On Sunday morning we relaxed on Cardiff beach (see previous blog for details) before visiting a wildlife reserve and then made our way back up the coast towards Los Angeles in search of Disneyland! We found a motel just outside of the park and waited in anticipation for the joys that Monday would bring! After psyching ourselves up with coffee and pastries we journeyed into the magical land of Disney! Let's just say the Yanks know how to do a theme park. Laura lo...

Ok so to update you all we left Monterey last Wednesday! From Monterey we continued our journey down the west coast on Highway 1 looking out over the Pacific Ocean. The roads were pretty spectacular as we drove a 125-mile stretch of highway known as the Big Sur, a region that boasts "craggy, unspoiled coastline adorned with mother nature's palette" (Lonely Planet, 2009). Along the way we stopped off at various points to enjoy the "vistas"! On...

On Monday morning we began the coastal leg of our trip and left San Francisco heading for San Jose and Santa Cruz. We reached San Jose around midday and as there didn’t seem to be much happening drove North West to Half Moon Bay. On arrival it was evident that the American people are not scared of a pumpkin and in the build up to Halloween had decided to grow enough to keep them going until Christmas (seriously, loads of pumpkins)! From Half Moon Bay we joine...

Arrived in San Francisco on Saturday morning and found a hotel to stay at in Oakland just across the bay from downtown San Francisco. We had a walk around the waterfront at Oakland before getting the Bart (or subway) to San Francisco. Once in the city we went to Pier 39 and saw the sea-lions before having a coffee, we then wandered towards the centre of town passing through Chinatown before reaching Union Square where we went to the top of Macy’s for views over...

On Thursday morning we set off for Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon. After just 8 miles along the road we stopped off at Exeter a small picturesque town with murals painted on shop walls and back streets, a lovely little place. From here we made our way towards Sequoia and Kings Canyon. After about an hour we reached the entrance and began our drive through the impressive valley climbing to around 6000 feet. The area is dominated by huge Redwoods and Giant ...