The day after we saw Jersey Boys we [...]]]> It’s still Anzac Day here in the US, and it’s the last day of our trip. We’re flying home from LAX tonight and have a few hours to spend/waste/use fruitfully until we take the rental car back to its ‘home’ and check in at the airport.

The day after we saw Jersey Boys we walked up to the iconic ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign. Along the way we dropped into New York New York, Luxor and Mandalay Bay, the last ‘megacasino’ on the Strip. We caught the bus back to our hotel and needed an afternoon nap to recover from the walk! In the evening we took another bus to downtown Vegas to see the older casinos and the Fremont Street experience, which is a light show along several blocks of the Fremont St Mall. As it was Easter Saturday, there were plenty of people and lots to see and hear. There were 3 stages along the Mall, with bands playing covers of popular songs. There’s a lot less glitz and sparkle in the Fremont St casinos than in the megacasinos along the Strip. We walked through the Gold Nugget and found an ATM which dispenses gold bullion! A 1 ounce coin or bar was around $1700. So if a punter got lucky in the casino, s/he could convert his winnings straight to gold. I did win another $10 on a 1 cent machine, but took the paper money and left.

We spent Easter Sunday driving from Vegas to Los Angeles, and today we have been packing, throwing stuff out and checking out the competition (Barnes & Noble and Borders). We dipped our toes in the Pacific Ocean at Redondo Beach, so we can now say that we have travelled right across the USA.

So … after one month, 4 time zones, 21 states, temperatures ranging from -8C to 30C, some fantastic meals and a few utterly forgettable ones, accommodation ranging from a 2-person tent to a hotel suite on the Las Vegas Strip (and lots of Motel 6 rooms with free morning coffee until 10am in between), we have added nearly 8000 miles to the red rental car, had a great tip, gained an extra 30 or 35kgs of luggage …. and hopefully not gained any weight personally!

Thanks for travelling with us, it’s been fun.

Feet in the Pacific

We went into the city centre to view the Morman temples in Temple [...]]]> Salt Lake city is a nice looking city. There are mountains (currently covered in snow) both West and East of the city. Even in the centre of capitalism there are no houses built on the mountains, so its a great view.

We went into the city centre to view the Morman temples in Temple Square.

Morman temple Salt Lake City

We headed South on the I-15 towards Arizona and Nevada. It was cold in Salt lake City, but gradually got warmer as we got further south. By the time we reached Arizona, it was warm, and we had left the snow on the mountains. We had a great drive on the I-15 through Virgin River canyon.

Virgin River Canyon Arizona

The it was into Nevada, and we got our first views of Las Vegas covered in haze. The it was time to hit the peak hour traffice (5pm) driving into Las Vegas. 6 lanes all crawling along.

It was very cold in the morning -8C, with a thick layer of ice on the windscreen of the car that we [...]]]> We stayed in West Yellowstone, just outside of the park. The town is almost completely closed. Even the hotel we stayed in with a few other guests was being renovated around us.

It was very cold in the morning -8C, with a thick layer of ice on the windscreen of the car that we had to scrape off.

what happens when its -8C

cars across the road that look like they have been buried all winter

We headed south through Idaho, through lots of frozen landscape.

filling at a service station, lots o mud, and slush and piles of snow

Eventually we made it to Salt Lake City. We stayed close to the centre of the city.

After our snow problems getting into Colorado, we were wary of getting caught by snow along the route. The shortest route according to google maps took us through Teton Pass, which according to [...]]]> After deciding that since Yellowstone National park opened for spring on Friday morning, we would detour (2,000km) to Yellowstone National park.

After our snow problems getting into Colorado, we were wary of getting caught by snow along the route. The shortest route according to google maps took us through Teton Pass, which according to the webcam was covered in snow. So we decided to go via I-25 north into Wyoming, and then across the I-90 to Gardiner.

Wyoming is even more rural than Kansas.

Big Horn mountains in Wyoming

Boulder is a lovely town. [...]]]> We spent the day exploring Boulder, then drove back to Denver along the eastern edge of the Rockies. The mountains around Denver and Boulder are spectacular, and the higher peaks are still covered in snow. It’s a very impressive backdrop for residents when they walk out their front door.

Boulder is a lovely town. The main street shopping area is a mall, so it reminds us of home. We happened to find a Borders bookstore that is closing down ( I’ve said it before …. books just seem to find us, even when we’re not looking), so we went and had a look. I picked up 3 gems – my current favourite author Larry McMurtry’s latest book, Hollywood, which is the 3rd part of his memoir, Annie Proulx’s latest and Before the Fall by Kylie Ladd, an Australian author. Greg found a couple too.

I had done a bit of internet research and found out about food carts in and around Boulder. Here they call them ‘gastro truck’, but that has some negative connotations for us Aussies ( I wonder what the Americans call ‘gastro’?). Anyway, I found out about one that serves American/BBQ food – a lot of them serve Mexican food, and they’re great, but I wanted to try a BBQ one. Top of the Hill Grill West sounded good, and they had posted their Friday location on their Facebook page – here. However, before we went to find them a couple of kms from the CBD, we had a pre-lunch hotdog from a little hotdog cart in the mall. Stood eating it and chatted to the seller and his customers & found out a bit more about Boulder.

And then on to our ‘real’ lunch destination. The guys run their food cart out of a very impressive van-turned-into-kitchen. They are in a different location each day, and many evenings, and post their location on their Facebook page. They offered 6 or 8 choices, plus side dishes. The food is all cooked as it’s ordered. I had a Pulled Pork and Coleslaw sandwich, Greg had a Steak & Cheese sandwich, and we shared side orders of cornbread and hand-cut fries. I almost can’t think of enough words to describe how delicious and tasty it all was. Definitely one of the best meals we’ve eaten in the US on this trip.

menu on the Gastro Truck

lunch from the Gastro Truck

Flowers in Boulder Colorado

the Rocky Mountains from Denver

We avoided the toll road to Topeka, travelling on a state road. Once we left Topeka it got very rural with not much around.  Onece we past Salina it got very flat.  Our choices of places [...]]]> The long journey over the midwestern prairie. We drove through Kansas City, which is in Missouri not Kansas.

We avoided the toll road to Topeka, travelling on a state road. Once we left Topeka it got very rural with not much around.  Onece we past Salina it got very flat.  Our choices of places to stay were getting more limited as we got into western kansas, as the towns are much further apart.

Eventually arrived at Colby in the evening. Colby has a population 5000 people and is nearly 1000 metres above sea level.

Windgenerator in Kansas

Hogwarts Castle

Drinking Butter Beer at the 3 Broomsticks

The ride that Judy [...]]]> Harry Potter at Universal Studios

Hogwarts Castle

Drinking Butter Beer at the 3 Broomsticks

The ride that Judy did

Then it was down the road to Archer City about 40km away south. The main reason for visiting Archer City, population 1848, was Larry McMurtry’s secondhand [...]]]> An easy drive today. We visited Three Dog Books in Witchita Falls, which was a mix of second hand books, some new kids books, and antiques and collectables.

Then it was down the road to Archer City about 40km away south. The main reason for visiting Archer City, population 1848, was Larry McMurtry’s secondhand bookstore Booked Up. It’s actually spread across 4 buildings in the main street. Building 1 has the rare, signed, first editions and out of print books, the people who work there (2, i think) and the only cashier. If you want to buy anything from one of the other buildings, you have to take it across to Building 1 to pay for it.  The photo of me with Leo the cat was taken in the garage of Building 1. I’m standing in the Political Science section.

Judy amongst a few of the 300,000 or 400,000 books at Booked Up, with Leo the friendly bookstore cat

We also visited Building 4 today – cookbooks, biography, travel, business & finance. We each picked up a couple of books, but have been very restrained compared with previous trips to US bookstores. I bought Christopher Milne’s memoir, Beyond the World of Pooh ( he was A.A. Milne’s son, better known as Christopher Robin), and Feeding Frenzy, by an American who sets out to eat her way around Europe’s Michelin 3-starred restaurants. Greg bought George Stephanopoulos’s All Too Human and The End of Certainty by Australian journalist/author Paul Kelly.

Tomorrow we’ll visit Buildings 2 and 3 before heading to Dallas for a couple of days.

Tonight we’re staying at the Lonesome Dove Inn, which is a gorgeous 2-storey guest house just a couple of blocks from the main street. It used to be the town’s hospital, and we’re staying in the Desert Rose Room which was  the operating theatre and delivery room. It’s a lovely room, with big south-facing windows and a white-tiled floor. All the other rooms have carpet, but I’m glad the original white tiles have been left. Mary, the owner, has a policy of letting people who were born here when it was a hospital, stay for free in the Desert Rose Room on their birthday. She has had 3 people take her up on her offer.

We were also offered the Terms of Endearment suite, with king-sized bed and ensuite bathroom, or the Cadillac Jack room with twin beds.  The room next door to us is Hud’s Library, with single bed and lots of books, including a shelf full of signed first edition books by Larry McMurtry.

Oh, and Mr McMurtry is also a guest here this evening.