Originally posted from Las Vegas, this update was split into three parts (see New York City #3, and Driving through California) for the sake of reducing the loading time due to the images involved…

In San Francisco, we toured The Rock, spending an absolute fortune (US$15.50 each, plus US$15 parking fee) to get out there and feeling rather ripped off. However, it was something that many people don’t get to do since it books out 7-14 days in advance in summer. Place was rather full when we were there, but it can’t get much fuller than that because of the National Parks Service restrictions anyway. Got to do one of those despised audio tours that we hated in Carlsbad Caverns, but here, oddly enough, everyone was really quiet and listened to the audio tour, not talked over it, so it was really pleasant inside the cells.

As an aside, they do not let you go into the cells like you see in the Sean Connery/Nicolas Cage movie, “The Rock” because the doors are temperamental. Apparently they filmed that scene in the middle of the night when they made the movie, and then, when they went to let the actors out, one of the cell doors did not open, and they really were trapped in there for roughly four hours before they could get them out. You can see why the regular folks like us are not allowed to be locked in. Still, they opened the doors and slammed them shut again so we got to hear the sound and it was a very impressive din of finality.

Also in San Francisco, we went to the Zoo, courtesy of some complimentary tickets from a wonderful person there by the name of Lori Quinn. Alas, when we went to thank her, she was away for two weeks and so we could not see her. Still, a very interesting way to spend the day. Most amusing thing of the day was that they fed the lions at 2:00pm, and the Lion House was crowded with people wanting to have a look.

What most people did not read was what they were going to feed the lions. As the lions ripped into the tied hessian sacks (they make them fight a bit for the food), everyone pressed forward. As the lions ripped the bags open and dragged out a beautiful white rabbit which had been gutted, and proceeded to crunch on it, a lot of families and people of a sensitive nature fled. Apparently they’d been under the impression the lions would be fed steak or something, and so when the white rabbit came out of the bag, parents were bundling kids out the door as fast as possible. Rather amusing.

Oh, there were Diana monkeys at the zoo too apparently, but they were invisible to us, though we looked mighty hard into that cage, trying to see what they looked like.

We then proceeded down the coast road, simultaneously admiring the sheer cliffs of the California coast, and being stunned by the poor driving abilities of so many people on the road. Slow cars had the opportunity to pull over into pull-outs to let faster cars through, and yet, there were many who simply refused to pull over, despite doing 10-15mph under the limit. Since the road was winding, it was double lines for most of the way, so if you’re going on this road, be prepared to drive v-e-r-y slow at times due to other people.

Found a beach full of elephant seals that oddly enough, usually shun people but chose a beach by the side of a busy California road in 1990, and have been returning ever since.

Cruised back over across the state inland, and managed to get to have a look at a solar power electricity generation plant. We needed to have a tour organised in advance apparently, but since we did not, and because I used that famous Aussie charm, we ended up getting a tour courtesy of the guard on duty. Very interesting to see a large array of mirrors. There were five plants in the one area comprising a total of 1,000,000 square metres (100 hectares) of reflective mirrors.

As you know from the start, we’re now in Vegas and sweltering. The heat yesterday was 97F as we came through Baker (home of the world’s tallest thermometer) and we’re expecting warmer today. We’re considering using some of the winnings to splurge on a motel room so we can get some air conditioning, but then, with the casinos all being so cool inside, and the free lessons on offer, perhaps we won’t. It’s all so exciting to hear such mundane decisions being worked out before your eyes, isn’t it?

Categories: Travel, Odyssey 2001