A Month in America Coming Up! Fall 2007

Coming up in 6 weeks time - a very special holiday a deux in the USA, beginning with 2 nights in LA. Our hotel is in Hollywood as we were advised this was a good spot for a short stay and especially if we want to check out Universal Studios.

We've opted for a 16 day coach tour to begin with, heading south, initially, to San Deigo (still in California) then east across the Sonora Desert (Arizona) to Tombstone, that famous outlaw place of the Western movies we used to watch as kids. From Tuscon, we will head north via Phoenix and Sedona to the Grand Canyon (south rim). After a quick "zig" east to Monument Valley, we'll "zag" west to Lake Powell and Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park (Utah).

Las Vegas (Nevada) affords us a "day of leisure" and we anticipate taking in a show. Because of its reputation, I was dubious whether I'd like it much, but rumours have it that this city is well worth the trip! From Vegas we travel north through the evocatively named Death Vally to Mammoth Lakes and hopefully to Yosemite. I gather the reason the latter is "iffy" is related to the weather being suitable. The alternative will be a night in Fresno.

Finally, we'll be in San Francisco for 2 nights before we fly to Chicago (Michigan) to catch up with people I first met in Israel. We connected because he heard I was from Australia and he had served in Brisbane during WWII. "Do you know Hemmant?" he asked me (the exact place he was stationed). I assured him I did, but that a whole lot of people who lived in Brisbane probably didn't because it was so small. I just happened to have know the Bayside area well, having lived there for many years. They have invited us to base ourselves with them for the 10 days we've allocated to that sector. Apart from a desire to visit House on the Rock near Madison (Wisconsin) we will make no formal arrangements for that period, just look-see, make-it-up-as-you-go-along stuff.

Lastly, we'll fly to Denver (Colorado) to another friend, whom I also first met in Israel! We'll mosey around together as she's taken leave to be with us. One highlight will be going down to the Royal Gorge to take a train ride over the Arkansas River. As our trip will be in the Fall, we're told the changing landscape is spectacular - a sight even the locals look forward to.

I read about a town named Golden in Colorado, at the foothills of the Rockies, being "a charming place, that looked exactly as a Western town should," with "the distinctive flat-topped mountains in the near distance resembling something straight out of a movie about the Wild West." The writer said she would not have been surprised to see men on horseback kicking up a cloud of dust as they raced along the slopes. A statue of Buffalo Bill stands on a median strip! I was pleased to discover it is just west of Denver, making it very likely we'll manage to get there.

Well, what a trip it will be?! Through a minimum of seven States we still have plenty of time to afford a slower pace to appreciate the experience. It will also be a bonus to meet up with American friends and experience their country with them rather than strictly as tourists. Hasta la vista!