.: Cath’s Blog:.

I had a great day today in San Francisco.

I decided to head west towards Alamo Square, so I could see some of the old Victorian houses that were on all the postcards.

After I saw the houses I walked south through Haight Ashbury to have a look around the shops.

I took a walk down to Castro (Gay Village) and then took the bus to Pacific Heights (very fancy indeed).

I took the bus up to the Golden Gate Bridge and spent a while looking at Alcatraz and the Bridge and took the bus up to Lombard Street where I saw the crookedest street in the world.

I started out early this morning and headed north on 101….past Madonna to San Francisco.

I booked into the downtown travelodge (what a dump) and went for a wander.

I had another long day of driving today. I checked out of the hotel at 11am and headed back on the road. I took 35 south out of Nevada into California and through the Mojave Dessert.

I was fine until I got to Los Angeles where I got very lost.

I spent hours driving around the city and decided to head north. I took Venice to the Pacific Coast Highway and drove through Venice Beach to Santa Monica, Malibu and stopped in Santa Barbara for the evening to sleep.

I had a lie in this morning and went for a walk along thr strip to the Bellagio again, this time to see the flowers.

I walked through the mall in Ceasers Palace and back again to the hotel. I didn’t do much today…ate Pizza in the hotel and chilled.

I got up early this morning and headed up 180 to 64 north up to the Grand Canyon.

It was quite cold and there was no sun, so I didn’t stay there for long. I took some photos and headed on 64 south to Williams and then 40 west to Kingman.

I called my Mum and then took 93 north up to the Hoover Dam.

I parked up and took some photos of the Dam, headed past Lake Mead and Boulder City and then hit Las Vegas.

When I got to Vegas I drove up Las Vegas Blvd and I parked in New York New York. I checked if there were any rooms and luckily for me there was.

The room I was given was amazing and I walked for a while around the hotel, went for a chinese in the hotel, had a few drinks and then went for a walk along the strip to the Bellagio to see the fountain.

I got up early and checked out of the hotel and went downtown to check out the architecture and shops. I took some photos etc and jumped onto 25 south to Albuquerque.

I took 40 west into Arizona and decided to see a little bit of Route 66 again. I stopped off in Holbrook which was a desolated place but totally amazing. I always wanted to see the Wigwam Motel…and finally did.

I got to Flagstaff at about 3pm. I was advised it was a little late to head to the Grand Canyon (approx. 89 miles north) so I headed on 89A to Sedona (19 miles south of Flagstaff).

 Sedona was really beautiful. The run started through a woodland area down through a valley through the rock formations and then into Sedona Village.

I didn’t stop in the village for long…I just headed back to the travelodge I booked in Flagstaff.

I had a long drive today.

I got onto 40 and headed west to Clinton where I went to the RT66 Museum.

I headed back on 40 through Texas again (Amarillo), stopping by the Big Texan Steakhouse (they serve 72 oz steaks WTF!!) and also dropped by the http://www.amarillo.searchtexas.com/html/cadilac_ranch.html and into New Mexico.

When I got to the border I stopped by the Tourist Information center and picked up some leaflets on Albuquerque and Santa Fe. I decided to head on up to Santa Fe, so I took 285 up to Santa Fe. It was a great drive, the land was starting to get a lot more dusty and red.

When I got to Santa Fe I couldn’t find a cheap room and ended up paying a small fortune to stay at the Best Western. Not the best ending to a good day.

I left Canton, Texas at about 10am and jumped onto I-20 heading into Dallas. When I was checking into the hotel last night I looked at a few brochures on Dallas – Fort Worth and saw that there was a real South Fork. I decided that this was something that I definitely wanted to see. After taking I-20 I took I-635 to I-75 and took that to Parker Road which took me all the way to the South Fork Ranch.

I was so excited once I got to it. I recognized it immediately as it is completely the same as on the TV. I drove up the driveway, parked and went into the Visitor’s Center and bought my ticket for the tour. I was instructed to go through some doors and to wait on the other side for the tour.

In this room there was tons of Dallas memorabilia…actually it was hysterical watching some of the video’s and looking at the video’s. I can honestly say that Linda Gray (J.R.’s Wife) is one of the worst actresses in the world!!

Anyway it was excellent reading the history of the family etc…and I still think Jena Wade was the best…and Bobby…but who didn’t!! After looking at all this crap acting everyone met for the tour. They picked us up with a tractor and seating for everyone to be taken to the Ewing Mansion. This is where the fun began.

When we got to the house it was clear that this was the same house used for the program. We were taken into a room and told the history of the program and house. When the pilot was being made for Dallas they used another ranch in the area and they did a total of 5 episodes.

When the network gave the go ahead the TV station told the owner of the ranch that they got approval for another 19 episodes. The owner of this ranch said it was not convenient, so the network had to find another location. The network got into a helicopter and searched the area for another location and found the South Fork ranch. Uninvited they landed on this ranch and majorly pissed off the owner. The owner told them to leave immediately and they made an appointment to meet the owner and brought a fat check. The owner of South Fork put down some stipulations that the network had to work with.

The ranch was a fully working ranch and the family did not want to have to move out of their home, so they said the network could only film during the month’s on June, July & August…the hottest months of the year!! Anyway all outside scenes were filmed at South Fork and inside shots were filmed in Hollywood. The ranch was sold by the family after it was announced during the Superbowl that South Fork was a real ranch with a family living on it. It got too much for the family and the ranch was developed as an attraction.

After the tour I jumped onto I-35 north to Oklahoma. The only thing I was interesting in seeing in Oklahoma was the bombing memorial.

I have to say that I was very impressed by how tastefully they had created this memorial. It was a very tranquil place and a lovely piece of art…if you could call it that.

I spent a little while walking around the memorial and then jumped back onto the highway until I got to a hotel and got an early night.

I got totally lost this morning leaving New Orleans. Don’t ask me how but it took me forever to get out of the city and to find I-10 West. Finally I found the highway and got on my way towards Texas.

Actually, the weather was pretty awful and going through Lafayette was bad, the rain was lashing down.

There was a lot of swampy areas going through Louisiana. I stopped a few times, but only for quick stops and I got to Canton, Texas at about 8pm.

I was pretty annoyed actually as I went to check into a hotel and was told it was going to be $120, as there was a huge flea market and all rooms in the area were very expensive. I went somewhere else and it was half the price!! Grrrrrrrrrr!!

Ok, I have to say I have totally fallen in love with New Orleans :o)

I booked the room for another night and went for a walk downtown and along the river.

Went for lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp, which was great and went back to the hotel to relax.