Friday 27th March-
So after about two hours sleep I was up and ready to go to the airport. Desiree drove Kate, Caitriona, Shannen and I there. We were checked in and through security in no time, a great thing about Missoula airport. Our flight took off with no delays and after a short stopover in Salt Lake City we made in to San Francisco by 12pm. It was very easy to get to our hostel, The San Francisco International Hostel, by just taking the subway and walking about a block. The location was great just a 2 minute walk to the main shopping street, and at only $23a night for a four bed en-suite room it was great value too. Mairead was getting a later flight that evening and would share a room with Caitriona. That day we walked to City Hall and The Painted Ladies, which are a famous row of Victorian style houses. We relaxed there for a while, soaking up some much needed sun and watching the hummingbirds zoom by. First time I ever saw a hummingbird and to say I shouted "HUMMINGBIRD!" with excitement would not be a lie :P . That evening we went to Union Square and Chinatown, where we browsed the many souvenirs and trinkets on sale. For dinner we went to Viva, a lovely little Italian restaurant where I had the nicest spaghetti bolognese I think I've had.
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City Hall |
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The Painted Ladies |
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Chinatown Gate |
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Carved Mammoth Tusk |
Saturday 28th March-
The hostel offered free all-you-can-make pancakes before 9am so I took advantage of that for breakfast. Today we started off at the Ferry Building and enjoyed the local food and crafts market there. We got a free shuttle bus to Presidio Park and another to The Golden Gate Bridge. It really is a sight to see, spanning almost 2 miles across San Francisco Bay. From here we could also see Alcatraz Island. After visiting the bridge we got a bus to Golden Gate Park, which despite the name is not anywhere near the bridge. We wandered here for a while before heading to the Japanese Tea Gardens. These were lovely but were not worth the $8 admittance fee. I was not expecting the crowds there either, which did not lead to a nice quiet peaceful walk through the gardens. After the Gardens we caught another bus to Ocean Beach, a huge sandy beach stretching 3.5 miles along the coast. We sat and enjoyed the views from here for a while before jumping on a bus back to the hostel. We had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory that night which was lovely. Naturally we got cheesecakes to go seeing as we were all so stuffed from dinner.
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The Ferry Building |
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Shannen, Kate, Desiree, Me, Caitriona and Mairead |
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Koi fish at the Japanese Tea Gardens |
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Ocean Beach |
Sunday 29th March-
Shannen and I had an early start that morning seeing as we were going on a bus tour to Yosemite National Park at 6am which cost $139. Our tour driver was a little old Chinese man who'd learned English in Alabama and so you could only imagine his accent! I tried to sleep on the drive there but kept getting woken up by a screaming toddler. His mother had given him a big chocolate cupcake for breakfast and pretty soon he was throwing it up. Safe to say the drive there was not an enjoyable one. When there we first stopped at a high view point that overlooked the entire Yosemite Valley. From here we could see Brideveil Falls, El Capitan and Half Dome Hill.Our bus driver dropped us off at Yosemite Falls for two hours on our own. We had our lunch at the near the base of the falls, which are the tallest in North America and fifth in the world. I decided to climb closer to the falls and got close enough to feel the mist from them. After that we walked through the forest to the information center. We explored here for a while learning about the history of the park. All too soon our time was up and we had to get back on the bus. There was only 15 people going back to San Francisco so the bus was nice and quiet. Our driver put on a movie about the California gold rush and the Disney movie Enchanted to keep us entertained. We got back to our hostel at around 10pm and headed straight to bed.
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Yosemite Valley |
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Yosemite Falls |
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El Capitan- The Dawn Wall |
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Just canoeing ma tree! |
Monday 30th March-
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Chowder in a sourdough bread bowl |
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Amusements on Pier 39 |
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Sea Lions |
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Lombard Street |
Tuesday 31st March-
Mairead's flight back to Missoula was early that morning so we didn't see her. Caitriona, Kate, Desiree, Shannen and I headed to the airport nice and early before our 12pm flights. Caitriona was heading the Seattle for the rest of Spring Break so that just meant four of us would go to Las Vegas. When we landed we got the bus to our hostel, Hostel Cat. This hostel was on $16 a night for a six bed dorm so I wasn't expecting much. However, our room was nice surprise. It was much more spacious the our San Fran room, we had our own bathroom and shower and the beds were much nicer. We had a roommate, a Brazilian girl who was on exchange at university in New Orleans. After we'd dropped off our bags we walked to the Stratosphere casino and got the bus from here to the Strip. To say it's insane is an understatement. The casinos are huge and their themes are elaborate. Caesars Palace is one mile long from end to end! We had dinner at the Hard Rock cafe and the food was unreal. After that we just wandered around the strip until 9.30pm when we watched the Bellagio's famous water fountain show. This was amazing to see the water timed to a song. After that we went home to the hostel because we had an early start the next day.
Wednesday 1st April-
By early start I mean we were up at 5am. We were all going on a bus tour to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. This tour only cost $89, which was great for what we got. after we were picked up at our hostel we were given bottles of water, a breakfast pastry and coffee. Out tour driver, Frosty, was very informative while also being funny. He told us all about the history of Las Vegas, Boulder City, the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon, as well as pointing out little historical sites along the drive. Our first stop was Hoover Dam, an impressive 221m high. We noticed a white line along the shore of Lake Mead which Frosty informed us is usually how high the water reaches. It really shows just how much of a drought Nevada is in. After Hoover Dam we crossed the new bypass bridge and continued west to the grand canyon. Frosty put on Independence Day, the sci-fi movie with Will Smith. Some of the scenes had been shot in a little town we passed through. We stopped at a little town called Williams for a free all you can eat buffet lunch. This was included with our ticket and was a nice surprise seeing as we expected a packed sandwich to be our lunch. I had a salad, a pulled pork burger, wedges and vegetables for lunch and warm apple tart and ice cream for dessert. We continued on our way and just finished Independence Day as we arrived at the park. Our first stop was Mather Point, a beautiful overlook of the canyon. Frosty gave us two options: spend an hour here,get driven to Bright Angel point and spend another hour there, or walk the two mile to Bright Angel. We chose the hike and it was so worth it. We got to see many different viewpoints of the Canyon along the way. To say the the Grand Canyon is breathtaking does not do it justice. Along the way, Kate and I climbed down to an overhang to look straight down into the canyon, which was terrifyingly amazing. We took almost two and a half hours to get to Bright Angel just because there were so many point to stop and take it all in. We left the canyon at 4.30pm and Frosty had more movies for the drive home, Runaway Vacation with Robin Williams and Parental Guidance. We were dropped off at our hostel at 10pm, feeling tired but happy. This tour was much better that the Yosemite tour and had a lot more included. That said I'm still delighted to have vised both National Parks.
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Hoover Dam |
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The white line is where the water should be.. |
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Just chilling :) |
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Taking it all in |
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Kate and I on the overhang |
Thursday 2nd April-
We decided on our last day of holidays to treat ourselves to breakfast at Denny's. We spent the entire day working our way down the Strip; starting at the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign and finishing at the Venetian Casino. We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in the MGM Grand with Desiree's aunt Amanda and her fiancee Zach, who had both gone to the University of Montana. We had a great conversation with them and spent over three hours there. It was lovely to meet them. After dinner we walked to the Mirage for their Volcano fire show. This was even more impressive than the Bellagio's fountain show. Kate and I were so close we could feel the heat from the flames and smell the gas. It was a great way to finish our trip at Las Vegas.
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Viva Las Vegas |
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First we visited ancient Egypt.. |
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Then Medieval Europe.. |
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Stopped off in New York for a bit.. |
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Said Hello to the MGM Lion.. |
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and dropped into the Rainforest.. |
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escaped an exploding volcano.. |
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Before finishing up with a relaxing gondola ride in Venice.. |
Friday 3rd April-
Our flight was at 9am so we got the bus the the airport nice and early. Desiree was on a later flight than Kate, Shannen and I so we said bye to her at the airport. We were flying home with Allegiant who offered cheap flights to Missoula. The airplane was uncomfortably cold so it was pretty hard to sleep on the plane. We flew up the Bitterroot valley, between the Rockies and I watched as we approached Missoula, hopefully not for the last time. We landed, collected our bags and got the bus back to Lewis and Clark. Waiting at the door for me was my replacement camera from Sony. They couldn't fix my one so gave me the same model free of charge. Once in my apartment I couldn't get the lock open on my bag. The office didn't have lock cutters so I had to force open the lock to get my room keys, ah well. I spent the rest of the day going through almost 900 pictures and putting the best on Facebook for my friends and family to see. That evening I finished off season 2 of The 100, which had finished up earlier that month I just didn't have time to watch it.
So that was the main part if my Spring Break. I hope you enjoyed reading about my travels and if any of you are thinking of visiting any of the places I've been don't hesitate too ask me for tips. I had a great trip and it was the experience of a lifetime. - Fiona :)
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