USA Road Trip » california http://www.gregspurgin.com/usa-road-trip Judy and Gregs trip across the USA Thu, 28 Apr 2011 03:09:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.1 The Last Post http://www.gregspurgin.com/usa-road-trip/travel/the-last-post/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-last-post http://www.gregspurgin.com/usa-road-trip/travel/the-last-post/#comments Tue, 26 Apr 2011 01:54:40 +0000 http://www.gregspurgin.com/usa-road-trip/?p=299 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 [...]]]> 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

]]> http://www.gregspurgin.com/usa-road-trip/travel/the-last-post/feed/ 3 Day 1 – Los Angeles to Needles http://www.gregspurgin.com/usa-road-trip/travel/day-1-los-angeles-to-needles/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=day-1-los-angeles-to-needles http://www.gregspurgin.com/usa-road-trip/travel/day-1-los-angeles-to-needles/#comments Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:17:31 +0000 http://www.gregspurgin.com/usa-road-trip/?p=5 We arrived in Los Angeles about 9:00am, after a long 13.5 hour flight from Melbourne. We hired our car from Alamo, and then proceeded to get slightly lost leaving the airport. We eventually made it to a BestBuy to buy Virgin wireless broadband from Virgin, and a GPS.  The it was off to Walmart, [...]]]> We arrived in Los Angeles about 9:00am, after a long 13.5 hour flight from Melbourne. We hired our car from Alamo, and then proceeded to get slightly lost leaving the airport. We eventually made it to a BestBuy to buy Virgin wireless broadband from Virgin, and a GPS.  The it was off to Walmart, guided by the GPS (very easy). We started off with an American voice telling us where we should be going in miles, but Greg found an Aussie voice who can tell us where to go in kilometres, so it feels a lot more familiar!

After getting supplies from Walmart, we headed off eventually joining the I-40 heading east across Mojave Desert to a desert town called Needles, population 5,500. We’re still in California, just across the border from Arizona. We arrived in Needles at 7:30pm. We had been awake about 36hours, so it was time to rest. Our very long Thursday had started in Adelaide at 4.45am, and finished in the US at 10pm.

Judy in the USA road trip car.

 

]]> http://www.gregspurgin.com/usa-road-trip/travel/day-1-los-angeles-to-needles/feed/ 14