Trip to USA

[ausjack]

As soon as I wrote shiny shiny I remembered the song and thought it would be appreciated :laugh2:

[JeffH]

Indeed some of those are, as the saying goes, "as shiny as a new penny".
Maybe them being new pennies might have something to do with it!

[JeffH]

Thanks to the people who recommended Muir Woods be on our agenda. Truly a magical place.
Our daughter had been there before but was happy to revisit. She and a friend spent a whole day there and did a 14 mile treck. We didn't have time for that so only did a short loop. What a great asset are the National Parks in the US.

This fella probably thought I had food then took off before I had  chance to get better focus for a second shot.

The redwoods do grow to very large size -this is not as big as some. I didn't think I would need my lens hood there. Oh well, the flaring does add a certain "atmosphere" to the picture.

Just been for a stroll across the carpark.

No comment.

[Goldseeker]

Muir woods, didn't recognise the Movie Scene scenery the?

[Unicorn]

Was it "Punnet of the Grapes"?

[JeffH]

Nup. One with a similar sounding name was not filmed at Muir woods but on privately owned (by a lumber company) land nearby.
Other movies allegedly filmed at Muir woods were also filmed at other, similar looking locations. There is more than one redwood forest. I did research that issue before visiting but was unable to confirm any big movie with scenes shot there (documentaries about redwood forest of course excepted).
Certainly the National Park Service does not acknowledge any such thing.

Plenty of grapes grown in California but not there. Punnets (of strawberries) are found at Carlsbad, California -we bought some from the farm and you would be hard pressed to find better.

[Goldseeker]

The scene I am talking about is adjacent to the section of a tree trunk that shows the rings.   You would have had to walk right past it on your little walk about the woods.

Did you get up and see the Organ Pipes I think they called it/them?

[wwwww]

I'm guessing from your visits to the San Francisco and Denver mints you were behind the planning?

[JeffH]

Walter,
The planning was a democratic exercise. The three of us each made a list of places we would like to visit. We then sat down with a map of the country and the lists and marked the places listed. It soon became obvious, with the available time, we could not see everything. Given we were flying into and out of LAX and needed to start and end in San Diego (our daughter was resident there and returning to Oz at the end of the trip with as much of her belongings as we could carry) indicated we should restrict ourselves to the west and south regions of the country. That was around Christmas time last year when daughter was home on her annual visit.
It was also obvious that our initial idea of a road trip only, in a rented car, would consume too much time driving so we ended up with three different car rentals and two internal flights.

New Orleans was on three lists and two lists each contained Disneyland, Grand Canyon, Highway 1 California and Texas. Checking the main air flight hubs (to get to NOLA -that's New Orleans, Louisiana) gave Denver and Houston (but not both) as necessary for direct flights. I had a win with Denver so Houston, indeed anywhere in Texas, lost out. So that gave a framework to fit as many things into as practical. [We also visited the Reserve Bank money museum at Denver -some lovely errors on display there but impossible to get good photos with them behind glass and fluorescent lighting above.]
I did well with my list as several places were easy to fit in with the overall scheme;
•Death Valley
•Route 66
•Barringer meteor crater
•Although NOLA was on my list, the old mint was not specified initially.
San Francisco mint Was dropped from the list in favour of Muir Woods (which was recommended by several members here).

We then got on the internet (me here and daughter in US) and researched an itinerary, day by day. My wife was happy to go with whatever we came up with at that stage. I consider that was a good exercise and much more fun than just going to a travel agent and requesting an itinerary. An important consideration was also that a self guided tour allows flexibility to change 'on the fly' when a tourist office or speaking to a local indicates something not on our list would be worth visiting/doing.

So, we were all behind the planning. My power of veto was non-existent if two women decided to gang up on me.

[Robster]

As is always the case! Happy that you enjoyed the trip and spent some quality time with your daughter!

[trout]

My power of veto was non-existent if two women decided to gang up on me.

Mine is pretty much worthless if only one women gangs up on me :angel:

[duggee27]

On the way home and guess what ... Qantas are running late !!

[JeffH]

Same with us. They loaded everyone on the plane early (¾ hour before scheduled time) then, once scheduled time was reached started announcing a ten minute delay to finish loading cargo hold. Announcement then repeated, at ten minute intervals, four times.
A few unfortunates had to get special permission and be escorted to use the toilets!

Meanwhile the well heeled people at the pointy end were tucking into their drinks and snacks.

And...I hear what you are saying trout.

[ausjack]

Sounds like they're bailing before trump takes over :swoon:

[JeffH]

A little competition..."Pick the Donkey". No prizes, just the satisfaction of getting it right. Answer forthcoming later.