travel


Travel :: USA | Big Sur and The Pacific Coast


December 20, 2016

So the final leg of our big USA adventure – a drive down the beautiful Pacific Coast, via Big Sur and into Santa Barbara.  

We departed Monterey mid morning after grabbing a quick breakfast and hitting the road for one of the most scenic parts of the California Coast.  The drive is definitely not one you should rush – I was constantly saying pull over I want to just stop and look.  I actually would have liked to have taken longer and stayed one night on the coast so we could do more exploring as there is so much to be seen in this part of the world however we needed to get to our accomodation in Santa Barbara.  

As well as our numerous stops along the coast to take photos and admire the beauty we also stopped at San Simeon for lunch.  We had hoped to visit Hearst Castle which is on the hill overlooking San Simeon, however most tours were booked out and the only one left was at 4pm and we needed to continue on our journey.  After leaving San Simeon we stopped to visit the elephant seals which you can find on the beach about 10 minutes south.  It is an amazing site to see the seals playing and enjoying life – at certain times in the year this beach is so packed with seals that you can’t see the sand!  So amazing!

Finally we arrived in Santa Barbara around 5pm – we loved Santa Barbara – such a pretty sea side town.  We ate dinner at a casual cafe on the water, with a beautiful sandy beach out the front – it reminded us a lot of home.  We only had the one night here which was just not enough for us to explore and just hang out so if we go back again we definitely would stay the extra night or so.

Our final morning in the US was spent having a delicious breakfast in the main street of Santa Barbara followed by a look around the shops and then a walk on the lovely Pier.  We hit the road back to LA around 1pm which took us along the final stretch of the coast via Malibu and back to Santa Monica where it all began.  We stopped at our favourite Mexican for an early dinner before a quick drive back through some of the stunning streets of Beverley Hills and back to the airport for our late night flight!  We seemed to cram a lot into our last few days which seem to rush by all to fast.

So there is the final leg of our great US adventure.  So much fun – a trip I would highly recommend for anyone wanting a great family holiday.

 Here are the final few photos to show of our last few days.  I do have a video but sadly I can’t get it to load into vimeo so it will have to wait for now.  I hope you have enjoyed hearing about our trip and of course I am always happy to share any other info about places we stayed and things we did.  

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Travel :: USA | Monteray + Carmel


November 10, 2016

After 4 fantastic days in San Francisco we headed south down the coast to the beautiful town of Monteray where we were staying for the next two nights. Monteray is a charming little sea side village that is well known for it aquarium, fisheries and sea life

On recommendation from a friend we stayed at The Intercontinental on Cannery Row. The location was fantastic and our room was just wonderful. It was spacious (which was lovely after San Fran) and like all Intercontinental properties it was beautifully presented and maintained.

We ate in some of the lovely restaurants along Cannery Row where we could watch the sea otters playing in the water out the front. Cannery Row does have a lot of very touristy shops but it was fun and relaxed.

On our second day we took the drive 15 minutes further south to Carmel which is the most beautiful village with loads of lovely shops and restaurants. We spent some time walking along Carmel Beach and the wandered the shops, stopping for lunch. We visited the Mission church and once again enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere.

This area is home to some prime real estate so we took a drive around the area to see the wonderful homes. You can see a few in my little video below.

We headed back to Monteray for the afternoon and hired a Surrey Bike that the 5 of us could take a ride on – loads of fun and reminded me of muscles I haven’t used in a while!

We had a lovely relaxing two days in Monteray and Carmel – again the weather was cooler like San Francisco so we were pleased to have our jackets in this part of the world.

Here are my favourite snaps plus our video showing this very pretty part of the world.

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Monterey & Carmel from Leanne Ambrogio on Vimeo.


Travel :: USA | San Francisco


October 3, 2016

Time to head back to the big city after a wonderful few days soaking up the warm fresh air of Yosemite National Park.  Our next stop is San Francisco which was a 4 hour drive from our hotel at Fish Camp.  This was my second trip to San Fran but there was a big 27 year gap in between each visit so it was time to rediscover the city again.

We decided to stay down at Fisherman’s Wharf on this trip as we were in town for 4th of July celebrations and this meant we would be near the fireworks over the bay.  Our hotel was called the Zephyr Hotel and was quite a hip and happening place in a fabulous location right across the road from Pier 39 and all the touristy things on the Bay.  They had some amazing games and entertainment for the kids on the ground floor however it was however the smallest room we encountered on our trip which meant for an interesting 4 days living like sardines in a can!!  The room was clean and had an amazing view straight out to Alcatraz but the size was just not great for a family of 5.  We had even emailed numerous times before we left Australia confirming that we wanted a particular room that was a little larger but this of course was not noted on anything.

As we had 4 days in San Francisco we decided that the best way to get around and see the city would be to do the hop on hop off double decker bus!  There were plenty of bus sightseeing companies to chose from and they are a great way to get some history of the city.  We picked City Sightseeing and to be honest we think this particular company was the one that seemed to have the least number of buses.  Once we were on board all was great but the minute you get off to explore an area you would at times be left waiting well over an hour or two before the next bus would turn up.  My advice would be to ask people waiting at the bus stops if they were finding the busses regular before you decide which tour company to go with!

San Fran is a big and interesting city with so much to see – we probably could have easily driven to everywhere but we were unsure of exactly what do see and do first and we didn’t want the hassle of parking which seemed to be expensive (parking in out hotel cost us $55 a night!) so I am glad we did the bus tour so we could see all the places of interest.  One thing is for sure of SF though – the weather!  It was COLD! After the high temperatures we had for the previous two weeks the drop down to 17 degrees while in SF was a shock to the system! We were told that the one item that the tourist shops sell more of in the city are sweat shirts and jackets – they certainly are not good at summer but I guess that is what adds to the charm!

My favourite things to see and do in San Francisco were:-
The Golden Gate Bridge
A walk and lunch in the Haight District
An afternoon at Sausalito
The morning on Alcatraz Island
Visiting the Painted Ladies and other Full House sites
Lunch in Chinatown
Shopping in Union Square
A vist to Lombard St

Here are some of my favourite photos from our time in San Francisco

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San FranciscoI | July 2016 from Leanne Ambrogio on Vimeo.


Travel :: USA | Yosemite National Park


September 22, 2016

After 3 fantastic days we started our long journey to Yosemite National Park – definitely my favourite of the scenic parts from our trip.
After spending the morning making the most of our Las Vegas pad, which included time at the pool and some lunch we finally departed at around 1.30pm – quite late for the fact that we had a long drive ahead – longer than we had predicted!

The drive from Vegas to our hotel which was just on the outskirts of Yosemite National Park in a place called Fish Camp took us 8 hours, so with a petrol and food stop along the way it meant we arrived at our hotel at 10pm – a big big day!  Our hotel was Tenaya Lodge and we had a deluxe room with 2 queen beds and a roll away.  The room was like your traditional style room so really only room to walk around the beds but was it was a really lovely hotel that I would recommend.  They had a couple of restaurants and a little snack shop, 2 pools (indoor and outdoor) and loads of extra things for the kids to do.  We did archery one day but there were also mountain bikes for hire and a rock climbing wall.

After a good nights sleep we were up bright and early the next morning for day one of our trip into the park!  Yosemite National Park is a huge place and the drive from the main entrance to the main floor of the park is a good hour.  The drive is beautiful though and we saw a number of deer on the way!

The first major tourist stop while driving in is called Tunnel View.  After traveling through a long tunnel you arrive to some magical scenery and your first glimpse at the postcard perfect Yosemite!  
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 June was a brilliant time to visit as all the waterfalls are still in full flow!  By September most have dried up until after the winter. Some proved to be a welcome relief after hiking to the bottom and being sprayed by the cool water!  Once in the main part of the park we stopped regularly in the car to see the scenery.  The road is easy to travel along with plenty of places to stop.  We did a few hikes and and had lunch in one of the cafe’s  The other cool thing we did see was a bear!  He was just wandering through the forest – the rangers were close by keep tabs on him so he didn’t come near the tourists!

Here are some of my favourite photos from day 1

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On day 2 we took a different drive into the park.  This time we headed to Glacier Point where we could view everything from up above!  Again this was spectacular and so worth the trip.  The drive was not as long as day one and the walk once in was short and easy.

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On our final day as we left the park we headed to an area that had the giant sequoia trees.  The size of these trees is really incredible.  We did a bush walk on a marked trail that gave the age and history of the giant trees which was fascinating.  I must say our time in this part of California was one of my favourites and a must if you there in summer or spring.  We had three nights at Tenaya lodge and for our family this was perfect!  

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Yosemite from Leanne Ambrogio on Vimeo.


Travel :: USA | The Grand Canyon


July 30, 2016

Our third stop on our great American Adventure was the amazing Grand Canyon – another totally incredible place that is a must see!  This was my second trip to the Grand Canyon and it is still as awe inspiring the second time around as the first.   

After a very long drive from Anaheim (7 and three quarter hours!) we arrived at our hotel in Tusayan at around 5.30 in the afternoon.   The drive from Anaheim was an easy one (although it is easy for me to say that as I was not driving – but it was straight forward) that pretty much took you straight out through the dessert.  We had a brief stop for petrol and to use the bathroom at a pretty small town called Needles during the afternoon but we didn’t stop anywhere for food as we had purchased snacks and things to eat in the car before we left Anaheim.  The temperature at our pit stop was 45 degrees so our refuelling was a quick one!  The town of Tusayan is just outside the entrance to Grand Canyon National Park but so close that within 15 minutes we were on the south rim!  

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I was really keen to see sunset at the Canyon so after checking in to our hotel (more details on our hotel are below) we had a very quick dinner in their restaurant and made it into the park by 7.30pm to watch a beautiful sunset around 8pm.   Entry into the park is US$30 per car for a 7 day permit.  As you can see from the few photos of the family below the colours over the grand canyon at sunset are spectacular and so different to how it looks in the heat of the day.  I am so pleased we headed in to the park for sunset to watch the colours change over the canyon and also get a small taste of our day ahead.  

Sweet Style -0948 Sweet Style -0951 Sweet Style -0953 Sweet Style -0954After a good nights sleep we grabbed a quick breakfast at a small local coffee shop in Tusayan called RP’s – their coffee was “ok” and they had breakfast options that suited the kids – always a bonus! We then took the 15 minute drive back to the south rim where we parked in the visitors centre car park.  There was loads of parking in the park so we were pleased that we drove in and didn’t take the shuttle that the signs outside the park recommend!  It meant we were free to come and go as we needed and could take our mini esky full of bottled water.

Once in the park we then did a really big walk along the rim.   We started at Mather Point just near the visitors centre and walked to Bright Angel Lodge at Village.    There was a great geology museum to visit along the way where we could learn about the history of the canyon and of course the view changed as we walked!  It was not at all a difficult walk as it was flat and along a path but the weather was warm (we were there at the end of June) and into the 30’s so we were pleased we had loads of water to keep us hydrated.  The distance we walked was about 3.5km which is not far but with kids, hot weather, the geology centre and a nice view to keep stopping to check out it took us a few hours. 

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After our walk we then caught the shuttle bus back to the main car park at the Visitors Centre – this was a quick 10 minute bus trip that stopped at various places to get us back to where we started.    Once back at our starting point we decided to take a drive to Dessert View which was 35 km in the other direction.  The drive was great – easy and of course picturesque with the canyon to one side and the dessert to the other.   You could stop all along this drive at the numerous viewing spots that were not overcrowded.  At Dessert View we visited the watch tower and found a different perspective of the canyon that was just as amazing!   

Our drive from Dessert View back to Tusayan was approximately an hour heading back on the same road we had arrived on – easy and picturesque (you can see some of it in the video below).  We had a fantastic trip to the Canyon – I know there is a lot more you can do like go hiking into the canyon or ride a donkey or even fly over in a helicopter but a simple walk and a drive was perfect for us travelling with kids!  

We stayed at the Grand Hotel in Tusayan and it was great.  We were in a standard room which included two queen beds and a rollaway.   Rooms like this are always tight when travelling with 5 but we weren’t in the room that often so for this part of our trip it was fine!   The hotel had a good restaurant and an indoor pool (which we didn’t use).  We just stayed the two nights which is not long after a big trip to get here but we didn’t feel like we needed any more time at the Grand Canyon.  On our last evening we had Mexican dinner at Sophie’s in Tusayan – it was delicious and I would definitely recommend it.   Tusayan is not big and pretty much just has 8 or so hotels, a few restaurants, petrol stations and tourist shops – you can’t get lost and it is so close to the canyon that it is the perfect place to stay being a little cheaper than the hotels on the rim!  

As always please let me know if you want any more information about visiting the Grand Canyon.  

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Route 66 & The Grand Canyon from Leanne Ambrogio on Vimeo.