The San Francisco City Hall.

The Painted Ladies.

The skyline of San Francisco from Alamo Square Park.

Kasper in Alamo Square Park.

The Golden Gate Park Band.

Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park.

A turtle in Golden Gate Park.

Rainbow Falls in Golden Gate Park.

Lots of people in Golden Gate Park despite the weather.

One of the bisons in Golden Gate Park.

Powell St.

The rules when riding cable cars in San Francisco.

Lombard st.

Kasper standing on the side of the cable car during the trip.

Our ride from Powell St to Fisherman’s Wharf.

“Our” cable car at Fisherman’s Wharf.

Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.

The USS Pampanito.

Alcatraz

The view from Pier 39 with the sea lions.

Marriott Hotel on the opposite site of the road from our hotel.

Crissy Field.

The Golden Gate Bridge.

Panorama view at Chrissy Field.

The Boeing 747 we flew in from San Francisco to London.

Kasper just before entering the plane back to London.

On Sunday, we walked around 6 miles / 9,5 km through San Francisco to see The Painted Ladies and stroll through Golden Gate Park. The Painted Ladies is located at Alamo Square Park and is known for appearing in the “Full House” tv-series intro.

The Golden Gate Park contains various museums, Asian gardens, the Golden Gate Park Band, falls, a lake only for RC boats and birds, a disc golf course, a polo field and last but not least a bison paddock. Unfortunately the bisons kept close to their shed, but we still managed to get a look of them.

We decided to take the bus home as we were pretty tired after the long walk. Fortunately we managed to find exact cash, as the busses doesn’t handle change, and thereby avoided a new opportunity to get penalized.

Monday we went down to Powell St to take a ride on the old cable cars. There was an unbelievably long line, and I guess we waited for an hour or so to get on. We took the one that ended close to Fisherman’s Wharf, because we wanted to see that too. It was a fun experience to go up and down the steep hills of the city, but also a bit crowded, with people hanging off of the sides on the cable car.

At Fisherman’s Wharf we had lunch at Applebee’s which had a nice view of some of the harbour. Afterwards we took a walk around the harbour. We went pass the warship SS Jeremiah O’Brien and the submarine USS Pampanito, used in WW2. And from that Pier we also had a nice view of the Alcatraz island. Then we took a walk down the actual Fisherman’s Wharf Pier 39, which had a lot of restaurants, souvenirshops and also some sea lions.

After this we walked back to our hotel, along the piers, which was nice and peaceful.

Before arriving in San Francisco we had read about people feeling unsafe in the city. Mainly due to assaults in the streets – also on tourists. Therefore we took precautions when wandering the streets (secured our belongings in zipped pockets etc). Especially we tried to avoid the Tenderloin District, as this district is known as the hotspot of many of the crimes in the city. But otherwise when wandering around the city, we didn’t feel unsafe at all. On the other hand, San Francisco is a city with many homeless people. Many of them appear intrusive in their way of begging, others keep to themselves. But they are everywhere and you are constantly reminded of their sad destinies. That is definitely something you should be aware of and be prepared to deal with when visiting San Francisco.

Tuesday was our last day in the States. Our flight wasn’t till 7 PM though, so we decided to check out of the hotel at 12 PM and take one last drive up to Crissy Field, to see the Golden Gate Bridge. This was a really nice place, with a beach and a park. And it had the most amazing view of the bridge, Alcatraz and the city. Worth a visit, if you ever go to San Francisco.

From there we went to the airport. Our trip had come to an end. It had been an amazing experience, meeting wonderful family and friends, seeing how people live in USA and visiting beautiful nature and big cities, in all kind of weather. We left USA with a big smile on our faces. We had the time of our lives!

Kasper & Jannie

Om søndagen gik vi omkring 6 miles / 9,5 km gennem San Francisco. Blandt andet for at se The Painted Ladies og gå igennem Golden Gate Park. The Painted Ladies befinder sig omkring Alamo Square Park og er kendt fra introen til tv-serien “Full House”.

Golden Gate Park indeholder en del seværdigheder: museer, asiatiske haver, Golden Gate Park Band, vandfald, en sø kun til fjernstyrede både, en bane til frisbee-golf, en polobane og sidst men ikke mindst en bisonfold. Desværre var bisonerne ikke meget for at forlade deres stald, men vi fik stadig et godt udsyn til dem.

Vi besluttede os for at tage bussen tilbage til hotellet, da benene var godt trætte efter den lange gåtur. Heldigvis havde vi nok kontanter til bussen, da de kun tager imod lige penge når man køber billetter. Dermed undgik vi endnu en mulighed for at få en bøde.

Mandag tog vi ned til Powell St for at tage en tur med de gamle sporvogne. Der var utrolig lang kø, og jeg tror vi stod i kø i en times tid inden vi kom med en vogn. Vi tog den til endestationen tæt på Fisherman’s Wharf, da vi også gerne ville nå at se den. Det var en sjov oplevelse at køre op og ned af de stejle bakker i byen, men også en smule overfyldt, med folk hængende på siden af sporvognen.

Ved Fisherman’s Wharf spiste vi frokost på Applebee’s, som havde en god udsigt over noget af havnen. Vi gik forbi Liberty-skibet SS Jeremiah O’Brien og ubåden USS Pampanito fra 2. verdenskrig. Fra denne kaj havde vi også god udsigt til Alcatraz-fængslet. Bagefter gik vi ned til den “rigtige” Fisherman’s Wharf på Pier 39. Her var der mange restauranter, souvenirshops og en masse søløver.

Herefter gik vi tilbage mod hotellet langs resten af havnefronten, hvilket var en dejlig og rolig tur.

Før vi ankom til San Francisco havde vi læst om flere folk, der havde følt sig utrygge i byen. Mest på grund af de overfald der har været i gaderne – også på turister. Derfor tog vi vores forbehold når vi gik rundt i byen, så som at sikre vores ejendele i lommer med lynlåse osv. Derudover holdt vi os fra Tenderloin District, da denne bydel er kendt som hotspot for meget af byens kriminalitet. Men udover det følte vi os ikke utrygge mens vi gik rundt i byen. Derimod er San Francisco en by med rigtig mange hjemløse. Mange af dem er påtrængende med deres tiggen – andre holder sig for sig selv. Men de er overalt og man bliver konstant mindet om deres triste skæbner. Det er bestemt noget man skal være klar over og klar til at takle før man tager til San Francisco.

Tirsdag var vores sidste day i USA. Vores fly afgik ikke før kl. 19, så vi besluttede os for at tjekke ud fra hotellet kl. 12 og køre en sidste tur i bilen ud til Crissy Field. Det var et rigtigt dejligt sted med strand og park. Og det have den mest fantastiske udsigt over Golden Gate-broen, Alcatraz og byen. Værd at besøgte, hvis man nogensinde kommer til San Francisco.

Derfra kørte vi ud til lufthavnen. Vores rejse er kommet til vejs ende. Det har været en fantastisk oplevelse, hvor vi har mødt vidunderlige familiemedlemmer og fået nye venner, set hvordan folk lever i USA og besøgt smuk natur og store byer – i alt slags vejr! Vi forlod USA med store smil på vores læber – det har været enormt fedt!

Kasper & Jannie

Guess who ordered the big drink 😉

Idag kørte vi forbi det sted hvor kragerne vender eller lander 🙂

Toll at the SF-OB bridge

San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge

San Francisco

Dinner at the Super Duper Burgers in SF

Anaheim vs Chicago West Conference Final (game 4 out of 7) in the Stanley Cup

Saturday morning we headed towards our last stop on the trip – San Francisco. We are going to stay here for 3 days, and then we are going back to Denmark Tuesday afternoon.

We didn’t do much today, other than driving. Unfortunately we weren’t prepared for ‘cash-only’ on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, so we got a sour puss and a ticket from the lady in the booth…

I was a little tired from the drive, and Kasper wanted to watch the Anaheim Ducks vs The Chicago Blackhawks play in the Stanley Cup, so today we have only been out in the city, to get something to eat. We went to ‘Super Duper Burgers’, which was a delicious experience. A little greasy though 🙂

For the last few days, we will go to Fisherman’s Wharf, The Painted Ladies, see the Golden Gate and all that stuff you have to do while in SF.

Jannie

Lørdag formiddag kørte vi mod det sidste stop på vores tur – San Francisco. Vi har tre dage her inden vi flyver tilbage til København tirsdag eftermiddag.

Vi har ikke lavet så meget idag, andet end at køre. Og desværre var vi ikke forberedt på, at vi kun kunne betale med kontanter på San Francisco-Oakland Bay broen, så damen i buret surmulede og gav os en bøde…..

Jeg var lidt træt efter køreturen og Kasper fandt en Stanley Cup ishockeykamp ml Anaheim Ducks og Chicago Blackhawks i TV, så vi har kun været ude i byen for at få lidt at spise idag. Vi var på ‘Super Duper Burgers’, som var virkelig lækkert. Men også ret fedtet 🙂

Inden vi tager hjem skal vi en tur til Fisherman’s Wharf, The Painted Ladies, Golden Gate og alt det andet turist-halløj man bør gøre når man er i SF.

Jannie

The entrance at Mystery Spot.

Inside the hut at Mystery Spot.

The hut at Mystery Spot. The plank is horizontally leveled.

Kasper outside the hut at Mystery Spot.

Kasper and the guide at Mystery Spot.

The foggy road in Sierra National Forest.

Jannie at the Bridalveil Fall.

Bridalveil Fall.

A creek in Yosemite.

Merced River.

Jannie at the Valley Loop Trail.

Jannie and a squirrel.

One of our obstacles in Yosemite.

The view at Mirror Lake.

Mirror Lake.

Tunnel View.

Thursday morning, we took off from Monterey. We headed up the coast to Santa Cruz, where our first stop was: The Mystery Spot! This is a very weird place, as mysterious things happen. Your senses get tricked by the nature – especially your sight as awkward angles takes place. It definitely tricks your mind. Uphill feels and looks like downhill and vice versa. We took the tour with a hilarious guide, who was very entertaining throughout the tour. I was “lucky” enough to be chosen for some demonstrations of the optical illusions. This place is worth a visit if you come nearby!

Afterwards we headed towards Fresno – the base of our Yosemite trip. We drove through Castroville – “Artichoke Center of the World”. On our way we passed lots of fields with fruit, nuts and vegetables. Lettuce, strawberries, artichoke, almonds, pistachios and vines. We arrived at our hotel in Fresno in the afternoon.

Later on we went to In-n-Out Burger to taste what all the hype was about. We were VERY disappointed! Afterwards we went back to the hotel to plan our Yosemite trip the next day. Unfortunately the weather reports showed rain.

Friday morning we went to Yosemite anyway. On the way there, a coyote crossed the road right in front of us.

It was a swirly road through the foggy Sierra National Forest up towards Yosemite. We decided to do the Bridalveil Fall Trail, some of the Valley Loop Trail and Mirror Lake Trail to the lake and back. I was very tired at the end of the hikes as we had to jump over big pools of rain. Unfortunately we didn’t see any animals other than birds and squirrels. On our way back we went by El Capitan – we couldn’t even see the top as the clouds were so low. And lastly we stopped at Tunnel View before heading back to Fresno.

Kasper

Torsdag morgen tog vi fra Monterey. Vi kørte op langs kysten til Santa Cruz, hvor vi havde vores første stop: The Mystery Spot! Det er et meget mystisk sted (deraf navnet). Dine sanser bliver snydt af omgivelserne – specielt synssansen, da her er mange skæve og unaturlige vinkler. Op ad bakke føles ned af bakke og omvendt. Vi tog en rundtur med en rigtig sjov guide. Jeg var “heldig” at blive valgt til at demonstrere et par af de optiske illusioner. Stedet er helt sikkert et besøg værd, hvis man er i nærheden!

Bagefter to vi mod Fresno – vores base under vores besøg i Yosemite. Vi kørte gennem Castroville – “Verdens centrum for artiskokken”. Vi passerede masser af marker med frugt, nødder og grøntsager. Salat, jordbær, artiskok, mandler, pistacienødder og vinmarker. Vi ankom til hotellet i Fresno om eftermiddagen.

Senere om aftenen to vi på In-n-Out Burger for at se om hypen passede. For at sige det mildt var vi TÆMMELIG skuffede. Bagefter to vi tilbage til hotellet for at planlægge vores Yosemite-tur dagen efter. Desværre var vejrudsigten imod os og spåede regnvejr.

Fredag morgen to vi alligevel til Yosemite. På vej derop så vi en prærieulv krydse vejen lige foran os.

Det var en snoet vej og meget tåget igennem Sierra National Forest op imod Yosemite. Vi besluttede os for at vandre Bridalveil Fall Trail, noget af Valley Loop Trail og Mirror Lake Trail til søen og tilbage igen. Jeg var meget træt efter vandreturene eftersom vi også måtte springe hen over et par store vandpytter på vejen. Desværre så vi ingen store dyr, kun fugle og egern. På vej tilbage kørte vi forbi El Capitan, men det var desværre så dårligt vejr at vi ikke kunne se toppen. Til sidst stoppede vi ved Tunnel View inden vi kørte tilbage til Fresno.

Kasper

Kasper and Charlotte playing around.

Daniel, David and Kasper.

Sea lions enjoying the sun

Sea lions cuddling

Sea lion in the harbour

1984 Lamborghini Countach

Bree and Kasper chilling in Tove’s living room.

Bree, Charlotte and David at the bowling alley.

Bree and Charlotte bowling

The scoreboard from bowling 🙂

Bree, Kasper, David, Tove, Charlotte and Daniel.

We slept in and went to Denny’s for breakfast, before meeting up with Daniel, David and Charlotte. They took us down to the Lover’s Point Park for a walk, but because there had been a sewer spill in the water, the beaches were unfortunately closed.

David and Charlotte had to meet up with Bree when she got of work, so we drove them back and then the 3 of us (Daniel, Kasper and myself) headed to the Coast Guard Pier in the city. Daniel told us that this was one of the best places to see sealions, and he was right! We got really close to them and they were so amazing.

Afterwards we walked back to the city. We passed the 4-star hotel his girlfriend currently works at, and went down Cannery Row again. Daniel pointed out some spots in the Row known from the Steinbeck novel and he told us, that Hollywood had also been in Monterey to shoot several movies. One of which he had been in himself (”We Were Soldiers” with Mel Gibson), as an extra. Also, the comedy-thriller ”Turner and Hooch” from 1989 was shot in Monterey.

Then we walked back to the car, which was parked by a Baskin Robbins, so we couldn’t help ourselves, and had to have an ice cream 🙂

In the afternoon, Bree had to go out to a get-together with her workplace, Trader Joe’s (a Californian chain of supermarkets). They were gonna go bowling, so she asked us to come along for a game. It was a lot of fun and of course I won the game, which led to Daniel nicknaming me ‘The Butcher’ 🙂

For dinner we went back to Tove’s for BBQ. And after dinner we had to say goodbye to everyone, because we are leaving in the morning to go see Yosemite National Park, before we head in to San Francisco.

We had such a great time with Tove and the others and we are gonna miss them, like we already miss all the other wonderful members of the Villebro family we have met on our trip.

Jannie

Vi sov lidt længe og spiste en sen morgenmad på Denny’s inden vi mødtes med David, Charlotte og Daniel. De tog os med ned til en park  der hedder Lover’s Point Park, hvor vi tog en lille gåtur. På grund af noget kloakspild i vandet, var strandene desværre lukkede, så vi var der ikke så længe.

David og Charlotte skulle mødes med Bree, da hun fik fri fra arbejde, så vi kørte dem hjem og så tog vi 3 vores bil ned til kystvagtens mole. Daniel sagde, at det var et af de bedste steder at se søløver og han fik ret! Vi kom ret tæt på dem og de var virkelig fantastiske.

Bagefter gik vi ind mod byen igen. Vi kom forbi det flotte 4-stjernede hotel hvor hans kæreste arbejder og så gik vi igen ned ad Cannery Row. Daniel viste os nogle steder på Row’en, som er kendte fra John Steinbecks roman og han fortalte os, at Hollywood også har været i byen et par gange. Blandt andet da de filmede ”We Were Soldiers” med Mel Gibson, som Daniel også selv var statist i. Filmen ”Turner og Hund” fra 1989 blev også filmet i Monterey. David var så heldig at møde Tom Hanks i den forbindelse. 🙂

Til sidst fandt vi bilen igen, på en parkeringsplads ved Baskin Robbins, hvor vi bare måtte ind og have en is 🙂

Om eftermiddagen skulle Bree til noget tam-tam med sit arbejde, Trader Joe’s (en Californisk supermarkedskæde). De skulle ud at bowle og hun spurgte om ikke vi ville med og spille et enkelt spil, så det gjorde vi. Det var superhyggeligt og selvfølgelig var det mig der løb med sejren, hvilket resulterede i, at Daniel gav mig kælenavnet ‘slagteren’ 🙂

Om aftenen grillede vi igen hos Tove. Og efter middagen måtte vi desværre sige farvel til dem allesammen, fordi vi kører op for at se Yosemite Nationalpark imorgen, inden vi kører mod San Francisco.

Vi hyggede os virkelig meget med Tove og hendes familie og vi kommer til at savne dem, ligesom vi allerede savner alle de andre fantastiske mennesker vi har mødt fra Villebrofamilien.

Jannie

A shark in the aquarium

Tunafish in the aquarium

A sea parrot in the aquarium

In the aquarium

Pelican at Fisherman’s Wharf

Sea otter swimming in the harbour.

View on the road to Pebble Beach

View on the road to Pebble Beach

Seals on a rock in the water along 17 Mile Drive

Tove at work in the Gallery.

The Lodge, a fancy hotel in Pebble Beach where Tove’s workplace is also located.

The entrance to The Lodge at Pebble Beach.

The Lone Cypress, a tree that is 250 years old and has become the trademark of Pebble Beach.

Kasper, Bree and David.

Dinner at Tove’s place. From left: Kasper, Bree, David, Tove and Daniel.

When we woke up the weather was a little poor. It was cloudy and it rained a little bit. So after eating the nice breakfast David made for us, we went down to the Aquarium in Monterey. We spent a couple of hours inside and when we went outside again, it had cleared up, and the sun came out.

Then we decided to walk from the Aquarium up Cannery Row, which is a road in Monterey, where a lot of old sardine cannery factories were placed up until 1973. Cannery Row is also famous from a John Steinbeck novel, called Cannery Row. From here we went out to the Fisherman’s Wharf, where we saw a lot of wildlife. There were sea otters, seals, sea lions and some pelicans.

In the afternoon, we drove down to the 17 Mile Drive and Pebble Beach, where Tove works in a gallery. We went in to say hi, and to see the premises, which were very nice and had a very expensive look 🙂

In the evening we met up at Tove’s place for a BBQ with Tove, David, Bree, Charlotte and Daniel. We had a lovely time and spend quite some time looking at some old pictures. When the clock hit 1 PM we had to call it a night, since Tove had to get up for work the next morning.

Jannie

Da vi vågnede var vejret lidt kedeligt. Det var gråvejr og regnede lidt. Så efter vi havde spist morgenmad sammen med David, kørte vi ned til Monterey by og besøgte deres akvarie. Vi var derinde et par timer og da vi kom ud igen, var det klaret op og solen kom frem.

Så besluttede vi os for at gå fra akvariet op ad Cannery Row, som er en gade hvor de gamle sardin fabrikker lå indtil den sidste lukkede i 1973. Cannery Row er også kendt fra en roman af John Steinbeck ved samme navn. Herfra gik vi ud til Fisherman’s Wharf, hvor vi så en del forskellige dyr. Der var både havoddere, sæler, søløver og nogle pelikaner.

Om eftermiddagen kørte vi ud af 17 Mile Drive og Pebble Beach, hvor Tove arbejder i et galleri. Vi gik ind for at hilse på og for at se området, som er virkelig flot og dyrt 🙂

Om aftenen mødtes vi hos Tove til grill med Tove, David, Bree, Charlotte og Daniel. Vi havde en rigtig hyggelig aften og brugte en del tid på at se gamle billeder. Da klokken slog 1:00 blev vi nødt til at bryde op, da Tove skulle op på arbejde dagen efter.

Jannie

View from Highway 1

Pregnant squirrel at Piedras Blancas.

Elephant seal in the water

Elephant seals sunbathing.

Elephant seals fighting.

Elephant seals interacting.

Elephant seal swimming

Elephant seals

The Whale Watcher Cafe.

View from Highway 1.

Tove and David in David and Bree’s living room.

Monday morning we left Pismo Beach and went up the Highway 1 also known as Pacific Coast Highway. This highway is so beautiful and scenic, and we were amazed with the view.

We stopped in a couple of times to take pictures and to see the elephant seals in Piedras Blancas. That was an absolutely amazing sight. Hundreds of big elephant seals, some lying around on the beach, some playing/fighting and others swimming in the water.

For lunch we went to a small cafe in the hills, called Whale Watcher’s Cafe, because it had an amazing view of the ocean. Unfortunately it didn’t really live up to the name – we didn’t see any whales. 🙁

We drove further up the coast and arrived in Monterey in the early afternoon. We met up with David, Bree and their beautiful daughter, Charlotte, at their place, which is just up the road from Tove. Tove came by later to say hi and in the evening we went out for dinner with David, Charlotte and Bree.

Jannie

Mandag morgen forlod vi Pismo Beach og kørte op af Highway 1 også kendt som Pacific Coast Highway. Det er en virkelig flot rute, med masser af smukke steder og vi var helt overvældede over udsigten.

Vi stoppede et par gange langs kysten for at tage billeder og for at se elefantsæler i Piedras Blancas. Det var et helt fantastisk syn. Der var hundreder af store sæler, nogle lå bare på stranden, nogle legede/sloges og andre svømmede rundt i vandet.

Til frokost tog vi ind på en lille cafe, som hed Whale Watcher’s Cafe (Hval-kiggernes cafe), på grund af dens fantastiske udsigt over havet. Desværre kunne den ikke helt leve op til sit navn – vi så i hvert fald ingen hvaler den dag. 🙁

Vi fortsatte længere op ad kysten og ankom i Monterey tidligt på eftermiddagen. Vi mødtes med David, Bree og deres skønne datter, Charlotte, i deres hjem, som er lige rundt om hjørnet fra Tove. Tove kom forbi lidt senere og hilste på og om aftenen tog vi ud at spise med David, Bree og Charlotte.

Jannie

Jars on farmer’s market.

Kasper, Peter and Jennifer at the farmer’s market

Green veggies at the farmer’s market.

Vineyard

Pismo Pier

Pismo Beach from Pismo Pier

Man feeding pelican on the Pismo Beach Pier

The Cool Cat Cafe

This morning we went up to have breakfast with Jennifer (Jim’s daughter) and her husband Peter, at their place in Montrose. We went to a really nice cafe and afterwards they took us to the farmer’s market in town.

Around 11 AM we drover further up the coast to Pismo Beach, where we had booked a room for the night.

Pismo beach is really nice. We went down to the water, walked on the Pier and watched the surfers and the fishermen, and this one guy feeding a pelikan.

We also went to the Salt Water Taffy and Souvenirshop and then we went to the Cool Cat Cafe for dinner.

Tomorrow we are heading for Monterey, to stay with Tove, David and Daniel for a few days.

Jannie

Vi mødtes til morgenmad med Jennifer (Jim’s datter) og hendes mand Peter, hjemme hos dem i Montrose. De tog os med på en rigtig hyggelig cafe og bagefter gik vi en tur på deres farmer’s market nede i byen.

Ved 11 tiden kørte vi længere op ad kysten, til Pismo Beach, hvor vi havde booket et værelse for en nat.

Pismo Beach er en rigtig hyggelig lille by. Vi tog ned til vandet og gik en tur på molen, så på surfere og fiskere og en fyr der fodrede en pelikan.

Vi tog også en tur i en Salt Water Taffy (slik) og souvenirshop og efter det spiste vi aftensmad på Cool Cat Cafe.

Imorgen kører vi mod Monterey, hvor vi skal besøge Tove, David og Daniel i nogle dage.

Jannie

Hollywood sign from Scenic Avenue in the hills.

Beverly Hills

Rodeo Drive

Venice Beach and the Santa Monica Pier in the background.

Bubba Gump Shrimps (from the Forest Gump movie)

Venice Beach

Kasper at the Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica Pier

Venice Beach seen from the Pier

Dodger Stadium

L.A. skyline

Some of the old Dodgers, Sandy Koufax (#32) amongst others, who won the World Series with the Dodgers 4 times between 1955-1965.

The ceremonial first pitch by Maury Wills.

Dodgers up for batting.

Dodgers vs Rockies

Sunset over Dodger Stadium.

Nighttime view of the L.A. skyline.

Saturday we woke up in a slightly clouded L.A. We decided to start out the day, by going to Hollywood. We drove up the hills to see the Hollywood sign, and from there we drove down through the city, passing Hollywood Blvd on our way to Venice Beach.

At the beach we stopped in at a cafe to have lunch, and then proceeded to the Santa Monica Pier. We took a walk down the Pier, which has a ferris wheel, a rollercoaster, restaurants and many other things. After that we strolled back down to the beach. Luckily the weather had cleared up, and it was sunny and warm.

Afterwards we drove back up the hills, to see Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive.

As the big finale of the day, we went to the Dodger Stadium to watch a baseball match between The L.A. Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies. We missed the Twins in Minneapolis, so we settled for the Dodgers in L.A. 😉

The match wasn’t to exciting though. The Rockies hit two homeruns, and the game ended with the Dodgers losing 7-1. But we had a good time, ate a couple of Dodger dogs and on the walk back from the stadium to our car, we got a beautiful view of L.A. from the top of the city.

Jannie

Lørdag vågnede vi i et lettere skyet L.A. Vi besluttede os for at starte dagen med en tur til Hollywood. Vi kørte op for at se Hollywoodskiltet, og derfra kørte vi ned igennem byen, forbi Hollywood Boulevard på vej til Venice Beach.

På stranden stoppede vi ind på en cafe og spiste frokost. Og bagefter gik vi til Santa Monica Pier. Vi gik en tur ned ad molen, som er fyldt med forlystelser, restauranter og andre sjove ting. Efter det gik vi tilbage til stranden. Heldigvis var vejret klaret op, solen skinnede og det var dejlig varmt.

Herefter kørte vi op til Beverly Hills og Rodeo Drive.

Som den store finale på den dag, tog vi op på Dodger stadion, for at se en baseballkamp mellem L.A. Dodgers og Colorado Rockies. Vi gik jo desværre glip af Twins da vi var i Minneapolis, så vi måtte nøjes med Dodgers i L.A. 🙂

Kampen var desværre ikke videre hårrejsende. Rockies slog to homeruns og kampen sluttede i deres favør, 7-1. Men vi hyggede os, spiste et par Dodger hotdogs og på gåturen fra stadion tilbage til vores bil, havde vi en virkelig flot udsigt over hele L.A. fra toppen af byen.

Jannie

An old Studebaker in the Historic Route 66 museum.

Giant cactus in Kingman

There was a small tailback on the freeway to L.A. 🙂

Our hotel in Monrovia, L.A.

We went to breakfast in Kingman, and afterwards we stopped in at The Powerhouse, which held a museum of the Historic Route 66. I guess we should have picked up on the level of suspension in the museum, when we met a sleeping ticket salesman at the entrance 😉 Well, maybe he was just tired, after all he was an older man, maybe more than 80 years old. Anyways, we woke him up gently, and purchased two tickets to see the exhibition.

The story of the Historic Route 66, started with the settlers moving across the plains by train or horse and carriage, and took us all the way up to the time when I-40 took over as the main route.

After going to the museum, we hopped in the car and headed towards California.

It was a long drive, and when we arrived in L.A., we were tired and just spend the rest of the night in the Hotel.

Jannie

Vi spiste morgenmad i Kingman, og efter det tog vi på museum i det gamle Powerhouse. Der var en udstilling om den Historiske Rute 66. Måske skulle vi have lugtet lunten mht spændingsniveauet af udstillingen, da vi så at billetsælgeren sad og sov 😉 Men vi bar over med ham. Han var en ældre mand, sikkert over 80 år. Vi vækkede ham forsigtigt og fik købt to billetter til udstillingen.

Historien om Rute 66 startede med nybyggernes rejser over prærien i tog eller hestevogne, og tog os med helt til grundlæggelsen af Interstate 40, som overtog hovedruten fra Rute 66.

Efter turen på museet, hoppede vi i bilen og kørte mod Californien.

Det var en lang køretur, så da vi ankom til L.A. var vi trætte og brugte bare resten af aftenen på hotellet.

Jannie

The small plane – packed with tourists.

Kasper WAS ready for takeoff.

Our sister-plane.

Entering Grand Canyon from the sky.

The Junction of Colorado River and Little Colorado River.

Turquoise river in Grand Canyon.

Finally a little sun.

Sunny side of Grand Canyon.

Overview of Grand Canyon.

Canyon rim.

A greener part of Grand Canyon.

Welcome to Kingman!

Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner in Kingman.

Kasper ready for dinner at Mr. D’z.

Decor inside Mr. D’z.

Truck in front of Mr. D’z. (Find the creeper)

We left Flagstaff 8.30 AM to be sure to get to Grand Canyon National Airport in time to catch our flight over the Grand Canyon. When we arrived at the airport it was pouring down with rain, so we had to lower our expectations about taking a lot of good photos. At the time we arrived we we’re almost the only ones in the airport so we thought maybe people would stay away due to the bad weather. But, right before takeoff, when the rain stopped, two busses of Koreans arrived and filled up the little airport.

We were the only non-asian and English-speaking passengers on our flight and we were placed in the back of the plane. The small plane was quite turbulent but we managed to get some nice photos, even though the weather conditions weren’t perfect. Halfway through I had to quit taking photos and just concentrate on breathing as I got airsick. I was happy to land and get to the nearest McDonald’s to get my blood sugar up again.

Due to the bad weather we decided not to drive into the Grand Canyon National Park. Therefore we headed for Kingman to move on towards California. Then I was able to take a nap and get back to normal while Jannie drove the car.

In Kingman our room wasn’t ready yet, so we decided to take a tour in the city. We drove around for almost an hour checking out some of the historical Route 66, which runs right through Kingman, before heading back to our hotel. When the room still wasn’t ready, we got assigned for a new one. Later we went to Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner, where we had hot dogs in real American diner style.

Tomorrow we will head for Los Angeles, where we will stay for a couple of days.

Kasper

Vi forlod Flagstaff kl. 8.30, så vi kunne være sikre på at nå Grand Canyon National Airport i tide til at nå vores flyvetur over Grand Canyon. Da vi ankom til lufthavnen stod det ned i stænger, så vi skruede forventningerne lidt ned. Vi var nærmest helt alene i lufthavnen, så vi gik ud fra at mange ville blive væk pga. det dårlige vejr. Men lige før take-off, da regnen var stoppet, væltede det ind med koreanere, der også ville med ud og flyve.

Vi var de eneste ikke-asiater og engelsktalende passagerer med vores fly og blev placeret bagerst i flyet. Turen i det lille fly var ret turbulent, men vi fik alligevel taget nogle rimelig gode billeder. Halvvejs måtte jeg dog stoppe med at lege fotograf, og i stedet koncentrere mig om bare at trække vejret. Jeg var i hvert fald glad for at lande igen og få blodsukker-niveauet på ret kurs igen på den nærmeste McDonald’s.

På grund af det dårlige vejr valgte vi at lade være med at tage ind i Grand Canyon National Park. Dermed kørte vi videre mod Kingman, og jeg kunne få et hvil mens Jannie kørte Chrysler’en.

I Kingman var vores værelse ikke klar endnu, så vi kørte en tur ud i byen. Vi kørte rundt i ca. en time på den historiske Route 66, som løber gennem Kingman, før vi kørte tilbage til hotellet. Da værelset stadig ikke var klar fik vi lov til at få et andet. Senere tog vi til Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner, hvor vi spiste hot dogs på ægte amerikansk diner-manér.

I morgen drager vi mod “Englenes By”, Los Angeles, hvor vi bliver et par dage.

Kasper