West Coast USA - Day 2 - Flagstaff

October 12, 2008

Have waffles for breakfast from waffle machine in reception.

Buy map - too large a scale - and head to the Hollywood sign. Use GPS to get there, which takes us to the middle of an intersection, and the view of the sign is average. Park up in a near by store and take a wander down to take some pictures. Have to dodge traffic and stand in the road to get half decent shots of us with the sign. Walk back to the store and buy a gift for Yana and ask the guy at the counter for directions for the best place to see the sign.

Drive to a “Dog Park” not too far from the store which has excellent views of the Hollywood sign. Get the tripod out and take some snaps.

After the photo shoot we head for Walmart using the GPS to stock up with supplies. In the end we stop at a 7-11 as Walmart seems to be miles away. Stock up with snacks and a crate of bottled water, which turns out to be very handy.

Set off to Flagstaff around 12.30pm, it’s a long 6 hour drive and we stop at In & Out Burger on the way for late lunch around 3pm. Stop in Needles - a one horse town - for gas on the way. Turns out to the most expensive gas in the country, over $4.5 a gallon, no wonder the clerk didn’t know how to operate the till! Arrive at Yana and Slilas’ house at 8pm as expected to a warm welcome. Ate eggplant and cheese bake while catching up. Diana and Yana met in Kindergarten and haven’t seen each other for 17 years!

Have an early night as we’re all exhausted.