ITALIAN TOUR

Sorry another week between blogs, we have been just soo busy!

Saturday 02/11/2013

Left our parking early at  07:30 to avoid the crowds that may developed later as this Festival is probably for the whole weekend although it had started raining which was a terrible shame for all those people in their wonderful costumes. We decided to take the Motorway as they appeared to be not too expensive and yesterday's driving at 50kph most of the way was just not enjoyable. We were heading for Bologna and yes the Autostrada was just €3.40 for 59 km so probably cheaper than up and down between 70, 50 & 30kph.

Suddenly TomTom took us off the motorway and straight up over the mountains. A very twisty but beautiful alpine drive, very slow at times but delightful views. About 40km from Bologna our road converged with the motorway so we jumped on to it to get there a bit quicker. We arrived at the car park indicated on the CampingCar database to find it completely full with people visiting the nearby cemetery probably over 500 cars so we headed for the next one on the list which was great but just a bit too far out so had a cuppa and a bit of lunch for an hour and headed back to the first one which now it was siesta time was completely empty. We walked the mile or so into the town and had a good time in the main square although the information centre was the most unhelpful we had encountered. But she gave us a map with the main things to see, one of which was the central library which was the meeting place for the Bolognians and it was heaving, on three floors with a large open central area with a glass floor over the ancient city foundations and there were coffee bars etc. and everyone just doing their thing. We found a spot on the first floor and connected to the internet with our iPads for Judy to do some research on some other places to visit and Steve to sort out the picture gallery on the blog which Google has started asking for a sign-in to Google Circles to be able to view it. It looks to be sorted now but if you have difficulty let us know. It was a long walk back to the Van so decided to get the bikes out tomorrow to make sightseeing easier.

Sunday 03/11/2013

Rode into the town via the cycle tracks very nice and easier than walking. Found a good spot and chained them up so as to visit the Basilica which had beautiful paintings and sculptures but there was a service going on so it limited viewing a bit, walked round the square which was full of musicians and other entertainers and walked around some of the roads looking at the very different architecture with ocre coloured buildings and the wide pavements covered by long loggias.  With the odd medievil tower or two everywhere. Basically a University town like Oxford in England, in fact it is the oldest university in Europe but it had a vibrant young feel to the very old town.

Back to the van by 2:30 pm and onward towards Ferrara and found the enormous parkingt place "Sosta" with probably 200 Motorhomes parked who had probably been there the whole weekend. But you could see that many were preparing to leave, there was (paid) dumping and water available which they were queuing for before leaving.

We found a spot and walked into the town. It was heaving with people with a large flea market by the side of the castle. Had a really nice evening just walking and gazing in all the shops a really nice atmosphere. Got back to the van about 7:30 the car park was now nearly empty so decided to move from the dark corner we were in into the centre nearer to the few Motorhomers remaining which was good because there was free wifi there which we couldn't see on the other side.

Monday 04/11/2013

Woke to find the car park rapidly filling up with workers cars and campers moving to try to fit in the parking bays, which we had read was important in some towns so decided as we were taking up four bays, to move back to where we were yesterday which didn't have marked bays either by length or width, there were a couple of mini buses there.

The guide book said that there was a city wall like Lucca here which had a cycle path so we set off on the bikes to ride it but found nothing so returned to the town to find the information office but found the whole square blocked by people with a remembrance service going on. Asked a policeman but he just gabbled about the castle. Then a lady tapped Judy on the shoulder and pointed to an alley indicating that we should go down there then following us pointed to another alleyway which took us all round the square missing all the people and found the Castle and information who gave us a map which showed the town wall which we had missed by about 100mtr because it only survived on two thirds of the town. Followed the map and had a really nice ride on the wall but it was not a patch on Lucca which is a must to do next time without the thousands of strange creatures and people. Back to the van and away by 2:30pm to head for Venice we took the motorway but had torrential rain all the way, hope it stops for Venice.

We had read that it was best to stop at a Camper Stop at Punta Sabioni which was just along the road from the ferry terminal to Venice but it was a 70km drive right round the lagoon to the very end of a narrow spit of land so unfortunately we arrived in the dark. The parking from Camping Car Infos turned out to be a coach park and he wanted 15euros to park so we went looking for the Camper Stop only ,to find the gate was shut. There was plenty of meter parking on the road €6 for twelve hours but we decided to drive the few miles back to Jesolo and found a nice quiet bit of blocked off road so parked the night as it would be easier to find secure parking in daylight in the morning.

Tuesday 05/11/2013

Up early to drive back to Punta Sabioni only to find that the Camper Stop closed for winter at the end of October but there was a site nearby €25 a night (cash) but it would be much safer to leave the van all day while we took the ferry to Venice. Parked up and quickly walked to the ferry terminal where we found an Information point with a very nice and helpful lady who took us through our options for visiting Venice. It was only €5 more for three days than two days so coughed up the €70 for two three day tickets so we eventually stopped here talking and on to the jetty to catch the 9:30 boat. We arrived in Venice to find all the squares and pavements under water due to a high tide which obviously happens often as wooden walkways had been set up so people could walk around but the whole of St Marco's square was under about 50cm of water, a great opportunity for the tat vendors who were selling disposable wellies for €20, we later saw another selling for €12 but still extortion. Especially as it was easily possible to get around on the wooden walkways. We decided to leave the museums and Basilaca etc. until later after we had done a bit of sightseeing. We had listened to Rick Steve's guide to the Grand Canal last night so decided to get a water bus number 2 along to the station end which only did half the stops to get an overview before catching bus no 1 back and follow the guide which was very informative wandered around for a bit more just soaking up the tiny streets and canals and bridges and boats and gondola's balked at €1.50 each for a pee so took the water bus to Ca d'Oro where we had seen a poster advertising McD's did what we had to do picked up emails and had a dreadful latte coffee. Walked back to the Rialto bridge the first and oldest bridge over the grand canal which like the one in Florence had shops on it which were not as expensive as we would have expected. The stalls and shops just continued so we kept walking eventually found ourselves caught up with everybody going home including the Eastern Europeans after a hard day begging and acting crippled now striding along carrying their crutch at a faster rate than we walked! Really the number of beggars and illegal traders we had encountered throughout Italy was disturbing but more so in Venice. What will happen when the restrictions come off next year I hate to think.

Reaching the water bus stop of Roma we decided we had, had enough for the day so jumped on the faster no 2 boat then realised it was going in the oposite direction, Steve heard the ladies in front of us speaking English so asked them and they explained that it was going round the outside which was a bit quicker than through the Grand Canal where they were limited for speed. Got on the homeward water bus and arrived back at the van about 7pm extremely tired but a full and enjoyable day.

Wednesday 06/11/2013

Up early and on to the water bus to St Marco square to change to another as we had decided to visit the Island of Murono to see the glass work. We then realised that if we had just walked across to the other side of Venice about 15 minutes at that part, we would have saved about three quarters of an hour but still it was all an experience.

We spent a very nice three hours or so walking the streets and looking at the amazing glasswork then while in one shop were invited to go out the back to the furnace to see the glass blowing. The skill was amazing especially with the second item he did which was a rearing horse just using a pair of pincers to crimp and shape the soft red hot glass. Back towards the water bus stop and Judy couldn't wait so just had to fork out the €1.50!

Back to Venice and walk across this time heading for Acedamia where we had seen there was an exclusive exhibition of some of Leonardo Da Vinci's unseen work from all over some from the queens private collection in Windsor. Passing McD's Steve took the opportunity of sneaking in and saving €1.50. The exhibition was expensive  but fantastic especially for Judy to see the many tiny intricate drawings sometimes many different ones on just one piece of paper. Unfortunately the audio guide was hopeless which spoiled it a bit. After the exhibition the drawings will be locked away again for a few decades to protect them from the light. So a once in a lifetime experience. After Leonardo's rooms the rest of the gallery had some very fine paintings as well. It was about 5pm when we got out of the gallery so headed back. Steve bought Judy some beautiful Morano glass earrings and Necklace Ruby Red as it is our Ruby Wedding Anniversary in ten days time. So back to the mainland but decided on the way to stop off at Lido which is on the Long Island which basically with the peninsular of Punto Sabini protects the islands of Venice from the full force of the sea.  We had an hours walk about, it was very different, there were cars and buses for a start whereas the only things with wheels on Venice were the porters sack barrows and the tourist luggage.

On the boat back we suddenly remembered the free walking tour Judy had seen on the web so back at the van Steve connected to the web with the phone and managed to book for the next day.

Thursday 07/11/2013

Up even earlier and didn't bother to make sandwiches as we had decided we would get a meal in Venice tonight on our last day. Got to the Basilaca by about 8:45 but it didn't open until 9:30 which wouldn't give us time to see it properly and get to our walk in time for 10:45  right at the other end of Venice.

We wandered through the streets passing through the Rialto market with lovely fish and vedge and met our guide who turned out to be really good but a bit brusque at first with a strange sense of humour. We thought he was Russian at first but when Steve asked he said he was born in Venice.

We had a great walk through four of the six departments of Venice including the Jewish Ghetto where he pointed out the most authentic but not expensive places to eat and down small streets we would never have ventured down. With our permission he took us all across the Grand Canal on a Gondola Ferry €2 each €0.70 for locals with fourteen of us and one local it was a distinctly unsettling experience negotiating across the Chanel weaving between water buses, taxi's and delivery boats steaming along and not one life belt. And then a young Indian lad in the party decided he would stand up and step to the other side to take a picture producing a very loud remark from the Gondoliar and the local with us!

The tour finished at about 3:15 in the Student quarter, a very lively place where the guide said it was best and cheapest to get lunch.

We skipped lunch and headed for the other side of Venice because the guide had said it was worth visiting the Island of Burono which was very pretty with all different coloured houses. We spent a couple of hours there, it was indeed very pretty with many shops selling the intricate lace work the speciality of the island.

We arrived back in Venice not far from where the guide had said was the best plac to eat but a bit early for the Venetians who don't come out till later so we decided to walk across to the Student quarter  to see what food was available there and  pass by a shop Judy wanted to buy something she had seen that morning.

The Student quarter was very lively but the resteraunt he had recommended for lunch had a party of very loud drunken English in it so we went in search of another and were finally enticed into one by a waiter who took the trouble to explain the menu to us in English the food was fine and very good value but spoiled by a French couple who having finished all their meal and wine decided to complain that it was poor quality and too salty and offered €20 for what the waiter told us later was an €80 meal, yes the law in France says you can do that but they were not in France and I don't think even in France having finished it all. He even came back to finish the glass of mineral water on the table! So loud English and even louder French spoiled it a bit, we wished we had gone to the ones near the Jewish quarter. 

The water buses were not quite so frequent now so we decided to walk as there was anotherr shop on Rialto that we wanted to go back to and it turned out to be the only one open.

Finally back to the van at 11:45 exhausted but a really good day and the number of water buses we had used we had really good value from our three day pass.

Friday 08/11/2013

A leisurely start sorting out the van and filling and emptying. Paid then set of in the direction of lake Garda. TomTom had a funy half hour and went the strangest route possible to the motorway but on the way we saw an IKEA store so stopped to se if they had the drawers for the hanging wardrobe storage unit we use in the van unfortunately  they did not but 2 hours and €40 later we got out and back on our way. Finally on to the motorway but on exiting our card would not work and by the time Steve had sorted out the cash it wouldn't let us pay but spat out a foot long ticket luckily with instructions in English as well on how to pay later or suffer a fine but the barrier did not rise and the guy in the control box was yelling something in Italian and Steve was yelling back that he didn't speak Italian and all the cars behind were leaning on their horns. Finally a guy came stomping across the motorway obviously annoyed to be disturbed from his nice warm office, snatched a small bit of ticket that had stayed in the machine and threw it through the window and stomped off. The barrier then rose so we could get out. The ticket which was almost out of Steve's reach had obviously torn badly and would not lift the barrier until it was sure you had taken it so you could pay. We have to pay at the next manned toll booth or by bank transfer at a post office. Something to be sorted out later, we have 15 days before a fine kicks in.

Onward to our destination now in the dark only to find the camper stop we were aiming for closed at the end of October. Found another one in the book which was supposed to be open till December and headed off but it was about 37 km. We stopped at a supermarket where there was another camper so we spoke to them to see if they knew anything closer. They thought they had seen a large parking area about two km back so we said we would see them there after some shopping. Unfortunately we never found it but did find a large area behind a block of shops with a lorry parked in it so stopped there quite comfortably except the rain started and continued all night.

Saturday 09/11/2013

A nice quiet night except the noise of the rain on the roof so set off to drive up the western shore of the lake, a pretty drive till we arrived at a tunnel 3.5 mtr no problem we are 2.9 mt. All along the lake the tunnels got longer and narrower with quite jagged edges then suddenly a sign saying 3mt with nowhere to turn or escape oops! But round the corner the 3mtr one went off to the left further into the mountain ours seemed to be the same 3.5, hope the guy that measured was careful with his tape. Kept going through more tunnels and finally saw layby behind a crash barrier so pulled in for a coffee and sit for a bit as driving was difficult in the torrential rain, so time to catch up on the blog overlooking the lake in the rain. Continued after a couple of hours and decided to continue round the lake back to Garda rather than taking the longer route to the motorway. 50kph speed limit all the way with cruise set to the gps speed and just poodled along but two Italian campers shot past us then suddenly turned off into what turned out to be a large Sosta so we followed through an electronic barrier. It turned out to be all wind surfers so We went to look at the ticket machine and it wanted €1.65 an hour for all hours all year so €28 till the morning for a bit of Tarmac, the Italians  didn't appear to be paying but they were Italian so obviously not worried, but we were not happy so left to find somewhere better. About half an hour down the road there was a parking area by the side of the lake with the height barrier removed and a bag over the meter saying parking free, that'll do us so we pulled in. There was another camper in there already but much happier than waking in the morning to find the Italians all gone knowing that the warden came round at 8 and a ticket on the window or worse a clamp.

So now sitting with a glass of wine watching the lightning across the lake.

So up to date now, hope you enjoy. 

ITALY TOUR 2013

Sorry about the last blog, hadn't realised a week had gone by.

Tuesday 29/10/2013

Steve decided overnight that it would be better to use bikes as we had to get to a particular street in Florence by 9am tomorrow for Judy's special 70th Birthday treat from Nikki  and Kerry. And we're not too sure of the buses and the long walk down the drive to the road so a test run was necessary. So spent a bit of time getting the bikes out and set up and with TomTom round Steve's neck we set off at about 9am. We took the walking route which turned out to be a bit of a trial as we (Steve) had to carry the bikes over a very high  foot bridge over the railway. There were also a lot of one way Streets going the wrong way and we were not yet as confident as the Florentines riding against the traffic. So it took about an hour. Steve left Judy talking in Palazzo Vecchio to some Australians and looking at  the statues while he went and checked on the booking and whether we could leave our bikes tomorrow. All the planning via email and text with Nikki while at the beach parking where we could get wifi had paid off and all was fine so we walked about getting the feel of the city after chaining our bikes to some very strong bike racks. First mistake is that we bought the nice removable basket which clips on to the front of Steve's bike so we had to carry that all day. So just back packs tomorrow. We looked around the squares and checked the entrance of the Ufizzi Gallery then walked to the medievil Ponte Vechio, the bridge with shops (expensive jewellery) on it and later we found that also there is a secret covered walkway where the early leaders could walk without encountering the peasants.

Couldn't resist the Ice Cream shop as we finished so had a small one each which was enormous with two gigantic scoops of  whichever flavour we wanted and she let us try a spoonfull of a few to get the right ones. Can't imagine having a large one. Absolutely delicious and just €2.50 each. (See our photo gallery in a day or so for a photo).

We wandered the streets until about 4pm and made our way back to the site this time taking TomTom's cycle route which got us back in half the time.

Wednesday 30/10/2013

Judy's Birthday, we got up early and left in plenty of time arriving  at 8:30 so looked at a few statues for a while then walked to the offices of WalkAbout Tours which was a garage full of Vespa scooters and little Fiat 500's on little rostrums.  A nice guy introduced  himself as Angel and showed us where to park our bikes then asked us to read and sign a disclaimer form, but all the form mentioned was a "Vespa" tour, so Judy freaked a bit thinking she was going to be riding a Vespa round Florence but then Steve explained that it was one of the lovely little vintage Fiat 500's we would be driving, exactly like the one she owned while pregnant with Nikki. She preferred that Steve did the driving so she could enjoy the ride, so a quick rundown on the car and off we go through the narrow streets of  Florence. The clutch was a hair trigger and the gearbox was a crash box so after a few kangaroo jumps and loud complaints from the gearbox Steve got into the groove and remembered how to double de-clutch. So following Angel in the lead car, we were very lucky as usually they would have five cars in convoy, most of them Americans who had never even seen a stick shift! But it was just us with Angel in the lead. Through the tiny streets then out across the river with Angel shouting over the Walkie-Talkie to look at the Punto Veccio on the right etc. then up the hill to the place we had tried to park on Monday night. Left the cars and climbed the steps to a beautiful church which we had not seen when visiting before. The facade was covered in green and white marble. Then Angel told us to turn round to see the wonderful view of the whole of Florence and a full explanation of all the sights by Angel. Into the church which had then just opened for a further explanation of the wonderful craftsmanship in the building. Back to the cars for more hair raising driving through tiny roads one was either 1.5 or 1.8 meters wide the sign flashed by so fast but it was narrow even for a Fiat 500.  Another road was covered with grass I am sure it was through somebody's garden. Another stop to look at olive groves and an explanation on the best time to harvest for maximum oil. Then Galaeleo's (spelling?) old house then the old residence of one of Camila's old relatives who had got into trouble for having an affair with a King, sort of runs in the family! So then we started going down hill and realised just how much better brakes had become.  Finally after a few more tiny streets we stopped outside a restraunt where Angel ordered a lovely lunch for us typical of the region then back to the office at 1pm to say our goodbyes and our thanks to Angel who had made the morning so special. Judy still had the Cheshire Cat grin that had started from the minute we sat in the awful seats bumping across the cobbles till the time we finished. Three hours of manic driving a wonderful old car that brought back many memories. Thanks boys a fantastic present for Mum that she will certainly not forget in a hurry (hopefully the bruises will fade before the memories).

From there we made our way to the Uffizi gallery where because it was lunch time the queues were not too long. When we got in we then spent another three hours looking at mainly religious art and sculpture through the ages by many of the renouned artists which Judy was very interested in. We had a RickSteve's guide which helped a lot to explain the changes in the art from flat two dimension to the development of perspective. 

We cycled back through the rush hour in the dark with no problems for a quick meal then bed and I am sure Judy was still grinning while asleep.

Thursday 31/10/2013

Up early and cycle in to get to the Acadamia to see the original sculpture of David by Michelangelo,  we had heard so much about it, surely it could not live up to all the praise. The line was short and we were in in about half an hour again with one of RickSteve's guides. The sculpture of David was breathtaking, unbelievable and every adjective you could find to describe it, the craftsmanship really is amazing especially considering that he only had a hammer and chisel, no diamond cutters etc, and then we heard that he worked entirely freehand without a previously constructed model to use as a scale pattern as other sculptors did. Once again amazing. The rest of the gallery although fantastic art, just paled in comparison. A great part of the room with David in, was all the unfinished works called the prisoners which Michelangelo had not fully set free from their marble prisons.

Stunned and tired from the gallery we cycled back to break camp and set off for Lucca which Angel said yesterday is a must to see.

We didn't get away till about 4pm and got caught up in the Florence rush hour with buses, coaches, cars, scooters and bikes all fighting for a bit of road, we really needed sensors all round the vehicle because they came from everywhere and the only way was to be as brave (foolhardy) as them and aim for a spot and get it before them. It was getting late when we saw a petrol station with GPL (gas), as we hadn't filled up since before Pompeii we thought we must be low, but all it took was €4.50 worth. Steve found a Camping Car  parking area in nearby Pistoia so we headed there, it was free held about 30 vans with dumping and fresh water as well. N-43.94360,E-10.91591.

Friday 01/11/2013

As the town had provided such a nice free facility we walked in to see the town, everything was very quiet and we realised it must be a public holiday of some kind but we found a very nice walled town with many beautiful buildings including the second biggest Domed church in Italy after Florence excepting the Vatican the man in the tourist office said because that was a  different country. So a good couple of hours spent but off to Lucca because Angel had said it was a Medievil,town with a massive exterior wall which you could cycle all the way round. The guide book said, cars were in the minority, a time warp with mainly old ladies on their ancient bikes squeaking along to buy their groceries. When we arrived at the Camping Car parking instead of three or four there were about three hundred. Everywhere we went there were Camping Cars it seemed every Camping Car in Italy was there and most of the cars, every parking place was full as well as the verges. The last car park we toured around some guys from the other end becond to us and directed us to a nice parking spot, then we noticed that we were in the middle of a Gypsy camp with half dismantled cars all around. The guys were indicating that for a few euros they would keep their eyes on it but we had visions of returning to a partly dismantled camper on bricks, so beat a hasty retreat, a couple of kilometers outside town the cars had thinned down and we found a spot next to an allotment and an old boy tending his vegetables said it was ok to park.

We decided it would be best to walk instead of taking the bikes so we walked in and up on to the wall. All around us were people in fancy dress but not a Medievil fayre as we had thought they were all dressed in fantastic futuristic costumes. We had stumbled upon the 2013 International Comic and Games festival. So a very interesting and enjoyable few hours mingling with strange monsters, Bat Men, and Star Wars creatures and many more whose origins we had no idea of. It looks as if we will have to put Lucca down for another visit, so back to the van for a nice meal drink and bed.

ITALY TOUR 2013

Hi story it has been a few days since our last update, we have been rather busy.

Thursday 24/10/2013

A nice quiet night in our holiday park in the mountains so on the road early heading  north towards Rimini a beautiful drive through the mountain going through many long tunnels, the Italians really do know how to build tunnels. We drove till about midday then turned off and found a large car park right next to the beach  which only charged between 15th June and 1st September. There was one other German camper there  so we had lunch then Steve found there was official free wifi from the Calypso Club on the beach so we moved a little nearer for a better signal and sorted out business emails, sending the blog etc. then went for a long walk along a board walk through a wetlands area with a bird watching hide and beyond. Came back and decided this was a good place for the night  Steve downloaded the Times Newspaper and we both settled down for an evening of reading.

Friday 25/10/2013

Woke to a beautiful blue sky and the sea like a millpond, Steve decided it was too nice to move on and with good internet settled down to do a special booking for when we get to Florence, managed that successfully and both had a nice relaxing day which was nice after all the Churches, Temples and ruins we had so far experienced.

Saturday 26/102013

Left early again with the TomTom pointing towards Rimini, the first part was really nice roads, the biggest talking point though was the number of "Ladies of the day" at the side of the road. We are used to a few in Spain and now in France but these were about  every 1 km on ether side of the road  for about 50 km one was wearing just a body warmer short kinky boots and just a G-string and some looked very young indeed. They petered out as we hit the coast  road but then the speed limits came in, as I mentioned before the Italians seem to have reduced all limits by 20 kph. As we entered Italy there was a very large sign saying that the limits were  90kph outside towns and 50kph in towns now they seem to be 70 limits outside sometimes coming down  to 60 and even 40 at times on a dual carriageway then Ok 50  in the towns is acceptable but up and down sometimes very low for no reason gets very wearing.  We spotted a supermarket so stopped for a few things and saw a bank opposite and managed to get some cash with our French Card so now do not feel destitute after giving Lidl all the cash we had.

We carried on with the speed limits for a couple more hours then gave up and found the toll autostrada which was bliss for a couple more  hours spotted that all the services have dumping points so stopped to dump our waste and fill up with fresh water. Decided to pull of at 6:50 as it was soon to be dark and found a nice car park by the beach. But a good run on the toll road and it was only 6.50 quite a bit less than it would have been in France. Had a walk along the road but everything was under wraps for the winter. Everything suggests that the winters are quite harsh here. The nearest town was Torrette. N-43.80137, E-13.09305.

Sunday 27/10/2013

Left a little later as the alarm on the iPad decided not to go of, decided to set TomTom for the Principality of San Marino but again decided to take the Motorway to skip the awful speed limits. Arrived in San Marino about 9:50 found some parking a little outside as it looked as if it was going to get a bit tight in the Citadel and walked in. It took about 20 minutes and just up the road spotted a 48hour free camper stop. Had a nice walk round the town and Judy found two lots of Perfume she had been looking for, for ages as they don't seem to make it now, so just to good to miss!!

The sun was shining, a beautiful day. We spotted a clock and realised why our alarm had not gone off. The clocks went back last night. Oh well no harm done, but Steve did say as we were travelling why is TomTom showing the wrong time, is Italy different? Now we know.

Walked back to the van and decided to move to the Camper Stop  for lunch and found a nice Bank next door had provided free (official) wifi with sign in so Steve decided to post the coordinates on the Wild Camping forum we belong to as he had done with the nice beach yesterday. The only trouble with the position was every so often there was a bang on the roof as a conker fell out of the tree above us.

Moved on about 3:30 hoping to find a Chocolate Factory exhibition we had seen advertised. There were plenty of adverts but none had an address or directions and in a place with such small roads it is not easy to troll around with a large camper. But we had bought some in a shop earlier so that would have to do.

Made our way to Rimini as Judy thought it was the Benidorme of Italy eventually found some parking which was free as it was out of season, even though the town was heaving. We joined the Italian promenaders walking up and down.  Looked for a resteraunt but nothing was open until after seven and the menu's didn't appeal as they seemed mainly fast food so decided to eat in.

Monday 28/10/2013 left the Parking after a nice quiet night and headed for Ravenna found an enormous parking area so parked and walked into the town. It was quite a way and we soon saw that we could have parked much closer. Walked through a really old but not very well cared for town gate an found ourselves in the old part of the town.  We came across a Piza like brick tower but not as high, not as beautiful and not leaning. Next to it was a large hexagonal building and as we peered in we could see beautiful guilder wall paintings, a lady came out and said that the entrance price was for five buildings in the city but we didn't feel we had either the time or energy to do it justice so just wandered around the town and decided that it was a really full day to do it justice so walked back to the van passing through a market area, where we could easily have parked which had room for 368 stalls which were all marked on a board but it didn't say when it was. So on towards Florence which was to be one of the high lights of the holiday, hope it doesn't disapoint.

The drive took us across the mountains, very beautiful and quite narrow taxing driving. We arrived in Florence and drove to the parking point of interest suggested by the French Camping Car Infoseek site but it was marked as a tow-away zone for that week, probably for re-surfacing or something. So we headed for the next one and that was just a car park which allowed over night parking but it didn't feel right so we headed for a camp site in the TomTom database. Didn't spot it in time so pulled in to the Piazzale Michel Angelo which wuss heaving with people, so as to walk back to the Camp Site which was actually only about 100 mtr from the place we had tried originally. The Camp site was not very good and wanted €38 a night so we walked back to the Piazza to have a think and take in the incredible view of Florence as gradually dusk came down and the flood-lighting on the buildings started to come on, absolutely beautiful. With a full size bronze copy of Michael Angelo's David just behind us.

Unusually the ACSI book had nothing in Florence but TomTom had one other Camp site across town so we decided to try that. Again missed the tight entrance gate, so parked and walked to check it out. The entrance drive went on forever probably almost a kilometre and ended at an enormous stately home. Which turned out to be a Hostel as well. Camping here was €26 and looked better so we walked all the way back to the van and drove up to book in. This would do for our stay to see Florence, it is 5km, plus the drive, into the city but there are busses right outside the gate.

ITALY 20013

Monday 14/10/2013

Left early from the site on the first shuttle again, in Rome we walked to the Vodafone shop and bought the Italian sym for our phone which would also give us 2gb of data for €20 which they said would last the month we needed.

From there to the Pantheon equipped with our Rick Steve's guide which was fantastic and told us all about the amazing building. From there we walked to the Vatican to sort out how we were going to see it tomorrow and found that if we book online we can jump the miles of que to walk straight in. So off to a different McD's to do the booking, great, €4 extra each to book online. Looks like the Pope has taken a lesson froming  RyanAir!

Downloaded some more of Ricks guides while there

Back to the site for an early evening and a rest before what we guessed would be a long day tomorrow. But the train was late and we missed the shuttle bus  so had to wait two hours for the next one as this was the long break for the driver. But it did give us time to look around the shops in the little town near the station and buy a splitter so we could both have our ear phones plugged into the  iPad at the same time. The one I have is sitting on my desk at home, doh!

Tuesday 15/10/2013

Early into Rome headed first to McD's as Steve had to pay the French Income tax online then to the  Vatican and asked if we could get in earlier than  our booking which was at 11:30, they said no problem as they were very quiet but the que without bookings was already halfway down the street!  Took a bit of time to get orientated and find the main museum exhibits but did find the exhibition of "Pope Mobiles" through the ages which was very interesting ate our lunch then managed to find the main museum which was signposted in Latin which was why we missed it. There was not a Rick Steve's guide for the museum unfortunately but we saw a great part of it which was fantastic with an amazing amount of superb frescoes and other treasures of untold wealth. Finally into the Sistine Chapel where we did have one of Ricks guides which was amazing as he told the whole story of Michael Angelo's  commission and we were glad we were not with the paid for tours who were just rushed through non stop. But Rick did tell us to exit through the small door on the right rather than the proper exit. This took us down where the tours go and straight into the Basilica saving the queues which at the time were about a quarter of a mile just for the Basilica. We spent about two hours walking round again guided by Rick, what a great and lucky find his guides were.

Wednesday 16/10/2013

A NewZealander we had met on the shuttle yesterday had told us that we must go to Hadrian's castle near to the Vatican which had a very good audio guide so we again caught the early shuttle, we were going to walk to to the Vatican to post our son Nik's birthday card but realised as we got caught up in thousands of people that Wednesday is when the Pope appears on the veranda so the hords were heading for St Peters square so we diverted towards the castle to return to Vatican City Post Box later when all the people had gone.

The castle visit was all that Mike had said it was very interesting with a very good audio guide which luckily he had told us about the hidden numbers which explained very much more about the stolen treasures that the Italian police had been confiscating from places like the Getty museum in America.

Nearly forgot about the Vatican post office and had to retrace our steps back to the Vatican so Nikki could have a special post mark on his card then back to the camp site for an earlyish evening.

Mike and Kelly and daughter Haley popped in and we spent the rest of the evening chatting about what we all had been doing and how to visit New Zealand which they were about to return to.

Thursday 17/10/2013

Packed up and filled and emptied and left the site at about 11:30, the special rate as ACSI members didn't include the €1 each a day tourist tax so the camping cost us €18 a day but with the free shuttle bus that really wasn't too bad for a reasonably secure site within easy teach of Rome that we could happily leave the van all day.

We headed for Tivoly where there was  the Villa Adriana which was Hadrian's country residence, a very good afternoon walking around a very well preserved enormous Roman site somewhat larger than we think of as a villa nowadays. Left about six pm and headed for the villa d'Est also at Tivoly but couldn't find it and ended up driving and driving trying to find somewhere to stop finally found a road outside some industrial buildings and had a quiet night. We even found free wifi there from the University and managed to pinpoint the villa on google maps to make it easier to find tomorrow.

Friday 18/10/2013

Set out early-ish and found that the villa was in the middle of town in a definitely no parking area for Motorhomers (we had actually passed it yesterday without knowing it) but managed to find a housing estate about a mile away where we could easily park and walk in. The park was amazing with very many fountains  constructed in the 1500's no pumps were used at all as all were driven by gravity still using the early pipe work, there was even a fountain which played music via a pipe organ driven by air compressed by the falling water. We spent a very pleasant few hours with their audio guide. Again Judy being over 65 got free entry as she had to all the attractions we had visited so far, quite a bonus perhaps we should have waited till next year when Steve would have qualified as well, this is a consession only open to over 65's from the. EU. But by the time we finish it will probably safe us over a hundred euros, thank you EU.

Left about 14:00 heading for Gehta where we could see an overnight stop on our way to Pompeii but when we arrived it was on the other side of the dual carriageway so carried on and eventually found a very wide road outside a Church where a couple of lorries had stopped for the night. Had a quiet time ready for an early start towards Pompeii in the morning.

Saturday 19/10/2013

Left our parking at 7:30 on our way to Pompeii and managed to fill up with autogas as we had read that it could be difficult to get further south. Very bad roads going round the Naples by-pass every lay-by was full of sacks of rubbish obviously purposefully dumped there actually very much worse than Marocco and this is supposed to be an advanced European country. The standard of driving especially the scooters is appalling, the only saving grace is that they seem to have lowered all the speed limits by about 20kph so the overall speeds are much lower. But when we keep to the limit we are constantly creating a jam behind us and they overtake constantly on double white lines and blind corners. But I presume the lower limits has brought the overall speeds down so the number of fatals must be lower.

Arrived about 10:00 at Camping Zeus at Pompeii which is right next door to both the ruins and the station found a supermarket to top up with a few things and had a lazy day  finding where everything was and doing a bit of work on the Internet which somehow wasn't asking for a paid for sign-in at that time.

A nice Australian couple Geoff & Flav parked next to us and we had a good chat with them.

Sunday 20/10/2013

Left early to arrive at the Pompeii site when they opened at 8:30, Steve had downloaded a guide from the Internet which was very good as it showed pictures of the things that could not be seen. We spent nine hours there and just about saw everything important, arriving back at the van really tired. The preservation of the frescos and other things was amazing, very much different to what we had expected. The amazing thing was the plaster models of the people which had been made by pouring plaster into the ash covered bodies where the flesh had gone but the skeleton was intact , which produced a model complete with facial expressions some in agony presumably as they were hit by the poisonous gas others presumably resigned to their fate looking quite serene.

A very strange and moving experience. 

Monday 21/10/2013

A visit to  Herculaneum which is another site closer to the volcano which fared completely differently. This site got the seeering hot gasses from the volcano explosion which burned all organic matter but timber of any thickness was chared but survived, the site was then engulfed in a mud flow which buried everything and preserved it so many buildings were almost intact. Only recently found were the remains of many people who had run to the sea carrying much of their valued possessions and sheltered in the wharf buildings where about 300 skeletons were found with their possessions. The whole site has been excavated from the 30 odd meters of mud which covered and preserved it, rather than the six meters of ash that covered Pompeii.

Tuesday 22/10/2010

Left a bit late as we had some trouble with the batteries, the site voltage on the outlet must be a bit low so the charger has not been working and the house battery is dangerously low. So spent a couple of hours re- setting the panel and investigating the problem.

Eventually got away with the plan of catching the train to Sorrento then catching a bus to be driven round the Amalfri coast road which we had read was just too tight to comfortably drive in our Motorhome.   Had a great day being driven in buses on very narrow roads which the buses negotiated by shear might is right and bullying their way through. Very expert driving though it must be said sometimes passing other vehicles with only a few centimetres to spare. Visited, Almalfi, Sorrento, Positano and Solerno. While at Amalfi there was a cruise ship in the bay and also a five masted square rigged schooner (if that is the right name). Some of the cruise people were on the open top bus we took at one point.

When we came back on the bus the five master was now in full sail and heading out of the bay.

Returned to the site at about 20:30 and chatted with the German people about their experience going to the Vesuvius volcano, they said that they were not impressed but if we hadn't seen one we should go, so up early tomorrow.

Wednesday 23/10/2013

We had read in our guide book that there was a normal bus went up to the volcano every hour so caught the train to Herculanium using the 24hour tickets we had bought yesterday but the information office told us that service was no more  and there were only the private coaches who all charge about €22 per person. So decided it would be better to take one from outside our site at Pompeii, back on the train but our tickets would not let us onto the platform even though it was within the 24hours so perhaps they were for using on the buses only, the Pompeii station did not have barriers so did not stop us getting on the train. So bought to tickets and on to the train back, but didn't notice that the train had a different destination suddenly realising it was wrong when the train went underground. Quickly off the train to wait for one back then sitting on the platform waiting for the correct train another passenger who heard our conversation told us we were on the wrong platform, oops! On to the right platform and then the correct train then we noticed that the Volcano was completely covered in cloud so a bit of a waste of time going up today. So decided to give it a miss and get packed up to move on. We were both getting a bit fed up with cities, trains,buses and ruins and wanted to get out into the Italian countryside.

While emptying down and filling with water we met a really nice French couple from Montpellier and told them where to stay at Rome and what train tickets etc. then Steve gave them a quick course on the TomTom because they didn't know how to navigate to the co-ordinate we had given them for the site we stayed at. Swapped email addresses to hopefully meet up again.

Left the site at about 11:30 heading towards the north coast via Foggia. Lots of very tight roads and one way systems getting out of the Pompeii area then we came across a Lidl so stopped for re-stocking. When we came to pay ther couldn't accept credit cards only debit which we didn't have with us so just had enough cash to pay, must find a good hole-in-the-wall now as we are completely out of cash. Stopped for lunch in their car park and Steve found some wifi to download some more sites on to the TomTom. Onwards and found some good motorway standard roads but with 50kph speed limit so causing another traffic jam by sticking to it, the upside of these low speed limits is that we are getting over 25mpg which is the best we have ever done. At about 6pm we found what seemed to be an abandoned holiday park beside the road which will be a nice parking spot for tonight.  Then Steve found one of our extra security locks had jammed which is necessary to keep us secure at night so he had about an hours fiddling to sort it out. It uses the hollow type of key which had somehow left the key ways misaligned. All sorted eventually so locked up for a secure night.

Our Italy Blog

Hi all, to those of you who are already subscribed to this blog, sorry if you have had a few emails saying there is a new post, I have been trying to move the USA tour to another page but found that the blog system doesn't work that way.

Any way here are the first few days up till we finished our first day in Rome, more to follow soon.

Remember if you want to subscribe there is a link just to the right saying;

"LET US EMAIL EACH BLOG TO YOU" where you can enter your email address

Thanks for reading.

Steve and Judy

--
Regards,
Steve & Judy
See Our House For Sale in the South of France
at:- www.MaisonMinervois.eu

Sent from Ripon Library, Ripon California

Tuesday 26^th till 31^st July

We decided to have a relaxing end to our holiday as we had seen all we wanted to and needed to sort out the motorhome ready for taking it back.

So we just sat read walked in the forest and had campfires in the evenings to cook our dinner really nice.

Except for Friday 29^th July when we went into June Lake about 12 miles away for the day as they had a music festival on.

We spent the afternoon on top of June Mountain listening to a concert. The tickets included a ride up in the open ski lift which was great giving us panoramic views. The weather was not good being a bit cold towards the end and tried to rain all afternoon but luckily kept off until just after we got off the ski lift on the way down. But an enjoyable afternoon out .

Monday 1^st August

We set off after breakfast to take a ride up to the top of Mammoth Mountain as we had heard there were terrific views of the whole area we had been visiting in the past couple of weeks, and yes it was superb at 11,000 feet in the snow with the sun shining and stunning views and watching the mountain bikers setting off to ride down. We took the gondola down though, then set off towards Lee Vining again where we had been told there was a very good world famous restaurant where we should stop for lunch.

Well it was actually in the Mobil Garage! the lunch was good but just usual American lunchtime food. We shared a very large plate of Jambalaya which was a spicy bean stew and a very large salad with hunks of bread on the side.

They did have an evening menu though which may have been a bit more gourmet.

But we enjoyed it so after a little nap we headed off across Yosemite National Park to the spot in the Stanislaus Forest where we had stayed before.

We had a good drive across but the park was again very busy and we spent a pleasant evening in the forest.

Tuesday 2^nd August

We left our spot in the forest to drive towards San Francisco and the car wash we had found on our way through before. So we washed the van dropped some things off at the thrift shop and are now in Ripon Library where we have checked-in on-line for our flight and are ready to return the motorhome and go to San Francisco Airport for our return flight tomorrow.

We hope you all have enjoyed our USA travels because we certainly have had a fantastic time, seen some amazing sights and had some great experiences and met some really lovely people. Every person we have met has been extremely welcoming and helpful. So for our first visit to the USA totally successful and we are talking about coming again but I think next time we will ship our own motorhome which is far more comfortable and uses a fraction of the fuel.

So till next time................

Steve & Judy

Sent from Mammoth Lakes Library

Saturday 23^rd July

We got up early to drive up to the Mammoth Ski resort where the $7 compulsory shuttle-bus left from to visit the Devils Postpile just a short one mile hike from the bus stop. The Basalt columns which greeted us were fantastic basically hexagonal pillars about a foot diameter please see the gallery for some of the pictures. We could also walk up to the top of` them where they had been polished by glacial movement. After the Postpile we hiked a further two and a half miles to Rainbow falls where the sun is just in the right position to form a rainbow in the spray and while we were there we could actually see two. Back to the shuttle-bus but there was a little backpackers shop so a couple of beers seemed in order after our seven mile hike which was quite steep in places and at one point we were so interested in a great looking wooden bridge over some rapids that we took a wrong turn onto the John Muir Wilderness Trail which comes all the way from Yosemite which added another two miles to our hike.

After a rest watching the kids on a climbing wall at the ski center we headed for Vons (Safeway) supermarket and then the library which we had read in a brochure had wi-fi and another night in our nice clearing in the forest.

Sunday 24^th July

Off to Bishop today, it was quite a big town with a Vons petrol station where we could get cheap fuel and use our 10 cents off a gallon coupon which was on our ticket from yesterday. Every little helps at 10 mpg!

We drove a scenic route into a canyon with two lakes but they were a bit commercial as they were man made with dams and had boating facilities. So just a restful driving day today. On our way out we found a petrol station which had propane so we could fill up as we were getting rather low.

We headed for "Toms Place" which was at the head of Bishop Creek Canyon where the Visitor Center in Mammoth had told us was a beautiful hike. About 3 miles from "Toms Place" we found a good place for the night just off the highway.

Monday 25^th July

We drove into Rock Creek Canyon and found the trail head parking which was already half full and set of on the hike into the canyon. The parking was at 10,100 feet elevation and both of us had great difficulty breathing so were not to sure how we would fare on the hike. And what a beautiful hikeinto Little Lakes Valley, it started at Mosquito Flats which was a bad omen especially as we saw people getting dressed up in "bug nets" over their heads so we decided that our long walking trousers and a good spray of deet was necessary. But after about twenty minutes the sun was hot enough to get rid of the mosquitoes. The canyon had 22 lakes and we visited 18 of them on our hike which was very pleasant with beautiful scenery and really nice people we kept meeting as we passed each other as each had a rest or photo stop. We finished at Chickenfoot lake and had our lunch just at the tree and snow line at 11,000 feet. There we encountered "Pink Snow" which was very strange presumably stained with resin from the pine needles. We had gradually got used to the altitude during the walk thankfully but it was a reasonably strenuous 6.9 miles and at that altitude we were quite happy with our effort.

We had seen a dump station at "Toms Place" so had a shower in the car park to get rid of all the deet and then to dump and fill with water which should take us through most of our last week.

So back to Mammoth Lakes tonight and our little clearing in the forest for another visit to the library to send this and upload our photos.

Regards,

Steve & Judy

Sent from Mammoth Library, Mammoth, California

Wednesday 20^th July

We left our parking spot reasonably early for the drive from west to east of Yosemite and what a beautiful drive spectacular scenery and gradually rising to 10,000ft. We stopped at Tenaya lake for coffee & some photo's, beautiful (see Gallery) some climbers were practicing on the relatively easy rock faces behind us. We also stopped at the bottom of the Tioga pass as we saw a nice campground but it was full of mosquitoes so we pushed on to Mono lake which looked just like Crater lake with a volcano peak in the middle but at the Visitor Center they explained it was actually a salt lake three times as salty as the ocean with a cinder cone near the middle from a later volcano. There was no exit for the water so the mineral and salt content stayed high unfortunately though Los Angeles started taking the water from the feeding streams which kept pace with evaporation and the whole ecology of the lake was upset so the salinity trebled and the organisms started dying. However pressure groups fought through the courts and forced the city to reduce their extraction and raise the water level, not to where it was but 25ft higher than it is now where the balance may be adequate. Unfortunately it will take very many years to refill and the ecology to recover. After the visitors center we found a nice Forestry Service campground for the night where we worked our way through all the information we had trying to decide where to go tomorrow but got ourselves totally confused as the ranger had told us so quickly that we could not work out the order. So we would visit the Center tomorrow to sort things out.

Thursday 21^st July

Left the campground to visit the lake at the end of the canyon we had been told about which had a new campground just opened. The campground was very tight with bushes and trees and there was nowhere to stop by the lake so we moved on. As we left Steve saw an exhibit of two safes with their backs blown out with a brass plaque between them. Probably Buch Casidy or their like as this was a gold mining area. Must try to stop at a quieter time if we come back this way.

So back to the Visitor center to work out in which order to see things also to connect to their Internet to send the last blog. All that done we headed for South Tufa, which is a collection of stone towers which are formed by fresh water laden with calcium peculating up through the saline lake floor and forming Calcium Carbonate, Sandstone pillars which are now exposed because the lake is 25ft below it's proper level. We had a really nice wander round part of the lake the water of which is so alkaline it feels soapy. But teeming with life, no fish but mainly brine shrimp which feed the millions of migrating birds on their way to Argentina for the summer. A very simple food chain which is why it is so precarious.

After the lake we moved on to an old wood mill but there was nothing there except picture boards to explain, but it was very interesting.

Next was Panum Crater, this was an explosive volcano which erupted only 650 years ago. This volcano erupted mainly "Obsidan" rock which is basically black glass absolutely amazing. It was a very strenuous hike but well worth it to actually walk into a "dormant" volcano which could re-erupt at any time.

We then drove round June lake which was beautiful but very commercialized with boating activities. But on the way round we managed to see "Horsetail Falls" but there was nowhere to stop and hike up to them.

We had seen a forest campground in the papers from the Visitor Center so headed to it along a long dirt road, but very well worth it. A very large area with only a few sites spaced well apart amongst giant pine trees with the last of the evening sun streaming through the branches
We immediately went looking for some fallen wood and started a campfire in the grate provided. Steve cooked steak and sausages over the hot charcoal embers then we loaded on some of the enormous fir cones which were all around us and sat by the fire for the rest of the evening toasting marshmallows. Probably the best campground evening we have had and this one was free and no mosquitoes. For some reason there was no charge but grates, picnic tables and one pit toilet were provided, amazing. A real find and worth returning to if we come back this way.

Friday 22nd July

Reluctantly we left our lovely campsite and continued our sightseeing. We continued along the dirt road heading for Obsidan Dome which was another relatively new volcano this time almost entirely of Black Glass. There were glass boulders 3ft diameter everywhere another strenuous hike up to look into the crater and get a fantastic vista of the snow covered mountains in the distance. We continued on the dirt road but it became so narrow and bumpy that we had to turn round and return the way we came.

We were heading for Inyo Craters, these were a pair of explosive eruptions again only 6 or 7 hundred years ago where molten magma rose to hit the water table causing the superheated steam to blow craters a couple of hundred feet deep. Both now had water at the bottom but one was emerald green from the minerals it contained. (see gallery)

We then visited an earthquake fault which was a deep jagged crack in the ground about 30ft wide and about 50 ft deep, you could see that the faces would fit together. In the bottom was snow and the information said that the the early settlers would keep their food down there in the summer.

Onwards towards the Devils Postpile a collection of Basalt pillars similar by all accounts to the Devils Causeway from Ireland to Fingles Cave in Scotland. Fortunately at the Ranger Station they told us that the only campground with spaces was infested with mosquitoes, not for us so we turned round to find the town of Mammoth Lakes to get some fuel as we were very low then out into the forest to find some camping. We found a lovely clearing to have dinner and type up the blog before an early start to investigate the Devils Postpile tomorrow.

Regards,

Steve & Judy

Sent from Mono Lake, Lee Vining

Again sorry it is so long since our last blog, there is no usable internet in Yosemite National Park unfortunately.

Friday 15^th July
We found a Loves Petrol (Gas) Station to stop for coffee and send our last blog and across the road was a Flying J both of which cater for large trucks and RV's and allow overnight parking, but also have facilities for RV's to dump waste and clean down as well as selling Propane gas so this would be a good place to clean out and fill up the RV before we take it back in a couple of weeks, down the road a little we also found a car wash which could take our height so we would be able to clean it outside as well on the day before we return it.

After sorting out the van ablutions before our return we had a slow drive towards Yosemite passing through vineyards and apricot & peach groves. We then started climbing again into the mountains and entered the Stanislaus Forest. We were sure Yosemite would be busy and campgrounds would likely be full because two BLM ones we passed had "Full" signs, so we found a small forest road which was perfect for us and had a really peaceful night.

Saturday 16^th July

We got up early to drive the 15 miles into the park and were told at the gate that all campgrounds were full so we just found a parking place for the day and set about our visit.

Yosemite also has Shuttle Buses so we jumped on the first one and did the whole route. We were lucky to have found our large parking spot because by ten am there was very little parking to be had anywhere. In fact we heard later that they had closed the gates as the whole valley, which is the main attraction of the park was full. We took another longer bus ride then walked to Yosemite falls, a beautiful double water fall which dominates the valley view (see Gallery). Then to the visitor center and an Indian museum and exhibits of craft-work and Tepees etc. Back in the visitor center we saw a poster about a film show and presentation by a famous rock climber; Ron Kauk. Nik will probably know of him but we didn't, he was the one who helped Tom Cruise do the opening stunt in Mission Impossible "2" film. His film was fantastic with some amazing views of the park and some incredible climbing shots. The Q&A afterwords was really good, he was a really calm and spiritual guy, a Native American we think by his appearance.

It was really dark by the time we got back to the Motorhome so decided to leave by the nearest exit to find somewhere for the night. We had already confirmed with the Rangers that it was ok to stop at any lay-by (pullout) and found a large one just seven miles out. But it was really dark that night and the narrow roads with jagged rocks sticking out from the sides and trees leaning in was a challenge with the wide and high vehicle.

Sunday 17^th July

As Yosemite Valley was so crowded on Saturday we decided it would probably be worse on Sunday so left early to drive the thirty odd miles to Wowona where we could catch a shuttle bus to Mariposa Grove which was the area where the giant Sequoia's (Redwood trees) grow. These were different we were told from the Coastal redwoods we had seen last week. We had formed the impression that it was a comfortable short paved walk in the grove so didn't wear our hiking boots and take our walking poles and only packed one small bottle of water and a couple of energy bars, unfortunately we ended up walking about eight miles not properly equiped with an elevation gain of 2,000 ft, as a result we suffered for it the next day.

The Giant Sequoia's were impressive but we both thought that the coastal redwoods were better and gave the impression of being larger and the forest was far more tranquil, almost magical, but there were very many more of them there and they hadn't suffered the impact of destructive tourism for so long but it was a very good day albeit a bit more tiring than it should have been. Also any tranquility there could have been was destroyed by passenger "Trams" which were trailers carrying about 50 people pulled by Diesel Artic. (Semi) units screaming up the steep tracks in low gear with a massive hiss from their air cylinders every couple of minutes. These ran at about ten minute intervals and charged those who couldn't or didn't want to walk up $27 a go. We really couldn't believe the National parks Service doing such a destructive thing. Compared to the LPG Shuttle Buses which are nearly silent and non polluting. But I suspect they make a great deal of money from the "Trams" and perhaps the buses don't have the power for the hills.  Such a shame a better solution could not be found.

On the way back from Wowana we took the 16 mile road out to Glacier Point which we had been told was a must as it looked over the whole of the valley. It was indeed an impressive viewpoint and we were also able, with the help of a high powered telescope stationed there to see some climbers scaling the absolutely sheer vertical face of Half Dome rock, 5,000 ft. from base to top. The sheer face itself was probably about 3000 ft. Even with the telescope they looked tiny against it. See the photo in our gallery and spot them if you can. We had read earlier that sometimes the climb can take a couple of days and they have to sleep in their harnesses hanging from the rock at night!!

On the road to Glacier Point we had passed Bridalveil campground which had a sign saying spaces available so after a close-up encounter with a Mule deer who had decided that the bushes in the car park would make a nice evening snack we headed for the campground and took one of the last two spaces available.

Monday 18^th July

We woke early very cold as the temperature had dropped to 5 degC in the night and a bit sore from the hike yesterday so decided to stay for another day to sort things in the van out, we were getting very short of cash as we hadn't been near a bank for ages but just about managed to scrape the $14 together in change which we had to check with the camp host first as it specifically said notes only.

We had a short stroll along the creek to relax our muscles a bit and cleaned and sorted out the van then cooked an early dinner over a camp fire and chatted to the guys in the tent next to us for quite a while before going to a Ranger Camp Fire talk on Bears.

Tuesday 19^th July

Today was going to be another housekeeping day as we must get some more cash and must do some laundry so we headed in to the valley quite early and luckily found some parking just outside the Laundromat then caught the shuttle bus to Yosemite Village where we hoped the ATM was working. Luckily it was so we could get some cash albeit at quite a high service charge which with the bank surcharge would probably make it the most expensive dollars yet, lets hope the exchange rate hasn't gone against us as well.

Cash and Laundry all sorted out so after lunch we jumped on a shuttle bus to go to the trail head for the hike to Vernal falls viewpoint just 1.6 mile round trip the book says, but today we took the hiking gear just in case. At the bottom some Rangers said the trail was closed passed the footbridge but that was where we intended to go so no problem. The hike although it was paved and very busy was extremely steep so we were glad we had our boots and poles because they make it so much easier. On our way up we bumped into two guys from the campground Judy had been talking to before we left and they told us the terrible news that three people had climbed passed the railings at the top of the falls despite the warning signs and had fallen over, which was why the trail was closed as the Rangers were still searching for the bodies. In fact at the bottom of the trail presumably as we looked like hiking types a Ranger stopped us to ask if we had been at the top when it had happened. He said because of the amount of water over the falls at the moment the bodies could be trapped for weeks.

On our way back to the van and feeling a bit shaken by the sad news we decided to go to the patio for a beer to relax and shared a table with five really nice young women who had just done the Half Dome Hike, a 15 mile hike with an elevation change of nearly 5,000 ft, which had taken twelve hours, a bit out of our league.

We drove out of the Park again and found the same spot as a couple of days ago, first filling up with fuel the most expensive yet at $4.99 a gallon. But we needed some as we were going to drive right across Yosemite tomorrow to Mono Lake.

Till next time,

Steve & Judy

Sent from Stockton California

Sorry it has been so long between Blogs , just haven't been able to find internet we could get close enough to to send this.  Please look at the Blog for the updated GPS trace. We now have done the complete circle.

Wednesday 6^th July

We found a forest campground last night but had to drive quite a way because there was a large recreation area of mainly boating etc. But we finally found a nice place for the night but it was by the river so quite a lot of Mosquitoes which now seem to make a beeline for Steve now he is not eating Marmite every day. Judy did find a small jar in Los Angeles but making toast is such a pain that we only have it occasionally.

So this morning we set of for Idaho falls which we had read had waterfalls to rival Niagara. We couldn't find any signs so Judy sorted through all the pamphlets and maps only to find we had come to the wrong place, we needed to be at Twin Falls Idaho which was 170 miles away and taking us on a detour of about 200 miles but the brochure said it was 50ft higher than Niagara and more spectacular and with the amount of water in all the rivers at the moment should be fantastic so off we went and arrived at about 4:30 three dollars to get in and drove down only to find the falls with only a trickle of water, what a disappointment we felt really cheated. We found there was a visitor centre about two miles away so drove over to find if there was anything else or if indeed we had found the correct falls. The gentleman there was very apologetic saying that ten days ago the falls were trhe best ever but the authorities had decided to divert the water to fill two large reservoirs and had basically turned the falls off.

Outside we found some guys folding parachutes on the grass and discovered the Perrine bridge over the snake river next to the car park was the only place they could base jump in the USA without a permit so it was a Meca for these guys. We followed them down to the bridge which was 500ft above the river and watched them jump off, so a bit of compensation for the falls. We started chatting to some people and the lady said that the falls had been fantastic and showed us a photo on her camera and yes they did look impressive. They also told us about another waterfall nearby we could visit in the morning which you could walk underneath.

The gentleman in the visitor center said we were welcome to stay in the car park there for the night so we walked to a nearby steakhouse then had a peaceful night.

Thursday 7^th July

We visited the waterfall the lady had told us about yesterday and it was fun, Steve walked right under it without getting wet except a bit of mist. See the pictures in our gallery.

So onward to Salt Lake City and arrived at about 5:15 the Wal*Mart was a bit inner city with only a multi story car park so we looked for the KOA campground for the night. They wanted nearly $50 just for the night and we would have to be out and park elsewhere for the day unless we booked two nights so as it was already late and we needed some shopping we decided to go about 6 miles to another Wal*Mart Steve had seen on TomTom then we could book into the KOA in the morning for the next night which would leave us more flexible. Infact it was a very nice Wal*Mart but we were the only camper there.

Friday 8^th July

We got up early to drive in to the City and came across a very large car park just a short walk from the Mormon Temple complex which we had been told about in a Visitor Center we stopped at yesterday just $5 for the whole day.

We walked to the Temple and decided to investigate the Genealogy Center first. There we were shown a short film about the Center then directed to the British Section three floors down there a very nice lady Sister Karen Bagg showed us how to start on Jody's Family Tree and in fact spent the whole day on and off working with us getting quite excited as we uncovered another pertinent record. At one point the record we wanted wasn't on the computer so we had to find the microfilm locate the record and take a print from it. All the facilities were there for everybody to use free of charge except a nominal 5cents per copy printing fee. We had a really great day and left the center at about 5pm. Arriving back at the Motorhome everything was fine after being parked there for longer than we expected so we decided to take a walk in the City which is very clean with very wide roads. "Wide enough to turn a cart drawn by a train of bullocks" it is said was the initial intention when the city was designed initially by the Mormon Settlers when they first arrived.

On our walk we came across a free Country & Western concert in the park and spent the whole evening there leaving at about 10pm. We had completely forgotten about booking into the KOA so headed out to Wal*Mart again for another comfortable night.

Saturday 9^th July

We could not decide whether to spend another day in the city and see more of the Mormon Complex but Steve was a bit concerned about the really long 1,000 mile drive right across the country to California and the Redwoods in the Motorhome which was like a Camel to drive and really difficult on the Freeway and jumped around all the time because it is so out of balance, so we decided to push on. We drove across the salt lakes which were impressive and across the salt flats where we hoped to come across the Bonneville test track where the land speed records are run but found no evidence except a run down petrol station so we pushed on and stopped for a break at Elco where we found a large craft fair in progress which took a couple of hours walking round. We motored on and found a really nice rest area to stop for the night with all the trucks and another Motorhome. A sign actually said that vehicles were allowed to stop for 18 hours not the Measly two hours allowed on motorways in England.

Sunday 10^th July

While we were having breakfast Steve spotted something which on further investigation turned out to be a dump station for motorhomes and presumably coaches so before leaving we drained down and filled up with water before continuing our journey. We didn't think about filling up with fuel at Winemucca because we had half a tank full but didn't realize we wouldn't find any more fuel for over 200 miles in fact we arrived at a little restaurant come saloon in the middle of nowhere with a petrol pump outside with only 12 miles worth of fuel left "The display said". The lady would only take cash so we just put $20 worth in to get us to the next town and the price looked a bit high at $4 a gallon whereas we had paid only paid $3.30 in Salt Lake City. We got to the next town ok only to find it the same price as we were now in Oregon where you were not allowed "to pump your own gas" they have to serve it even though the pump was a self service type which took credit cards. Steve had to put the card in while the girl served it. But it gave Steve the opportunity to chat after the inevitable "Where ya from? Australia?". She said "are you going to Crater Lake" to which Steve replied no it's too far and she said "shame you are really missing something".

Along the road we decided to stop and find where she was talking about and it was a different Crater Lake to the one we had seen on the map and was only about 50miles out of our way. So we made the detour and were very glad we did. Crater lake was a volcano which had collapsed in on itself then the crater filled with water to form a huge lake 30 miles circumference, leaving the volcano cone still sticking above the very deep water which was dark dark blue. The drive went right round the rim with many stops and overlooks. The only problem was that there was ten foot of snow at the side of the road and the road was closed for part of the drive because there had been a rock fall so we had to turn round and come back rather than driving right round the 30 mile rim. But it was worth the experience. The only camp ground open was full so we headed out of the park and found a 4x4 road out in the forest for the night.

Monday 11^th July

We finished our journey towards Crescent City at the top of the Redwoods National Park. About 20 miles away from the town we crossed a river bridge and were suddenly in the Redwood forest with trees 10 to 15ft diameter and staggeringly tall on each side of the road with the road winding between them.

We arrived at the Visitor Center and found our second unhelpful ranger in all of the trip so far saying there was no availability for camping you will have to find a commercial site outside the park. We found the Wal*Mart but that was uninviting with "No Overnighting" signs so we decided to take pot luck and head into the forest.

We went down a couple of likely roads and on the first we came across a private exhibit of a "Drive Through" tree just a dollar each to walk in because our motorhome was too big. Sure enough there was a giant tree over 100ft high with a hole cut through it big enough to drive a car through (see the gallery).

Onwards to another scenic drive where we found a crowd of people at the side of the road. After parking we investigated to find that they were watching a mother whale with a baby whale in the river. The story being that there was a Killer Whale out in the Ocean and she had comer into the river with her baby for protection. We caught a glimpse of the baby about 20ft long but I think she sensed the people and went out into the middle of the river.

We then took another scenic drive through the forest stopping every few hundred yards to look at yet another amazing tree we will put the pictures in the gallery but they do not really do justice to the grandure of these amazing living things.

Steve's nose for finding parking spots turned us into a logging road about half a mile long where we found a trailhead parking spot where we spent a nice undisturbed night.

Tuesday 12^th July

We woke very early because we were still on mountain time. Opened the curtains to find a VW van and a tent which had arrived in the night and we had not heard it!!

We set off to see one part of the scenic drive we had missed which was the "Big Tree" which was "big". The information sign said that it was narrowly saved from felling because an enterprising person wanted to cut a slice across to make a dance floor. The walk was realy good before anybody was about with the sea mist giving an enchanted feeling. There was an interpretive trail which explained very many of the questions we had been asking ourselves. We then went to another Visitor Center to watch a film about the forest and get more information on what to see then headed on to "The Samoa Cookhouse" which Elizabeth had told us about in Canyon de Chelle.

This was quite a lunch; Soup with bread and croutons, Salad, Meat Loaf, mash and vege and beans then Cake and Coffee. All served on long family tables as it would have been to the Lumberjacks of the past.

What a meal. So we set off to find a rest area for an after lunch snooze and stayed ther for the night!!

Wednesday 13^th July

Another early morning to drive "The Valley of the Giants" a scenic road thirty miles long weaving between the redwoods. It was fascinating .

The rest of the day was spent driving the very wiggly Highway "1" which weaves its way all along the coast. We finally stopped at 4:30pm for an early evening at a private campground which was not cheap but much cheaper than the Californian State Parks.

Tomorrow we should reach San Francisco and the Golden gate Bridge and hopefully find a McD's to send this.

Thursday 14^th July

Well we arrived north of the Golden Gate bridge and tried to get to the Viewpoint but signs said roadworks "No RV's" so we carried on and came to a Visitor Center. The lady there said it would probably be ok for us to go up to the viewpoint it was just a bit tight for the big RV's and 5^th wheels. But before we go why not take in the Missile Site just up the road which opens at 12:30, so we did.

Very interesting, it was a de-commissioned Cold War Atomic defense missile sight with Nike-Hercules missiles. The guide was a volunteer and very good. He came out with wonderful phrases like "For your own safety, please hold on to the Atomic Missile while we descend into the missile storage area" I hope to put some pictures up soon so keep looking at the gallery.

After the missiles we made our way up to the viewpoint and had no problems with our size but the big RV's would have had difficulty. The view was great and nice to see it personally. We then decided to drive across the bridge to visit the city. It is interesting, $6 toll to get into San Francisco aacross any of the bridges but as we found later, free to get out. After we had extracted ourselves from the five lanes of high speed traffic we drove through the city itself. We noticed that the roads were exactly as in the car chase in the Steve McQueen film Bullet. A hill then a flat bit as it crossed a road then another hill. We were heading for a campsite and TomTom said to "Turn Left" which we did then both almost had a heart attack as ther road suddenly disappeared and we drove over a cliff! It wasn't a cliff but the road descended at least 45 degrees for about ten blocks with a flat bit every block as before, it was terrifying so we turned right as soon as possible to find a less steep way round.

We arrived at the Camp Site only to find it had become a Safeways Supermarket. But the marina across the road had parking so we stopped there to walk into the historic "Fisherman's Wharf" area, which had a great atmosphere. At the end of the wharf was a WW2 Submarine which had audio tours. Neither of us had been on one before so we took the tour which was so interesting it took about two hours. We had to be away from our parking spot so decided we would research another campsite and come back to visit after Yosemite National Park, which was next on the agenda quite an interesting day even if it did have a bit of a wartime theme. When we hit the freeway across the Bay Bridge we were pleased we didn't leave it till the morning, at 11pm the traffic was bad enough what it would have been like in the rush hour. Outside the city we found a rest area and settled down with all the trucks for the night.

Steve & Judy