And our US update continued...
We spent time in San Francisco which was fun of course and such a lovely city; ate clam chowder soup in a sour dough bun, rode a tram, explored the wharf & saw the sealions at Pier 39 and of course drove over the Golden Gate bridge! We then headed up the North coast of California exploring different State Parks and enjoyed seeing the waves of the ocean again. Lots of Redwoods in the area – one road is called the Avenue of the Giants (-: Oogs managed to get some fishing done in some of the rivers en route which were so picturesque and very tempting to explore on kayaks if we had the time…The rafting trips are slightly out of our budget unfortunately!
Once into Oregon we headed to Crater Lake National Park. We had seen amazing photo's of the lake and its' reflections so we were looking forward to it. We didn't realize though that for 8 months of the year it snows a LOT at this lake…so as we drove closer the more the sides of the road towered over us with snow. It was raining too and so misty and we realized we weren't going to see ANY lake in this weather! We prayed for a miracle as we were desperate to see it and we knew we had to get out of the area for a campsite (clearly) and also needed to get to friends in Oregon the next day as planned. We hung out in the lush lodge for about 40mins and there it was – a view! We RUSHED outside and snapped away…over the next hour the mist lifted in all sorts of areas so we got to see most of it! YAY!! We didn't see any reflections but at least we saw the water!
We spent time with family friends Pat and Cliff in Oregon on a farm so have enjoyed the views and relaxed feel with them. Their hospitality has been so amazing and we have had such fun with them! We've been up to their condo near a lake for both weekends and enjoyed the sun, tennis, kayaking, swimming etc. Oogs has also managed to do a lot of fishing with Cliff (and catching!) in a float tube and waders so he is one happy man!
Yellowstone National Park was brilliant, mainly due to the fact that I saw my first bear!!! YAY!! and a cub...who ran down the hill too fast and did a somersault - hilarious! Enjoyed the smelly geysers too and also saw 3 wolves which is rare so were very happy. We also loved the Grand Teton National park...back in the Rockies again...seems like a theme we are sticking to! So beautiful!
We have loved being at the sea again in Florida...South Beach, Miami was great! such beautifully coloured water which we played bat and ball in and swam in of course...we then headed to the Keys which was fun (Its the part of the Carribean you can drive to they say!)...and we also spent time in the Everglades and did an airboat ride which was brilliant and saw loads of gators etc.
We head to Venezuela tomorrow, which we are slightly nervous about it and are hoping we won't be ripped off too much, currency and exchange rate problems! So say a little prayer for us! (-:
Can you believe its been 3 months of travelling already for us, crazy!!!
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