Day 27 San Fransisco to Los Angeles

With regulation 5 from alcatraz still fresh on my mind it was time to leave San Fransisco but my flight to LA was not till 6pm. After a visit to the post office in Macys to send some mementoes home for safekeeping I made my way to the San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art. Initially to dissapointment as I was greeted by the likes of Henry Matisse and thought this is not modern.

Do not get me wrong Henry was fine in his day but I wanted modern. Well I got it. A darkened room with water projected onto the far off wall. I stood on a creaky floor board and hey a ripple apperaed on the far off water wall. Carried away in a tidal wave of enthusiam on this discovery why the old lady next to me positively jumped up and down on the floorboards (there is always one) and created a wave on the wall.

Onto a prism walkway made of glass suspended high above the museum, an opening in the wall where you popped your head through and by the magic of mirrors saw around three hundred more of your heads. MMmmm not sure n that one...bit freaky.

You also were given an ipod which commented in an arty farty explanation about various pictures and paintings. At least thats how I initially reacted till I realised the arty fartys knew their stuff.

Caught the Los Angeles flight and on arrival stood in amazement at 10pm at the shear volume of cars, buses, taxis, shuttles, donkeys, (no donkeys really). The shuttle bus driver was a magician and I arrived at Veice Beach Hostel intact.

Day 26 San Fransisco

Up bright and breezy. Onto the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf where I met Guifang originally from Bejing but now doing a postgrad here in the States. Guifang was going to a conference and to pass the time decided to do a bit of sightseeing.

We got chatting on the cable car and our itenary for the day was the same. Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. Guifang had been to the bridge 20years ago and told me how great it was. The cable car offcial gave us that "Oooh yiou did not book your alcatraz tickets on the net...Unlucky" but undeterred we sruck forward to Pier 33 and hey presto our cash secured us the alcatraz experience.

It was wonderful. Very haunting and the audio tour headset allows you to take it all in at your own pace. Notwithstanding this Guifang was delighted to see me race back towards the pier and just catch the ferry by seconds.

So on it was to the golde gate and yes you have guessed it the fog was intense. I never did see that view but it was still great to be so high up with cars racing by. All suspended on two big cables. Engineers may say I've over simplified there but without those two cables the bridge would be in the water.

After a busy day it was a burrito in a newly opened mexican near union square and as I thought to myself those inmates at alcatraz received free health care, free food, free accommodation and free clothes whereas we do not......they could never leave the island but many a time must have heard the party yaughts pass and the sounds of the city. Freedom...what price freedom or as machine gun kelly wrote on his cell wall. Nothing could be worth this?

Day 25 San Fransisco

First day in San Fransisco felt like being on an "Orienteering for Beginners" course. I just could not get to grips with the place.

Came across the apple store. Look out mobile phone lovers those iphones are heading your way. The store was very futuristic as you would expect but my favourite was the glass rubber combo staircase. For its aesthetics and without being over technical its springy bouncy feeling as your feet hit the treads.

I thankfully happened upon the Geary Theatre who were showing "Rainmaker" by N Richard Nash. Written in the fifties to critical acclaim the play centred on a drout in Arizona and the claims of a Rainmaker who apperaed at a small family farm. The play contrasts between those of us who live our lives out totally in a dream against those who simply refuse to dream.

Ticket bought I headed to see Chinatown before the play commenced at night. I love Sushi and Sushi loves me. Imagine my delight sitting down to my first ever floating Sushi boat restearaunt. I had my first cup of sake too which arrived heated up and very good. I also had Sappore beer which was labelled as "* in the world". I've no idea what the asterx stood for. I guess its what ever you decide yourself. In my case I decided it meant "Cold".

I'm afraid the sushi did not fill me up so I immediately went for a full chinese meal at a place preferred by the locals. How did I know this. Well the place had plenty locals in it and a full page spread of the "IndependatFood Supplement" essentially saying nothing fancy but good portions. Oh and eveyone ....I've found the secret to stop me rushing my food....chopsticks.

On my way back out of Chinatown I got talking to local street entrepreneur Daniel whose knowledge of tribal and biblical history was extensive. Including the Vikings. I asked Daniel where on earth he had learned all his history and he replied from his youth. I said to him normally it is a mispent youth that leads to a life on the streets but his was a story of Vietnam. I cannot corroborate any of this but a good part of me beleived him. It's also only fair from a contextual standpoint to advise that that Daniel was wired to the moon as we spoke.

Onwards to see the play and before curtains up I enjoyed the company of Calafornians "Jack and Diane". I know its from the song and so did they. Diane travelled on her own a few years ago and enjoyed Scotland. She has fond memories of Fort William and also an island where she missed the evening ferry and had a right old party with the locals by the sounds of things.

Following the message from the play i rushed home (as much for personal safety) to dream!

Day 24 San Fransisco from Mesquite

Flew to San Fransisco today. Home of the cable car invented by Scotsman Andrew Hallidie in 1873 who witnessed the torture of horses trying to pull heavily laden carts up the steep hills of the City. Well done thought Andrew. Destitute and out of work the horses were never sure after that was it a good or a bad thing Andrew had done?

First things first though decisions were required on what could I carry on my back now the van was to be returned. With a heavy heart I bid farewell to my Wallmart tent, chair and windup lantern. The girls from Eureka Hotel reception on the other hand skipped with glee on receiving the camping gear and indeed a whole new way of life. The great outdoors.

With about an hours drive to Vegas all living hell arrived once the five lane interstate came into view. I felt I was in a scene from a sci-fi movie as large metal objects flashed here and there at warp speed. On missing the turn off for the rental cars I ended up on the other side of Vegas. "Flight to catch! Flight to catch!" repeated through my mind and suming up composure I got there in the end. "Thanks composure"..."No problem Ewen"

Took the skytrain and metro to the city centre. As I reached street level the touts homed in and with no quick escape. I started to get lost walking to the hostel and after several half baked explanations on where to go I popped into a shop called "Difficult to Read Maps ...R Us"

What put me even more off was a local advise "Oooh best watch that area in the evenings." Great I thought its dark, eight pm and I cannot run. Got to the dorm to find it in darkness as one of the roomates had taken an early night. You try making your bed up with fresh sheets on the top bunk in total darkness.

One of those days. Lets wait for daylight to come.

Day 23 Bicknell to Mesquite

Last nights hand washing had not dried. Imagine the delight as I opened the motel curtains to see this view. All thoughts of the van having to be clad out as the world's fastest moving air drier vanished along with fears of "Well Sheriff..I can only apologise for the pants departing the vehicle".

In for a look and I discover these machines are actually very easy to use. Pop a coin and press one of three buttons. My kind of appliance. Preconception No 187 "Laundry no use" now dismissed.


Whilst waiting for the tumble drier I sat outside and enjoyed the company of Steve Hoffman, History Teacher, Pensilvaniya and his dogs Suzie and Beasley who incidentally said very little. Steve was waiting on his car being returned by a local mechanic and told me how his daughter had phoned him this week to say her recent holiday to Scotland was a wash out. particularly an island called Skye where it rained and rained. There was little I could say except it is great without the rain.

I had a long drive ahead today to get to Zion and taking the advice of the hotel owners I opted for the scenic route 12. What they failed to disclose was a ridge top drive (think vertical drop both sides of van) along the Grande escalante Staircase Monument. I'd seen the note on the map but did not realise the monument was infact the stomach churning drive itself.


By mid afternoon I was glad to see Clarkes diner appear o the horizon and after a hearty meal I noticed a display looking to support local lad Clate Durfey who is undergoing hospital treatment at the moment. Pictured above is Ellen rom the resteraunt who was happy to accept my bike for the cause. She told me Clate is looking forward to coming home from his treatment for thanksgiving.

Onto Zion National Park for a far too brief look around the rock formations but a not too brief trip through the Carmel Tunnel (think Channel tunnel without the train and a wee bit shorter) - claustraphobia eveyone?

Light was fading as I took this picture at Zion but jou can see the wavy lined rock. Morag and Edd...you will appreciate this technical geologists term I've used here!

The plan was to stop off in St George tonight but as I ran into darkness I over shot the exit lane and ended up in Mesquite. Concious that cheap hotels and casinos go hand in hand I had the pleasure of the confusingly named "Eureka" hotel. How the word thats used to express triumph on finding or discovering something came to be used for a hotel is infact cute. As I drove along the interstate and saw the hotel similar words came to mind. I liked this hotel. They have free chocolate chip cookies at reception.

Day 22 Moab to Bicknell

One last breakfast visit and a farewell salute to my favourite Mondo it was back to Arches Park to enjoy it in full sunlight splendour. Amazingly I'd missed the windows yesterday (so called stone arches) within the park. Got chatting to some Flagstaff biker girls who were visiting the windows and we swapped appreciating stories of local trails and slickrock!

One more farewell salute, this time to Moab itself and onto the interstate with Vegas in sight by Wednesday to return the van. Not before todays remarkable visit to Goblin Valley. A must do visit to send pictures to my niece Anna whose imagination of Goblins is still fuelled by her sister Gracie and Dad Dave. A bigger pair of Lord of The Rings fans I've yet to meet!

Narrowly escaping capture by the Goblins I set off towards Biknell. The drive through this part of Utah was like the surface of the moon and whilst breathtaking it felt almost eerie at stages with no sign of life for miles and as dark set in I was glad to reach the motel. Why you say...to escape from the foreboding atmosphere? No, not really...I needed to wash my pants and pretty much every other piece of clothing in the rucsac! Domestic chore complete my thoughts turned to ...will it dry by the morning. If only I'd known what lay outside the motel door........morning would reveal all......

Day 21 Moab

This Mondo cafe is just too good. It was porridge, bananas and raisins ith brown sugar as good as Flagstaffs and a lazy session organising flights and accommodtion for San Fransisco later in the week.

The leggies were a bit tired today and what better than to visit the sculptured rock wonders of Arches National Park. It was overcast today and the rocks did not shine bu I told them not to worry. It never stopped the aptly named "three gossips" you see here talking about some human eating an apple.

Delicate arch is the one budding photographers flock to in their thousands from all over the world to capture the image at sunset. You would swear mother nature created the footpath that leads around a corner to the arch itself. Almost like she is saying "Come and look at what I've made".

As I sat with Marty and his wife Beth who had made the five hour drive from their home in Denver we hoped for a sunset but to no avail. Marty and Beth had taken their kids here some ten years ago so this was a trip down memory lane for them. Marty who works with the US postal service explained they had the Monday veteran day holiday and we joked that Americans think nothing of a five hour drive whereas thats a bit of a deal in the UK.

I finished the day at the renowned Eddie McStiff resteraunt. Eddie introduced a microbrewery to Moab back in 1991 and a pint of their amber ale went well with the biggest juicy burrito ever. Back to the Lazy Lizard where the Sunday Night American Football was on. By the end of it I'd learnt enough on the rules to almost understand it.

Day 20 Moab

Meet fellow bikers Ellen and Randy Price along with their son Liam. I passed Liam on his first mountain bike outing this afternoon with Dad Randy and then met Ellen and their dog "Ginger" further on in the great Klondike Bluff trail. I was so impressed with how Ginger paid proper care to rehydrating by scrounging off Ellen. So much so I asked Ellen if I could take a photo of said Ginger hydrating and from that we got talking. Mainly about some Scottish guitarist whose name I forget. Randy and Ellen are big fans though and I made a note to get the name from them and check it out. Ellen kindly asked me to join them for supper as they had done a fair bit of travelling themselves and would be interested in my own trip.

I'm getting ahed of myself here so lets rewind back to earlier in the day where I had my first ever "Stacker" for breakfast in a groovy coffee shop called "Mondo". With free wi-fi and a smashing attitude that said "you stay here all day dude if you wants to" I felt quite at home. For anyone out there like me who did not know what a Stacker was then picture toasted bagel, swiss cheese and scrambled eggs seasoned to taste. All washed down with fresh coffee.

Fully fuelled up I set about the Klondike Bluff trail which after eight miles out into the desert promised a short walk into the far end of the arches national park to see Klondike Bluffs. It was a real "Wow" moment as I crested the hill on foot to see the Bluffs. Only to be interupted by a huge stramash going on to my left by a rock. These tiny wee animals were having a right argument. Three of them to be exact and I've no idea what one of the them had done to upset the others. Hog the remote control perhaps. Randy told me later they were most likely "Desert Squirrels". They were tiny. I need to get away from squirrels I thought..."surely there will not be any in Fiji"?

I was so taken in by the view and having the place to myself (advantage of USA in late fall) I lost track of time and to my concern realised I had eight miles ahead of me with sunset racing in. Fearing mountain lions at my heels I teared back in with dust clouds billowing from my wheels.

Oh I should also mention the dinosaur footprints on the trail. Uncanny to see these close up and it required little imagination to visualise Mt T Rex bounding across the great expanse.
In the evening Randy, Ellen and Liam watched on as I did my best at the all you can eat pizza buffet suitably washed down with one of Moab's locally brewed micro beers. Thanks for the treat guys!!

I should also point out that impressively Randy back in 83 was one of the original mountain bike builders. Randy watched a couple of other kids customise by taking standard paper boy bikes, adding ten gear cranks and fat tires. Following suit.....Hey presto the mountain bike is born !!

Day 19 Moab

Made it to Moab. Checked into the "Lazy Lizard Hostel" and off to the bike shop for advice on the best trails. Nice people......bought new socks from them.



Did the Monitor and Merrimac trail. So named after the two sandstone buttes out in the desert. This was my first experience of biking on the famous Moab slickrock....basically your cycling over continuous rock. Careful now, easy goes it.

Sat down in the middle of nowhere, eat my apple and stared out at the expanse before me. Took my socks off and walked on the warm rock sand (getting weird enough for you yet? Want me to say I ran about naked hitting myself with a bush? Sorry just the barefoot thing!). Seemingly the soils are very good for you, full of minerals, but I just found it made my feet red and shoes full of sand.

Back to the Lazy Lizard to chill and prepare for the mighty "Klondike Bluff" trail tomorrow......

Day 18 Grand Canyon to Blanding

Woke up early with a ferocious appetite no doubt from trekking the big fella yesterday. Drove the van round to the breakfast plaza occasionally edging past the 15mph speed limit. The breakfast was pretty good yesterday and to my puzzlement the menu was limited to one choice only this morning and unforgiveably no toast. Whats going on I thought but proceeded anyway. As I walked to the till there was nobody there and others walked on by. Wait a minute there is no lady at the till either? It suddenly dawned on me that last night I'd noticed evening meal was closed due to a business convention. As if there were an ice blanket thrown on my back I shuddered at the thought........ I was freeloading!!

It was way too early in the morning to think logically. I was still in Ludite mode and the immeditae reaction was to eat the sausage and egg as fast as possible and get out of there. What if one of the attendees asked my opinion on say reverse dynamics (I've no idea what that is but you get my drift). Sitting as far away from anyone as I could ...eye content was established with one delegate. Hows it going he asked?. At that point my cheeks looked like a squirrel storing nuts for winter and I blurted out some incomprehensible reply thus avoiding further rappore. Exit centre stage please. Getting into the van the full embarressment hit as I thought "Are there people out there doing that on a daily basis"?

Today was all about heading for Moab the mountain bike mecca and home of Arches National Park. Home of the most photographed stone on earth. None other than the "Delicate Arch". It was going to be a long drive but something just did not feel right. As I stopped at the East Viewpoint within the Grand Canyon I realised what it was. The van was a shambles. Pants hanging from the wing mirror, socks in the glove box.....basically a good tidy up was required. After a quick visit to see the desrt view watchtower and some funky indigenous paintings I emptied the van and had a nap.

Losing valuable time I had to zoom past monument valley with dusk setting in and got far as a tiny place called 'Blanding' by sundown. Parked the horse at the motel for the evening. One hours drive tomorrow would see me reach Moab in Utah and fulfill my pilgrimage. Would it live up to the mountain bike mgazine article I'd read only a few months earlier.......??

Day 17 Grand Canyon

I've aged a bit since yesterday. Only kidding this is not me....no come on now its not!! Why this is none other than Rim-Rim Maverick (Laurent Gaudreau). See him on tv at http://www.ksl.com/.

I had no clue who he was but liked his t-shirt and asked if I could take a picture. The shirt reads "I utterly refuse to act my age". Laurent duly oblidged and handed me his card. I think this guy said he had done the gorge more than a hundred times?

So I'd decided to do the famous Souh Kaibab trail. The only ridge hugging and steepest trail down into the canyon. At eighteen miles and three feet wide with colossal drops its vertigo central. All the safety advice insists you do not go up and down in one day as deaths sadly arise and some 250 people are carried of the trails each year through heat exhaustion. The option to stay down in the canyon overnight was not available to me as it requires booking four months in advance. In any case this is what a heavily packed overnighter looks like. Meet Doug a particularly relaxed up state New Yorker originally from Arizona.






Compare this if you will to my light daypac. Should be ok I thought.......

Hmmmmm....I consumed over four litres of water and the trick they say to stop your muscles going into spasm is regular intake of salts and sugar. In my case chocolate chip cookies. Well the trail is no place for diets. Cream cake anyone?

The views are breathtaking and yet after two hundred photos I concluded none do it justice. Its just so big..............................................the canyon I'm talking about.

Met this desert squirrel called Richard way down in the canyon. Hops along he does , sits right next to me giving it the whole preening of the whiskers and bushy tail routine. Had to give him a piece of my apple even though it could represent the last life saving morsel to me later in the day. Richard was exstatic and no doubt chuckled at his mate a bit further down the canyon going all old school and burrowing away the base of a cactus for sustenance.

On a serious note nobody should feed the animals. They will struggle to adapt in winter and the bus driver told me the wardens attend to about ten bites a day as the creatures become so domesticated they saddle on up to tourists who in turn pat them. Chomp and ouch. A complete clash of agendas...affection meats food source.

Finally I reached the base of the canyon and the ferocious Colorado river. The Canyon's creator. I decided to face him head on...off with the socks and shoes for a paddle (Swimming not allowed ...nothing in the rules about paddling). Haaaaaaaaay its freezing.

It was getting tough on the way up and gald to see the Park has a sense of humour.....

By the end of it I was wanting out of the place. More than a little bit of canyon fever setting in and from who knows where I found a last bit of enegy and double timed the last mile with the mantra "Almost there..next corner" repeating in the inner depth of my still hydrayed brain.

One last look...

The legs were packing in as I fell onto the bus. The driver said well done getting in before dark..."A few mountain lions hanging about this week".

A mighty feast and some weird dreams best summed up as........

All in all an unforgettable day. Sandy you were right...nothing prepares you for the scale of the Grand Canyon!!

Day 16 Grand Canyon

Up bright and early. Once inside the Canyon entrance gates its very well organised. Arrived at Mather Point as my first stop (see pic above) and having watched a travel programme before I went where the tourists all cover their eyes till they were at the edge I did the same thing. After slightly tripping on the kerb I opened my eyes at the fence and my immediate reaction was disbeleif.






Off to Mather campsite which was busy enough and celebrated my pilgramage to the canyon with a pagan feast. A fat tyre beer, cheese and tomato rolls and a whole bar of dark chocolate. I felt ill and to add to the melee a huge raven was trying to scavenge and possibly have a go at carrying me off to his mates for supper. Walked off the over indulgence and back to Mather viewpoint to see the sunset.





Across fom my tent at night was one mighty impressive camp fire and I walked over to introduce myself to Michelle and Houston my neighbours. Michelle had decided to go on trip as a bit of a treat and took her son Houston along too which was cool. Houston was a top contender in the bmx competition scene as a teenager in Florida and threw a twenty six foot jump at one stage. They introduced me to 'Smores" which are toasted marshmallows placed on a piece of choclate between crackerbread. The mallow melts the chocolate and the whole thing tastes so good you want more. Get it..."Smores".


We chilled out to some good music, watched the stars and Michelle told us her story of how she had prayed for a telescope earlier only to walk into a thrift shop later that day and what was for sale but the very telescope. After lenghthy discussions on best actors and best films we retired for the evening after the park ranger arrived and maglited our faces. We were now into the campsite quite hours time. Tomorrow would see me attempt the killer South Kaibib trail.....

Day 15 Sedona

Looks a nice scene does in daylight I'd say.

You know whe they say your heart stops with fright. Picture the scene in this forest at four in the morning with only a piece of nylon between you and whats outside. Nobody around to hear you scream. You hear footseps on leaves and snorting/sniffing outside. The brain puts two and two together and thinks 'Bear'. Well thats what happened and I just thought to myself. Stuff it what will be will be. I'm not getting out of this sleeping bag.

So the night passed and a morning spent studying the local culture at Starbucks and MacDonalds. I know, I know.....well I wanted to see if they were any different in the land of their birth. They are not.

Off to the hills once more this afternoon for best mountain biking to date on the "Little Horse Trail" to "Chicken Point". In the distance were majestic views of Bell Rock and on reaching Chicken Point I was the only one there barring a local who hikes the trail most nights after work.

Then it turned into Summer Camp as five pink jeeps arrived. The local beleived its called chicken point as the jeeps used to come out onto the small rock precipice to scare the toursists senseless.

"Picture - Chicken Point"....not a chicken....a human.

A biker dude arrived with mighty impressive deadlocks and was soreley disappointed with the congregation in front of him. He protested that this was his spot to chill of an evening too. The dude explained there are over three hundred trails in Sedona and over sixty secret trails. Infact right now his mate was up the top of the opposite hill in disguise and fear of a wardens fine or discovery of his masterpiece before completion. I'd quite like to build a secret trail I thought and with that said my goodbyes and whistled back down of the hill.

After a heart feed at the breadplace where their unique selling point appears to be they send you to your table with a coloured card after youve ordered and then arrive with your food thereafter. Whats the difference between that and a waiter asking your order once seated ....I'm not sure. Everyone looked suitably confused. Bound to catch on.

Back to the campsite in the dark and firstly I see a skunk pottering about near my pitch. Was this the bear from last night me thinks? Then a racoon shoots across in front of me. It has to be said (no offence skunks or racoons) but they you are both funny looking animals and no wonder form the butt of many a cartoon. Again there was nobody at the site... well not within half a mile so I thought not again. I'm ditching this and heading to Flagstaff hostel which is on the way to the Canyon anyway. However I'd arranged a biking tour with the Goodloes for tomorrow and tried to get a cheap motel in Sedona. Not possible but this woman who looked and acted like Tweety Pie's owner (the cartoon budgie) gave me a room on the outskirts and to my horror there was somone already in room nine when I tried the door. Horror movie anyone? Thats it off to Flagstaff for a bit of luxury or so I thought.

Got my own room for a change in the hostel and grabbed two beers from the back of the van. Are we sitting comfortably then I'll begin. Not really I was perched on the bed sitting up reading with a beer bottle held between my feet (never again). Yes you guessed it the bottle fell over soaking the duvet. Great ....how was I going to explain this. For all the world it looked as though I'd urinated like a horse all over the bed and my shorts. No relxaation for me then - washed the shorts and duvet and basically gave up and went to sleep. Tomorrows another day...Grand Canyon Day for that matter. Must look up my book of one hundred and one uperlatives.

Day 14 Sedona

Today would see me have the pleasure to meet the Goodloe family from Chicago out on the Huckaby trail. Doug, Margie and Sela were trekking there when I appeared around the corner and managed a brief hello as I bumped and battled my way over the rock step before them.


Sela the star of the show advised in a cute Chicago voice "Hey Mr, you be taking care out there now why dont ya" to which I replied "thats what my niece tells me every time".



Never biked in desert terrain before and the dry heat, water and orientation were key considerations. I did not get lost but I did come close to running out of water. How could you I hear you ask? Well as I leaned against a rock suddenly became aware of a wet sensation in my pants. Ewen your a grown man whats going on? Why I'd only sat on the water tap of my platypus fluid container and it had leaked the water out all down the rockface. See below.....




"Water and Wet Pants."

The pants dried and I survived. Much to the amusement of passers by I languished on my deck chair in the car park eating bananas, rehydrating and nursing nice sore limbs only for the Goodloe family to drive by, reverse and kindly show me a picture they had taken of me climbing up the hill. Well more bent double and peching like an old horse to be exact. We got talking and before I knew it the Goodloes whisked me down to a fancy spa centre for a quick shower (did i smell that bad), gym and pool session. Doug was able to get us into the exclusive centre. He got us all to climb the secuity fence.........joking......!! After that one Scotsman to another (Doug's Dad is from Scotland) we had a pint of "Fat Tire" ale whilst the girls got ready and onto "Cucina Rustica" a marvelous italian resteraunt in the hills where they generously treated me to an unforgettable meal.

They looked on in awe as it became evident I may not see a meal of this quality for some time again and were careful as they reached for the bread not to have their hand chewn off in the process as I circumnavigated the table. Deep fried stuffed olives in a spicy olive oil came at the recommendation of Margie and who was I to question an obvious conniseur. Doug also insisted I try my first ever ice cold martini made with the finest of vodkas. It was sensational and James Bond take note for your next film set.



Doug and Marjorie own and run one of the worlds cutting edge digital printing companies and I could tell they were passionate about their work, people and customers who include the American Football League. Doug and Margies business http://www.graphicms.com/ prints the livery on the footballers headgear and they do a lot of labels for the Motocross circuits and construction plant companies. Their daughter Sela also has to be one of the most sociable cuties on the planet and made sure of introducing herself to all in the resteraunt who were the happier for the experience.

We retired for the evening on the stroke of midnight and I went back to my campsite and pitched my tent. Tired but more than just a wee bit aware of being the only one there. Everyone else had left .....as it was the end of the weekend! The next post will record an evening of shocking fear........

Day 13 Sedona

I've been missing my porridge these last few weeks and to complete delight it was on the breakfast menu in Flagstaff. Wait for it....wait for it...along with brown sugar, bananas and raisins. Bet that's sent a few of you rushing to the kitchen for the oatmeal....mmmmm..mm delicious.

Driving to Sedona you come across Oak Creek Canyon where a dozen switchbacks (big twisty steep downhill turns in the road) arrive at the base of the gorge where everyone is free to prise their nails from the steering wheel and watch knuckles return from a pure white colour to that of flesh.


Getting close to Sedona I pitched up next to a hearty Hispanic family who kindly made way for my van at a very busy Pine Flats campsite. Busy is the key word here as tomorrows blog will highlight.


On the way in wonderful red mountains are revealed where many a John Wayne "Get of your horse and drink your milk" movie took place. A quick trip to the supermarket for provisions involved eating a bag of cheetos (you know the red food dye puffed wheat must haves) as the sun shonedown on the carpark. The trolley man passed by with a knowing smile and hello that really said "Your going to be sick eating all those".

Feeling suitably queasy I bedded down for the night and listened to the happy go lucky tones of my spanish speaking neighbours as one by one they retired for the evening. I lay there wrapped in two sleeping bags having bought a further bag earlier in the day from Flagstaffs friendly Wallmart. Confident that the two bags would fend off the three degrees above freezing forecasted for tonight .......my thoughts drifted to biking those red hills of Sedona tomorrow and gracing the same slopes as many a Western frontierer.