Hello everyone, hope you are all well!

Alan has finally let me loose on a blog page!!!!!!

We have been really busy since our last blog post and we are currently on an Amtrak train to LA. I'll just tell you a little bit about these trains as they are very different to the usual virgin trains. First of all the leg room and the size of the seats are enormous!!!Alan looks like the little man off Little Britain sitting on the big chair! (Write the theme tune , sing the theme tune!!!!) The seats recline a bit like a lazy boy chair and the toilets have their own changing areas with huge mirrors and sofas, so the ladies can do hair and make-up, but I suppose when you are on a train for 12 hours like ourselves you do need this bit of luxury!!!

Since we left you last we have headed off to the Grand Canyon via Sedona (famous for its red rock, a good place to stop apart from the toilets as I found them just to be a hole in the ground....nice!!!!) When we got to the Grand Canyon our faces did drop in awe of the sheer size of this wonder of the world! The measurements of this place are a mile deep and eight miles across in some places. A lot of the paths to walk on were not roped off or fenced, so when Alan started to go near the edge and get that dare devil photo I did start to poo myself and act a little bit like his mum telling him to come back! (I kept him alive Deb and Jan!!!!)

Alan's a little bit brighter than he looks, when I was taking photos of him on the edge he started to click on when I kept telling him to go back a bit, a little bit more!!!!We got some breath taking photos and quite proud of myself on some photos I had done!!! Also I don't think I was really wearing the right outfit for rock climbing, Alan and I were the only people the whole day wearing flip flops and shorts. (But my outfit did look good!!!!) Check out the pics to see the fun we had including the ones of the sunset which we managed to catch!!!!

We were not staying far from the Grand Canyon and the famous route 66 is close to our hotel so we took a drive down there to say we have been on it! (to be honest just looks like a normal road to me, but another landmark done!)

Our next day was off to Viva Las Vegas baby!!!! We even drove over Hoorver Dam on the way in! We were playing the Elvis theme tune as drove in continuously!!! Alan was lovely and surprised me with a fantastic hotel he got a great deal on. The hotel had 2000+ rooms, its own casino, two pool top roofs, 6 restaurants, 4 bars and its own night club! It was called on Stratosphere and on the strip. Our hotel also had three crazy rides; one of them being the same idea of a roller coaster, off the top of the tower it literally dropped you down facing the whole city!!! The next was a spider type ride that span you round and round also overlooking the strip (bloody scary I tell you !!!!). As we walked the lobby ,which, was the casino people were already on the gambling and drinking, at this point Alan and I knew we were going to love Vegas!!!

Kath you will love the heat there hope you get a chance to read this before you fly out, the temperature in the day is in the 90s but it's not to humid due to the high winds. (Don't leave your shorts besides you when you are sunbathing as they will blow away, like mine did, nearly lost them over the roof!!!)

We were on the 24th Floor and our view was amazing. We saw the sunset over the mountains every night and that's not something you see every day.

Our first night was to hit the strip!!! Wow, what a place we went into the MGM casino/ hotel, as you walk through the flashing lights (Macca you would love it!) you actually come to a glass screen where they keep real lions!!! All the casinos were so impressive, a hotel from New York style, Hooters Hotel, Planet Hollywood, Circus, circus, Luxor (the architecture of this building was in the style of a huge pyramid!) We also saw the Bellagio, the one where Oceans 11 was filmed, I did want to run upstairs and find the room Brad Pitt was in, but sadly I didn't think Alan would be too happy!

One of our a favourite casino was casino Royale, not for the casino or hotel but because of the $1.00 Margaritas & $1.00 Beers, we did get a little merry that night!

The next day walking around Alan spotted a chapel where you could get married for £50!!!! People do love their drive-thru's over here but I think it gets a little extreme when you get married at a drive thru chapel!!! (Seriously get out of the car!!!!)

We also did a little bit of gambling this night on the roulette machine!! You can see how people could go home after spending soooo much money; you keep thinking 'one more pound and I will win!!!!' I got a little hooked on the number 11 and when it can up I did do a little bit of a funky dance to celebrate, I bet I looked like a little bit of a prat in the middle of the casino but oh well!!!! ( I also did aMonica out of friends, wearing my heels down Vegas blvd, Alan kept asking if my feet would be alright walking that far, I kept saying yes, by the end of the night I couldn't walk and nearly cried with pain on my feet! Crolla I love you and that first Aid kit were the best thing ever, blister plaster greatly needed my friend!!!)

The next day Alan had a lovely 5 hour drive back to Phoenix but it was the last long drive in his mustang so I think he was happy to get some quality time with him!!!!!!(He even called it Clyde!!! And would actually kiss it good night!)

Next, off to San Francisco, California I think I annoyed Alan just a little with continuously singing either the OC theme tune, and that theme tune of California dreams (That really tacky show back in the 1990's, don't make shows like that anymore!!!)

The day we got there, we thought we had made a little bit of a school boy error with the hotel being too far out from the city; we stayed a Marina in Oakland.We put our brains together and to work out, buses, tubes and trams!! We managed to get tickets here for Alcatraz (I had a little bit of a blonde moment and didn't realise Alcatraz was in San Fran!!!) after this we had a walk along the pier. Seeing the fog at the end of the pier was crazy, it covered the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz!

The next day we were up and very excited to go and see that famous prison. We both agreed this was one of the best tourist attractions we've both seen! The whole set up of it was brilliant. First there was a talk about the Native American history as there were many disputes about them owning the land in the treaties.

Walking around the cells the audio tour was spectacular you really did get a feel for the prison. I don't think Alan wasn't too happy though when I tried to lock him in one of the cells!! We also learnt about some of the most notorious criminals sent to Alcatraz. This included Al Capone, The bird Man (a genius psychopath) 'Creepy Karpis' (also a little crazy and used to walk around on his tip toes, see the pics of this guy, he will give you the creeps!!!) All of these guys were kept in the high security prison they were only allowed out for one day a week to wash & walk!!!!!

Now we are off to LA, our flights to the cook island have changed so we are now here slightly longer than we thought, but I suppose there are worst places in the world to be!!!!!

Lots of love

Missing you all

Jules & Alan

Xxxxx

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