USA Holiday 16th May to 15th June 2008 Dave and Kath with Tom and Teresa

Narrative by Teresa Friday,16th May. Day one Hi Everyone and welcome to the Denlay/Coghlan U.S. holiday. Our flights leaving Australia were both delayed, Denlays by half an hour, Coghlans by 45 minutes - 13 hours all up. Though we came in at separate terminals we arrived at the car hire place within minutes of each other-phew! No big problems with customs or immigration. On the American Homeland security form we had to state we were free from 'moral turpitude' and 'were neither terrorists or assassins'. Lucky we had a clean past. Kath was the only problem. Her fingerprints wouldn't show up on the scanner so, after three attempts in different places, they finally got them to work, with hand lotion, on her two index fingers. She said she wasn't a threat and the lady said she knew because she had already checked her out. "You can never tell" she said. At least she took her job seriously! Good flights, the food was O.K. and L.A. airport was much calmer than Sydney's. The hours are seven ahead of us in Australia but a day behind i.e. we arrived at 7 a.m. L.A. time (EAST midnight) but we had Friday all over again. Dave and Tom sorted out the hire car and it took us two hours to drive down to San Diego with Dave at the wheel doing a great job on the ten lane highway - five in each direction. Driving on Italian roads was a great preparation for this We stopped off at Cocos at 11 a.m. for a drink and nibble - what a menu! (We hadn't eaten since 5 a.m.) Strawberries, cream & pancakes, bacon and eggs (together) in whatever shape or form you wanted the eggs. We settled for cinnamon roll and muffin. With the help of Dave's GPS we located the Woodfin Suite Hotel which is a little out of San Diego. We have two bedrooms and a common lounge - very nice. Went for a drive down around the beach this afternoon at La Jolla (pronounced La Hoya) and then on to a shopping mall where we had a look around before something to eat - Vietnamese noodles and soup for the men, 'potato smash' for the women. Potato smash is just that, smashed boiled potato on the grill with a little beef, capsicum, mushroom etc. added. Kath bought a pair of Merrell shoes at half the price of Australia. Teresa tried on a pair of 'tummy tuck' jeans, one third the price of Aust.- forget it! Tom and Dave didn't try or buy. A bit jet lagged - hopefully better tomorrow. Saturday 17/05/08 Day Two Tired this morning and slept in so brunch was 10.30 a.m. We decided to go down to San Diego town today, 12 miles from here. Tom and Dave went to the Navy Museum while Kath and Teresa had a two hour harbour cruise. This is a big Navy area. The harbour cruise was a gentle way to

help get over the jetlag. We saw one wharf covered in sea lions (like seals) but apart from that it was unspectacular but relaxing. K & T were not turned on that the USS Ronald Reagan was berthed in town. While Kathie and Teresa enjoyed the leisurely two-hour cruise around the harbour and the island operated by the Navy, Dave and Tom skipped and danced (not literally) to explore the USS Midway. For the tour we had an audio guide which added to an interesting experience. There were many sections of the carrier opened for viewing, aircraft simulators, various rooms and offices - many more than the USS Missouri opened for view. Things such as the Captain's formal quarters for entertaining other country's officials, the mess areas, workshops, sleeping facilities, etc. As one person observed: "They had air-con, we didn't!" Tell that to the furnace and boilers cleaners and maintenance engineers. This carrier was commissioned in 1945 refitted extensively in the early 1990s and de-commissioned in 1992 (after 47 years). On the navigation deck they talked of bearings by calculating speed and time to get distance, checking variations by the sextant, to then moving on to the gyroscope to check latitude and longitude, up the GPS navigation. The next and last carrier will be the last paper map user. On the flight deck, there were a range of prop planes, jets, reconnaissance planes and helicopters that used the carrier. Hence the many photos. Fancy aircraft in the 1990s still using gyroscope navigation! When we all met up at 4.45 p.m. we took a two hour trolley tour. You could probably hear the commentary from your place. We drove all over the city and it was very interesting - one way to see the important bits. San Diego is a city of 'several' millions (he wasn't really sure) and this is desert area so they have the water problem that we have in Australia. They usually get 10 inches a year but in the last year it has been only seven and a half so they are having water restrictions. It is quite a pretty town and they have done a lot to counter the desert look. In some places it is quite lush. It is situated on the harbour and has a huge bridge linking Coronado Island to the mainland. Recently the native Indian women offered Coronado island so the mover and shaker, Davis, could expand and build the biggest posh hotel in town, bought and spent $50 million refurbishing his hotel. How's that for indigenous power! It is late Spring and Jacarandas and pink Bougainvillea are blooming everywhere. Pelargoniums are everywhere even in the median strips. The Spanish architecture is strong. They had a world expo in 1906 in the Balboa gardens, and meaning to remove all but one building after the expo, they keep temporary but unique 'papier-mache' type buildings until they fell apart or burnt down. In the 1970s, they reconstructed these buildings, and turned them into museums. All this made the place very interesting. It was quite hot today and will be hotter tomorrow. We had hoped to get to the Gardens and Zoo but stayed in bed too long! We did pretty well for the day anyway. Did you know that the Navy is the primary income source, bio-technology then leads tourism as top sources of income. Thought you did! Off to Sadie's tomorrow. Day 3 Sunday 18.5.08 What a great day we had today. It started with Teresa having to wake Kath at 7.45 a.m. - a turnaround for Kath (jetlagged). We left San Diego at 9.45 a.m. and drove the ten lane highway north east to Lake Elsinore where Sadie (Dave's sister) and her

husband Paul live. We arrived at 11 a.m. at a house with a shingle and Sadie's name on it. After ringing the door bell for ten minutes Dave finally rang her only to find that she lived three doors down. She is a real estate agent and was selling the house we were at, hence the shingle. Sadie, Paul, their son Justin and grandson Elijah gave us a great welcome, as did their five very cute little shih-tzu puppies! Lake Elsinore is a town of about 50 thousand people, in the desert, and situated around a Lake about 15 square miles (not kms). Justin walked us down to the lake and gave us the geography lesson, thank you Justin. The water comes from nearby mountains and a neighbouring lake and you can imagine how the locals make the most of it, particularly on a very hot day like Sunday. They did say they were in sweats the week before because it was so cold. Sounds like our changeable weather doesn't it? Sadie took us to our Best Western Motel to offload our luggage and then onto a huge outlet shopping centre. You'd have had a ball Mary, Marg you would have been beside yourself! All shops were air conditioned but we had to go outside in the 100 degree heat to go from shop to shop so we didn't stay too long. We all helped the local economy - the men were the first to buy! We returned to Sadie's for drinks and nibbles about 3 p.m. and later were joined, for a barbecue, by another son, Brandon, wife Vikki and children Nolan and McKenna. They were all very hospitable and welcoming, food was great and we have a few new recipes to try - a seven layer salad, bacon, bean and sausage bake (very tasty) and a different way to do potato salad. Thank you all for a most enjoyable day. Day 4: Monday 19. 5.08 Day started well with a buffet breakfast and Teresa made Kath and herself a waffle each. It really took a lot of talent! Ready mix poured into the jaffle iron which beeped when it was finished! Our first stop was to get some petrol for the long journey to Las Vegas - 250 MILES, through rather barren landscape, but there were a lot of people on that highway. When Tom attended to the petrol he found that he had to have cash and pay first or give them his credit card until after he paid. He wasn't getting away without paying. Since he didn't have the cash Dave came to the rescue and we were on our way. There are a lot of complaints about rising petrol prices (sound familiar) because it will soon be $4 a gallon ($1 a litre). We are back to miles and Fahrenheit again, lucky we remember them. In this weather you can drinks 'gallons' of water. It was 107 degrees today but should cool off later in the week. For the North Coast people, we passed by a town called Norco, in the desert. Big contrast to back home. We were amused as we passed a heavy vehicle, a snow plough, in the middle of the Mojave desert heat. We stopped at 12.30 for lunch at 'Quigleys' before driving the final leg of the journey to Las Vegas. We made great progress until we were ten miles out and then we crawled into the city and to our hotel, Circus Circus. Kath had booked the hire car until Friday but we realised we wouldn't need it so Dave rang the car hire people and, with Tom, went down to get the luggage out before 5 p.m. and park it in the appropriate place. They will get some money back on it for the few days. Fortunately there was an office downstairs. There are people everywhere at Circus Circus, every size and shape imaginable and some very loud! We had the evening meal at the buffet, one of the biggest in Las Vegas they say, then Dave and Tom went upstairs to work on photos. Kath and

Teresa had a look around downstairs and came up later to do the web page while the men cut loose. We've got a few ideas for the next few days but will leave it until tomorrow for any decisions except that on Wednesday we are having a day flying over the Grand Canyon and a bus ride to some part of it - 10 hours! Life is sooooo busy! Hope you are all well in Australia. The cold is affecting Lismore but shouldn't be too bad in Qld yet. So far we are all well. Day 5: Tuesday 20.5.08 Dave and Tom's excursion last night was to look around this hotel and then go out on the Las Vegas strip to see what was what. They returned at 11 p.m. having been driven back by 35 degree heat. Any place you went there were 'slots' ( pokies!). Very boring! D & T wanted to get to a piano bar - easier said than done. A bar and 2 beers and a 25 minute walk home. 41 degree heat today, not the day for being outside so we headed for the shopping outlet. This proved to be an enjoyable and profitable day with some really good bargains. In one shop the ladies serving us were senior seniors but Teresa had a pair of capri pants reduced to $5 because of a little ink where it couldn't be seen so she's not complaining. After lunch K & T returned to the hotel for a 'Nana' nap but T & D went on to another hotel where they had a car display and they enjoyed that. The car display has absolute classics worth up to $12 000 000US and around $19 000 - born well and truly after us. They visited the Venetian Hotel and had their evening meal there. Not much to report today. Cooler change coming. Off to the Grand Canyon tomorrow so an early start. Day 6: Wednesday 21.5.08 Up early, breakfast at 7 a.m. to catch the tour bus to the airport. We were flying to the Grand Canyon and getting taken around by bus. When we went to the next hotel to collect more people we got word the trip was cancelled. High winds made flying too dangerous. K & D checked out the possibility of tomorrow but it would have meant leaving at 4 a.m. and it was going to be 11 degrees and windy so they had second thoughts. It will probably be cancelled anyway. So we went to Madame Tussauds Wax works at 10 a.m. It was interesting though a lot of them were done years ago and haven't aged. Mel Gibson and Elizabeth Taylor still look young! Some were excellent, some not so good but we had our photo taken with Elvis. Next door was the Venetian hotel, an enormous building recreating Venice, canal, gondolas and all. The entrance hall was painted wall and ceiling similar to the real Venice and so looked spectacular ( a program on TV said that they worked very hard to be authentic). Dave and Tom headed off to check Callaway Golf (Tom was keen). We were 6 miles from home, so we did a bus stop, many long walks and stop offs, as shown in the pictures (e.g. the Mandalay had an aquarium). a windy and long walk back and the pictures of the various casinos down the strip are shown. Finally - too stuffed - a taxi ride home. A nice steak dinner and homework as you see it now and we are off to bed. No trip tomorrow! Choice is a 5.40 a.m. flight over the Grand Canyon, and a low of -4 degrees Celsius, and the keenest enthusiasm waned.

Day 6:Thursday: 22.5.08 K & T did the Miracle mile of shops at Planet Hollywood while T & D went to the Atomic Research Museum. The exhibition was quite thorough and very informative, covering everything from the WWII bombing to the Bikini Atoll and Nevada underground experiments. It was not hard to spend a couple of hours checking it out. After the Miracle Mile Dave and Kath had late lunch and went back to hotel after visiting another shopping centre. Tom and Teresa went to a one hour magician show at 4 p.m. - the kind where he puts a girl in a cage and then lifts the curtain and there is a tiger. It was called 'the big cat magic show'. Very clever. At 8.45 we went to a Barbra Streisand/Frank Sinatra show. It wasn't really them since Frank died years ago. The woman was the image of Streisand, down to the nose and the garrulous talking like in one of her movies. He sounded like Sinatra but didn't look like him. It was straight across the street from Circus Circus so we didn't have far to get home. Between shows T 'n T walked along the street and went through Bellagio and Caesar's Palace - such opulence. I went into a child's clothes shop, having a sale and the cheapest I saw was $70. This place is full of large hotels and gambling casinos. Dave went to the 'old town' for a look around and enjoyed himself. One taxi driver told us that he had come from Alaska to Vegas - what a shock to the system. He told us that Vegas usually gets an annual rainfall of 2 inches but the last few years it has been 1 and a half inches. They get their their water supply piped in from the Colorado River. It is good to have visited by we won't be back. Day 7: Friday 23.We are flying to Pittsburgh today so we got to the airport at 9.30 for our 12.05 flight. Dave had warned us we wouldn't necessarily get a seat even though we were booked. The custom on internal flights is that they overbook and when boarding time is called they offer incentives to anyone who will forgo their seats. Sometimes it's money but today it was a return trip to anywhere in U.S. including Hawaii. Three of us got seats. K & T down the back but Tom didn't so he had to wait. Finally he got on, row 8, window seat! It was better than ours. It was a three and three quarter hour flight but there is also a three hour time difference so we didn't get here until 7.30p.m. The co-pilot spent 6 months in Aust. 16 years ago from Coolangatta to Kings Cross but liked Byron Bay best. A long day! Day 8: Saturday 24.5.08 K & D, T and Sadie went to the cousin's place for lunch with Dave's father's generation. Kath will fill you in. Teresa had picked up a 24 hour bug and didn't make it. T &D went off to visit the Carnegie Science Centre for a couple of hours and toured a submarine - the USS Requin (1945 - 1986) doing devious work during the Cold War. Boys toys - says she!!! We drove out through the Pittsburgh suburbs to Bonnie's house for lunch. Lots of the houses are tall and thin. One room across and several stories high, very reminiscent of the houses in Amsterdam. All the aunts were there so it was lovely to meet them all. It was a very emotional day for Sadie who hadn't seen any of them since she was a little girl. The food was excellent and plentiful!! Bonnie's husband gave D, T and Sadie tickets to last night's ball game between Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago so

they received the full cultural experience. The match started at 7.05 p.m. and the 'Pirates' lead 3-1m then gave away 3 home runs in the 6th innings and the game was all wrapped up at 4-all at the end of the 9th (normal time) at 9.45 p.m. We left the game around 10.40 p.m. and waited for a taxi until 12.30 a.m. Hopeless. In case you are wondering, Pittsburgh won in the 14th (4-4) - they play to the death. Day 9: Sunday 25.5.08 What a big but fantastic day! We went to Linda's and Don's home (Dave's cousin) where we saw not only his Aunts and Uncles but also a lot of cousins, and their children. There must have been at least fifty people present. Linda and Don have a big back patio and the swimming pool was very popular (but we didn't dive in!). They had prepared a sumptuous lunch - a great variety and we all enjoyed it thoroughly. They had a special big cake iced with U.S. and Australian decorations right down to a kangaroo in the bottom left hand corner. It was very touching but a bit strange eating the kangaroo! We arrived at about 1 p.m. and left about 7 p.m., tired but happy. We cannot speak highly enough of the welcome and hospitality we received from them all and it's obvious they all love Dave. We were treated like celebrities and it was a most enjoyable day. See the photos for more information. Dave lined us all up for a group photo - that was an achievement! On the way home we made a quick visit into Wal-Mart for Sadie to get an extra bag so the rest of us had a 'mini' shop too. Off to Niagara tomorrow after taking Sadie to the airport at 7 a.m. Day 10: Monday 26.5.08 Early morning for all but Sadie was ready first. I think she was keen to get home! We said our farewells at the motel and Dave drove her to the airport at 7 a.m., after he worked out which airport to go to! We packed small bags to go to Niagara and left at 8.50 a.m. We left our big bags locked up at the motel because we are returning on Wednesday. The trip took almost four hours with only a petrol stop but the surrounds were a lush green and much more picturesque than the trip across the desert! A lot of it was similar to Northern N.S.W. or Sunshine coast - well, it was green anyway!! We drove through the city of Buffalo which is about 12 miles before Niagara. If you are thinking of going on a holiday give Buffalo a miss! It seems an old town but it was all closed for the holiday. Lots of three storey single room width wooden homes and old town buildings. We tried to find out why it was established there but the only industry sign was leather/hides, which figures! We finally found a Wendy’s for something to eat for lunch. I don't think we'd stay in this part of town. Dave asked for a chocolate & ice-cream drink and a diet coke and he got them all in together in one drink. When he said no, he got a root beer and ice-cream. It ended in the same place - bin. We were happy to move on. Tom and Teresa stayed on the Canadian side of the Falls in 2004 but didn't venture over the border so we all stopped there on the way in. There are two Falls, the American ones on that side and the Canadian ones are horseshoe around the end. We are all impressed but Kath is

really blown away by them - it is up there with the trip to Zermatt in Switzerland last trip. We went down to the lookout and got the spray from the American Falls because the wind had blown up. D & T went up on the bridge lookout for a better sight. We were so close we felt like we could put our hand in the water. There were beautiful tulips growing over that side. There are walkways all around the water and then we drove around the little island for a better look. We had no trouble crossing the border but we were glad to be on our side of the road. The other side was bumper to bumper with people returning to U.S. after their Memorial Holiday weekend. While the 'two old ladies' had a 'Nanna nap' D & T went for a walk around the town and ended up at the Harley Davidson shop (surprise, surprise). Yes, Dave bought two shirts! Our Hotel is overlooking the Falls and we are on the 26th floor - what a view. This was Kath's luxury for the trip. The view is really something. Aunt Sue, Uncle Thee and son Bill came to our Hotel and we all had a beautiful dinner on level 33. Food, company and service were all fantastic. Bill had to help the Pittsburgh Ice Hockey players with their game so Kath gave him the room key at the end of the meal to warm up the T.V. and keep them on track. Unfortunately they didn't win. We all went up to the room after dinner to see the Memorial Day fireworks over the Falls at 10 p.m. (Yes, Kath was still awake!). They also put coloured lights on the Falls at night but they didn't look so spectacular last night - too much spray. A great day. Day 11: Tuesday 27.5.08 A late start after our late night and the day is freezing. It is going to get to 14 degrees today but it was 9 degrees when we got up. After breakfast we drove along the lake to explore. D & T did a few things like the White Water Walk which is a stroll along a boardwalk at the edge of the white-water where trillions of gallons of water are forced into a deep, narrow great gorge which was formed this way long ago. There is also a photo gallery. K & T stayed in the car out of the cold. This was followed further on by a ride on the whirlpool aero car by D & T. ' High above the racing Niagara river they were transported through the air in an antique cable car. The torrent abruptly changes direction and creates a natural phenomenon - the Niagara Whirlpool' (brochure words). K & T went into the warmth of the souvenir shop for a look. Someone has to support the local industry! D & T were coming back to meet Sue, Thee and Bill and go on the Maid of the Mist Boat which takes them under the Falls. We can only imagine how cold it must have been. It is a wet ride and everyone has to wear a poncho. They would have looked so cute!!! (Correction: the cold morning morphed into a lovely sunny afternoon and the prevailing wind was blowing into the falls, when we went on the boat. So the spray blew away from us and we did not get very wet). Dave later took Kathie and Teresa under the Falls Walk, and that was another unique experience. We finally before dinner took a 20 mile tour around the lake to Niagara on the Lakes, which was a touristy place, but had unique and interesting architecture). Got some good shots. Meantime another 'Nanna nap' for the girls, after typing up the website. See how self sacrificing we are. Photos to follow. They take so much time and effort we've convinced Dave to see the sights and do them at a later date. Tonight we are having dinner in the revolving tower restaurant, at Thee's suggestion. A lovely night again and good company. Food suited all, and we said farewell to

Thee, Sue and Bill - they were heading straight home and we are hoping to stop off at (guess?) another outlet. Day 12: Wednesday 28.5.08 Last night was a very nice night with Sue, Thee and Bill. We had our collective photo taken as we went in and collected it as we came out. We didn't scrub up too badly either. The meal was huge, as they always are but the revolving restaurant view was great. Dave has been having trouble getting the photos onto the website. He and Tom came to bed at 12.40 a.m. They said they were working on the computer so we can only believe them! At 2 a.m. Teresa was awakened by a lot of loud talking outside their bedroom door. It was a 20+ year old girl on her mobile. I opened the door and gave her my best schoolteacher glare so she apologised and finished the call. Left Niagara at about 10 a.m. after a very pleasant but cold few days. After T & D went under the Falls on the Maid of the Mist boat, with Sue and Bill, Dave and Teresa walked along the underground tunnels to viewing platforms beside the Falls and behind them. It was like being inside with pouring rain outside! Stopped at the Grove Shopping Outlet on the way home - an hour north of Pittsburgh. Such beautiful and cheap things. Teresa now has pair of dusty pink corduroy slacks (they are nicer than they sound!) for $7.99 - eat your heart out in Australia! We all helped the local economy a little. Kath got a pair of 'Tummy Tuck' style jeans for $30 - over $200 in Australia!! Back in Pittsburgh at about 5 p.m., two loads of washing and then we ate next door. Packing done and all bags underweight for the trip to New York tomorrow. Dave was able to book our seats tonight for the flights tomorrow so we won't have to worry about all of us not getting seats like at Vegas. We saw tonight's Ice Hockey game, Bill. Pittsburgh won, whoo-hoo! Day 13:Thursday 29.5.08 Early rising to get to the airport by 7.30 a.m. Flight to Philadelphia left at 9.30 a.m. We leave Pittsburgh having had the pleasure of catching up with most of the Barilla Clan but we didn't see 'the pawn (or was it porn??) shop on the corner of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania' (fifties song). Burl Ives? Tennessee Ford? Someone over 60 would know. Our clever I.T. man, Dave, who has had trouble getting photos to work on the website since Vegas, has finally discovered a way around the problem so it's all happening again. Good one Dave. Arrived at Philadelphia about 11 a.m. and the next plane to New York didn't go until 4 p.m. Dave rang Aunt Virginia to see if he and Kath could visit but neither she nor her husband were well enough so we took a cab into the city and caught the Trolley sightseeing bus which toured for one and a half hours and we saw all that there was to see. There were 20 stops where people could leave or recommence the journey on a 24 hour ticket. The name Philadelphia means brotherly love. It has a lot of history attached to it. The Heritage hospital was the first in the USA. We had a running (fast) commentary by a guide who shouted into the microphone but even then Kath managed to get a nap in! Benjamin Franklin got honourable (and

sometimes dishonourable) mention through the tour. We got seniors' tickets for $25 each and there were 48 people on board to start, mainly seniors. There are trips every two hours so someone is making a lot of money. We were checked and double checked several times at each airport. Jackets, shoes had to come off, bags were searched and we were frisked. Kath's shoes, which she picked up at Lake Elsinore, tested positive for explosives after she set off the metal detector. What did you do to them Sadie??? They took them away and came back later saying they were O.K. Both trips were good and more time was spent on the runway than in the air. If you are ever in New York don't ask for the Super Shuttle. We waited one and a half hours and then he rattled our nervous systems with his kamikaze driving - another hour and a half ! Take a cab if you are here. Our Hotel is magnificent with fantastic views over the Hudson River. We are on 40th floor and Ground Zero is across the two lane street below. A strange sensation. There are buildings all around it so we can only imagine what must have gone on. D & T have gone out exploring. K & T had room service and will have an early night after an early morning. Day 14: Friday 30.5.08 Slept in today because we were a bit tired and after breakfast went to the Battery Park Ferry Terminal to catch the boat to Ellis Island. Ellis Island was formally the processing spot for incoming migrants since the 1800's and is now set up as a museum. There was information in the records about Dave's grandfather. Outside there is a long wall with the names of the people who migrated to U.S. Dave's grandfather came here in 1914. In recent years Dave, Pauline and Marylou contributed to have the names of their Grandparents, Eugenio and Santana Barilla, added to the wall of honour. There were thousands of names listed, from different nationalities but it didn't take long to find their names. Photos were taken to mark the occasion. Dave was trying to find records of his Grandmother so rang his Aunts to make sure of dates and spellings. He didn't locate her but Kath is going to research it. This was the day of the long queues. We caught a cab at 10.30 a.m. hoping to get the 11 a.m. ferry. What a joke! The queue was enormous, had to have been at least half a kilometre, and moved rather slowly. Dave was on the ticket queue while Tom and Teresa held the place in the line up. We finally got on a twelve o'clock ferry. T 'n T had a new appreciation of retirement as there were lots of school children on excursions, both Primary and Secondary children, and some of them were pretty rowdy, not mention the ones who were throwing up! One school had all their children wearing red shirts, not necessarily the same but red of any kind, and the Teachers wore red shirts too. Good idea we thought. We queued again to come back on the ferry and then had the challenge of getting a cab back to the hotel. The one thing about the queues was that hundreds seem to board the boat at once so it moved in fits and starts. It was 26 degrees today. We sailed past the Statue of Liberty, waved to her, and a lot of the schoolchildren got off there but others got on. At 5 p.m. Dave and Tom went on another exploration of the environs but K & T only went next door to the Century 21 Department Store sale. Everyone but the

President was there we think! Tomorrow we hope to get on the city sights 2 1/2 tour, the ticket is good for two days and you can get off anywhere it stops. Day 15: Saturday 31.5.08 Can you believe it is June already?? Time flies when you are having fun! (Well it wasn't quite June - wrong date). What a day we have had today. We decided that we would do a city sightseeing tour for 2 1/2 hours but found out there were three sections, each 2 1/2 to 3 hours which were interchangeable. Tom wanted to go to the Guggenheim Museum and several other Museums, Dave wanted to see Central Park and K & T were just going to enjoy the sights sitting on the bus. Tom got off first but Dave stayed with the girls. We changed tack from the green line to the purple line, i.e. from downtown where we got on (green) to uptown which included Grand Central Park, Museums and Harlem(purple). All of that would have been fine if the guides had said about one third as much and ten decibels lower. The first guide had a harmonica and played bars of the national anthem for different people when they came on. He could only play a few bars and then branched into song (dreadful) but the aircon in that bus wasn't working so the fan was turned to high and we couldn't hear him downstairs. According to others we were fortunate! The guide on the purple bus had the same problem shouting, breaking into song and repeating himself but he was pleasant. He said he was a Teacher in his early days - don't worry about the children, we think he was ADHD!! Guides changed along the way and we couldn't understand the next one. Back on the green line to get home we struck one who didn't know places, kept repeating himself and saying 'right guys?' He kept encouraging us to ask questions but no one obliged. It was a bit insulting really. We think he must have been a relief guide. So we had five hours on the bus with a lunch break in between. Lunch was at the Olive Garden Italian Restaurant - good service and beautiful food. We were very tired and glad to get home by six. We didn't have time to do the Brooklyn Loop. That might be something for tomorrow. Storms were threatened for today and they obliged. When we came out of the Restaurant rain was bucketing down but we had our coats and umbrellas. Obviously there had been a lot of heavy rain as water was lying in the streets. When we got on that bus people couldn't use upstairs because of the danger of slipping, and because of wet seats, but when the sun came out people could take ponchos for the wet chairs and go upstairs again. In the downtown loop we saw Broadway, Macy's the biggest dept. store in U.S. or whole world (not sure but it is big), Bloomingdales, Empire State Building, City Hall, United Nations Building, Rockefeller Centre, Central Park, Times Square, and a few others. The Uptown Loop included Central Park and Strawberry Fields and where John Lennon lived, the Museum Mile, Lincoln Centre, Zoo, Apollo Theatre, Churches, Mean Street and shopping street of Harlem. Both of these streets looked like any other street - maybe they come to life at night. Tom didn't come home with us, Dave went for a walk and explore, and K & T went in to have another look at Century 21 dept. store . D & T ended up at the Irish Pub to have an evening meal. K & T bought something from where we have breakfast across the road and brought it back to the Hotel. Much cheaper and nicer!

Hope all is going well for you all in Australia. Congratulations Melissa (Coghlan) and Richie, on your engagement. We think you are made for each other and we hope you are very happy together. Day 16: Sunday 1.6.08 Happy Birthday Doug Coghlan. May you have many happy returns. We hope you had a great day. Happy Birthday Alex Denlay. You have reached double figures now so you are growing up quickly. We hope you have a very happy day and find a good way to celebrate. We watched the game Bill. Sorry the Penguins lost. We thought they were in with a chance there for a while. Boy is it a rough, fast game! We did the New York sightseeing trip around the Brooklyn district today. Once again it was interesting but it is a little different from Manhattan. People like Heath Ledger, Barbra Streisand, Walter Mattheau and poet Walt Whitman lived in that area. It had both well off areas, poor ones too. After this trip we had our lunch and caught the uptown bus to Grand Central Park for a 20 minute ride in a horse drawn carriage, driven by an Irishman. It seems everyone does that and it was a pleasant experience. The photos will impress you. Dave insisted on the white horse. We caught the downtown bus home. The first guide was great but she was replaced by another shouter who was having microphone trouble and there was only on or off. Did you hear him?? The air con wasn't working at first and then leaked, hence Kath with the umbrella inside the bus. We've come to the conclusion that the Sightseeing tour is a great idea but the logistics of it leave something to be desired. There is a huge memorial cross, about 4 m high, on the side of the Catholic Church in the next block, made from girders of twin towers. The Priest told us at Mass that the Church buildings had been inspected during the week because they are building an 80 storey building across the street and a 75 storey one in the next block at Ground Zero and they needed to know if the underground blasting was affecting them. There is work at Ground Zero 24/7 and you can hear it through the night. Off to Boston tomorrow, catch up with Matt(from our street in Sydney). Day 17: Monday 2.6.08 An early start to get to the car rental place. We got a car big enough for us and our luggage (a Mercury Grand Marquee again with only 500 miles on the clock - purrs like a kitten) and then started the challenge of getting out of New York. Dave had his GPS and drove very well. We also had a back up map in case (Don't think Dave thought we needed it). We drove along the coast, passing Norwich, Greenwich, Exeter, Worcester, etc. (wonder who the first occupants were?) to New London which is a very pretty but expensive looking place. The cashier at the car park told us to go up the street two miles for a good lunch, beautiful food, to a place we thought she called French Annie's. When we got there it was called Fred's Shanty but she was right, it was nice food. Talking about the language problem. Teresa was in an Outlet shop and the Shop Assistant told her to look at the rack with 'darts'. Having looked everywhere

for darts or arrows and asking again she realised 'darts' meant 'dots'. Sale items were marked with dots! Then we made our way to Newport, Rhode Island, of America's cup fame. They haven't heard of poverty there but it was beautiful area. After a look around we were trying to get to Boston to contact Matt and got behind a garbage truck in a single lane street. We were 45 minutes getting onto the motorway! Arrived in Boston at 5.30 p.m. Kath rang Alex during the trip to wish him a Happy Birthday. Sounded like he was enjoying it too. Matt was to get here about 8 p.m. to have a meal with T 'n T. It would have been good to catch up with the neighbour from across the road at home. He has been working in the aviation racing industry, and has just finished travelling around the States for three weeks and has to go again tomorrow to prepare for a race. But the boss had him working until 7 p.m. A late evening reschedule, and he is to meet us at 7 a.m. so we are lucky to catch him. Then off home for his packing and away he goes. We will have to get a photo for Sue (his mum) - she is coming over in a few weeks. Day 18: Tuesday 3.6.08 T'n T met Matt for breakfast downstairs at 7 a.m. That was a good idea and it was great to catch up with Matt. He was up at 5 a.m. to get himself organised to get here. He looks well and hasn't changed at all! Then he had to go home, pack and fly off in his plane to another airshow in North Carolina. We had a ride on the Boston Duck, commencing at 11 a.m. It went around the streets and then into the water to show us the highlights of Boston. We had to be in there at 10.30 a.m. so we were directed to a hire car, downstairs, and it was a flat fee of $45. Tom gave him $62, expecting $10 change but he didn't give any change. When I asked him for $10 change he said: "There is a gratuity you know" even though it is not obligatory. I replied that it wasn't going to be that much so he begrudgingly gave it back. On the way home the taxi charged us a flat fee of $33 so the hire guy was really going to make some money on it! On the Duck tour we passed the supposedly 1st chocolate shop in America (that got us off to a good start); the place where Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone; the station where they arrested the Boston Strangler; drove down the street where the Boston Marathon was run (15 to start in 1907, thousands now); the 52million dollar restored Trinity Church; the pond in the Gardens which is used for paddling in summer, ice skating in winter; a piece of the Berlin Wall which was brought over here for some reason; drove over the widest rope support Bridge in the U.S. which is similar to the Anzac Bridge in Sydney; learnt that the Bostonians eat more ice cream than anywhere else in the U.S.; Bostonians have the world record for the greatest number of pumpkin carved jack 'o lanterns for Thanksgiving - 31 000 ( a lot of candles). There were a lot of groups of school children in the eight ducks - weren't we lucky? As we got on the teacher was giving out duck bills which made a loud quack when blown. Dave offered to buy them all!!! Actually the children weren't too bad. The driver allowed any children who so desired to drive the duck when it was on water - that gave them a big thrill.

Boston is a city of several hundred thousand people so it is quite small compared to New York. After we had lunch D & T went their merry way to the Navy Museum and visited the U.S.S. Constitution, the first American Navy Ship built that defeated one of 600 British Ships that patrolled all their conquered waters. It was the start of the defeat of the British in America. The frigate USS Cassin Young was next, having served in WWII, and Korea. We did not get to many of the more interesting parts, remaining on the main deck. Off to the Navy Museum, and we learnt all about the USS Constitution. We went back into town and the heat (90oF) and pace of recent days caught up with us. A taxi, train and taxi later and we were back to the Marriott. K & D visited the big shopping mall near the hotel and had a look but didn't spend up big. We enjoyed an afternoon break in the air conditioning after the heat outside, especially on the taxi queue. No news tomorrow - we are travelling all day. Off to see Yogi Bear! Day 19: Wednesday 4.6.08 We have had a day of waiting. We left the Hotel at Quincy in Boston at 11 a.m. to get to the airport for a 1.30 plane but it was raining heavily and the traffic was dreadful. Three lanes were being directed into one so we sat in traffic for a while but finally we got to the Hertz place at the airport to return the car. Then we waited again for ages at the Hertz desk and got a shuttle bus to the airport. Just as well they provided the shuttle bus, it was a long way to our terminal. We had about 45 minutes to spare, and yes we were searched again, except for Dave who obviously didn't look suspicious, but we managed to catch our plane which was going to take four hours. Because of storms around Denver the plane left half an hour late and had to take another route which took five hours. Fortunately we had to put our watches back two hours so that gave us time to catch the next one. Denver airport is something else. It is h-u-g-e! We had to catch the plane to Cody at Gate 59 and there were more gates along the terminal. We had a long walk (our daily exercise) from our arrival point at gate 9 to Gate 59. The airport shuttle service was nearby and Dave put Kath on it to get to Gate 59, otherwise she would never have made it. We waited for our Cody plane which should have taken off at 6.20 p.m. but all planes were delayed because of storms and it was put back to 6.55 p.m., then 7.10, then 'delayed'. However, it finally took off and we were at Cody at 9.15 p.m. on a small plane something like the small one that comes to Lismore. Though Kath had booked the car there was a big delay at the airport. We were second on the queue and the lady couldn't seem to get the paperwork sorted out - she didn't have her glasses, which wasn't a good start. Finally, by 10 p.m. we got to the Hotel and there was another mix up with rooms, even though Dave rang the day before. K & T collapsed into bed, exhausted, but D & T needed a sustaining beverage (Moose Drool beer and every bit as bad as it sounds) and something to eat. We are adjusting to the two hour time lag. That is the extent of yesterday's news, a good day to have behind us! The flights to S.F and L.A. are only small ones. The best part of the day was finding the Rocky Mountain chocolate shop at Denver - they are the best!

Day 20: Thursday 5.6.08 What was shaping up into a cold, miserable day turned into a fantastic day at Yellowstone Park. There were reports of snow, rain and storms but the weather was going to be better than tomorrow (at 4degrees) and there were no reports of snow closing roads so we decided to go. We left here about 11 a.m. and made the first stop the Buffalo Bill dam, which T & D found very interesting. Too cold for K & T to get out of the car! Then off to Yellowstone Park which was magnificent. The snow is still lying on the mountains and along the road, only melting where the sun shines on it. The streams are racing with melted snow and there are small waterfalls, canyons and cascades which made for a very pretty drive. We did the lower part of the park today and will do the northern corner on Saturday. Tomorrow we will explore Cody which is only a small town of about 7 000 people. Tourism is big here and cowboy boots are in! We are going to Buffalo Bill's museum tomorrow - a big item in the town. The trip around the park had four distinct types of scenery- the first was around the shores of Yellowstone Lake which had lots of snow and ice, some of its water still frozen, and was spectacular. The next part was geysers all along the way, like in N.Z. and equally as smelly but looked amazing. The third part was the waterfalls and rapids and the last bit was through the pass and snow, and passing some mud volcanoes. The melting snow fuels the Yellowstone River which runs south, linking up with others and eventually drains into the Atlantic through the Gulf of Mexico. There were lots of tourists, buses and cars making the most of the Park. It cost us $25 and we can use the ticket for six days. That was pretty good we thought. People can actually stay in cabins in the Park - too cold for us. Yellowstone is the World's First National Park. About 2 000 earthquakes shake Yellowstone annually. It is the home of 300 geysers and each year about 3 million people visit Yellowstone. If you want to dispute any of these facts this is what is being told to tourists. We saw bison, elks, moose, deer, lots of birds and a cute little squirrel which seemed quite comfortable in our presence. There are no fences so some of the bison were on the road but mostly they didn't care about us. They are not very attractive animals and are losing their winter fur! A lot of animals have been killed over past years from being on the road and hit by vehicles so there are moves to do something about it. Perhaps fences would help. Lots of the trees in the park have died after fires due to lightning strikes but it seems to be nature's way of rejuvenating the Park. The last big fire was 1988 which wiped out 40% of the Park but they have fires each year. We didn't dream that the Park could be so beautiful and we'd recommend it to anyone. It is so different to anything we have experienced and such a contrast to the desert around Las Vegas. Saturday is the area with the bears and wolves but we won't get out of the car to pat them! A great experience, an extraordinary day and the men drove well.

Day 21: Friday 6.6.08 Well, this was a day to see Cody and find out all about it. For those of you in Australia who don't know about these things, Buffalo Bill was William Cody, who helped found the town of Cody in 1895. Having been involved in many events that shaped the American West he formed an arena show that toured the U.S. and Europe for 30 years - Buffalo Bill's Wild West. We are in the heart of cowboy territory here, the heart of the American West, so we have street names in Cody like Big Horn Ave, Beartooth Ave, Stampede Ave, Red Butte Ave. We have Buffalo Bill's Antlers Inn, Outlaw Cafe, Silver Saddle Lounge, Denny's Gun shop, Wayne's Boot shop (and beautiful cowboy boots they are), B.B. hospital centre and Rattlesnake Mountain. The school next door is called school of Grey Bull (should inspire learning). They have a rodeo every night from June to August and the famed Cody Gunfighters perform nightly, free, in front of the Hotel at 6 p.m. We saw them all sitting there last night waiting for something but we didn't hear any shots ring out! On June 13/14 there is a White Trash Bash at the Bale of Hay Saloon. Shame we will miss it!! Yessir / Ma'am this is boot-scootin' territory. You have a good day now - and we surely did! We started our day with breakfast at Granny's Country Kitchen and Dave had Chicken Fried Steak with his eggs! K & T settled for waffles but Tom took the healthy option and stuck with cereal. It was more brunch and so we will not be having lunch. The focal point of the town is the Buffalo Bill Historical Centre which houses five Museums: The Buffalo Bill Museum, Museum of Natural History (Yellowstone) ; Plains Indian Museum, Whitney Gallery of Western Art and the Cody Firearms Museum (which appealed to D & T). We got there at 11 a.m. and Dave & Tom left around 4 p.m. Dave spent three and a half hours studying 1500 guns upstairs and 1200 guns in the basement (no Owen Guns!). We spent the morning there and found it very well set up and informative. At 1 p.m. we left Dave still pondering the mysteries of the Firearms Museum and Tom drove K & T for a short journey down the main street and back to the motel. We checked the Harley Shop in town and Dave also has to go to Wal-Mart for torches for work - no go. K & T went to bed for some spinal and eye therapy. Dinner at Bubbas tonight - very nice. Ribs, pulled pork, barbecued baked beans (not out of a can), baby back ribs and brisket, all hickory smoked!. It seemed to be a family restaurant and was reasonably priced. Day 22: Saturday 7.6.08 Happy Birthday Melissa and Cameron Coghlan. 25 years - Wow! We hope you had a great day and found a suitable way to celebrate. Today was a different day. We were going to Yellowstone Park to do the Northern rim but weather reports were ominous. It was minus 14 degrees C in Cooke City, the last town we were to go through before entering the Park' with reports of light

snow. Cody was 8 degrees C. The day was sunny so we decided to leave about 10.30 a.m. We went up the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway and it was spectacular but it started to snow on us on the way. By the time we go to Cooke City it was really snowing and bleak but the ranger told us it was safe to go through. It snowed on us for about half the trip around the park until we got to a stop. Then it was just cold but the snow was beautiful and lying all around. At Mammoth Hot Springs, where we stopped, Tom raced up the track to the top of the springs to take photos, Dave went to get Kath a hot chocolate, and we stayed in the car for the rest of it. We spent most of the day in the car because of the snow, cold and altitude. The day seemed to have improved but as we got to the bottom of the northern rim, where we had been on Wednesday, we never would have recognised it. They had obviously been dumped on with snow and there were signs that some icy conditions prevailed, snow tyres needed, take care. It wasn't nearly that bad for most of it but the snow was spectacular. It was up there with Zermatt in Switzerland for beauty and the 'aha' moment. We reached a height of 2620m (8595 ft) and the higher we went the more the snow. Fortunately the road was clear. Cooke City is in Montana but we came back into Wyoming just after we got into the park. We travelled 220 miles (354 km) both days despite going different ways. 440 miles is a lot of petrol! As we came into the park we saw a sign :' Don't feed bears or molest them." We kept our eyes open for bears but didn't spot any. They were probably sensible and stayed under cover. Leaving at 6.30 a.m. for the airport in the morning to catch a plane to Denver and a connecting one to San Francisco, getting there around midday. We could have gone on an earlier one and spent the day in Salt Lake City but why you might ask. It is going to be 4 degrees C here tonight! We had a good day, spectacular scenery, but it was tiring. Off to bed to the early rising. Kathie's little effort at Poetry yesterday after Tom said it was so beautiful you could almost write a poem: 'The water is flowing, and it is snowing, that is why we are going.' What a great moment in literature. Day 23: Sunday 8.6.08 The early start was an assault to the senses. It was v-e-r-y cold with a biting wind. We were up and had the car packed by 6.30 a.m. and headed for the airport. Yes, three of us were searched (Dave seems to have influence still) and all luggage for everyone was searched. No terrorists getting in through Cody! We left a little early and took one and a half hours to get to Denver where it was raining. That huge airport doesn't seem to be as big as San Francisco. Because of the long walks Kath arranged for assisted transport through the terminals - a good idea. We had a small breakfast at Denver and waited an hour for our San Fran. flight which took 2 1/2 hours and we had to put our watches back an hour for the time zone. We arrived at 12 noon, S.F. time at the airport and then had the long ride to the Hotel. We are staying at the Radisson Hotel and Kath had booked water view rooms and connecting rooms, and Dave rang yesterday to confirm. When we arrived there were no water view rooms and no connecting rooms - they were only requested, not

booked - tell us the difference! But we have got beds that can be adjusted to softness or firmness with a remote - is that luxury or what? Because there will be a lot of walking Dave hired a wheel chair for Kath for the three days we're here so he took Kath all over the place this afternoon. T ' n T went to find a place for brunch but, apart from seafood everywhere there wasn't much for a decent small meal. After coming home for a nap (after our early morning) Tom went over to listen to a top quality Blues Duo which he enjoyed so much he bought their CD. In the evening we went over to the 'Franciscan' restaurant for a beautiful meal, overlooking San Francisco Bay and Alcatraz. We are staying at the Fisherman's Wharf - which is big into seafood, especially crab. There are big shopping areas a few blocks away so we'll have to explore that on Tuesday. Tomorrow we have a five hour cruise and bus tour of San Francisco. Marylou, Dave's sister who lives near S.F. is coming tomorrow evening to see Dave and meet us so that will be good. This is a big city. Day 24: Monday 9.6.08 K & T have just returned to the Hotel after a great night with Mary (Dave's sister) and husband Karl who came down from Napa, 45 minutes away, to see Dave and us. Karl even gave up a night working in his restaurant and was very appreciative of the efforts at the restaurant where we were - the Franciscan seafood where we ate last night. They left here at 9.15 p.m. with Dave and Tom to visit 'Little Italy' and who knows what else??? 

Next morning: Well, the boys got home at 11.45 p.m., very pleased with themselves, telling us they drank cranberry juice!! Yes, we almost believed them. If this is a different type style it is because it wouldn’t work last night and then Kath found that we had run out of pages for a ‘short’ document so it is going in ‘Word’ and will have to be cut and pasted.

We went for a five hour combined bus and boat tour of San Francisco yesterday, commencing at 9.15 a.m. Kath realised that we had been booked for this tour for Sunday 8th but we hadn’t arrived. We had vouchers and thought they might not honour them but there wasn’t a problem.

The bus tour took 3 ½ hours and we started and finished at the wharf in the next block. Fisherman’s Wharf is famous for its crabs but they are not the local ones because they are poisonous. Crabs are brought in from Oregon and Alaska. Down on the street there is a man dubbed ‘the Tree Man’ who has two big branches he hides behind and he leaps out and frightens people as they go to the bin. It is called ‘theatre’ and he has been doing it for 27 years!! That is different isn’t it?

San Francisco has a diverse population of 793 875, unless there was a baby born last night or someone died! There are a lot of people around at present because there is a diabetes conference on and someone told the men there were 60 000 people here for the launch of the Apple I- phone. Sounds an extraordinary number

of computer people in the one place but certainly the hotel is full. It is built on a peninsula 7 miles long and 1 mile wide.

After the 1906 earthquake much of it had to be rebuilt. The earthquake ruptured the gas mains which caused the big fire and then the water mains also burst so there was no water to put the fire out. The homes built recently, up against each other, like ‘semis’ in Australia or units, have to have one inch left between them to cater for earthquakes. Three thousand lost their lives in the 1906 earthquake, three hundred in the 1983 one.

San Francisco has an average annual temperature of 57 degrees F and it snows lightly about every twelve years –so we were told. It was referred to as a coastal desert.

There are no car assembly centres or steel workers so the city survives on tourism and support services. There were also many references to Movies being made in certain places and film stars living here. We drove through a ‘well-to-do’ suburb of Richmond and saw where Robin Williams lived. The suburb was named after Richmond in Melbourne Australia, where a certain Tom Coghlan grew up, but his suburb was on the other end of the scale. We saw the Church where Marilyn Monroe and Joe Devine got married, drove through the wealthy Pacific Heights where actor, Nicholas Cage and writer Danielle Steele live and real estate is worth nine to ten million dollars.

They are very proud of their San Francisco Bridge so we drove over it both ways and stopped at one end of it for photos. It is 6550 ft long, 740 ft high and spans are 4 200 ft apart. Those are statistics for the men! There are other similar bridges but not as big. Drivers are rather aggressive, we saw it in action.

After lunch we went on the boast cruise and once again got all the info about the bridge and sailed under it both ways. As we went out there were two platforms at the wharf, of sea lions just lying on the sun or playing. We sailed past Alcatraz, a small island not so far from land but surrounded by very cold water with dangerous currents. This made it the ideal places for top criminals like Al Capone and co. No one has ever been recorded as having escaped successfully.

The first trip from New York to San Francisco took 89 days because Panama wasn’t open then and they had to sail around Cape Horn. A good day, made better by having dinner with Carl and Mary (Dave’s sister).

D & T went through a navy boat this afternoon and will do another one tomorrow after they visit Alcatraz. Tom will tell you more. We were aboard the USS Pamparis submarine from WWII that was in the Pacific. It did 6 tours of duty and was accredited with saving a number of Aussie and British people from the ocean. It was a very sleek and sophisticated sub for its time and we enjoyed checking it out. A walk through the Musee Mecanique – it contained the old games that people put in a

dime for, like ‘Win An Arm Wrestle’, ‘Tell Your Fortune’, & “show Us Dancing’ – stuff that has been preserved from the earlier 20th century. Quite fascinating – and dated!!

Day 25: Tuesday 10.6.08

Since the men were going to Alcatraz and navy boats K & T caught a cab to the shopping centre to see what we could see. The only money spent was the cab fare, lunch and Kath bought a pair of earrings and a brooch at the shopping channel clearance outlet and got a free blouse with it. How is that for self control. Actually we were governed by bag size. We were home by 1.30 p.m. for another ‘nana nap’.

D & T had to go to Alcatraz and do the tour. It took a couple of hours and kept us entertained. Wouldn’t like to live there. Off to the fish food area and small containers of mixed cold crustaceans and squid and calamari – yum! We then checked the USS James O’Brien, which was a ‘Liberty’ ship that supplied supplies to the submarines in the Pacific during WWII. It is still fully operational (in retirement) and gave the two of us a chance to check out lots of areas that were not available in other warships. The engine room was amazing. Dave thinks that his father served on such ships during the war. We took well over an hour checking out the details. Email any questions and I will pass them on to Dave.

Not prepared to lie down, we jumped on the tram that took us into town for $1.50 each. We the caught two cable cars – the Californian - ? took us up the hills and the Power - ? took us back to Fisherman’s Wharf. Worth doing.

Off to a pleasant Italian meal tonight – and we are tidying up the odds and ends (you can pick who’s who!) for travel tomorrow.

We are off to L.A. tomorrow and the evening meal at Pauline’s place (Dave’s sister). On Thursday her daughter Tracey is taking us to Disney land which wasn’t on our schedule originally but we’ll have a good day. We are not going on the roller coaster though.

Day 26: Wednesday 11.6.08

To day was a travelling day. Got to the airport about 9.30 a.m. to make sure our seats were booked for our 11.30 flight. You should have seen the crowd lined up. There was one fellow at the end of the line wanting to catch a 10 a.m. flight and had given up hope when they fast forwarded him on but we stayed the distance. All our seats were booked and apart from security everything seemed to be O.K. But what a zoo it was in security. We got pulled over again and frisked – the ‘pat down’ and Kath kept whistling so had to step aside to a special place but it turned out to be the underwire in her bra! The price we women suffer for fashion and comfort.

Our 11.30 flight was delayed an hour, rescheduled to another airport gate, all tickets had to be reissued and instead of sitting together we were all in different rows but that didn’t matter really.

We had a most enjoyable evening at Pauline’s and Phil’s place yesterday. Pauline picked us up about 5.45 p.m. and took us round to her home where she had been busy preparing for a big night. Her son Greg is the barbecue king who did all the barbecue cooking, and did it well too. His wife Rochelle was also there and Kristy, (Pauline’s daughter) & Husband and family. Check the website for the group photo taken on the stairs of Pauline’s house. Also present was Daisy, Tracey’s daughter and Tracey (Pauline’s daughter) got home from the Restaurant before we left. Fortunately Phil was able to get home early too. It was a great night, good food but also great company, and it was nice to meet them all. Thank you all for your welcome and hospitality and we hope to repay the compliment when you come to Australia!

Day 27: Thursday 12. 6. 08

Happy 6th Birthday Nina Cannane. Hope you had a great day today and have Many Happy Returns.

Well, what a great day it was today, thanks to Tracey who kindly picked us up at 10 a.m. and drove us down to Disneyland. She was our guide all day. Tracey has been there several times before and knew her way around so we didn’t miss anything. We didn’t go on any rides but did manage a concert in the frontier saloon – Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. It was better than it sounds. We also saw the Jambalaya Jazz Group in the New Orleans section and the Disneyland Marching Band parading down Main Street for the flag lowering ceremony.

Pauline has a friend who is a member of Club 33 Restaurant and arranged for us to have a late lunch . It was a beautiful meal – top quality food and classy service. Even the toilets looked like fashionable cane chairs – nothing ordinary about the place at all. This restaurant is not open to the general public and you have to have been ‘in the know’ to get in. A plain green door and an intercom was the entry point.

There were thousands there (a bloody lot the others said) and it is a great place for children. To- night is ‘Grad night’ (like after HSC in Aust) and the Park is closed to the public at 10 p.m. to allow all the 18 year olds to celebrate all night. Alcohol is not allowed and they come from everywhere so it should be a great night for them – the activities will be available. Kath finished her shopping for all her grandsons. Dave and Tracey were able to hire an electric buggy for Kath to get around but it was very hot and the sunscreen had to be applied liberally. We parked in the carpark and caught the tram to the front gate. Trams came every five minutes, were packed, and carried 175 people at a time. Facilities are great. After a really full day in Disneyland we still managed a Wal-Mart on the way home.

Thanks for a great day, Tracey. We didn’t think we’d ever see Disneyland and it is good to have experienced it. We appreciate your generosity in giving up your day off and chauffeuring us around.

To-morrow there is still a shopping mall to visit. Dave and Tom are threatening to hire pushbikes and ride along the foreshore here at L.A. We are having dinner at Phil’s and Pauline’s, restaurant, Scardinos, and we will go to the airport from there for an 11. 45 p.m. flight back home. We are promised the best Italian food so we

look forward to it, thank you Phil, Pauline and Tracey. Dave has arranged for us to have one of the rooms at the hotel for the whole day so we will be able to leave our luggage here and have a shower before we leave.

We have had a fantastic trip around the U.S. and have been impressed with the welcome and hospitality we have been shown by all Dave’s relatives. Thank you all, it has been great to meet you. The general public have been very hospitable as well, particularly up in Cody. Our only disappointment was the cancellation of the Grand Canyon day so we’ll have to look up the Internet! We may see some of you in Australia sometime.

Over and Out from Kath, Dave, Tom and Teresa. We hope you have enjoyed the website during our absence.