When we visited Europe in 2012, we had an amazing time and came back thinking no holiday could ever be that good. We were wrong. Our USA winter adventure was a little unexpected. The original plan was a trip to Thailand. We were close to booking when the kids came up with the idea of the USA. Initially we weren't keen - we had been there quite a few times and…
Our flight tonight was not until 7:45pm, so we had a bonus chance to explore the city. It was lovely to have a leisurely start, another huge breakfast (going back to cereal is going to be tough!) and still have time to see a few more sights. Visiting places around the city involved lots of cable car rides, much to the delight of the kids. They are a definite favourite of…
For Christmas, we gave the kids a voucher for a "Day out in San Francisco". We had done a similar thing in London on our last trip and it was a real success, so we thought it would be fun to do the same on this trip. We had breakfast together and then went our separate ways. Girls Day Out Anna and I headed for Golden Gate Park, a huge park…
On our last visit to San Francisco we hadn't visited Alcatraz, so everyone was looking forward to today. We started the day with another huge breakfast, more than enough to see us through our time on Alcatraz as it's a no-food island. Even though this is low season for San Francisco, the boats to the island were packed. It takes no more than 15 minutes to sail to the island, so…
Biking over the Golden Gate Bridge has been on my bucket list for a long time. Last time we were here, the kids were too small to bike the bridge. We were hoping that the weather would be pleasant enough on this visit to make it enjoyable. Today was mild with high cloud and virtually no wind. Winter is supposed to be the wet season in San Francisco, but 2013 was…
We were up and on the road soon after 8am this morning to catch our lunchtime flight from Las Vegas to San Francisco. The drive down to Las Vegas was under 3 hours, but we wanted to leave plenty time for queues at the rental car drop off and airport security. The first part of the drive was through beautiful canyon country, the second part was through the Mojave Desert, which…
It was another perfect winter's day in Zion, ideal conditions for one last hike. There are many fabulous hikes here, but there is one that is constantly talked about and feared. Angels Landing hike is a five mile return trail to the top of a narrow rock fin, with 1000 feet drop offs on both sides. The summit is right in the middle of the canyon and provides incredible views. The…