20^th November 2016

Dear All,

What with one thing and another it has taken sometime to sleep patterns back to normal following jetlag and Street Pastors. The latest excitement was Kate going down with a severe bout of sickness which kept her in bed all Friday, which I followed by attempting the world diarrhoea record Friday night! On the bright side I am lighter than I have been for some months and I have learnt to spell diarrhoea!

I had another Garden Club talk at Fulbourn on Tuesday night then we drove down to Hove so were late arriving but naturally the roads were clear. Albert’s latest trick is tobogganing down the stairs at great speed on his tummy – nothing to worry his minders there! Amélie’s homework was to talk to an old person about the toys they had as a child, so I was able to fit the bill and help her.

On Thursday we met at Glatton near Sawtry for our walk taking in Denton, Stilton and Folkesworth. It was quite undulating and beginning to get sticky but a decent walk.

Near Glatton

On Friday I was kindly invited to attend a “Speed Awareness Course” at Huntingdon Racecourse having been nabbed on the way to Exmoor travelling downhill on a deserted road at 8.30 am on a Sunday morning on Thrapston by pass. Actually the course was excellent presented by a couple of comedians but imparting a deal of interesting information.

How many road casualties were reported in 2014? 194,477 (probably 750,000 realistically)

How many killed? 1,775

Which year was worst? 1967 – before seat belts and drink driving warnings

Which counties have the worst records? 1. Lincolnshire, 2. Cambridgeshire (rural road with dykes)

Where do collisions occur? Urban 71%, Rural 25%, Motorways 4%

And deaths? Urban 44%, Rural 50%, Motorways 5%

When were 30 mph speed limits brought in? 1935

How do you tell what the speed limit is? If there are street lights it is 30 mph unless there are signs overruling it then there should be repeaters on every street light.

What do motorcyclists call their SMIDSY club? Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You.

If you stop at a certain distance at 30 mph, what speed would you be impacting at the same distance if travelling at 32 mph? 11 mph. I could go on!

Last night we had a Street Pastor’s Drug awareness training session from “Inclusion” a national organisation that works with folk affected by drugs, alcohol and mental health. We can now tell you the effects of Amphetamones (Speed), Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, LSD, MDMA (Ecstacy), Floral cannabis (Skunk), Resin, Spice, Methedrone, Heroin, Ketamine, Rohypnol (date rape drug) and their combination with alcohol.

Love

Mike & Kate

13^th November 2016

Dear All,

Where to begin? American is another country – they do things differently there! We started in Los Angeles after an almost 11 hour flight. We did not rate LA too highly as it is so large and constipated by traffic jams. We had a tour round Hollywood which seemed a bit run down and then travelled to Venice Beach and Santa Monica and had a paddle in the Pacific. We opted out of the full tour of Universal Studios but did a short one when we picked the others up later. Instead we found a Nature Park in the hills above the city which demonstrated the local flora and fauna.

Hollywood Boulevade

Next stop was San Diego which was better, especially Balboa Park, where we could have spent longer, and then onto Coronado Island where only millionaires can afford to live. Later we had a boat trip round the bay taking in the Maritime museum, sea lions, pelicans and considerable military presence.

San Diego Bay

Next day we drove inland to Arizona passing close to the fence on the Mexican border and travelling through acres of desert eventually arriving at Scottsdale on the outskirts of Phoenix staying at the marvellous Carefree Resort surrounded by impressive specimens of cacti and spotting a Javelina (no we hadn’t heard of them either – it is a bit like a wild pig but in fact a peccary).

Saguaro Cacti

Sedona Red Hills

We got up early next morning to explore the area before departing to Sedona to explore the Red Rock area by jeep. This was a really rough ride in spectacular scenery.

We stopped that night in Flagstaff and departed next morning for our first look at the Grand Canyon at Tusayon and Grand Canyon village. We visited three different view points on the south of the Canyon and as someone said “photos make it seem incredible but the reality is better”.

Grand Canyon South

 We travelled next day on Route 66 stopping at Seliman to visit the famous barbers shop before proceeding via the Hoover Dam to Las Vegas. We had a night tour of Las Vegas including Freemont which is like Sodom and Gomorrah rolled into one.

Our highlight was probably the next day when five of us rose at 4.30 am to be driven to Bolder airport to take a flight in a small plane to the Grand canyon west, picking up a helicopter to touch down on the floor of the Canyon swapping to a boat for a trip up the Colorado river. Back at the airport we picked up a bus for another three viewpoints including the “Skywalk” which is a bit scary - looking down from the glass bottomed walkway!

Grand Canyon Guano Point

Back in Vegas we toured round some of the hotels by day, some of which are mind blowing. Our verdict on Las Vegas was “great to see it once, but will not be in a hurry to return!”

Las Vegas

Next day we drove through the Mojave Desert on the way to Selma where we stayed before visiting Yosemite National Park where it had rained so the waterfalls were running.

Yosemite, El Capitan

Our final stop was San Francisco which was our favourite city by far. We were staying near the Fishermans Dock and Pier 39. We had a tour round Chinatown, Golden Gate Park and Golden Gate Bridge before taking a boat trip round the bay and Alcatraz. After we took in the Aquarium and the Crooked Street before dining in Chinatown. On our last morning we explored the city via a cable car and street car visiting Bloomingdales, Maceys, the Railway museum and the farmers market.

Golden Gate, San Francisco

On the plane home we were able to watch the election result in excruciating detail before eventually arriving home at 2 pm on Wednesday. Our planning had not been ideal as I had a garden Club talk at Shepreth on Thursday night and we were on Street Pastors on Friday night. Our time clocks are still adjusting!

Esther is back in Bulgaria helping with OT training this week and Ben is running in the Athens marathon.

Love

Mike & Kate