The Grand Canyon. I really don't think I'm going to be able to put into words just how majestic this place was. We had two days to explore it and the nearby town of Williams, but I feel like we could have spent weeks at the canyon and still not seen all there was to see. I have to admit it does look slightly fake at first, just because you can barely take in the sheer size and scale of it. The first day we were there we started off at the visitors centre of the South Rim and walked along the canyon rim trail. We didn't go as far as we had anticipated but there was a lot of stopping to take photos and the icy conditions made you a little more cautious, especially as there wasn't a lot between you and the edge of the canyon!
Day two we did more of the Canyon, but from the other end of the South rim, so that we could see the Desert watchtower. Then we spent the rest of the day in Williams looking round the famous route 66 town. There wasn't a lot to do there as most of it was shut up for the winter so we didn't spend long there. We did eat (for the second time) at an amazing little Italian bistro which had a brewery attached. The food was insanely good.
And of course no trip would be complete without a bear...
There you have it, the Grand Canyon in one blog post. If you ever get the chance to visit it you really should. It's breathtaking. H
Whilst my parents were here we undertook a rather long road trip, about 7 hours to be precise. Our destination was the Grand Canyon in Arizona but on the way there we decided to take a detour via the Hoover Dam. The dam itself is built on the border between Nevada and Arizona so it was an excellent way to ensure Mum and Dad properly visited the two states. The Hoover Dam was built in the 1930s and is one of the largest concrete structures ever. As my Dad is a civil engineer by trade, and a rather big fan of concrete we assumed this would be a good stop off. I was expecting him to be rather excited but to be somewhat underwhelmed myself as funnily enough I've never been that impressed by concrete! I couldn't have been more wrong. We arrived at the the dam having driven past Las Vegas and we drove over the top of the dam to park on the Arizona side.We then walked back across the dam so that we could see it from all sides and angles.
Dad and Andrew decided to take a tour of the power plant, however Mum and I were not so sure about it as there were signs warning you not to go on the tour if you were worried about small spaces. Not wanting to chance it we had ice cream in the sun, whilst the boys went about their geekery!
I love those photos, they make me think of those government adverts where you see people in their work place talking about pensions or how the new working wage is helping them. Sorry, my brain thinks weirdly! Once we had seen everything it was time to hit the road again for another 4ish hours until we arrived at our final destination; the Grand Canyon. H
We used Peter's trip as an excuse to sneak in a couple of sports games so that we could give him an "American experience" but also so we could tick some more off our list. First up was an ice hockey match.
I chose the matches to go to and decided that since I was in LA I should really go see the Anaheim Ducks who are in fact The Mighty Ducks. Yup, I was fully expecting to see Emilio Estevez coaching them and some impressive flying V formations. Unfortunately things have moved on since the nineties and in fact this game is played by fully grown men, not kids. Shame. But they were still pretty impressive.
The NHL games are definitely entertaining and very full on. It was rather loud and noisy with lots of entertainment slots in the breaks. Every time the home team won there was lots of noise and flashing lights with everyone cheering their heads off. The cheerleaders came out on skates at different points and did their thing too. There were even a few minor fights which we enjoyed!
Andrew got quite into it in fact, he was screaming his head off. Apparently he really likes hockey and has chosen it as his American sport. I however disagree. I have well and truly become an American football fan, especially after our next sports game.
So the final sports game was an American football game. We've been to a pre-season NFL game so we decided to try a college game as we had been told they were pretty impressive. They weren't wrong. We went to see the University of Southern California, known as the Trojans. It was homecoming week too so it was insanely busy and so much fun.
The build up and entertainment factor at a football game is definitely bigger than the hockey. When we arrived and finally found our seats there was a humongous marching band on the field playing and entertaining with a guy dressed up as a soldier in full costume leading them around. After the fireworks the team took to the field and the game began.
Half time saw the band take to the field again, but this time it was 1000 strong! It played some impressive tunes and just took our breath away at the sheer size of it. No university game in England really has this much pomp and circumstance! Its insane!
But I have to say that the highlight of the game wasn't winning the match, it was what happened every time they scored a touchdown. Just watch and you'll see!
Yup every time they scored their mascot, Traveler the horse, would charge up and down the field whilst the band played and the crowd chanted! It was truly insane.
But thats just one of the reasons I love football (said in a slow Southern drawl!).
Andrew's eldest brother, Peter, recently came to stay with us for the middle part of his epic trip around America. When he last came in March of this year we didn't manage to get to see too much of LA and our local area, so this time we crammed in everything we possibly could. There are two major things in LA we did that I want to show you about. The first is the Huntington Library and gardens. We had never been to Huntington so it was a new experience for us too. Pasadena is a beautiful place (with some lovely shops!) but the library and gardens was amazing. There were lots of buildings spread out across the grounds with different exhibits in them such as European art and books. Then scattered around were different themed gardens such as Chinese or Australian. Our personal favourites were the Japanese and Chinese gardens. They were beautiful and so detailed. I think I could have spent all day in there just sitting and admiring it all.
The second place I want to show you is the Getty Villa in Malibu. We have been to the Getty Center (see this post) before but never to the villa so that was fun. The villa houses the Getty's early collections and was really fascinating. Its a lot smaller than the the Center but we enjoyed our look round.
So that's the LA edition of what we did. Get ready for the sport's edition next!
Our trip down to San Diego was partly to relax and have some time sans Mr Macintosh, but it was also a lot to do with our first NFL experience. For those of you who are English and have no idea what I'm talking about, we went to see an American football game. To be more precise we went to see the San Diego Chargers take on the Seattle Seahawks in one of their pre-season games. My experience of American football up until this point was very limited, and mostly revolved around watching the Super Bowl, so I wasn't expecting to understand very much but thankfully we were sat next to two very nice Seahawks fans who were happy to explain anything that was a little beyond us. So basically we constantly badgered them to explain what was happening! Now the world of American football is very different to any sport back in the UK. This is such a big franchise. The teams have so many players. There are tons of support staff and coaches. There is so much going on its insane. This match was no different, despite being a pre-season game, because it was military appreciation weekend. So there was a little more pomp and circumstance to the game.
When we first arrived we were completely blown away by the sheer size of the Qualcomm stadium. It is insanely big and holds so many fans. Yet despite the size you still manage to get a really good view of the pitch because the tiers go up so steeply. It really didn't feel like we were in the nosebleed seats! Before the real action got underway the players came onto the pitch to warm up. The seats were still pretty empty at this point but I wanted to see everything so we were there throughout! I couldn't believe how many players they have though. Below is a picture of the team huddle and then the Seattle Seahawks warming up. They take up half the pitch!!
Both teams went back to their changing rooms whilst the Marine band came and did some of their repertoire. They were pretty impressive. Then following in the military theme we had some ex-military guys parachute into the stadium. Was pretty impressive to be honest.
Then it was time for the football to begin. The San Diego Chargers came out through a tunnel, with real flames and walked through a path lined with their cheerleaders. There was a lot of cheering for them being the home team. The Seahawks had appeared earlier with a smaller amount of noise. Obviously the national anthem was sung, whilst a giant United States shaped flag was unfurled. They really do go all out in America!
I won't be able to tell you much about what happened in the game, except that the Seahawks were doing really well until about the third quarter when the Chargers started to come back. We were down to the last minute of playing time and the Seahawks needed something spectacular to win. I think it was in the last 30 seconds that they managed to score a field goal meaning they won 16-15. Close but still a win. Have to say that Andrew and I were screaming our heads off and cheering so loudly, despite being in a predominantly Chargers area. Nothing kicked off though, at least football over here doesn;t equate to fans fighting...
It was a crazy experience and both us of came away saying we'd happily go to another game. So anyone want to come visit and see a game with us? H
