MEANDERINGS IN MIDDLE AMERICA 2019

MON, 29 APRIL, 2019
ADELAIDE TO DALLAS, TEXAS
Crowne Plaza, Elm St, Downtown, Dallas
Left home at 6 am with pleasant taxi driver. Plane left airport at 8.20 am. Staff were surprisingly friendly although I had to go through the x-ray machine and be patted down as usual. Arrived Sydney 10.50 am, went straight to gate 15 and caught bus to international terminal then to gate 9 for loading at 11.55 am. There wasn't time to do anything much. On the plane the locker space was mostly taken but we put our bags in so they were accessible. A man came along and rearranged them, jammed Peter's bag on top of mine and then another man stuffed his bag in front so that was goodbye to access to my carefully chosen nuts and lollies for the trip. We were next to an exit door but that was OK. No queries about our ability to open it. In fact, everyone in our section of the plane was older. It was difficult not having a seat pocket in which to put things. Caught taxi to hotel-$60 with tip. Hotel Crowne Plaza, Elm St, Downtown, Dallas was very down market at front entrance but room OK. The whole city seemed to be made up of a few old buildings, lots of new high rises and car parks everywhere.
Huge number of people on scooters, no helmets. Rested at hotel and then went out to tea at an Italian restaurant. Upmarket and food nice but waiter drove us mad being so pleasant and asking questions about Australia as if he was interested. Back to hotel and slept OK.

TUES, 30 APRIL, 2019 DALLAS, TEXAS
Went out for breakfast at an industrial cafe-about $17 with enormous cups. Mine was 'medium' size and had 2 huge teabags. Walked back to hotel and then to a Verizon shop to get data for the ipad. Helpful. Dropped off ipad at hotel. Feeling quite unwell with temperature and aching bones. Rested for a while and then walked down to 6th floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. Made a contribution as well as $16 entry. The museum was crowded and the way it was arranged was not ideal, in my opinion, but the displays were very good with photos and TV showing the assassination of President Kennedy. The actual spot where Lee Harvey Oswald shot from is as it was and glassed off.
We bought a magnet and 2 T shirts from the shop and they asked for yet another donation. Walked back towards hotel and passed the Red Museum. It was a magnificent building which told all the history of Dallas. Visited the Kennedy Memorial next door. It was just a lot of cement columns above the ground and not very relevant to anything. We ate at a Mexican cafe near the memorial-a hot chicken roll and 2 expensive fresh orange juices. The sandwich was served with boiling hot spiced chips. Back to hotel for a rest. I was hardly able to walk for sneezing and began to wonder about hayfever as it is spring and there are lots of wildflowers out. Later walked around the area a bit, including the Rosa Parks memorial below, and bought hayfever pills at a 711-1 to a pack or 4 in the 711 version.
The shopowner said hayfever is bad in Dallas. The weather was very windy and showery.

WED, 1 MAY, 2019
DALLAS TO MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
Comfort Inn, Downtown, Memphis
Restless night with sore throat and hot and cold episodes. Woke up early. Had breakfast in room. Got taxi to airport from foyer at 9.30 am. Some angry man was taking up the whole couch in the foyer, so nowhere easy to sit while waiting. We had a driver from Ghana. Helpful in telling us where we had to go, repeatedly-5 gates for American Airlines. We were to go to gate 14 he reiterated several times. A nice lady did the registering for us and we checked in bags with ease but then the security line was a pain. We ALWAYS get chosen for extra security. Peter was sweating and I was struggling to move his backpack from the line as stuff was building up and people were getting angry with us. Then we went to gate 14 and waited for about an hour or so. We were worried that the plane did not come up on the overhead panels so asked and the woman said no, that is gate 29. We hurried a long way down to 29. Still no notice about Memphis flight but the woman at the desk said it was after the Cincinnatti flight at Gate 29. There were endless hold ups for that flight so Peter went up and asked again and they said we were on gate 31. We moved again and checked with that desk and the woman said it would leave from there. Eventually the previous plane left and the notice for Memphis came up. There were no obvious announcements for any of this. Flight was OK but my seatmates didn't say a word or make any eye contact. Flight only an hour. Taxi to hotel was about $47. Place looked pleasant and checkin lady was nice. Feeling very bad, had a rest and went out to Beale St for tea. Caught the trolley near hotel on Main street for a dollar each. It was really nice. I was walking along talking to Peter but he had fallen behind. I saw a lady looking at me and I said "I'm talking to myself because my husband isn't where I thought he was." She laughed and said she thought I was just a mad woman and had kept right on walking. They were also catching the trolley. Beale St was pretty tatty but in a friendly and relaxed way.
There was loud music and lots of tourists. We ate at Pigs on Beale. The ribs were smoked and tasted good. We had beans and chips. All the chips are covered in paprika which is annoying. It was quite tasty. Caught a trolley bus right back to hotel. Very convenient.

THURSDAY, 2 MAY, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
Half the night coughing. The air conditioner kept cutting in making a big noise to cool things down when they got too hot. The air would then be too cool and not helping my cold. The curtains also let in much too much light-poorly designed as usual. Got up about 7 am. We went down to breakfast expecting the worst but it was surprisingly good. The bacon was thin and well cooked, there was ordinary bread, not sweet, and quite nice fresh fruit. They even had normal black teabags, not just orange pekoe. After breakfast waited in foyer to be picked up for plan B of the Elvis tour which we had ordered yesterday through the front desk. The driver finally appeared just before 9.30 am. We drove down to the riverfront to a tourist centre and took photos of BBKing and Elvis statues and then it was on the road for Gracelands. Elvis Presley Boulevard, a long road, was badly in need of resurfacing. The driver was quite good and gave explicit instructions about pickup at 1 pm, 3 or 4 pm. We were ushered into a theatre under strict security and watched a movie about Elvis's life before going out and waiting for the bus to drive us to the mansion. On arrival on a white bus, I was surprised to see the mansion was just a very nice 2 storey house but certainly not a palace.
The trip inside confirmed this. Annoyingly the people in front were on a VIP tour so this woman kept talking and talking and clogging up the walkways with her group.
We saw the house, Vernon's house and the trophy room. The gardens nice with a lovely kind of plant bright pink like devil's ivy in a large size. The graves were attractively laid out but the whole effect was still rather garish. We had a look at Elvis's 2 planes, bought an icecream and looked at souvenirs. Caught bus back to hotel, with me feeling really ill-nauseous, sore left ankle, sore back. Rested for quite a while and then walked down to Bass Pro store-the big white pyramid by the water. When we got there the place was amazing with all sorts of animal displays, live fish etc. There were whole live trees, a river of water, aquariums etc. It includes a hotel. Couldn't find anywhere to eat and feeling so nauseous I was scared I might be sick in the shop. We contemplated going up in the centre lift to the top of the pyramid but it was $10 each, plus tax. Went out the back of the building and almost immediately a trolley bus came along. We got on and looked for places to eat. Saw a cafe and got off. It was the Arcade cafe and apparently quite famous. Peter had cheeseburger and I had a toasted cheese sandwich. They were OK. After that we caught the trolley bus back to the hotel. In the evening we went back to Beale St and looked around for ages.
Finally we ate at TGI Friday. Peter had crumbed chicken tenders and I ate one and some chips. Trolley back home.

FRIDAY, 3 MAY, MEMPHIS, TN
Went down to breakfast at 8.30 am. Caught trolley bus to Union St to Cotton Exchange to see the cotton museum. It was interesting but probably did not concentrate enough on cotton itself. We at least saw what a cotton plant looks like.
After that we walked down to the river front to find out about the riverboat cruises. It was a nice park and quite modern and the building was huge though poorly marked but we finally found out where to buy a ticket. Had to be back by 1.30 to board for 2.30 departure. Went up to Beale street and ate lunch at BBKing's Cafe.
There was live music but the food was bad again-we shared a sausage sandwich and chips. Took forever to get bill. The atmosphere was pretty good and heaps of customers. Walked back down to riverfront for cruise. Met a group of Australians from the Mustang car club-about 20 in group travelling around. Spoke to a guy from Qld. Quite amusing. The tour itself was boring-the water is brown and the trees on either side green, as the commentator said. He was quite good at commentary and I would have learned a lot if I hadn't gone to sleep. When I woke up, Peter was asleep. We noticed this short, plump man with glasses, a beard and suspenders, stroking the woman he was with all the time-her back, her hair, her arms, even though while this was going on they were both looking at their phones obsessively. A couple of times he rested his head on her shoulder. It was quite entertaining.
A lot of older men seem to be stroking their partners so perhaps it is a thing here. There were huge arrangements for the Music Festival which was kicking off in Beale St from 5pm. At the end of the tour we walked back up Beale St to the trolley bus and caught it to the hotel for a rest before catching the tram again to the Arcade cafe for tea. Peter had a club sandwich and I had tacos with ground beef. The beef was luke warm, stale and tasted like old grease. It was disgusting. After that we caught the tram back to the hotel passing no open shops along the way as usual. Not sure where people get their groceries

SATURDAY, 4 MAY, 2019
MEMPHIS TO LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
La Quinta by Wyndham Downtown
Had breakfast and caught a cab to airport car rental. When taxi girl arrived she opened her boot and it was a total mess with Barbie strollers, toys and all manner of stuff. She somehow managed to fit our cases on top and we took the rest into the car with us. The car was very dirty but she drove efficiently and got us to the right place for $40+$7 tip. We wanted to go to the rental car office but you had to go through the terminal and walk along a walkway to the car companies. The girl was bland as usual. No conversation but quite efficient and directed us upstairs to the car. The girl there said we could select a mid range car so Peter chose a white Nissan Versa sedan. It looked very clean and neat and there was plenty of room in the boot, but we liked this car better when we saw it last night.
It was very stressful getting to Walmart to buy a GPS but they only had one at $299, so we decided to use the ipad for the time being. We bought some sandwiches and a few other things including tissues at Walmart. The highway was very good and it was fairly easy to navigate apart from my lack of knowledge of the ipad. Drove to Little Rock without any problems. Stopped at a roadside tourist stop-good toilets but all brochures and vending machines were locked up so not sure of the point. Navigated to hotel La Quinta OK-the streets weren't too busy. The reception girl was quite efficient and room pleasant with a good sized bathroom. Had a rest and then went for a walk nearby-it is a terrible area with other motels, McDonalds, Taco Bell, and other horrible fast food joints. There were a couple of nice church buildings. For tea went to a small Chinese place around the corner and it was surprisingly good, though the sauce on my steak was strong.

SUNDAY 5 MAY, LITTLE ROCK, AR
Got up reasonably early, mainly because I was cold. Peter had put a clean towel on himself overnight. Ate breakfast in messy foyer area-no one cleaning like at Comfort Inn, Memphis. Not much choice but OK with own additions. Drove to Capitol, parked right outside and took pictures and had a look at memorials.
Lovely gardens with magnolia and many other stately trees. Drove down to Arkansas River front and because we were scared we wouldn't find a place, parked in this little car park-$3 first hour plus $1 each hour after. We were confused at method of paying. There was a board with numbered slots. We said we didn't have any coins to the man who seemed to be in charge. That was OK. He just took our notes and squeezed them through the hole. That's how high tech it was-metal slots. Had to walk quite a long way down the street to find the sculpture park. Lots of interesting works, some better than others, next to the Arkansas River.
There were many bridges over the river and lots of information in the park- gave a very different view of the city than the area we were staying in. Then we got to the river market and it was 2 big roofed areas full of amazingly beautiful and very expensive, mainly-metal sculptures-apparently it is a once a year event we had wandered into. From there we walked back to the car and drove towards the hotel. Peter got petrol and sandwiches from a most unhealthy selection of food at the petrol station. Ate in room and then went to Clinton library. Not as far away as we expected.
Big rectangular building off ground. Inside most impressive with huge square columns filled with blue boxes containing Clinton papers-apparently only 2-3% of all paperwork generated.
We partly followed a tour but mainly did it ourselves. The guide was an older man who knew his stuff, but sounded a bit like me, ie no voice- I had an excuse because of my cold but I'm not sure what his problem was-we couldn't hear and understand. I'm sure it's not my imagination that US museums are a lot more wordy that those in Aus. We bought a T shirt, cat mouse pad and magnet etc from gift shop. There was an excellent display of art made from stuff fished out of the ocean (including out the front in the fountain/pool)-plastic bottles etc-looked very amazing. We were really worn out by this time but fought our way to the old state house museum. It didn't look to be open but we followed the meagre signs and dared open the door and it actually was open. We were the only ones there, I think. Lots of it was closed down because of repairs but they had some very good stuff, including an excellent display of dresses worn by the wives of governors of Arkansa for their inauguration, including Hilary Clinton's dress from January, 1979 when Bill Clinton was made 40th Governor of Arkansas.
There was much about how they did the museum up-it had certainly been unbelievably run down over the years. Back to hotel by car, had a rest and Peter found an Irish pub which sounded a bit upmarket. It was in a much nicer district and quite interesting. He had Irish beef stew and I had fish and chips-ugh-same thick crumbly batter they put on everything and the chips were fat logged. We had a brownie with cream and ice cream-It was OK. Back to hotel and watched 'Bourne Ultimatum' while I did a load of dark washing on 12th floor. Most efficient machine and dryer. Restless night as usual-cold and hot.

TUESDAY, 7 MAY, NEOSHO TO ST JOSEPH, MISSOURI Days Inn by Wyndham, St Joseph
Woke up quite early. There was a terrific thunderstorm about 12.30pm with huge cracks of lightning. Even Peter woke up. It got a bit cold but the Motel 8 room was OK and at least we were able to have ground floor and an open window. Took jam and vegemite to token breakfast in foyer. No hot stuff but waffle machine was all fired up. Had toast and they did have Lipton tea bags, so bonus. Talked to a lady who was looking at houses. She has been in military 30 yrs, is now a realtor and is moving to Neosho as her husband, also ex army is going to teach at the high school. Left smartly and navigated with ipad which was fairly easy. Arrived in St Joseph about 1.30 pm and went out to eat at a McAllister Deli. I asked for a cup of tea so the teenage girls gave me a litre of luke-warm brown liquid. They didn't have boiling water. I had a baked spud and Peter had a toasted BLT with a side of coleslaw which I was able to have with my potato because you couldn't have a side with a potato! They had never heard of hot tea. After that we drove into town to the Jesse James Museum but went to the Patee House Museum instead and it was truly amazing the stuff they had there. Most of the houses in the area looked like wrecks from the Fannie Mae home crisis but when you went inside this former grand hotel run by a couple of volunteers, it was full of interesting historical displays-houses, businesses, pony express, stage coaches, trains, wagon trains, some hotel
rooms etc. Sadly it closed at 4pm so we had to leave.
Drove around town a bit to see if it was any better and found many nice areas. It's as if they have never heard of planning, urban or otherwise. So many historical and beautiful buildings decaying and being lost while the town is surrounded by pure ugliness. Went back to Comfort Inn and then out to tea at Applebees across the road. It was still raining steadily-not strong but constant. Shared a ribs and steak combo. It was very ordinary. Back to room and slept reasonably well. Room was comfortable.

WED, 8 MAY, ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI, TO VERMILLION, SOUTH DAKOTA
Best Western, Vermillion Inn
Woke early but went back to sleep. Had a late breakfast-very basic. The road was good but a bit slow-could have gone a lot faster in many places. Bought some snacks at a small and rather attractive town at a HyVee-quite good supplies. Even found a real bread roll. Drove and drove and it rained steadily and constantly-not hard but very wet. Some of I29 closed off so had to take a longer route. Went off track when we stopped so that took time too. Had lunch in a shop car park and looked at the Salvation Army store and then later followed arrows to Elkhorn, a Danish town.
It had a very fine museum most professionally done, down a badly rutted roads-you just wouldn't expect it. They had detailed Danish history and huge numbers of artefacts. Bought a book and magnet. They had good T shirts, better than in Denmark (about hygge) but expensive, and it didn't seem appropriate to be buying Danish souvenirs in US.
Drove on to Vermillion past Sioux City and thru various states. Still raining. Arrived at Best Western, Vermillion. Peter had a sleep and I sent emails then we went out to Cafe Brule in main street and it was more like a cafe at home. They had some decent dishes and the presentation was good.

THURSDAY, 9 MAY, 2019 VERMILLION S. DAKOTA TO CHAMBERLAIN, S. DAKOTA
Best Western Lees Motor Inn, Chamberlain
Up early, ate in the small breakfast room where the toaster was above head height for some unknown reason. Drove out quickly and no troubles along the way. It had snowed overnight nearby and the wind was bitterly cold. We stopped once at a roadside stop where the tourist info was all locked up again. Saw some great motor bikes there-a family roadtrip on Super Harley Davidsons.
Arrived in Chamberlain about 12.30pm. Room was available on ground floor and we went to McDonalds for lunch. The counter girl and lady who delivered food were very friendly and nice, not just teenagers. Then went to the Indian Museum at St Joseph's school. Fantastic displays but never any indigenous in attendance.
I took lots of photos and felt terrible sadness for the Indians and the way their culture around bison was destroyed. It was an impressive museum but they didn't say much about how kids came to be brought up at the school minus their parents and families. After that drove around main street and had a look at a fantastic second hand shop and a quilt shop that had been much advertised on billboards. They certainly had lots of material but not many Indian artefacts as they claimed. I guess their beads would be used in many of the Indian wares made. Back to motel, rested until 7 pm and then went out to tea in main street to the fishermen's grill, a rather downmarket but honest looking cafe. We did the wrong thing and ordered a pizza. It was a supreme but I couldn't taste a thing. Peter reckoned it was my cold and he was probably right but it certainly needed some herbs. We watched a few tables full of people eat with apparent enthusiasm. They had a salad bar in a room out the back. Drove over the bridge and had a brief look around before home to motel.

FRIDAY 10 MAY, CHAMBERLAIN, SOUTH DAKOTA TO RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA
Howard Johnson by Wyndham, Rapid City
Went over to breakfast with our own supplies. A strange woman watched me the whole time. She was there to clean up, I think, but it really put me off. Then a friendly man came along. He was 84 but looked much younger, a retired private detective, travelling home to Connecticut with his Scottish wife after attending a grandchild's graduation somewhere in millionaire's row in the snow area. He asked where we were from and I said Australia-he didn't recognise our accent so I said we were a bit more refined in SA. He didn't like refined. Those people are all thieves he said. Don't be refined. Anyway, he was interesting, a Democrat with very sensible things to say. It slowed down our breakfast but was quite enjoyable. Left for Rapid City but detoured along the way to see the big statue, Dignity. It was imposing and with a great view over the town of Chamberlain. They absolutely love these metal sculptures-they are in every town that has been even mildly 'done up." We again saw many billboards for Wall Drug but our breakfast friend had explained about it so we called into the western town/pharmacy
shop and had lunch. It was a terrific place, mainly souvenirs but they gave good value with statues and art etc. The food was pretty crap. We had hotdogs each. Roll was toasted but big fat kransky sausages. Bought some magnets and an icecream.
I got Peter to walk down the main street looking like he was in a wild west gunfight but it wasn't very convincing. Drove on to Rapid City. Had a rest at the Howard Johnson and then made our way downtown to eat at the Firehouse Restaurant which we had seen advertised on billboards for 100 kms. Each billboard had an old fire engine parked next to it.
Peter had pork medallions and I had half a chicken. They were both OK but a bit of gravy would have been nice. We had an expensive tiramisu for dessert between us but it was bad-just cream with almost no biscuit and they haven't a clue about serving things attractively. Still very light. Did some washing, scrap book and diary in effort to catch up. Cold, windy and wet outside.

SATURDAY 11 MAY, RAPID CITY, SD, TO KEYSTONE, COLORADO
Baymont, Keystone near Mt Rushmore.
Left quickly after breakfast and went straight to Mt Rushmore. It was very good. Not many directions as usual but we worked out what to do. Good lifts so not too much climbing stairs although there were plenty to climb. The faces were very impressive.
As expected they didn't look that big but, of course, they are big at about 60' foot high each. It was interesting to see the Danish connection with the sculptor being Gutzon Borglum, the son of Danish immigrants. The museum was interesting and the souvenir shop excellent. As we were leaving it began to snow and was very cold but pretty. We then drove to see the Crazy Horse Memorial. That was $24 to get in and you could just see the head on a mountain in the far distance. They have a long way to go if they want to do the horse etc. The interpretive centre also had good souvenirs and displays but the snack shop was woeful and we ended up
having the only hot food available, hot dogs. They were fat brown sausages on a plain, untoasted, unheated roll. Peter ate all of his and some of mine and was sick of me complaining, he said. We drove back to Keystone and booked into the motel which was high up over the town. It was isolated and fairly old and the room was small and cramped. We soon found that the toilet cistern kept getting stuck. Eventually we moved next door to another room which was an effort as I had done washing and there was lots of stuff around. Later went out to tea and walked down main street which was full of shops mainly selling Indian souvenirs to the relatively few tourists. Ate at Joe's Pizza. It was a good pizza. I was starving and didn't want to share, but, of course, could only eat half when it came. Peter was annoyed with me at wasting money and sulky. He had spaghetti which he didn't enjoy and no wine, which always makes him grumpy. Went back to hotel and I did another load of washing-all the things Peter had forgotten. It was worth it to get it all organised. Skyped with Michael which was very nice.

SUNDAY 12 MAY. KEYSTONE, CO, TO SHERIDAN, WYOMING, MOTHERS' DAY
Best Western Sheridan Center
Very ordinary breakfast and glad to get out of that cramped room. Just leaving the hotel and Peter took the wrong turning before I had even looked at Google maps. He sulked for ages but the road turned out to be good and although it wasn't interstate there were hardly any people at all. The countryside was woody with pine trees and black hills and gradually turned into grasslands. Took a long time to drive to Sheridan and we were hungry when we arrived. Great Western Hotel had its building on both sides of road joined by an elevated walkway-apparently owned by an Australian. Walked down main street and eventually found a cowboy cafe which was good. Looked for the dollar shop on the way home to buy some meagre supplies but couldn't find it. Back to room for a rest. We checked places to eat and after our last good experience, unfortunately decided on a Chinese buffet again. You paid at the door and were then on your own. There were some OK dishes but it was all lukewarm and not much of anything I liked. We both went home in a bad mood. The room was rather hot at night and a lot of light came through the curtains.

MONDAY 13 MAY, SHERIDAN, WY
We hung around the hotel for quite a while as we had to change rooms. Riley at the office said he'd ring us when the room was ready and one of the cleaners said it would only be a few minutes so after an hour I rang and we could finally move. Because the guy was again sanding the steps for painting we had to take the long way around. After setting up the room we left for the place that was mentioned in the advertising as a fine house called Mount View or similar, but when we got there it just seemed to be a private residence in the better part of town. We went for a walk and looked at the houses, which were much nicer than most we have seen.
Drove to Walmart to get the makings for lunch. We bought bread rolls, ham and a tomato and that worked well for lunch. After that we headed for the local historic mansion called Trail End. It was very, very impressive, built in the early 1900s with most of the furniture and fittings original.
Very grand indeed with almost every room being solid wood panelling. There was a great deal to look at inside and the outside grounds were grand too. We drove around a few more blocks to look at houses and then back to hotel for a rest before tea. Peter found a grill house for tea. It advertised lamb chops so we went for that. It was very nice. More upmarket. The waitress, Jessica, wrote her name on the paper tablecloth with 2 crayons which were on the table. When we had to wait so long, we wrote our names too! Peter had ribs again and I had chops which I asked to be very well done but when they arrived they were red. I sent them back and when returned they were perfect, heated on the very plate. I also had a gigantic baked potato served with butter and sour cream. That was good but too much. The meal came with a salad for both of us. For dessert we had a caramel pecan ice cream dessert which tasted quite nice but had a massive wedge of rock hard ice cream in the middle. It was definitely the best meal we've had in US.

TUES 14 MAY, SHERIDAN, TO CODY, WYOMING
Best Western Sunset Inn, Cody
Hotel breakfast but took my own teabag this time. The helper who was there yesterday and tried to find normal tea was there again. He asked me what I meant by normal tea. I said I meant just tea, tea flavoured tea, not a herbal infusion. He said that he asked a friend what was proper tea (what I had called it yesterday) and the friend said 'land that I own.' The place was a bit cramped and not over clean. We left at 9 am and drove through some really stunning country-Big Horn Forest and Mountains. The road was winding but the views amazing.
After that we came upon rather uninteresting land which looked like Yorke Peninsula. We got to Cody about 12.30pm, checked in and then went to Walmart and got a sandwich and tomato etc which we ate in our room. After that we headed for the Cody Museum which was really stunning. The exhibits were of all kinds and beautifully done but the wildlife was absolutely amazing and on multiple levels-walked down a ramp to each new level.
Bought some magnets and a mat for Chris and then drove to the Mormon church to see the mural, only it was not near the sign we had seen on the highway. Finally tracked it down and a very nice man showed us around and demonstrated the Mormon story as told in the mural.
He showed us around the whole time. It was his first day and he was nervous but did a very good job. We had a look at the chapel itself and it was totally plain. They don't go in for ornamentation, obviously. It was a good story of the pioneers building a canal and section of the railroad around 1900-1903 to establish irrigation. The Mormon settlers had been chased away many times but were encouraged by Bill Cody. It was very fascinating and we felt pleased to have such a private tour. Back to Great Western motel and had a rest then out to tea. I picked out a German restaurant and then saw that it was only open Thu-Sat. We settled on an Italian in town but when we went inside they had only tall tables at the front or really high end dark tables in a back room that was cold and dark and there was only one other couple. We said no and headed for a Chinese restaurant but both in town were buffet style. Finally went to Granny's. As we arrived an Australian couple came out the door and the woman said "Well, I won't be recommending Granny's to Trip Adviser." That was a worry but we had the seniors' menu and it was OK. I had fish and Peter had meatloaf with lots of gravy which he really liked. He had cheesecake for dessert and I had a scoop of choc ice cream. We went past Buffalo Bill's Hotel, The Irma. The clientele looked rough and the whole place was a mess with empty flower tubs full of cigarette butts and dead grass. What a pity in an historical place like that. Back to hotel, and Peter planned our trip to Yellowstone. It seems complicated.

FRIDAY 17 MAY, POCATELLO, ID, TO SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
The Kimball at Temple Square
Had breakfast downstairs. One fellow raced out with about 10 little bottles of milk and then he was getting tea for his wife and taking numerous sugars and stuff. Then he came back several more times and got about 6 yogurts and a few more milks and other bits and pieces. We were not sure if he knew the lady working there or what was happening. Left about 9.30am for Salt Lake City. The scenery was similar to home but it rained the whole time and traffic was really heavy. It stopped as we arrived and we made it to the hotel without incident. It is fabulously located right next to Temple Square and has a kitchen so we can make our own meals. Walked down to the square past the grey temple to get some
groceries and had Chinese in a food court. It was OK. The shop, Harmons, was downstairs and most spectacular with a huge range of everything, including fresh fruit and bread.
We bought makings for curried mince. Walked back through square again then went out to a hidden state wine shop in a car park for a bottle of wine. Had to ask the hotel for a frying pan and a pot for cooking because there wasn't much in the kitchen. Had a call from Simon who was picking up Jake from swimming. Thunder and lightning outside and it poured with rain. Bedroom is weird-dark walls. When you put the light on the fan goes on. There is no curtain to cover the venetian blind which lets in a lot of light.

SAT 18 MAY, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
Tidied up then walked to The Beehive house which was owned by Brigham Young. It was quite a long walk uphill and they had a brigade of young people gardening and making a mess everywhere with dirt on the footpaths. They were washing it away, it was wet anyway and my shoes were getting ruined. They were blocking the whole footpath in places and looked pretty hopeless. Maybe they were volunteers and maybe they were involuntary volunteers from the look on some of their faces. There was a big Chinese tourist party at the same time as us so we had a fast, 4 person tour in front of them by yet another older man, one of many running things round here. The house was quite ornate, more so than we expected. The beehive represents industry, hard work, working together and is the state symbol.
The gardens were very pretty but a bit higgeldy piggledy-begonias, impatiens and lots of flowers in a variety of colours. They take great pride in their gardens, it seems. After the beehive we had a look at the Joseph Smith Memorial building
which was actually a hotel built in about 1911, the first in the city for guests. It was spectacular with a beautiful stained glass ceiling and upstairs on the second floor you could see small ceiling domes which were gold-a very nice volunteer lady told us they were real gold leaf. When she learnt we were from Australia she was very helpful. Told us to go up to the 10th floor where there was a fabulous view of the temple and the
appointments themselves were lovely. Lots of rooms were being prepared for wedding receptions. Then went to family history building but it was on the other side of the square. I wasn't very optimistic but the man really knew what he was doing with Irish records. He worked out like me that the only real contact we have is Margaret McEvoy Kilbride so he got her baptism certificate and it seemed the mother was Ann Dunn. It seemed very convincing at the time but now I am not so sure. We had leftover mince on toast for lunch, and later went out to Harmons again and bought steak and veges for tea. The bread was French but the texture was strange. The tea tasted quite good. We were waiting to talk to Michael and did so eventually-mainly about the election and Scomo's unexpected win. Watched a movie, "Legally Blonde."

SUNDAY 19 MAY, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
Woke up early and decided to go and see the Mormon Tabernacle choir. Made breakfast and left about 8.45. When we got there everyone was pouring in even though we were told that you were allowed in at about 9.10 am. it turned out it was a rehearsal so much less formal than the actual broadcast at 9.30 am. It was fantastic. The organ looked fabulous against the illuminated ceiling which changed frequently in colours. The singers were impressive and the orchestra was huge.
The old men were bossing people around again and telling you where to sit and there were numerous young female missionaries showing people where to go. After that we walked to the library but it was closed on Sunday. There were 2 information centres open so we walked thru those and then headed for the tram to do a round trip. We didn't realise until we were under way that the line was cut and we had to walk to one of the next stops-a very long way. As we got there the waiting tram pulled out so we decided not to go on because there were so many mentally challenged and drug affected people on there that it wasn't very pleasant. We walked the long way back to the previous stop and as we arrived that tram also pulled off just before we could reach it. I complained to the officials but they said they couldn't vary the timetables or they'd have to reprint them all. It is only for a month. I pointed out that a little flexibility for the month might be good. We walked to Harmons again. The mall was shut so we had to go the long way instead of thru the tunnel, but it was OK.
The walk home was long, passing the temple with the angel Moroni on top. I decided to do all the washing which worked well apart from the laundry being down several floors and at the opposite end of a corridor. American hotels are very reasonable about washing in terms of convenience and cost, unlike Europe where costs are absurd. After that we went for a drive around the suburbs to look at the houses in the better areas. It was all quite nice. For tea we had the leftovers from 2 previous evenings.

MON 20 MAY, SALT LAKE CITY, UT, TO TWIN FALLS, IDAHO.
Sure Stay by Best Western, Twin Falls
Tidied rooms and left about 9.30 am. Drive was very smooth thru a variety of country. Lots of irrigation and then very ugly country much like around Port Augusta. Checked in at Best Western Hotel-small but OK. Got a room on first floor and then went for lunch in a mall. Hobby Lobby was an amazing huge shop of crafty stuff but we had hot dogs from Orange Julius. The orange drink was ghastly-she did about 6 processes and it tasted like it contained milk and vanilla-very strange indeed and undrinkable. Went around the path next to the visitor centre to see the river and steep sides. Later we drove to the Shoshone falls.
They were very spectacular. Back to room, had a rest and then walked to tea at Canton Chinese restaurant. It was big serves and OK but we couldn't eat much. Both feeling flat. The town doesn't seem interesting. Posted 5 postcards.

TUES 21 MAY, 2019 TWIN FALLS, ID, TO ONTARIO, OREGON
Quality Inn, Ontario
Left about 9.30 am after breakfast in foyer again. Not very impressive but OK. The grumpy looking woman in charge kept following me around and ostentatiously filling containers etc as quickly as I was taking things- a toasted bagel and some butter. We used our own toppings of vegemite, cheese and jam. Peter checked out the old town so we drove down there and it was charming as usual. There was so much on the outskirts we didn't expect much but it was quite nicely done up and full of second hand shops and thrift shops. We had no problems with driving apart from the constant rain, but it eased off eventually and we got to Ontario about 1pm. It was too early for our room. He gave us a 15% off voucher for Country Kitchen so we went over and had lunch, a toasted bacon, cheese and tomato sandwich, tea and a pancake each. They had a very pretty garden out the front.
Back to motel and Peter had a rest while I caught up with diary and read. I had already dozed quite a bit in the car on the way. He slept too long so we only had about an hour to do the museum/cultural centre in town. It was part of a big complex but there was hardly anyone in the building. We had a look at the artefacts and then I saw a sign saying museum continues thru here –it was a viewing room and on the other side hidden in the back of the building was a very fine museum-all very professionally set up and displayed. More about Lewis and Clark expedition and about pioneers who travelled across country to the area of the four rivers. The Indian displays were detailed and there was a lot
about Japanese who were interned during the war in the area. Apparently many were released to work on nearby farms. When we came out of the museum the gift shop was also empty, all the doors were open and it was full of good books and stuff. I felt like pinching some of the lovely Dover colouring books about Indians. In the end we left without paying the $6 fee. The town was a nightmare to navigate as it was laid out avenues one way and streets the other and they were all numbers-1st to 33rd sts etc. and 1st to 33rd Ave. It is absolutely ridiculous. We bought quite a good pizza from Little Caesar's. It was enjoyable watching the different clients especially a rotund couple who came in with a tiny chihuahua which they cuddled the whole time. Some pre-ordered. Peter spent all evening organising the rest of the trip and booking tickets for the Boeing Factory. Handwashed several garments. Duna much too hot and heavy but could open window again. Makes such a difference.

WED 22 MAY, ONTARIO, OREGON, TO KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON
Red Lion Inn, Kennewick
Got going about 9am and a good clear road the whole way. Sky very grey and quite a bit of rain but patchy. Lots of Pt Augusta landscape, then undulating hills, beautiful pine forests and back to Pt Augusta again on arrival here-sagebush, flat. The place was all new in our area with a forest of business centres, motels and franchise shops and shopping centres. The time was an hour earlier and we couldn't get into the hotel so went to Columbia Centre for food. That was a joke. It was a huge half empty shopping centre. It did have a food court but nothing we wanted to eat. It's a big problem. We went to another shopping centre which wasn't a food store but a clothing store-Burlington. We finally went to Burger King and had a box between us-a whopper, drink and 2 cookies. Not too bad. Back to motel, got our room, a disabled room again. The window opened. Had a sleep then went out to find downtown Kennewick. It was the usual. Sculptures, trees and plants, antique and second hand shops, tattoo shops etc. It is all a terrible mess. We drove back to motel and decided on the Texas Roadhouse for tea later. Went out using ipad. The Texas RH was very loud and busy but quite good fun with the staff participating in a quick line dance every so often.
We shared a 6oz steak, baked potato and salad and that was OK, followed by a brownie, tea and coffee. The staff were very industrious, cleaning the booths thoroughly-even wiping off the menus, filling pepper and salt shakers and checking for chewing gum. Not so sure how often they wash the peppers and salts. The place was enjoyable and pretty full. Back to motel and ironed P's shirts.

THURS 23 MAY, KENNEWICK, WA, TO EVERETT/SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
Hampton Inn, Everett/Seattle
Left hotel about 9 am after a fairly uninteresting breakfast. They had the right oats but only muffins, no bagels. The drive was very scenic through irrigated dry land which still looked much like saltbush but the river wound around all over the place and near that was lots of cultivation, grapes, fruit trees like apples and pears and some kind of vegetable with acres of cane sticks and strings-possibly peas or beans. Gradually the scenery became more mountainous although rather bare and then finally it turned into the expected look of pine tree covered mountains, very beautiful, all the way to Seattle. You do get beautiful panoramic landscapes in America that I don't think you get at home. Houses and farms looked neater too although we still are surprised at all these houses standing bare in the middle of blocks with no yards or fences. We now understand why they don't have clotheslines. Arrived at Everett at about 3pm and Peter started working on hotels for rest of trip. Room nicer than we have had lately-cleaner and fresher-just newer. Can see the port and might go down there to look for a walk. After a rest we drove down towards the port but it was all very industrial. We kept trying to find the shore and eventually reached a marina which was very fancy. Leaving the car in some car park where we couldn't understand the rules, walked along to see the boats of the rich and famous. Many of them had shelter under sheds in the water and there were more boats than we had ever seen before.
You couldn't enter the boat area. Then went into Lombardi's to have tea as we had a voucher for a free dessert. We had a lasagne and salad between us followed by a very good tiramisu. The lasagne was a bit rich, in my opinion. Looking at all the upper class who can afford boats was a nice change. We were served by Michael who looked about 20 but apparently has 3 sons and a daughter. Drove back to Hotel Hampton. Watched some TV and read.

FRIDAY, 24 MAY, EVERETT, WA
Went down to breakfast. Peter asked the woman if there were any oats and she didn't seem to understand what oats were. Said no, this was their only cereal. Later he did find some oatmeal. She was rude, not one of the "You're welcome" people we've come to expect. I had a bagel in the usual slow toaster. They also didn't have any plain tea bags although they were acting like their breakfast on the 6th floor was something special. After breakfast we set out for the Boeing factory, getting petrol on the way. We couldn't take photos while on the tour but I saw an interesting plane coming in from the car park.
Peter was worried about problems with the tickets etc, hence our earliness, but it all worked smoothly with the phone tickets and they asked if we wanted to go on a 10.30 am tour, which we did. Our tour guide was Mark. He was pretty cool, in his own opinion, and a bit contemptuous in manner. The factory is the biggest in the world, apparently, and employs 35,000 people in 3 shifts, 20,000, 10,000 and 5,000. The morning shift has the fewest. We were able to look at the very hangars where planes were being built and it was impressive. Had to walk a fair distance and go up and down stairs and lifts-fairly boring. I think they need a whole new interactive area and they do seem to be building something new. After the tour we looked in their cafe but the food was soggy sandwiches again so we went to a supermarket called Albertsons and got a corn dog, some wedges and a donut. We ate it in the car and then I went back and got toothpaste and brush and some cherries. Back to hotel for a rest up. Went out to tea to the Vintage Cafe nearby. It looked trendy. Peter had meatloaf and I had fish and chips. It was awful. The batter is thick and cooked so hard it breaks. They can't seem to cook things correctly, just fry it indiscriminately. She raved on about the icecream and brought out one scoop in a metal dish-no cream or strawberry or any decoration. They just don't have a clue. Drove back to hotel, watched Disney channel and 2 episodes of 'Sex and the City,' that's how desperate I was for entertainment.

SUNDAY 26 MAY, ASTORIA, OREGON
Restless night due to temp as usual. Opened blind and it was a glorious day with a beautiful cruise liner pulled up in the harbour nearby.
Hotel breakfast wasn't great. No bacon, no oats. Got ready quickly and drove to maritime museum. Had a look at ships on wharves near museum and at paddle steamer-'American Empress,' an active paddle steamer that runs along the Columbia River. There were many very elderly tourists on board and quite a few seemed confused about where to go but there was a big bus painted to look like the paddle steamer outside the museum.
Weather was beautiful-blue sky, no rain. Museum was wholly about Astoria-fishing, canning and ship rescue.
Walked uphill to local museum. It was too far but there were so many cars we knew parking would be difficult. It was a nice little local museum-good Indian info and a fabulous bar-room.
From there went back to car to look for food. Drove to Flavel House and movie museum and found a local labor cafe nearby. It was quite expensive but not a bad toasted sandwich if you like that orange cheese and sweet bread. Flavel House was handsome but it was a winding effort getting inside as we had to go to the coach house out the back to get the ticket and then climb back up to the house. My legs were getting sore by this time. House was very nice but not as fancy as some of the other mansions we have seen.
We then went to the movie museum across the road but it was really bad. You could make your own movie but we weren't interested. Displays were mainly about the Goonies, whoever they are. We only went there because Michael said 'Kindergarten Cop' was made in Astoria as have been many movies, apparently, but there was very little about that movie. We later saw the kindergarten building. By that time we were exhausted so went back to hotel. I did washing-2 loads and 2 dryers at $1 each load. It was up and down in the elevator as there was no info on how long each cycle took but it was a relief to get the clothes clean again-may be able to last until home. Communicated with our friend in Eugene via messenger. Went out to a Chinese restaurant-across road and past the doughboy memorial-to Golden Luck. Food was quite good. Only a small steady flow of customers. Not sure why not more as there were so many tourists in town and all the hotels were full for the Memorial Day weekend. We also visited the Astoria Column during the day which was sunny but with a cold wind.

MON 27 MAY, ASTORIA, TO PORTLAND, OR
Heathman Hotel, Portland
We drove to Portland today but had a long wait to get into the hotel because it was a public holiday and people didn't have to leave until midday so the rooms weren't ready. We had already stopped at some seaside towns where it was grey and cold and then at a Safeway supermarket to get breakfast supplies. The beachside towns had many houses made of wooden shingles-walls and roof.
The hotel only guarantees your room by 4 pm but we got in by 2.30 pm in the end. It is quite a ritzy and exclusive hotel but since I can't walk far we don't have much choice. We have been for a little walk and there are lots of trams. You can get a day ticket for $2.50 if you are over 65. The town looks very nice with lots of big department stores and street art, very trendy. Tomorrow we will use the trams to get about. The weather here is everything in one day. Cold, windy, warm even hot right now. We are trying to decide where to go for tea as we had cheese and ham on saltine biscuits for lunch. Breakfast isn't supplied at this hotel like in the big chains. Just as well, really. Seeing people putting white sauce on scones and smelling waffles and hot cinnamon Danish for breakfast turns my stomach. I felt quite sick after wearing myself out yesterday standing around at all the museums. Had a rest when we got to the hotel and felt a little better. Went for short walk and saw all the trams going along several main streets. Had tea at Picnic House, a rather glamorous restaurant where there were a group of people including a woman with the most piercing, impossible to ignore laugh ever-and she laughed a lot, thanks to a steady supply of alcohol!!

TUESDAY, 28 MAY, PORTLAND, OREGON
Started the day with a bad bout of gastro but by 11.30 am I was a little better. I actually felt bad yesterday too. Should have checked it out but got off the tram for the maritime museum, risked our life on the footpath over the bridge where pedestrians competed with lunatic cyclists, skateboarders, scooterers etc only to find the museum wasn't open on Tuesdays. Back on the tram we came into town and Peter had a hot dog at one of the food vans in a city square.
I stuck to a small chips. Later we caught another tram and did a big round trip to look at the place. It is very hipster. There are men in dresses, the public toilets in the tourist bureau are shared so that urinals and toilets are together and all the churches have rainbow flags out the front. Food vans abound. They have made a great effort to make things pretty and there are trees in most streets, many parks and hanging baskets of flowers on lots of flagpoles. They are really working hard on rubbish cleanup too. On the trams many of the drivers get on and go over the tram and pick up left rubbish before they start driving. There are also many push bikes. The only flaw is that on just about every street corner there are homeless people-never seen so many. Generally it is one of the best looking places we have visited. Apparently we are having roast beef and a berry pie for tea tomorrow night and we have decided on pizza as being fairly safe, ie well cooked, for tonight after my bad tummy experience. We ate at a super trendy place called the Picnic House last night. I had lamb chops served with a sauce of apricots and pistachio with a goat cheese something. The chops were perfect but the sauce was weird and the goat cheese was like a pie, half cold, with unknown stuff in it apart from the cheese. Peter had a turkey roll and a $10 glass of Merlot. He also finished off most of the goat cheese pie and didn't seem to miss a beat! Not sure that the goat cheese pie wasn't the source of my gastro. Went into Nordstrom shop to look around but the sandals I looked at were $1100 so we left quickly.

WEDNESDAY 29 MAY, PORTLAND, OR, TO EUGENE, OREGON
Home2Suites, Downtown Eugene
Got going reasonably early as we had decided to visit the rose garden in the Washington Gardens and the Pittock mansion outside Portland before travelling on. The sun had come out and it was really beautiful in the gardens. We were there at opening time and already lots of people were walking around and taking photos.
From there we drove to the Pittock Mansion which was very grand although not all the furnishings etc were totally authentic. They explained all this which I thought was a bit pathetic. Some of the original furniture etc was deemed not to be grand enough so they had decorated rooms in a style of the era but in a fancier way. As far as I am concerned it should be as close to the original as possible or at least to the original in some stage of its being. The poor old Pittocks only lived there about 4 years before they died. She had already had a stroke and wanted to stay in town but he had an elevator built for her. It was high up and inconvenient on a hill, but a very impressive house.
After that drove towards Eugene without much difficulty apart from the usual fights about the ipad Google map and it suddenly changing to Preview mode from which it is impossible to escape. Stopped for lunch at a town and had McDonalds and went into a Fred Meyer store to buy a plant and some wine for tea. Got to the hotel in Eugene about 3.30 pm so didn't have long before we had to be at our friend's house at 5 pm. Had a wash and changed. Couldn't find the house in the very long street. In the end we had parked right next to it as I had thought possible because it was grey and white and had a big driveway. Tea was very nice-roast beef with carrots, potatoes and gravy. We learnt quite a lot about how the American teachers were recruited around 1972. I didn't know that Kim and Judy had, never taught before, just like us. Kim was recruited in health and PE teaching and Judy was allowed to come along for Kim. They were only contracted for 2 years and could then have their fares paid home, which surprised me, and they didn't have to pay tax if they chose not to, but then they HAD to go back after 2 years. Kim and Judy stayed until 1976. When they returned he went to work at a golf course for the rest of his career. They have had colleagues from Australia to stay many times. When I admired the beautiful Hardanger Judy had in her front room on all of the furniture-across the table and several cupboards, she asked if I wanted any. She said her daughters had taken what they wanted. The work was just meticulous.
Then I mentioned cherry ripes and she kept on talking about a tower then brought out this tower of 5 boxes of chocolates made in Medford and gave them to me. I said I couldn't take them but she insisted she had got them on special and wanted us to have them so in the end I relented. We left around 9 pm, richer than we had arrived, carrying our wonderful presents and agreeing to meet them for tea at the Texas Roadhouse on Thursday.

THURSDAY 30 MAY, EUGENE, OREGON
Had breakfast downstairs but couldn't eat a thing and still suffering gastro-that's 3 days. Felt better though whoozy after that so we went out to the Shelton McMurray Johnson mansion. I managed to navigate us to the county fairgrounds as I thought I had chosen correctly on Google maps. Eventually we found it, an imposing wooden mansion on top of yet another hill overlooking the city. It was spectacular outside and had some nice stuff inside
but the place was grubby and neglected with floating electrical cords- really a disgrace in such a place. The tablecloth was dirty and wrinkled and the table unset although there was plenty of nice China. There were plastic boxes of stuff all over the place and most of the house seemed to be occupied by staff who let you in and then disappeared. Sad. After that we went back to the County Museum at the fairgrounds again-we had seen it on our earlier excursion. Most impressive little museum with terrific vehicles and photographic display.
I bought a sampler and some father Xmas stickers at half price. Back to the motel with maps playing up and bought makings for lunch at deli across street. It was a fine shop, just like grocery shop in Vejle that is now closed. Had a rest, wrote up diary and stuck stuff in scrap book. Headed out for dinner at Texas Steak House. Waited out front but they were already seated at the back of the retaurant. It was very cold so we moved. Everybody had a 6oz steak with various veges. Kim and Judy left about 8 pm as they were leaving to travel for their granddaughter's birthday in the morning. Had a look at Macy's and came home.

FRIDAY 31 MAY, EUGENE, OREGON, TO SILVER CITY NEAR MEDFORD, OREGON
Usual bad breakfast when they kept asking us how it was. Got petrol and packed up. Waited down in lobby and Art arrived just after 11 am, having left Portland at about 8 am. Followed him with some difficulty as he sped along and stopped for lunch at a beautiful little town called Oakland.
There were many antique shops, lovely old buildings and we had lunch at a ritzy cafe called Toppers. Peter and Art had quiche and I had a half sandwich on seed bread. There were about 5 slices of ham in it-too much, and it came with a bowl of what looked like scrambled eggs but was actually tiny noodles in a macaroni salad. The atmosphere was great and when the girl asked me if I wanted my tea refreshed I said yes, because the first lot was luke warm. She understood completely and got me a whole new pot. For dessert I had a chocolate Umpqua icecream and Art had a fudge sundae. Umpqua is a river and the name of local Indians and the icecream is very nice. From there we drove on towards Medford, stopped at a shop to get meat for tea and then to the farm and cabin. The cabin was gorgeous-a real wooden cabin about a 1/4 km from the house. We were anxious to see animals and on the way over were lucky enough to see the herd of wild elk.
Art showed us 2 guns he has for shooting squirrels. Peter and he (not me with my wonky hip) were going for a hike but the weather was strange with dark blue clouds and winds. Instead we sat on the verandah and looked at the oak trees but didn't see animals. At about 7 pm we went across to the house. There were pieces of petrified tree in the yard.
The ground is very hard and dry-cracked and clay like. We saw an elk eating close to the house. Apparently they can be shot at some times, fired at with arrows and even be hunted with powder guns, depending on the season. Weird. Art asked us if we wanted to do some shooting but it was a no from us. Dinner was grilled steak with peas, carrots, corn and a potato for Peter and me and we had tea and coffee. Drove back to cabin in dark which was a bit scary as small animals seemed to be running in the headlights. The cabin was hot as the temp got up to 31 degrees C.

SAT 1 JUNE, SILVER CITY TO WILLOW, OR
Best Western Willows Inn
Woke up at 6 am with sun shining brightly through windows and birds tweeting. No sign of elk. Tidied up. At about 8.20 am drove over to house for breakfast-crumpets and omelette. After breakfast Art took us to historic Jacksonville where we walked around the lovely streets, posted my postcards and bought some souvenirs. They have kept all the old shops and they look fabulous but it is obviously a tourist destination with knick knack shops everywhere.
It was getting late and we were aware we had a long way to go so had a lunch of bagel and cream cheese. Bagel was fresh but stodgy. I bought a cinnamon twist and that was the same with cinnamon and sugar. Returning to the farm we packed and then drove over to meet Kathy who had only just arrived home. She was lovely and took us upstairs to see her Navajo style weaving. She buys the wool, cards it, spins it, colours it naturally, works out the patterns and does the weavings. The wool was beautiful as were the weavings. We said goodbye and drove to the motel in Willows by tea time. I was very hungry so we went to a nearby pizza shop, one of the few eateries available. I thought I had ordered a personal which was the smallest but there were so many variations that I'd ended up ordering a small which was bigger and dearer. Peter ordered a small too, even though he knew I wouldn't be able to eat all of mine. It was ridiculously expensive and we tried to work it out but there were so many people behind us, it was so hard to understand the choices that they gabble out, we were hot and tired and hungry so went along. It was a very good pizza and I could indeed only eat half. Back to motel and to bed a bit early for an early start for San Francisco.

MONDAY 3 JUNE, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
Awoke around 7.30 am after a good sleep in a bed with a comfortable pillow. Had simple breakfast in room and then went out and caught a cable car nearby. We talked to 2 Australians who have been here 7 and a half weeks and are also going home tomorrow. When the cable car came along there was only room for 4 hanging on the platform outside so we took it. I felt pretty nervous but there was no problem and it was very exciting although when I moved my hand the rail was wet with sweat. It was a much longer trip than I remembered, really up and down some tremendous hills including past Lombard street.
We got off at the terminus and walked to the maritime museum along Beach Street. It was extremely unimpressive, art deco with murals they seemed proud of, but had nice views of the beach. The man in charge liked Australian TV shows on Netflix. From there we walked to the ships and went on 'Balclutha' and the tug boat 'Hercules.' On the 'Balclutha' we watched the video about the ship's connection with Port Pirie.


The ship tour was irritating as some organised primary school group was reenacting sailors' tasks, and were getting in the way. Then walked along the beach to the piers. Looked in various shops for souvenirs and T shirts, had a hamburger at a seafood pier and then walked to Pier 39 to see the smelly but amusing sea lions which kept barking and knocking each other off the platforms when they could be bothered.
Looked at more souvenir shops and a lovely carousel and caught a tram back towards the cable car.
Had to wait in line forever this time too as the staff waited also for no apparent reason before turning the cars on the turntable. We were lucky to get a seat inside and had a great view until they let so many people on you couldn't see a thing which was very annoying and pointless. Back to hotel for a long and exhausted rest.
For tea, Peter had scoped out an Indian restaurant which we accessed going via the hotel car park rather than the long and circuitous route by the hotel front desk past the swimming pool, a disabled lift that didn't work and 20 steep stairs that are a challenge each time. The restaurant exterior was not promising but inside it was very elegant. We had butter chicken, a salad and a pappadum. I assumed it would come with rice but it didn't. There was some kind of problem behind the bar so I couldn't have a diet coke and they kept vacuuming. I tried to ask the girl what was happening as they kept taking the vacuum outside and then bringing it back in. I wondered if it was liquid they were vacuuming but the girl's English was limited. Food was good but a tiny serve we shared between us. They only had odd desserts and when we asked for tea he brought a box of tea bags and none of them were actually tea, so we left, deciding to have tea and dessert elsewhere-easier said than done. In the end we went into the hotel restaurant and ordered a fudge brownie and tea and coffee. We had to wait a while and then they took us down to the back of the restaurant and sat us in the far corner next to a man who was eating fish and broccoli. He made a sucking sound every few seconds. This went on and on as it was a large meal and he then burped loudly. He kept nodding off while eating but didn't stop eating the whole time, and the smell was bad. He didn't look up or around either. Our brownie was OK-sort of hard with candied pecans. Back to room and prepared for trip home.

TUES 4 JUNE, SAN FRANCISCO, CALI
Had breakfast in room. Went down to reception to see if we could get an extension on the room but she said the whole hotel was booked so she could only give us until 11.30 am. We booked the shuttle bus for about 11.50 am and went back and organised stuff, read and watched TV until 11.30 and then went down to foyer. As usual took the lift from 7 to 2, trip along corridor past swimming pool where I'd seen and heard a man blowing his nose in the water the night before, down the 20 steps and along the corridor again. Bus came promptly, driver chucked the bags in and we got on. It was pretty crowded but he stopped for 2 more people and then sped on to airport where he dumped us at the international door. We found out that Qantas would be at aisle 10 about 3 hours before our flight at 10.50 pm so we had to sit with all our luggage for 7.5 hours. We had trouble finding somewhere to sit. It was hard keeping the seats as we were near the airport transport area and they kept calling for wheelchairs and looking nastily at us because we were apparently occupying disabled seats but actually only one was labelled. Eventually Peter went to look for food and it turned out there was quite a good cafe area with tables, chairs and not bad food behind the check in counters, so we moved. I had fried rice and spring rolls which were excellent followed by tea and a biscuit and lolly. About the best meal I have had in weeks and I felt much better. I was having trouble writing as the predictive text on the ipad and my poor typing caused problems. Someone sitting next to us sent some pictures to me by mistake but I declined. I watched men put up a huge TV on a flimsy frame. They worked for several hours and then some guy came along and wriggled the whole structure and they took the TV off and wheeled it all away. I think he was probably the health and safety officer. Eventually we had some more Chinese and saw that the Qantas counter was open so checked in without difficulty and went through customs. It was very messy and makeshift but worked OK. This taking off of shoes is a big pain. We then went to the departure lounge and there were no big problems. Plane was not very comfortable. We had the extra space but there were big bars right in front of both our seats so we had to sit semi diagonally. The 2 men in front of us immediately reclined their seats for the whole trip and made it hard to get in and out of seats. Should not be allowed as far as I am concerned. I only watched one movie, Second Act or something, a chic flick but entertaining enough. I read a bit and tried to sleep and Peter read a bit too. It was dreadfully boring, noisy and more cramped than on any recent trip we have been on. The food was bad too. They dropped off a toastie during the night and it was like eating cardboard. The way the food was served was awful-all separate little packs so there was an enormous amount of debris and no place to put anything. On arrival in Sydney all was fine. Collected luggage. Saw people getting a card but there were no instructions so we asked a nice stewardess and she told us what to do. Nowhere did it say to get this card or have a sign on the machine or on the wall. We needed it to get through all the machines. On Arrival in Adelaide, rang Michael and he came and collected us. I was so happy to be home in our lovely clean city with fresh and tasty bread.

In Graceland garden, Memphis
Elvis's kitchen, Graceland
Elvis's billiard room at Graceland
Elvis Presley's grave at Graceland
Glass pyramid at Memphis
Arcade Cafe/Milkbar Memphis
Our riverboat on the Mississippi, Memphis
Sculpture park on Arkansas River, Little Rock
At the sculpture park, Little Rock The Clinton White House (reproduction), Clinton Presidential Library, Lttle Rock, Arkansas
Welcome to the State Museum, Little Rock, Arkansas
Saw a few of these signs
At the Patee House Museum, St Joseph, Missouri


Huge collection of Danish artefacts at the Danish Museum, Elkhorn, S Dakota
Peter at the Akta Lakota Museum, Chamberlain, S. Dakota