And Day 40 – Hasn’t time just gone by?? – Only 9 more days left before we are back in Mission!

So today we decided to visit the Warner Brothers Studio Tour in Hollywood, and at the end of that to drive to Griffiths observatory to view the Hollywood sign, and then into Beverly Hills to visit the walk of fame…..

Warner Bros 1st – We did have a leisurely start to of the day as we had the long day yesterday, and we didn’t get to WB until 11:40 am.

Well the guy on parking lot asked if we had reserved as it was super busy today.

No we didn’t. So coughed up the $15 for parking anyway and tried our luck. And yes it was busy!!

Well luck was on our side, the lady at reception said 2 spaces had just come up and got us on the 12:30 pm tour. Bonus!!

Once in we had a guided tour on a cart stopping off in various places, the guide did mention some of the films or programs of the sets outside, but too many to remember. so can you make any out?

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And Stage 24 – The Friends set

And to some much needed AC in the WB archive.

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Then off to Bat Man Collection…

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Flick the Bat light switch on Deb!

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Then off to see the Ellen Degeneres set

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And the cheeky moo sat in Mr Hanks seat!

Then next step was at Stage 48 which was a self guided tour, and also where there is a Friends cafe, and of course, A gift Shop..

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And we certainly couldn’t skip the Big Bang Theory set either!

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Then on walking through the interactive section, there was some great displays..

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Then time for a sandwich in Central Perk cafe and their branded coffee, which was not bad at all.

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Then a trip back to where we started…

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Then it was off to see the Hollywood sign…

Well…… To get a good view of it, people recommend from the Griffiths Observatory. So off we went following Gail from Google Maps.

No Problem at all, but today of all days there was some event lower on down the hill and everyone was using all the free car parking up at the Observatory.. Great! – Traffic was a Mare!

So Deb jumped out while traffic just crawling through the 1 way system and hoped she could catch me up. There was literally no where to PARK!!

So this all you get..

And I asked Deb if she did a selfie of herself, and she said No…….

So it was a good job I took this while in the Warner Brothers gift shop…

So that was very disappointing indeed…

Oh well, once in a life time opportunity gone….

Then next we was going to do the walk of fame, but as the time was ticking away and we needed to go back to Santa Monica for the Route 66 end pictures, we decided to skip it.

And wasn’t missing much, I later googled trip advisor about this so called walk of fame and it didn’t make good reading.

Pushy street vendors.. Vandalism and high crime, it’s not the pretty Hollywood you see on TV..

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And once we got to Santa Monica, well you know all about that as we put that on our End of the Route 66 post!

So once again my lovelies – thanks for following the journey!

And the next day, on Day 41. We had a little drive out to Laguna Beach, which was recommended by our server at the hotel restaurant.

So good night for now. Lult!! xxxx

Day 39 – Now I know we are big kids at heart and was quite looking forward to visiting Disney Land today, and yes we expected it to be very busy (and pricey) due to it being the summer holidays here etc.

But it ended up being a very long day of 14 hours, and at $149/person + fast pass + food and drink, I wanted to make sure we had our monies worth!!

The crowds were a lot more than we expected too, especially in the evening for the fireworks display, I’m talking jam sardine packed.

And despite all that and a very hot day too, we cracked on and had some ‘fun’, and here’s the best of our day…

And to start off, this is for all you die hard Star Wars fans! (yes you Deb)

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This is actually a store in the new Star Wars section, and certainly different…

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Then I felt left out….. so sod it.

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Then a bit of Splash Mountain….. This one i DID enjoy, especially the 50 ft drop at the end!

Then chilling out on the Mark Twain paddle boat – now this is what I expected in New Orleans….

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And slowing it down altogether ready for the firework display.

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And a bit of fireworks for 20 mins…. (That’s were the money goes up in the sky)

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And then we were happy…..

To get the Hell out of there!!!

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Back at Hotel around 10:30 pm. – The park did close at Midnight, but forget that, we’d had enough.

Glad we didn’t buy a 2 day pass like we was going to. Don’t think we could have coped with that.

We take our hats off to parents who tolerate this nonsense for their little Prince and Princess’s, because we had enough of them screaming and shouting, and of the kids too!

Our advice if your in your 50’s and late 40’s…. – go in the off season!

And that’s it for day 39! – LULT! xxxx

Now today’s post we are dedicating to Jason and Alisa Elliott’s Wedding Anniversary.

Jason is Deb’s brother, and he and Alisa also live in Mission, BC.

Although their official anniversary was on Saturday, I’ve been having a much needed rest from driving and blogging to mention anything on that day.

So we both think it is fitting to them both to dedicate the post about The Queen Mary, as this was Jason and Deb’s mom’s name.

So

Hope you had a great day! love, Deb and Mark xxxx

So the Queen Mary, as most who know me I am a big fan of the Titanic Story, and this vessel was the next best thing, She is bigger and was faster than the Titanic, and just being on board literally gave me goosebumps!

When planning our trip last year, I said to Deb we have to stay on here as it is now an Hotel and Event location.

It also happened to be the damn cheapest of stays of the entire trip! At only $76/night, we was also offered a port hole window view for an extra $20. I wished now I had booked a suite that was only $140, but the room we had was bigger than some of the rip off rooms we had stayed in.

kid you not! and despite it being docked for 52 years it was in cleaner and better shape than some of the poop we have stopped in.

So checking in for 1 night of Day 37..

Our Room..

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Then having a walkabout…

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The Original Piano.

And trying it out in Black & White..

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On the Decks…

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Sun setting in quick!

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And yes a red British telephone box, 1 of 4 on board!

And the rest of the pix for the evening with stunning city views of the Long Beach area.

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And visiting the engine room was just amazing to see what went into making this thing tick. Modern day cruise ships probably take half of the space!

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Interestingly they made a bridge out where you could see one of the impellers, I wished I had a better camera in here as it was poor lighting.

And talking of poor lighting, this ship had a 1st and 2nd class swimming pool, but the only one on view was the 1st class through the doors, again poor lighting…

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The pool as been closed off for the last 2 decades, I assume for safety reasons, but I would really have loved to go inside.

but they had pictures of it from the hey day..

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But the wonder of google, managed to get some images of what it’s like today…

It’s reported that the pool room is the most haunted area of the ship.. Maybe that’s why they keep it closed off???

And the central stair case, not as glamorous as the grand stair case on titanic, but still amazing.

And original elevator but not in use..

And on the bridge…

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And every day they had to empty and refill the swimming pools! – I suppose pool chemicals wasn’t around in the early 1930s..

And after a complimentary late check out we can explore a bit more…

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And these pair… just clowns, and not talking of Laurel and Hardy either.

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And back in the day for these pair too. Oh the gossip!

And that my friends I will end the pix here, as most of you probably falling into a deep sleep now.

So with a bit of sadness to leave this great ship, we got the valet to get Tess, and to say farewell to the QM.

…and yes that is a Russian submarine next to QM.

And if you want to check out The Queen Mary yourselves, here’s the link:

https://www.queenmary.com/

And our next stop was our Hotel stay for the next 5 nights at the Alo Hotel in Anaheim, which was just 15 mins from Rip off Land, sorry I mean Disney Land…

And because it was only a 45 min drive from the QM Ship we managed to get early check in here, and was given a fantastic room with a pool and mountain view!

And that’s where we spent the rest of the afternoon..

And we needed the rest because the next day we endured the day of hell at Disney land!

But for tonight my sweeties, it’s… Love Ya Long Time XX

Hi Folks….

So it’s Day 37, and end of the road today, well at least the route 66 one is anyway.

But before we get to that we did a little stop off in San Bernardino to visit the 1st McDonald’s restaurant which is now a museum.

And around outside…..

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This was around the back and don’t know what it has to do with Mcdonalds but looked good..

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And this prat again….

And inside was just like an Aladdin’s cave, where people from around the world have donated their much loved memorabilia to this fascinating place.

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From England.. (spot the 5 pound note)

From Canada…

And other stuff like this old Wurlitizer Juke box, (which incidentally is what I used to install and repair back in the UK)

And of course these daft mirrors again!

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And we were so glad we stopped by here as we got talking to the guy running this place, and we told him about our route 66 trip, and he told us that if we continue with the original route 66 from his place, it was almost 4 hours drive to Pasadena (due to major roadworks and diversions), then a further 3.5 hours from there to Santa Monica.

I thought BS…. BUT NO. we went with his advice to bypass the part to Pasadena via the Interstate, but I wanted to keep to the route via East Hollywood and Beverley Hills. And this was our 1st taster in driving through Los Angeles and surrounding areas!

But gradually making it through..

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Spot the Cellulitis sign.. lovely.

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And that’s your lot for this area! Traffic BAD BAD BAD and more terrible roads than Texas and Colorado put together!

Now I will take this opportunity to apologise for the late posting of this day, but it is with good reason you see….

When we came to the end of route 66 as followed in my EZ66 book, the actual sign is on a busy cross junction with no where to stop or park.

And as you can see from google maps it ain’t pretty….

But when you google the route 66 end sign in Santa Monica you now you get this:

and that’s because in 2009 the route 66 Alliance partnered up with the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corporation to mount an unofficial “End of the Trail” sign.

I guess it’s safer, there is parking on the beach nearby and makes a great day or evening to walk along the pier, grab some food and have a drink.

We actually went back to Santa Monica to take the following pictures on Friday 26th, hence the delay in posting.

So here’s our end of the Route 66 pictures! – Hope you like them.

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Now these girls took a real shine to this feature on the wooden planks, so much so they took so many pixs and checking the phones for the perfect one, then back on again…

in the end I gave up and took a picture with them on it! – And besides they look better than me anyway!

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AND.. before we end this one, on our travels I have seen in many food places this so called ‘frozen custard’..

Now people who know me best, also know that I love custard. Hot OR Cold, on it’s own or with a variety of deserts, cake, fruit, I mean I’d even have it on toast! -( umm must try that.)

And I have to be very Biased here, but the UK makes the best custard and from the region where we lived in the UK.

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And thinking I was going to get this…

Or even this…

But got this…

But they got stunning sunsets here though.. so I will let them off.

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So this post will officially mark the end of our route 66 trip, we then proceeded to our over night stay on the Queen Mary ship which has been docked at Long Beach, California since 1967.

So I will devote the Queen Mary Pix to Day 38 as there was lots, and just a fascinating vessel to see and picture it.

So there it is Bye Bye Route 66…

Well with our body and minds refreshed from the relaxing night at Avi Hotel, we crack on with the drive to Victorville.

But before we knew it we was almost into California !

And a little drive through Barstow, had some old motels there, some still in use today.

And of course, Deb was more attracted to the sirens of a fire truck than taking pictures of me.. wonder why?

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And our Roy from Corrie gets around.. lol.

And almost there….

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And an old sign at an old gas station displaying the prices back in the day!

And we’re here..

Our stay here was just another stop over we didn’t get chance to explore much. Deb was doing laundry and I caught up with 4 days of blogging..

So this is a quick one tonight and tomorrow, Day 37, well it’s a very very important one….

It will be the end of the route 66!

Said Deb…

And that route will take us past the original McDonald’s Burger store, which is now a museum. Then just highway driving into LA, then on to the famous Sunset Boulevard, through Beverley Hills and finally into Santa Monica, where the Route 66 officially ends (or starts if you doing it East bound)

And our accommodation for that night will be on this!

So for now, it’s terrar a bit. Lult xxx

Well folks, today is going to be a very long day as we had planned a side trip to the Hoover Dam, thought it was going to be a quick “stop off and take a couple of pix”.

And No…..

As is it such a popular place for tourists, you have to go through security control first. No problem has you don’t want any nut jobs causing mischief there!

We was asked if we was carrying guns. Said no and were in…

Then a very slow drive for another 2 miles to reach the dam, parked Tess in undercover parking lot for 10 bucks, we didn’t mind that because it was bordering on 44c here now..

And will tell you how warm that is, we both got a chilled bottle of water out of cool box, and by time we walked across dam it was luke warm!!

But before the AMAZING Dam Pictures, we had a stop off in a little old mining town called Oatman. This place really did feel like going back in time…

The rugged scenery on the way…

Entering Oatman.

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But this prat is almost there…

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And these guys twice a day block the street with a mock bank robbery and gun fight, all for charity. I will put the video link on soon, and will I will send an update out later..

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And just Random pix along the way..

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What a great little visit here and if you want to learn more Oatman in Arizona click below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oatman,_Arizona

Now on to Nevada!!

Now living in British Columbia, Canada. We are very fortunate to be only a 2.5hr flight away to Las Vegas, and we have actually done it 3 times now!

There we indulged in the Helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon which takes you over the Hoover Dam and it looked stunning from the air. But I’ve said to Deb many times that I would love to drive to it, and that time is now my friends.

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And remember me saying it was hot?. Well just proof from Tess…

And this is why!

The pictures don’t justify the dimensions and depth of this dam, you really have to experience that. However I did do another video for this, and again I will post updates for these later on..

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And now off to the hotel for the evening at the Avi Hotel and Casino Resort in Laughlin, Nevada.

To be honest when we was coming through the mountain ranges approaching the Fort Mohave area, we was passing very luxurious looking hotels, and ours was sort at the bottom tucked away on it’s own..so thought the worst..

Well it didn’t disappoint at all.

These 2 pix not mine but just to give you a idea..

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We was more concerned with….. yes you know!

A bit lively with kids but after our long day driving and touring we couldn’t care less and we loved it!

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Then a little stroll on the beach..

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And that was a perfect end to our day! – Tomorrow we go through the Mohave Desert towards Victorville in California. our final state for the route 66! – Not long now!

So NightY NighT, and L U L T….! xxxx

And Day 34.

And off we go again but not before we have a little silliness from Markie….

Maybe for my UK friends this one, Remember little Britain?

Well… he’s back!!

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And now to spend a few hours at this place..

Yes the best preserved meteor crash site on the earth!

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And while waiting in line for the 4D film Experience we met a great couple from Colorado who were doing the route 66 in their gas guzzling RV! – Got chatting about all sorts of stuff in life in about 25 mins!!

But for the life of us we forgot your names, so if ya reading, please let me know your names and I will make the edit.

Fascinating place to be at, but a bit on the hot side..

Then before we got into Kingman we actually found a route 66 sign that had Arizona on, as up to yet they just said Historic Route 66 only, where other states had theirs on the shield.

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Then into Kingman we went straight to our hotel which was the Best Western which had a great outside pool and spa. You guessed it folks, we do that first!

And watching the sun set by the pool side… Perfect!

And for our evening meal and stroll we went to the near by Canyon 66 restaurant and lounge at the Ramada Hotel

And a few classics along the way..

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And inside….

Yes, the 2 pints was all good at APPLEWOOD, but I screwed up my meal by having so called “Fish and Chips”… When will I ever learn Deb? – Say no more but they was utterly….

However that was long forgotten about as when we was leaving the place, our very good friends in Australia, Rob and Ange video called and we was chatting to them for an hour.

We had a good catch up with the family too and they proudly informed us they are going to be grand parents for the first time by their eldest daughter Bethany!

So a very big congratulations to you Beth and Eathan! Apparently the baby is due in January and I would be really chuffed it was born on my Birthday!

And that ends another great day on the route 66!

It’s time for beddy time. lult!! xx

And Welcome to…..

The scenery is starting to change dramatically now, and Grand Canyon State is certainly majestic. After visiting the Grand Canyon itself via Las Vegas some years back, the surrounding area is just as good.

Except CHAMBERS!…..

Yes my name crops up again, so said to Deb we would do a side trip there.. Might be some quaint little shops or the like!

So off we turn….

And….

That’s right….

However the most exciting part of the trip in between Albuquerque and Holbrook was that we had clocked up our 10,000 km (6213 miles) point!

And it was here…..???

And arriving in Holbrook way to early for check in, we decided to check a out an area nearby called….. wait for it you millennials…..

And they even have their very own Boulevard! – Oh Bless….

But seriously the have a great temple here which I tried to google, but had no cell coverage here..

OH well, back to Holbrook!

Getting hungry we decided to try a local cafe that is now in its 3rd generation of family members.. Joe and Agies.

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Then for another stroll about and the following stop was mentioned in my EZ66 Guide. The WigWam hotel, only about 3 of its kind left, I wished we had stayed here instead.

But it made a fantastic photo op, and I took some in B&W and they look great.

http://www.sleepinawigwam.com/index.html

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And couldn’t forget Tess either..

And on way back to hotel was an old cinema still in action.

And this completes today’s journey my lovelies, tomorrow’s trip will be to Kingman, AZ. And with a side trip to a very well known Meteor crash site!

Lult xxx

Albuquerque was just another night stay over, but this place just meant 1 thing to us…

If you don’t know who these two are, shame on you!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Bad

If you haven’t watched the series yet, please do, get passed the first 4 episodes and we promise you will be hooked!

So yes, it was a convenient stop over but also to visit some of the location sites of this award winning TV show!

And what better way to own little BB tour was to visit Walter and Skyler’s residence.

Unfortunately the new owners have got sick and tired of fans parking outside their home and trespassing their property, they have now put up fencing and parking cones outside.

I don’t blame them to be honest, but on this day they was actually sitting in their front yard “patrolling I guess”, So we decided not to get out and take pictures for fear of abuse, so all you get is the usual Nugget tour pix via car window!!

Next was Hank and Marie’s residence…. in a very vice area up in the hills…

There is some nice trails to walk around this very affluent area, but the prospect of rattlesnakes… errmm Nope.

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Next stop was A1A Carwash…(Mister Wash) where Walt got a crummy job there and ended up buying it for his drugs empire!

Next was Gus’s The chicken man at Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant. Which in real life was a Twisters.

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Then when I was googling stuff about breaking bad, I came across an article about the “The Candy Lady”, Debbie Ball.

She has been the owner of a well known candy store business in the Old Town of Albuquerque for over 40 years now.

And she was approached by Breaking Bad’s prop department to create the famous blue “Meth” prop for their show.

Just being sugar candy, it certainly looked the part, and we was very fortunate to meet Debbie in her shop who invited us to her Breaking Bad Fan area back of store for some “fun” pix…

Then this completed our day here and headed off to the hotel for some much needed rest!

Tomorrow’s drive is to Holbrook Arizona.

LULT !! XXX

Well if it wasn’t hot already, travelling into New Mexico was even more so!

There as also been a heat warning for 110F (43.5C) issued for the mid and east coast of USA, Thankfully we are travelling west and it’s a bearable 33C……?

So our journey today took us through 2 more states, Texas again, and into New Mexico.

In Texas they have a great little place called Shamrock, here was the greatly restored Tower Station and U drop in cafe, history about it here;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-Drop_Inn

This not my photo as we didn’t stay the night, but at night it looks brill!

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And this building inspired the Disney PIXAR Cars film, you can make out the Flo’s V8 Cafe building in picture below.

And outside I loved this bench with the sun shining through the cut outs.

Then after visiting this great place we drove down Main street, to kiss the Blarney Stone!

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Then it was onward to Amarillo, always reminds me of the Peter Kay song he did for comic relief in 2005. Just watched the video, some stars in there, mostly dead now!

And just passing through Amarillo we came across the Cadillac Ranch….And was different for sure!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Ranch

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….And just a little stop off in “Adrian”, TX. – It just happened to be the half way point of the route 66 – Achievement! yipee… and they just happened to have a lovely little cafe which was to close in 15 mins, but still managed to eat some nice coconut cream pie! (where they encourage to lick the plate, – you get a sticker for it!)

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Then finally at our destination in Tucumcari, New Mexico, we decided for dinner at ” Dels”, and this at DAY 31, was indeed our 2ND BEST MEAL OF THE WHOLE TRIP!! (coming after Hoggs Bbq in Dumas, TX.

And Tomorrow, Albuquerque.