USA Holiday 2024

We 4 left Auckland on Thursday 28 March 2024

USA Holiday!

We flew to Vegas (via LA) and stayed at the Palazzo.

Everything is indeed bigger in the USA. Vegas is amazing. Weed everywhere, casinos everywhere, sensory overload.

The Vegas Sphere is massive.

We got Amelia kicked out of the gambling area for being underage :)

We took a heli for a tour of the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon.

We drove out to the Valley of Fire, which was so rockily cool. Red rock and multi-layers of colours.

We went to see 'O' by Cirque du Soleil, which is mostly on/above water.

We left Vegas and drove west to Death Valley (the lowest and hottest point in USA) and the desert and the wild flower bloom . . The view from Dante's View was epic.

We stayed at a ghostly hotel (Longstreet Inn) where we got ourselves spooked, and Amelia made a video of it...

We drove around the southern end of the Sierra Navadas to Porterville, and the next day drove up through Sequoia National Park. Snow now at such altitudes.

We walked through the snow to the largest single tree in the world (General Sherman, a giant Sequoia)

We stayed at Yosemite for 2 nights, and did a guided bus tour of Yosemite, which is spectacular. (esp the Bridalveil Falls, El Capitan, Yosemite Falls, Half Dome)

We drove up to San Francisco and visited the extra-interesting Exploratorium. (anyone with any science interest has gotta go there)

We visited the massive Ghiradelli for a chocolate sundae breakfast and walked the Golden Gate Bridge, and then Nikki and Amelia flew back to NZ.

Daniel and I drove east to meet up with Steve at Truckee. (He had to come and rescue us due to the blizzard conditions and road closures due to snow at Donner Pass)

D and I stayed with Steve and Ben and skiied Northstar, then Palisades/Alpine and then Sugar Bowl on the last day. Great spring skiing after the recent 4 inches of snow!