Russ and Rob's Travels

Wednesday, 25 April 2012

2012 Travels

Well our bags are packed and we are ready to go.. and it now seems real. Lunch time tomorrow we will be on the plane heading to New York where we will spend two nights before boarding the Norwegian Jewel for a 17 day cruise through the Panama Canal .

A cruise is something that Russ and I have always wanted to do and having just clocked up our 30th Wedding anniversary,"it is time to celebrate". Our flights are via Dallas and we arrive in New York 8 hours later than we leave Australia. We are hoping to warmer weather.

At this time we have no formal plans for our time in New York but by all accounts we will not be short of finding something to do.

We leave our cuise ship at LA and from there collect our RV that is in storage. My Mum and Dad are flying in to join us for 5 weeks so we will collect them from the airprt and head of on our road trip. Again no real plans but will travel to places they would like to see and probably cover a lot of area that we travelled last trip but it was all great and am sure it will be just as good second time around. We will eventually ending up in Canada.

Not sure when the next update will be ... all depends on internet access but stay posted for more...

Friday, 30 March 2012

We are HOME!

After our 13 hour flight and a 2 1/2 hour stop over at New Zealand we arrived at Sydney airport to be greeted by Tiff and our two beautiful grandaughters who had come to collect us.
To get back into our car for our drive back to Forster after 11 weeks driving on the right hand side of the road took a little getting use to.

tiera with Poppy Russ

flying in over sydney harbour

Tiera with Nan

We are homeward bound

Waiting.. Waiting... Waiting..

Been gone too long, Hadley not too sure

Thank you Air New Zealand..

We would have to agree that we are truly blessed to have had such a wonderful experience ... BUT there is no place like home...

Thank you to all our family, staff and friends for keeping the cogs turning .

Monday, 15 August 2011

Los Angeles

After our couple of nights staying on the beach we made our way to our niece and her husbands home in Lomita where we camped in the RV in their quiet street for our last few days until it was time for us to fly home. A lot of our time was spent cleaning up the RV, giving it a wash, polish, doing repairs and cleaning up inside ready for it to go into storage.

Between all of this we were able to spend some time with Jo and Su-Lin , shared some meals and enjoyed a day together at Disneyland. A few rides, a walk around the park, a tour on the train, we watched the parade, a meal in downtown Disney before ending our day viewing what would have to be the best display of fireworks we have seen. We arrived home at 11.30pm making for a very long day.

Today is the day we fly home. YEH! We will spend it doing the last minute packing before taking the RV to storage. We do not fly out until tonight so we will have all day to get organised before making our way to the airport for the long and tedious trip home.

We both feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to see some amazing places, do something different and share unique experiences together and with our Family.

Asimo the Robot

Mickie and Minnie

Donald Duck

Gardens

Geoff - quiet time after cleaning

Billy Hill Hillbillies entertaining us at Disneyland

Inside it's a small world

It's a small world

Jo and Su-Lin at disneyland

Jo and Su-Lin on a ride

Jo and Su-lin relaxing

what's up doc ...

Jungle cruise

Mickey Mouse on parade

Roller coaster ride

Shuttle bus to disneyland

Sheriff

Snow white

Tiger

Train around park

Russ and Rob

Enchanted castle

enchanted castle

Fireworks

fireworks

Mickey Mouse Fireworks

Love heart firework

Kienny catching up on the news!

Putting cover onto Rv for storage

RV covered... holidays over.

Tuesday, 9 August 2011

Yosemite National Park to Los Angeles

As the brochure best describes it – Yosemite’s natural beauty can be found in the things Big and Small, from the towering granite cliffs and giant sequoia trees to the diminutive wildflowers but is best known for its waterfall which is the centrepiece of the park.

Leaving San Francisco for us was a nightmare, traffic heavy and travel slow which did not improve once we were out of the city so after a couple of hours we had had enough, taking the exit to Tracy where we spent the night in Walmart car park. This ended up being convenient as the following morning troopy was able to have its service.

Once troopy was ready we headed off driving through agricultural country where maize, wheat, hay almonds and pistachio nuts were produced. Our lunch stop was along side the Merced river and as it was the hottest day we had had at 37 degrees, a swim to cool us down was really enjoyed. It was then onto Yosemite National Park, one of the first wilderness parks in the United States with 95% of the park being designated as wilderness.

The park was really busy and parking was difficult, all the camping grounds were full so we had to drive through the park and out the other side looking at its highlights along the way. There was the magnificent Yosemite falls, 5^th tallest waterfall in America. A stop of at Oflmstead Point where we got great views down into the Valley. Just beyond here we stopped at Tenaya Lake before continuing 46 mile across Tioga Pass reaching 9945 feet above sea level. It is the highest pass in the state of California accessible by car and was a magnificent drive. We could see glaciers andthe snow that still remained on the mountains from the winter falls. This road is only open between May and September.

Just outside the park we found a great little camp site on the river for the night . The following day we headed towards Los Angeles following some of the roads we had travelled last trip. It was great to do this again as last time it was snow covered and this time we got to appreciate the enormity and colours of the mountains and the desert like nature of the landscape.

Arriving in Los Angeles and it being the end to our travels we decided to spend it on the beach. We booked into LA county’s only beach RV campground. Dockweiller. A beautiful location , seeing the beach from our RV window but is very noisy as it is close to the airport and in the direct flight path of the planes as they take off.

With less than one week left before we fly home we have lots we want to and need to do in LA but after almost 11 weeks of travelling today we are having a day of rest... the wheels of the RV will not be moving.... For the remainder of the week we will see what eventuates....