Road Trip - San Francisco Part II

Day 15 & 16: Back again in beautiful San Francisco where we spent the last 2 days of our road trip. Love the houses, the streets, the weather... We visited a few more places recommended by friends.

Had a craving for Asian food, so we tried roasted goose and char siew rice for lunch at Cheung Hing Restaurant (2339 Noriega St, San Francisco, CA 94122).👍

Char Sieu & Goose rice

 

We also visited Haight and Ashbury, which was known as the center of the hippies movement in the 1960s. Couldn't help but notice the smell of weed in the air.

Not far from Alice's place was the San Francisco's City Hall. The structure's dome is taller than that of the United States Capitol by 42 feet.

Interesting architecture

We also tried the famous egg tart at Golden Gate Bakery (1029 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133) Yum!

Baked Egg Tart

Chinatown

Walked about Pier 1, the ferry building and an open market just opposite.

Mushrooms of all sorts!

Really enjoyed our time in San Francisco! Thanks again Alice for having us! Till we meet again..

And we're off to Chicago - The Windy City!

Read More »

Road Trip - Bryce Canyon National Park

Day 10: We departed Las Vegas for Kanab in Utah (located just north of the Arizona state line) on 11th September 2016. We stocked up on food supplies at Sprouts Supermarket in Las Vegas before our 320 kilometer journey.

We chose to stay in Kanab because it's centrally located in between Zion, Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon (North Rim) National Park also known as the "Grand Circle" area. 

Apparently Kanab was a popular filming location for Western movies and TV series such as The Lone Rangers, Planet of the Apes, El Dorado, Daniel Boone and many more.

We arrived at our airbnb accommodation that night. We were glad we had the nicest room in the house which was located at the end of the hall as the other rooms had windows that face the walkway. We spent $250 SGD for 4 nights which we thought was reasonable for the location.

Our accommodation in Kanab

Day 11: The next morning, we drove to Bryce Canyon National Park which was about 1½ hours (120 km) drive away.

The main feature of this park is the collection of giant natural amphitheaters and its not a Canyon at all.
 

"To encourage visitors to stay healthy while having fun, Bryce Canyon National Park has developed a new activity called "Hike the Hoodoos!" Part hike, part scavenger hunt, visitors must hike at least 3 miles on specially-marked trails and find "Hike the Hoodoos" benchmark survey markers along the way.

Visitors may either obtain rubbings of the benchmarks, or take pictures of themselves with the benchmarks, to prove they hiked the required distance. Upon showing their rubbings or photos to the visitor center ranger, they are then presented with a special reward."

We found 4 out of the 9 "Hike the Hoodoos" benchmarks, sadly by the time we got back to Sunset Point, it was too late to redeem the special reward. 

We hiked from Sunset Point -> Rim Trail -> Sunrise Point -> Queens Garden Trail -> Peekaboo Loop Trail -> Navajo Trail -> Wall Street Trail -> Sunset Point. It was a mixture of easy to moderate to strenuous hikes. 

According to the Health app on my phone, we walked 21,836 steps and climbed 102 flights (a flight of stairs is counted as approximately 3 meters of elevation gain (approximately 16 steps). It's no wonder I was running on empty at the end of the day.

Bryce is so picturesque we couldn't stop taking photos.
 

Sunset Point - Rim Trail & Sunset Point to Sunrise Point Trail is paved and fairly level. There are 4 main view points on this trail. (1 mi/1.6 km round trip).

Posing with my Osprey Daylite Daypack 💓!

Of course the view is awesome too!

Queens Garden - This is the least difficult trail into the canyon. (1.8 mi/2.9 km round trip)

Navajo Loop - "The Navajo Loop begins at Sunset Point and goes down into Bryce Amphitheater through a “slot” canyon where large Douglas Fir trees are stretching to reach sunlight high above." (1.3 mi / 2.2 km round trip).

Peekaboo Loop - is a steep but spectacular hike through the heart of Bryce Amphitheater. This trail is shared with horse/mule rides and we are advised to give the right-of-way to these animals. We didn't see any of them during our hike though. (5.5 mi/8.8 km round trip).

Alex and his orange hat

Wall of Windows - a steep zig zag trail up the hill that leads back to Sunset Point.

Having fun with our shadows

Can you see me?

We really made the most of our day here in Bryce Canyon and enjoyed every bit of it. Definitely worth all the uphill climbs and sore legs. 😊

Read More »

Road Trip - Las Vegas

Day 8: We finally arrived at our airbnb accommodation at one in the morning on 9th September 2016 (approx. 6 hours, 520 km from Yosemite). It's the nicest airbnb accommodation on our road trip thus far. Private entrance to our room facing the swimming pool with an en-suite bathroom. It was modern and clean with a TV & fridge. The neighbourhood was quiet and safe. It was located less than 10 minutes from the strip. The hosts were also very helpful and friendly too. 

Our airbnb accommodation

It's been quite a hectic road trip thus far, and Las Vegas was not the place to slow down. 

Ah, Las Vegas! It needs no introduction. Internationally renowned for its casinos, entertainment, shopping, fine dining and nightlife. Even though it's my first visit, it feels familiar..

Here's a quick summary of what we did.. 

As you may already know, we bought some Groupon deals weeks ago (read 'Groupon Our Travel Buddy' post) -- Go Karting, Fatburgers & a Russian restaurant Café Mayakovsky.

We splurged and watched not one but two Cirque du Soleil shows -- 'O' at Bellagio on 9th September (Day 8) and 'Zumanity' at New York, New York on 10th September (Day 9). Loved em' both! But of course, if I could only choose one to watch, it'd definitely be 'O'.

'O' mazing!

We walked up and down The Strip from one end to the other. An ordinary street of hotels, malls and restaurants during the day, transforms into some place magical at night. Bustling with people, shows, music and lights. 

Flamingo

To be honest, I don't remember much of our meals. We did try Chipotle Mexican Grill (an American fast food chain specializing in tacos and burritos) for the first time and loved it! Definitely my favorite fast food chain to date! {I loved it so much, I made it on board -- check out my Chipotle Burrito Bowl recipe}

First Chipotle experience ;9 - brown rice, beans, chicken, salsa, cheese

We got tickets (online) to Stratosphere. If you don't already know it, the Stratosphere (or currently known as The Strat Hotel, Casino and SkyPod) is a hotel, casino, tower located on Las Vegas Boulevard just north of the Las Vegas Strip. The 1,149 ft (350.2 m) Stratosphere Tower, is the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States!

There are three thrill rides at the top of the tower.

• Big Shot at 1,081 ft (329 m) was the highest thrill ride in the world until the Sky Drop opened on the Canton Tower at 1,591 ft (485 m) in Guangzhou, China. You’ll be shot 160 feet in the air at 45 miles per hour in a matter of seconds – all while overlooking the majestic Las Vegas Valley.

• Insanity, opened in 2005, at 900 ft (270 m) is the third highest thrill ride in the world; it dangles riders over the edge of the tower and then spins in a circular pattern at approximately forty miles per hour.

• X-Scream at 866 ft (264 m) is the fourth highest thrill ride in the world. It consists of a single car that rolls back and forth on a straight piece of track that slightly overhangs the tower and pivots vertically in a see-saw motion.

But due to bad weather conditions, we weren't able to utilise them on our Day 8 & 9. We did however get to use it on our way back to San Francisco on Day 14 and rode on all three of the thrill rides -- X-scream, Insanity and Big Shot! {in that order}

X-scream was the least scary, perhaps because we were sitting at the back, and it didn't quite see-saw down far enough. Insanity was the worst for me because we're seated in a circle, facing other passengers, dangled over the edge of the tower and it spins in circular motion.. looking down at the lights below just made me dizzy and nauseous. The final ride, Big Shot had the best view! Alex rode on the Big Shot FIVE times while I could only handle three!

The Big Shot

Crazy A! 😆

Read More »