Touristing Around and Driving To Vegas

While Jelte is in Jamaica waiting for the next race to New York to start, Alfie and I have had a busy couple of weeks here in California.

Our Friend Sarah came to visit and it was great to see her and catch up on all gossip and show her around San Francisco.

We took the bus to the Marina district and climbed up Hyde street so Sarah could get one of the classic tourist snaps of the SF hills and the cable car transporting tourists up the steep hill. We also walked over to Haight Street and checked out the hippie area.

Haight Street

Lands End

We went for a hike in Lands End, followed the trail and found the longest set of stairs known to mankind leading to a cute little beach. Above the beach on a cliff was a labyrinth decorated with tea lights inside paper bags. We suspected someone had planned to sacrifice a virgin in the centre of the labyrinth, but later learned that its apparently just a piece of art.

Lands End Trail

We also checked out the Sutro baths before climbing a final couple of stairs to get to the Sutro's restaurant at the Cliffhouse. The Cliffhouse has a gorgeous view over the sea, and we were lucky enough to see pelicans flying past and grey whales looking for food all whilst enjoying the beautiful sunset and tasty food.

Lands End Beach

Labyrinth

Las Vegas

We drove for twelve hours to get to Las Vegas where Alfie and I had been invited to an awards ceremony. Alfie's blog had been nominated for a blog design award at the Blogpaws Pet blogging conference so of course we had to make an appearance. 

We arrived late in Vegas after a dramatic entrance to the city. The motor way was busy and lots of fancy sports cars were racing to get to Vegas for a Friday night of fun.

Out of nowhere, our car was hit from behind by some lunatic who must have been driving like a maniac. We were hit hard enough for our car to be pushed forward, but luckily nothing except the bumper of our car got damaged.

I got really worried as Alfie was in the boot, but he was okay and simply looked surprised by the sound waking him up. He is such a good dog.

The other driver didn't stop to exchange details and we shakily drove the rest of the distance to arrive at our hotel after midnight.

We didn't win the award, but we had lots of fun meeting the other bloggers and walking up the red carpet.

The Rainbow Basin Natural Area

On our way home we made a pitstop in the Rainbow Basin Natural Area. Its such an amazing place, with rock formations and canyons that change colour with the changing light conditions, and we were the only people there. We didn't find any fossils though - although Alfie did his best to sniff out some dinosaur bones!

The rainbow Basin Natural Area