Dylan’s Blog

grand canyon

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las vegas
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Glacier

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  This is the Vegas strip    

• We got up really early on Saturday July 15th- it was still dark when we left
• We flew to Denver to change planes and then we flew Las Vegas
• In Las Vegas it was 115F(46.1C)
• You could feel the pavement burn through your shoes!!!!
• We stayed at the Excalibur which was based on a Medieval Castle
• It has towers,merlon,crenels,battlements,moat,knights and as every castle has- poker machines, bars,pools     and to top it off a games arcade!!!!!!!!!
• The pool was shaped like a shield and it had water slides and a waterfall that gives you a massage
•  This is the Excalibur

• While we were in Vegas we saw Mama Mia, The Musical it was in the hotel called Mandalay Bay
• When we went for a walk down the street they had mist sprayers so you could cool down- it was so hot and dry.
• We spent a day outlet shopping with Dave and Louise- they were amazed at the size of the centre and how cheap things were- i bought a Las Vegas 51’s hat to add to my growing collection of baseball and hockey hat collection, and some cheap surf stuff.
• We had a look through the other hotels- the Luxor was based on an Egyptian pyramid, The Bellagio was really fancy- and when i say fancy i mean REALLY fancy, The Venetian was based on Venice in Italy- it had gondolas which cruised through the indoor shopping complex on a canal, Cirucus circus had live circus acts and we watched some, Treasure Island was based on Pirates and had a big pirate ship out the front. The Luxor was my favourite- it was so coool!
•  This is the outside of the Venetian 
• One night we went down to the Bellagio and saw the water fountains dance to the Pink Panther theme-it was really neat-and packed with people.
•  The water fountain at the Bellagio 
• On the last night we saw The Tournament of the Kings in our hotel and got to eat dinner with our fingers- no cutlery (sorry Gran) and a whole chicken for each person and we drank out of goblets.  We watched a jousting tournament and mum and Louise thought the blokes were cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  They were very good at riding their well trained horses. They had great sound effects.
• Then we went to the Grand Canyon 

 All of us  

Dad arrives after a quick climb up the canyon

 The cute chipmunks 

• It was a long drive to the canyon from Las Vegas- we hired a Chrysler Town and Country which was big enough to fit us all (us and Dave and Louise) plus 6 suitcases!
• We went via the Hoover Dam which is famous for powering Las Vegas and you know how bright Las Vegas is!!!!!
• Driving towards the Canyon and getting a first look at it was amazing- it was spectacular!!!
• The canyon

• We were so high up and it was so deep and no big fences- so mum was holding onto me until the blood stopped going to my arm- she was scared i was gonna fall in! The park ranger said about 2 people fall down the grand canyon in a year.
• Us at the canyon

• Everyone (apart from Louise - cause i was gas bagging to her) saw a road runner - it was so fast- just like the cartoon!!Beep beep!!
• That night we had the most amazing thunder storm over the canyon- we tried to take photos but it was too too hard. Dad did get a couple.
• The next day we caught the park shuttle to have a better look at the Canyon- it was just so huge, and pretty- lots of colours.
• The canyon wasnt very big (commercial) so there was only one place to eat- we ate at the same place for breakfast, lunch and tea. The hotel was right on the edge of the canyon- you could walk out the door and it was 20 steps to the edge!!
• At 3pm we drove back to Las Vegas through the Arizona and Nevada desserts.

• Getting to San Fran wasnt as easy as we thought- we went to the Las Vegas Greyhound bus terminal (it was horrible)- we had tickets to get onto the 11.00pm bus but didnt get in line (cause we didnt know) and we missed out on getting either of the 2 buses that left. So we had to wait until 2am to catch the next bus
• Chloe and i slept on the floor- and then the bus driver didnt show up so we didnt get on the bus until 2.30am-then we slept on the bus! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
• It was a long trip to San Fran- it took 14 hours and we had to stop at Los Angeles for 2 hours!YAY
• Finally we arrived at San Fran- it was a beautiful city. It was built on a hill.  Our hotel was called The Opal and it was VERY nice. 
• We ate dinner at the place where Metallica signed their first record deal called Tommys
• In the morning we went for a ride on a cable car- up and down- scary- Dad and Dave did their ‘Laverne and Shirley’ impersonation and hung out the side of the car.  I got to ring the bell!!
• Us on the Cable car   
•  The Cable car
• We then went down to the harbour front and went on a boat ride to the Golden gate bridge (which is famous), and Alcatraz Island.We didnt get a chance to get off the boat and look through the prison but it looked interesting.There was lots of fog on the harbour which made it very eerie and scary.
•  The Golden Gate bridge with fog
• We went back to the hotel via town and Chloe got 2 new dresses for the formal nights on the cruise ship from Macys
• Chloe and her Macy’s bag
• We did lots of walking in San Fran- it was hard work cause the streets werent flat.  Dave made us walk for miles to get to Lombard Street which is the crookedest street in the world. It is so steep that the cars have to zig zag down the street- it was cool. The sidewalk was a staircase!
• Lombard street-look closely at the cars coming down
• After that we walked to a monument called Coit Tower ontop of another hill(telegraph hill) then walked down to the harbour- my legs were killing me!!! When we walked down we came across a guy who had an Australian Cockatoo with a wierd name-he sat on my shoulder and we talked Aussie to him!!
• The cockatoo

• We then prepared to catch another bus to Seattle 

• We came off an 18 hour Greyhound bus and we were at Seattle.
• We expected to stay with the brother of one of the  IMS teachers from Adelaide- Ray Eads
• Ray and Nancy welcomed us at the bus stop and put keys in our hands to a hotel right in the centre of Seattle-so generous
• After a shower we went straight to the Pikes Market and Chloe and i had the usual- chicken fingers and fries
• The next day we went into town and i looked through the Seattle Mariners shop and got another baseball hat
• We then went to the Space Needle- it was so high up!
• We were only on Seattle for a short time but i thought it was a nice city.  
• This is the view of Seattle from the Space Needle
• This is the first Starbucks in the world- it is at the Pike Market

• We took a bus from Seattle and drove to Vancouver
• it wasn’t as long as the drive from San Fran to Seattle and it was a nice bus owned by the American Train Authority (amtrak)
• We arrived in Vancouver and stayed in an appartment with Dave and Louise
• The next day we went to Granville Island Markets
• We walked a long way that day and had spaghetti for tea
• The next day we got up really early to go to Victoria on Vancouver Island
• Victoria was really pretty with lots of bear statues and flowers lining the streets
• I think Chloe got a picture with every bear in Victoria!
• We went a miniature museum and saw lots of little villages and history scenes
• In the afternoon we went to an Imax film on Whales and had tea at the Old  Spaghetti Factory
• It was a late night because we didnt get into Vancouver until after 11.30pm
• The next day was a beautiful day with sunshine and about 25 degrees so we decided to hire bikes and go to Stanley Park.  It reminded me of when we ride to the Bay.  There was a bike path all the way around the huge park. I had a nice red bike that had 6 gears. It didnt seem like a very long ride but then when we looked at the map it was a long distance. The scenery was beautiful.
• We ended the afternoon with a nice, relaxing slurpee (slush puppy) and i got brain freeze!! Mum, dad, Dave and Louise had their usual coffee.
• The next day we were going on the ship!!! Yippee.

A Todem pole

A miniature pub

Grandville Island Markets

 Me and the Grizzly Bear

Changing of the Guard in Miniature World       The ferrie that gets you to Vancover Island aka BC Ferries

• WOW! What a ship!!
• We spent the first afternoon just exploring the ship.
• It has 2 pools,2hot tubs, all you can eat ice cream parlour, hot dog and taco stand, a casino, a library and internett cafe, kids club, a tennis court, a basketball court, 2 table tennis tables, an entertainment area with a stage and lots of bars!!
• We did a lifeboat drill where we had to put our life vests on and stand next to our life boats-Chloe was really scared
• The next day we were just sailing so Chloe and i went to kids club (aka Club Hal) it was so much fun!
• That night was the formal dinner so we had to dress up!!
• Aug 4th we arrived in Juneau after travelling up the Tracy Arm
• We went to the Mendenhall Glacier. What an experience-it was freezing and it was summer, i had to wear 5 layers and the last one was a huge rainsuit.  We paddled out in a 12 person Indian Canoe. I paddled all the time (what a champion) We also saw a waterfall and picked up lots of icebergs on the way.
• The next day we were on Skagway-we decided to have a slow day and just stroll around town.
• On the 6th we sailed into Glacier Bay.  It was a magnificent Glacier and we saw white thunder-which is where the glacier falls and smashes into the water and makes a big KABOOM!! It was still cold!!
• It was raining in Ketchikan the next day-which is ‘the usual’ it doesn’t rain for maybe 5 days a year.  They call it ‘liquid sunshine’
• We went on The Duck which was an amphibious vehicle (it went on the land and the sea).  It continued to rain and i got wet!! 
• In the afternoon we strolled around the town and saw the salmon trying to swim upstream!! They are amazing!  We saw some seals trying to eat the fish.
• Dad finally bought mum a Tanzonite ring-it is blue and small.
• That night it was formal again and Mum and Dad had dinner with Dave and Louise at the Pinnacle Grill while Chloe and I went to kids club. I got a bit sea sick that night cause the boat was rockin’ and i slept on the top bunk which made it worse
• The next day we sailed back down the Inside Passage and arrived in Vancouver the next day.

 The Volendam

 The seals in Alaska

 The Ice Sculpture of An Eagle.

 Stuffing our Mooses

Mum is helping me with this post because she took notes about the places we saw-we did so much it was hard to remember

• Dennis came to pick us up at 8.30 and we left for the Rockies
• The first night we stayed in Clearwater and went to a town called Harrisson Hot Springs where we had chance to put our hands in some natural hot srings- it was hot!!
• The next day we explored the area around Clearwater (Dennis’ home town). We went to Wells Gray Provincial park  and saw Dawson Falls and Helmcken Falls whilst looking over our shoulder worried about bears.
• This is Dawson Falls
• This is Helmcken Falls
• On our way to Jasper we saw Mt Terry Fox- named after a kid (he was 17) who had cancer and lost a leg and decided to run from one side of Canada to the other to raise money for cancer research- he didnt make it and died soon after - but dad remembers MMRobinson HS doing a fund raiser in his honour so Canada still celebrates his heroic efforts.
• We saw Mt Robson- the tallest peak in the Rockies- iced with glaciers- the Rockies are so beautiful.
• This is Mt Robson
• This is what a Beaver does to a tree
• We didnt get into Jasper until 9pm and didnt have tea until 10pm - it was a late night!!!
• In the morning (Saturday) we got up and went to see some more of the Rockies- we went to our first Glacier in the Rockies-Mt Edith Cavell and the Angel Glacier
• This is the Moose at Mt Edith Cavell This is Dad and I at Angel Glacier
• After this we saw the Athabasca Falls- they were very pretty but it worried me that people were climbing on the rocks and could fall easily- silly people!!
• We then walked on the Athabasca Glacier in the Columbian Icefields.  Walking on a glacier was scary but we were safe with our guide Dennis who knew the area well. It crunched under your feet and glistened in the sun.  We then saw Peyto Lake (shaped like a dog) and we drove to Banff and stayed at the High Country Inn
• This is Me at The Columbian Icefields This is Peyto Lake
• On Sunday we went to Lake Louise-it was spectacular and it looked better than the photos i had seen.  We then went on a humougous-boozookingly long uphill walk to a little log cabin called The Tea House and Mirror Lake. Argh, groan!!!!!! We didnt get a hot chocolate there cause it was packed but we had fun watchng the cute chimpmunks eating bits of food. Then the long walk down!!!!!!!  But it was easier.
• This is The Fat Chimpmunk!
• This is all of us at Lake Louise
• Dave, Jutta (a German lady also on our tour) and Dennis walked up a higher mountain called the Beehive Mountain
• This is Beehive Mountain
• That night we went to the Irish Pub and caught up with dads cousin Kym (Myk/Andrew) Yay- he was cool!
• This is Kym and Us at The Irish Pub
• On Monday we went up the gondola in Banff- it was very high up but a great view.
• We then looked at a spiral tunnel train where the train goes into the mountain and spirals around to reduce the decline and comes out lower- it does a corkscrew-cool!  Then to the Yoho National park where we saw the Takakkaw Falls (meaning ‘magnificent’ in First Nations language) which flows into the Yoho (meaning ‘wonderful’) River. There we saw an ancient face carving in a tree by a First Nations person.
• This is The First Nations Carving
• We then drove to the Quaoort Lodge in the Salmon Arm- it is a first Nations lodge, full of art, teepees, and First Nations history.
• On Tuesday we saw a First nations ranch and drove through Lillooet and had lunch on the Seton River.  We then drove to Whister
• I loved whister- what a cool place- full of bmx bikes and holidaying Vancouverins.  We could imagine it in winter- it would be rockin’!!!  They had a mountain bike park where guys could do tricks and lots of downhill riding.
• This is a Whister Downhill Bike Track
• We looked around the village and did the luge(like a winter one but on wheels down a track), Chloe loved this also.  Dave and Louise went white water rafting- they had fun.
• We then drove back to Vancouver - we did nearly 1500 miles in the week- it was a long way- but we saw some wonderful places.