Santa Barbara

Our last week was in Santa Barbara - very relaxed as we are both totally exhausted! We stayed in Airbnb accommodation - a small apartment in the centre of the town which provided for all our needs including Netflix! 
Santa Barbara is a beautiful place with lots of restaurants, bars and tourist attractions.  We went to a few places but mainly have rested and watched films - think we're 'touristed out' to be honest.  Couldn't resist a couple of short bike rides (unloaded!) along the coast - I do still love my bike despite the agony of the last couple of months. 
And time to reflect on the whole trip which seems to have passed by without chance to really appreciate much of what we've done.  It's certainly been a fantastic experience and a huge challenge.
Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me in my goal to raise money for Unicef - you have helped me reach my fundraising goal of £2000 and your messages of support and encouragement on Facebook, emails, texts and this blog have kept me pedaling when times were tough.  And thanks to Rob for all the organisation - I could not have done this without him.
So, off to Los Angeles now to drop off the car and fly back to sunny Manchester tomorrow.  Looking forward to seeing everyone..........

Death Valley

Having failed to persuade Rob to gamble in the casino with me to try and win the cost of this whole trip back (he's so cautious - it would have made up for all the agony, anguish and heartache if it had all been for free!), we reluctantly left our gorgeous hotel and drove 300 miles through Death Valley on our way back to the Pacific Coast for the final part of our trip.
Death Valley was pretty spectacular.  Partially below sea level abd partially above 4000ft, it's apparently the hottest place in North America and also one of the hottest places in the world. Not sure what happened today but the temperature gauge on our car only topped 57° - well it was cloudy.... The desert scenery resembled what I imagine to be a vast moonscape - miles of sand and unvegetated mountains - very dramatic.  After a short stop at the visitors' centre where we saw a film of the history of Death Valley, we continued to that well known town of Bakersfield,  booking a last minute motel from the local McDonald's, as usual making use of the free Wifi for the price of a coffee - we know all the tricks now ha ha!

Las Vegas!

Well - this is more like it!  Forget the camping.  We're staying in the Red Rock Hotel Casino and resort - what a flash place and what a contrast to the rest of this trip.  Our room on the 16th floor is fantastic, with fully marbled bathroom and far reaching views over Las Vegas and the Strip in the distance. We're both somewhat overwhelmed by the apparent opulence of the whole resort.  As for understanding the myriad of gambling options even within our hotel, we've got no chance!  We need a simple one arm bandit with three simple columns which either match (and you win) or don't match (and you lose) - easy!
Spent our second day on the Strip, visiting Caesar Palace, Wynn,  Paris, Venice, Bellagio, casino after casino, shop after shop, restaurant after restaurant, etc, etc.  All very flashy - photos don't really reflect the sheer ostentatious opulence of the whole place. 

Hoover Dam

Due to weather warnings of snowfall, we abandoned our plan to drive 400 miles to Las Vegas around the north side of the Grand Canyon through reputedly dramatic landscape.  Instead we took the shorter and quicker route back around the south of the Canyon.  However, all was not lost as we were able to visit the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, 30 miles from Las Vegas.  Very impressive - built over 5 years and completed in 1935, this huge dam which captures the water of the Colorado River has completely transformed the arid areas to the south east and supplies water and power to many areas including Los Angeles and stretching down to Mexico.