Yosemite

Yosemite National Park lies about 200 miles east of San Francisco and we thought while in Rome………let’s go and see the Half Dome.

It is a long drive so we decided to leave San Francisco early to take full advantage. We woke early for us this trip; 6.30am and got ready to hit the road. On the route we crossed San Francisco’s other bridge, the Bay Bridge. S and A feel that this bridge needs a revamp to compete with its much more famous cousin along the Bay. We thought it could maybe be painted an appealing pink or purple colour to stand out. Or maybe both? Your thoughts on this would be gratefully appreciated.

Anyway the drive was not all that interesting apart from a very friendly man at the petrol station who was from Saudi Arabia. He had interesting views on learning about the two world wars ‘it’s all done, get over it!’ not sure if the history teachers in us agree with him.

We made our way to the Yosemite National Park boundary and were met with a nice ranger, hat and all. For those of you unsure, Yosemite is one of the world’s most dramatic geological spectacles. Its valley is the most spectacular and is 7 miles long and less than a mile wide. It’s walled by near-vertical three-thousand-foot cliffs, streaked by tumbling waterfalls and topped by domes and pinnacles that form a jagged silhouette against the sky (A would like to thank the Rough Guide for this description).

The reason it is a National Park is all down to a Scot. You can almost hear A’s mum’s heart exploding with pride at this fact. John Muir who was originally from Dunbar campaigned to protect Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove and as a result Abraham Lincoln decreed this as America’s first protected wilderness in 1864. You would think fighting a Civil War would have consumed a lot of Abe’s time in this year but obviously not. Us pesky Scots always have a way of getting what we want.

After we said goodbye to our welcoming ranger we made our way down to Yosemite Valley. It’s about 14 miles of long and windy roads with spectacular views to reach the valley floor. Once we had reached the floor the views were simply incredible. We took in the El Capitan and parked our car in the shadow of the Half Dome. We walked a short distance amongst sky scraping trees to the visitor centre and explored a replica Native American village. When white Americans and Europeans flooded the area due to the Gold Rush in the 1840s and 1850s the Native Americans in the area refused to move from their native homeland of Yosemite which they had inhabited for 4,000 years. Gradually over the years their settlements have become less and less and nowadays Yosemite is inhabited more by tourists than anyone else.

We took a short shuttle bus to Yosemite Falls, a phenomenal waterfall that flows off one of the sheer cliffs. We walked up the trail and came to a fantastic vista point that allowed for the more adventurous to scramble up the rocks to a lagoon directly underneath the waterfall. We decided to get cool in the water pools and submerged ourselves. S could’ve been mistaken for Daniel Craig a la James Bond when he came out the water if it weren’t for the Rihanna T-shirt.

A applied another generous application of sun block as soon as she was out of the water. We all can’t be gloriously tanned like the native Californians. The temperature was 36degrees in the valley and the sun was fierce. A didn’t want to look like a Brit abroad.

We decided to scramble the rock to the bottom of the waterfall and gained spectacular views of the Valley and the Half Dome. We sat on a rock near the lagoon, soaking in the views and admiring the amateur divers. All we’ll say is the divers for Team GB have nothing to worry about come the Olympics.

We made our way back to the valley floor and walked amongst the giant trees. Words and images cannot describe Yosemite Valley. If you are ever in California we would highly recommend a visit. A could’ve stayed another week but she would’ve had to ship the sunscreen down by the lorry load.

We are currently driving back to San Francisco, ready to be smacked in the face by the mist and the cold. We’ll have to do it in 3 weeks anyway when we return to Edinburgh so we’re getting in some practise now. Although when we post this we will have finished our drive but A needs to keep her idle thumbs busy.

Until next time,

Much love

S&A

4th of July and First Friday Fun

The last time we wrote, we were preparing for 4th of July. We understand the irony of two Brits celebrating the independence of a nation that gained that independence from defeating, well, us. However, 4th of July is more than just a celebration of America’s birthday, it’s a celebration of freedom and an excuse to drink and who doesn’t love that right? We hit up Santa Monica Beach in the morning, savouring the sea air. We ate at a great place called Bubba Gumps and practically filled up on shrimp. The thing we always forget about the States are the portion sizes, and S confesses to hiding some of his shrimp in a napkin so it appeared he had eaten more than he had. The waiter was full of banter and we felt bad. He was also kinda cute (that was S). Now, Bubba Gumps is inspired by the film Forrest Gump so our waiter/waitress (the latter was new so was being trained) treated us to a Forrest Gump quiz. Thank God for A and her compulsive film watching as S was pretty bad. We got a perfect score of 3/3.

After lunch we donned our Stars and Stripes underwear and prepared to party in West Hollywood with a bunch of Americans and the friend who was putting us up. It was awesome! All day drinking, BBQing, games of corn hole and general merriment make for a good party. Oh, and sparklers! How could we forget? S and A felt like celebrities with the constant attention – ‘oh my god! I love your accent, where are you from?’ A was asked if she was from Ireland… No comment.

Surprisingly, we felt perfectly fine next day. Our friend, let’s call him SB, had to work on the 5th which sucked for him but we decided to set off for Venice Beach and Pier to check out the apparent freakshows who parade up and down the boardwalk. We walked past Muscle Beach, took in a skate park, and was offered marijuana for medicinal purposes more than once. Did you know marijuana goes well with ice cream? No, us neither.

The beach was perfect, and the weather just right. Considering there are floods and rain that would cause Noah to start reaching for the wood back home, we are appreciative of every piece of sunshine. The tan is coming along nicely.

Driving back to SB’s we noticed a school that A thought looked very familiar. After a thorough investigation we found out it was the school that was used in Grease. A posed for probably too many photos outside doing the ‘well-a-well-a-well-a’ dance move. S expressed the same enthusiasm when he discovered Britney filmed her debut video at the school.

After overdosing on vitamin D all day, we headed back to SB’s apartment and took him and his roommate out to dinner as a thank you for having us. We went to a great diner called Swingers and had delicious shakes and food. The diner was used in the film Knocked Up in the scene the morning after the two characters do some knocking up. Thank goodness there was no awkward ‘I’ll call you’ chat at our table and we left feeling totally stuffed and about to burst. After dinner we and SB decided to go to West Hollywood and party with our American gay brethren. S and A literally had vodka on the rocks all night because it was more or less 5 parts vodka 1 part Sprite. The best bit about the night? Practically naked buff dancers on the bar in the Abbey. A couldn’t hide her blushes (and eyes).

Heading home, we all decided to strike a pose next to the Beverley Hills sign. Cue 25 photos and A’s best pout. S decided to recreate a scene from Scary Movie by running through the sprinklers next to the BH sign. 10/10 for Mr Mackenzie who managed to keep his composure and run elegantly while being sprayed with water. I don’t know if the residents of BH would agree though… We also went and got Sprinkles cupcakes…at an ATM! Cupcakes from holes in the wall? Why doesn’t this happen more often? A is ready to pitch the idea to Lord Sugar when she gets home ©

Our first Friday in the City of Angels saw a return visit to the beach at Santa Monica. The sun was out in all it’s Californian glory and we soaked up the rays while admiring the natives to Santa Monica. In the morning we made our way to a lovely little diner on Washington Blvd called Maxwell’s. If you ever go to LA you should visit. The food was delish. A finally got to sample some Mexican food which everybody had been raving about. After chilling on the beach at Santa Monica we made our way to visit the house that is used in American Horror Story.

After our initial challenges navigating the roads of LA we now have it down to a fine art; we are now experiencing the same road rage that some LA drivers display extremely well. We’ve been flipping people off and hooting the horn left, right and centre. S even ran a stop sign. Accidently.

We then headed back to SB’s where a gathering was in full swing for a trip to Venice for First Friday. We experienced a short LA bus ride to a strip in Venice that is lined with food trucks and packed bars and clubs to celebrate the first Friday of every month. A and S became quite excited when SB told them that Bill and Sookie from the hit HBO TV show True Blood lived in the area. Cue a rendition of ‘Sooooookieeeees’ for about 5 minutes.

We decided to take advantage of the food trucks on offer along the street. S opted for fish and chips from a truck called ‘Cod Save the Queen’. You can take the boy from Scotland…… A decided to make up for her lack of fruit and veg by having a slice of salad pizza. It shouldn’t work but oh my god it does! After some drinks in a bar and a walk home we hit the sack to rest ahead of our coastal drive to San Francisco. Which we have almost completed. We’re currently checked into a hotel and about to rest up for the final leg of the drive. We’ll leave you with a picture of part of the Pacific Coast Highway.

Much love,

S&A

Little Mexico and Hollywood

We’re finally getting a chance to post a blog update. We’ve been in LA two days now and having a blast! Those that are Facebook friends of ours will have seen more status and photo updates than they probably want…

Anyway, LAX Customs and Border Control took ages and is a lot more tiresome than either Newark or JFK, which we’ve also both experienced. However, we did it! And we collected our car. We had to resist the temptation to upgrade to a fancy convertible for an extra $300 (S kept thinking of A doing a ‘Katy Perry’ in the Teenage Dream video…which is no bad thing) and settle for the compact Toyota. After a shaky start, with S turning a corner headlong into a massive truck but calmly cutting across the road to make it to the right side whilst A screwed her shuts and hoped for the best, we were riding the LA roads like locals. It’s fair to say that we would now pass the CA driving test with flying cars.

Cruising around for an hour or so, totally on purpose of course and not lost at all, we found our motel, complete with a No Prostitution sign. Think quintessential American motel in a part of town we’ve nicknamed Little Mexico and you’ve got it. Probably a part of LA not many people would want to visit. However, it has character and is all part of the experience!

Anyway, we hit the sack pretty early that night to be energised and refreshed for Day Two – Hollywood! Yesterday was pretty amazing. We drove to Hollywood Blvd and grabbed a great breakfast at Denny’s Diner to fuel up for the morning. S had a delicious pancake breakfast topped with strawberries, blueberries and cream, with eggs and sausages on the side and A had a steak omelette with toast. We climbed up a track to get amazing views of the Hollywood Sign and the city at large. We met a family from Arkansas at the top who kindly took a picture of us (otherwise there was gonna be a lot of dodgy self-portraits) and who’s son told us we had the Scottish accent, which is always good to know. The picture below isn’t us, as that one is on the camera.

After the Hollywood Sign we headed to our lunch reservation at The Ivy on Robertson Blvd. We wish we could say we were sat next to Lindsay Lohan passed out in a drunken stupor at the table next to us, but alas! We were not. The meal was nice, particularly the Bellini and Scarlatti drinks; the atmosphere very relaxed; and the day glorious. Watered and fed, it was time to find the Walk of Fame. S was only after one true star – Britney Spears – and A had developed a recent obsession with Arnold Schwarzenegger. She found no star but did find his handprints! He has big hands, and you know what they say… This part of town was true Hollywood style and pretty amazing. The on-street actors looked great (most of them!) and we were particularly impressed with one busker who needed money for his entry fee to Hogwarts so we chucked him a couple of $s. He better send a thank you card by owl when he gets there.

Driving home at night, it finally sunk in we were in LA and the bright lights met us on the skyline as we cruised along the freeway. We’re ready for today – July 4th – to celebrate America’s birthday! We’re gonna bring some Brit action to the house party we’ve been invited to 🙂

Until next time.

Much love,

S&A