to let him go and see if there was any truth in the rumours.

He called a few friends for support and off they went.
HORROR!! It was true!!

No, relax. It turns out that these particular humans were just holding a yearly duck race and it was all for charity. So McDuck said goodbye to his army of friends and came back to me for the remainder of the trip.

Army of friends!

THE TRIP - WEEK 10,11,12,13 (part 2) - USA

Another couple of hundred miles and a good few more sights and experiences. I'll start this one with a view of the 'tank' on a camp ground near Santa Cruz. From here I moved, not very far, to San Jose, the main reason being a chance to meet up with friends there. You would be doing well to remember an entry from an earlier bit of the blog (look back if you like, 2nd last picture in "A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVES") about John & Pat who shared the dinner table on my cruise.

Headed north again the next day. Route 101, I noted on the map, took me up through San Fransisco and over the Golden Gate Bridge. What it didn't show was that it stopped being a straightforward highway and routed me through quite a bit of the city itself, with the really helpful signs like the one below.

It looks as though my campervan is beginning to feel the worse for wear. Hope it holds out for another couple weeks!

I'm sure you will not be surprised to hear that I went a bit snap happy again on the bridge. A bit of a sad sign as I started my walk to the middle.

It was a long way down. Alcatraz in the background by the way.

An iconic and pretty spectacular piece of work.

'International Orange' is the colour they are continually painting it with to protect it from rust. Full of useful information I am!

I really liked the 'Golden Gate' but.....

...... my thoughts did turn to names like 'Erskine and 'Forth'.

Soon.