End of the Journey

4 Oct –

Another beautiful morning at Joshua Tree National Park. We sat outside having breakfast watching two guys climbing the huge rock slab behind our campsite. Before heading off, we walked a short nature trail thru the desert with many different types of cactus.

We headed west on the I-10 and then got lost finding the connecting road to the I-15 south. Lunch was in a town park before getting onto the I-15 and driving into the traffic of San Diego and our RV Park on Mission Bay. Good internet at last so we completed a list of stuff to do before publishing the last blog and Claire skyped Glen.

5 Oct –

We decided the best way to get to the San Diego Zoo was to drive there in “Ernie”. We arrived about 10:00am and after buying our tickets took the free bus around the entire zoo to get our bearings. Off on foot to find an animal Phoebe had been dying to see called an Aye Aye. It turned out the damn animal was nocturnal and therefore in its burrow sound asleep.

The zoo was smaller than we imagined and very easy to walk around. We saw every animal on the planet. The tigers, rhinoceros, pandas, orangutans and gorillas were my favourites.  We left the zoo at 5:00pm exhausted. It was a difficult drive back with the peak traffic and the setting sun. Back at camp we enjoyed a swim and a spa.

                                                 6 Oct –

Claire and Phoebe took our bikes for a ride around Mission Bay to Ocean Beach while Val did laundry and I cleaned the outside of “Ernie”. After lunch we caught the bus and light rail into San Diego to the USS Midway.

This is an aircraft carrier which is open to the public. We had seen it before but it was huge and we had missed going up onto the bridge. We ticked this bit of the tour off first and it was worth the admission alone. There are ex-crew members everywhere guiding and explaining the ship. Standing on the flight deck and looking at the 250ft used for take-off is impressive as is the 650ft for landing. We all enjoyed the tour.

We walked along the waterfront before catching the light rail back to Old San Diego town for a margarita at a Mexican bar with an old guy playing Mexican type music. A bus ride back to camp to end another exhausting day.

7 Oct –

Up the busy I-5 between San Diego and Los Angeles and stopped at San Clemente State Beach. The camp is above the beach on a cliff. After lunch we walked down to the beach and spent the afternoon there. There was a dumping surf coming in which made swimming difficult. Only Claire and I braved the waves. Claire got completely dumped, even drawing blood! After pre-dinner drinks we walked back to the top of the cliff and watched the sunset over the bay.

8 Oct –

We debated whether to go back down to the beach but decided not to, as the surf conditions were the same. On the short drive up to Anaheim we stopped at a Wal-Mart to do our last shop of the trip. At the camp we collected our mail which had been forwarded on and also got the tags (number plate) for the next owners, Judy and Noel. We walked down the road to the entrance to Disneyland and checked out the prices. We sorted out a rental car for tomorrow and had an ice-cream before returning to the RV Park and a swim in another great pool.

9 Oct –

The rental car guy picked Val and I up to take us to pick up our car. We paid for an economy car but gave us a Mustang convertible for the same price. What a bugger!!! Off down the I-5 with the top down. Great except that when you hit L.A. traffic doing 5mph it gets a bit hot! Eventually we had to close the top and turn on the air-con.

At Hollywood we drove passed the posh shops in Rodeo Drive and parked near the best bits of Hollywood Boulevard. Walked passed the Chinese Theatre and the view of the Hollywood sign before having a great Mexican lunch. Back on the road in the ‘stang and up into the Beverley Hills passed the “stars” homes to the Observatory at the top with great views of L.A. and Hollywood.

Down to the coast at Santa Monica where Claire and Phoebe hired bikes and rode down as far as Venice Beach and Santa Monica Pier. Val and I went for a swim in the Pacific and enjoyed a relax on the beach. Claire and Phoebe joined us and we stayed on the beach until almost sunset. On our trip back to our RV camp we went back to Wal-Mart again for another last shop. We had the top down on the ‘stang for the trip back to the camp.

10 Oct –

We returned Mustang Sally and walked over the road to Disneyland. For a Monday the place was very crowded and we made good use of the fast pass system to ride all the good adventures including “Pirates of Caribbean, Indiana Jones, The Haunted House, Small World, and Buzz Light Year, the Tea Cups and Thunder Mountain (Val and I passed on this one).

We also enjoyed Mickey’s Parade. You cannot not smile when you are at Disneyland. The Park closed at 6:00pm. A bit of a surprise! Back at the RV Park we had Noel and Judy (new owners) around for drinks, pizza and a catch up.

11 Oct –

Our last day in the US of A! Scrambled eggs for breakfast before Claire and Phoebe set off to California Land Theme Park. Val and I started the long job of packing 4 years’ worth of stuff and cleaning. It took us to 2:00pm to finish the job but we got all we wanted to take home in three bags. (one courtesy of the Ingrams).

Judy and Noel arrived and we went thru all the bits and pieces of “Ernie”. Claire and Phoebe arrived back from their day and we had a drink before our shuttle arrived to take us to LAX. It was a nice fast trip and we sailed thru security quickly. We managed to bluff our way into the Koru Club with my expired membership card. We sat in our seats on the plane for 1 ½ hours while they sorted out a door arming problem. We all managed a couple of hours sleep.

13 Oct –

No 12 Oct as we lost that crossing the International Date Line. We did not gain much time on the flight so we arrived in Auck 1 hour late just in time to miss our connecting flight down to CHCH. Only an hours delay and again managed to bluff our way into the Koru Club. Glen was at the airport to greet us and bring us home. It was all a bit of a mixture of sadness, sorry we have ended our 4 year North American adventures, happiness to see Nicola and the family, and relief that we have sold “Ernie” to a couple who will enjoy him as much as we have. We drove about 12,000 miles this year and a total of 46,000 in the 4 years with the only expense being some tyres. Australia in 2018??