Grand Circle Tour of the Canyons - 4

Day Eight: Hoover Dam - Fri

As I was staying in a hotel 5 minutes drive from Hoover Dam, I decided to do the dam, properly. This meant a $30 tour, including the power plant and within the dam itself. All a bit geeky really. After driving through the security checkpoint to get onto the dam, I avoided the expensive car parks and walked across the dam to the visitor centre. After another security check to get into the centre there’s a 10 minute film about the building of the dam. It’s very American and patriotic, which made me chuckle. After the film, we were squeezed into an elevator, shoulder to shoulder and facing the front, down to the old nuclear fallout shelter and the huge water pipes, which are big enough to drive a car through.

Grand Circle Tour of the Canyons - 3

Day Five - Kingman to Kingman - Tues

Tried again to get to the Grand Canyon - via Phoenix, then Flagstaff but no luck and a horrendous, terrifying drive. Snow and ice on the roads, trucks and SUVs whizzing past far too fast with their invincibility cloaks on.

Day Six - Route 66, Oatman, London Bridge - Weds

Grand Circle Tour of the Canyons - 2

Day Three - Zion National Park, Utah - Sun

After my nightmare journey to get to Zion, with locking the keys in the car I made it to the park, paid the $25 entrance fee,and as it’s out of season people can drive through the park rather than take the normal shuttle buses. So I drove the short scenic route to the riverside walk, which was an easy stroll at the bottom of the canyon. It was very pretty, with icicles - this is the desert, it shouldn’t be so cold.

San Francisco

With the cold still in full effect, I decided an open top bus tour was the only was I going to see San Francisco in two days, plus visit Alcatraz. Luckily I got a discount on my joint ticket, so it didn’t break the bank hugely.

The Bird Man of Alcatraz had no birds on Alcatraz, there, myth gone. It’s a weird island, very eerie and evocative. The audio tour is by both ex convicts and guards, so it gives both sides of the story, it seems neither liked it there. But then again I don’t suppose prisoners are meant to like jail, sort of against the point.

Portland, Oregon

My cold was in full swing by this time, again - it wasn’t going away, so I walked the local neighbourhood and pampered myself by having my hair done. I didn’t feel any better, but my hair looked good.

Washington Park is on the west side of town, same side as my hostel, so I set off on a  foggy morning to the park and apparently a good place to see the city from - though not with the fog. There were even some roses growing in the International Rose Test Garden, though not as many as there would be in the summer, of course. It was a great place to take photos, especially if I wanted spooky, tree photos.

Seattle

After 4 days on two trains I arrived at the hostel just as the Thanksgiving meal had finished. But I met Caitlin, who was also at the Austin hostel, who made me up a plate of turkey, mash and stuffing, plus a slice each of pumpkin and pecan pie. It was just what I needed after the train journey, proper hot, homemade food.

The Green Tortoise hostel is opposite the famous Pike Place Market, so that was my first stop the next day.

Charleston, South Carolina

It wasn’t a very good start in Charleston, the city was hit by the tail-end of a hurricane, so day one it rained, hard, day two it was windy and cold and day three it was just grey, day four there was sunshine, but I was only there for the morning, so I didn’t see the place in its best light. And on my cab ride from the train station to hostel, I was ripped off, not only overcharged, but we dropped off another passenger, stopped for the driver to get some coffee and finally made it to the hostel. I was not a happy bunny. But I was able to get into the hostel and have a shower, I was given the back door code, so I just had to wait for the person who worked there to let me check in, she did and even allocated my bed so I could go and have a nap, yay!

Muncie, Indiana

Many people have asked, why Muncie? To visit a friend of course, not that we’d met in person before but we’d been in contact via email for years and a visit was due - in fact back when I was a publisher I published two of her books - Silenced Cry and The Devil Can Wait (buy them, they‘ve won awards and they‘re good). It was lovely to meet Marta and her family, including the somewhat potty grandmother! Plus it was very good to stay in her lovely home, a proper bed without railings, a homely, comfortable atmosphere and generally just relaxing. Plus the weather was gorgeous and we were even able to drive with top down in the car around Indianapolis and then again in Muncie.

Chicago

After an overnight train from Washington DC, I arrived at the Chicago hostel at 8.30 in the morning, fully expecting to just be able to put my bags in a locker and come back and check-in later. However, I was allowed to check-in there and then, dump my bags in my room and have a shower. The hostel offers a number of activities, one of these happened to be an architectural tour of the city, I decided this was probably a good idea to take, so I could get an idea of the place and what there was to see. 

Washington, DC

I arrived in Washington DC at the train station and caught the bus to the hostel. The bus driver was very helpful, until I pointed out the top of the Capitol building asking what it was, he just replied it was just some office building! 

Portland, Maine

I’m still in a quandary about Portland, it’s nice enough but from what I’ve seen nothing special, so I’m rather at a loss as to why it is in so many must visit lists (apparently even in Fodor’s Top Ten cities to visit, but I can’t find any evidence for that, except what the chap told me). People are very proud of the place and maybe in summer it’s charming, but to me it felt rather desolate. There were a lot of unemployed and homeless people about the town and the social worker I met did say there is a big problem in Portland. The public transport is appalling, buses are late and people spend half their time waiting for them. As I said, it could be that I was there at the wrong time of year and the economy has affected the place, so it’s not at its best and having a car could have made a difference, but it just didn’t seem to have much going for it, except the seafood!

Boston

I arrived at about 6pm and went for dinner in an Irish bar, it was the coach that drove me to drink again. Seriously, the coach driver missed a turning on the highway and reversed down the shoulder so he could take the right turn - terrifying!

New York

Having made it through immigration in Canada for America, just. I only had to wait 8 minutes for authorisation, which for ‘normal’ people takes seconds and the immigration guy did insist it was an issue with me rather than anything else and then finally finding my luggage, which had arrived on an earlier flight but no one had told me, I made it to New York and my hostel in Harlem.