Washington DC Big Bus Night Tour

After our epic walk to Georgetown and back, we then walked into town passing the White House on the way!   Where we are staying is about a 20 minute walk into town so very central.   The traffic here just seems to go all day and night and its amazing how they love using their car horns all the time.  Also people jaywalk constantly, we don't as we have to remember to look to the left not right before crossing roads.

We got downtown a little earlier than necessary and Janine just had to pop into Macy's here and walked out with a couple of sleeveless tops for the bargain price of $38 for 2, its quite warm here so sleeveless is the way to go.   We then had a drink and by then our tour bus was ready to go.

We were recommended by a couple of people to do the night tour and we were not sorry.   We had a very animated young man as our tour guide, who was very knowledgeable about Washington and the monuments and sights to see.

The White House, 1000 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC

This house is smack bang in the middle of town and was actually not as big as I thought from what you see in movies and TV, not set back that far from the street either.

 Capitol Hill - where the business of Washington happens!

Washington Monument - no mortar holds this together, has only recently been re-opened after maintenance as you can see by the colour change in the bricks.   This is held together by sheer gravity and weight - incredible.   There is a lift inside that you can get to take you to the top.

 Martin Luther King memorial

Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial

 Lincoln Memorial - he is huge!!

Very balmy night outside and it was good sitting on top of the bus, my knee was pretty sore by the end of the night though with the getting on and off after all the walking we did, so I slept pretty well!

The sweet life in Georgetown

One of the things on my list to see was to visit Georgetown Cupcakes!  For those of you who may not be familiar with this Washington institution, DC Cupcakes was a little business started by two friends who baked cupcakes in their own home, which then grew into an empire including a TV series - Cupcake Wars.

There was a queue out the door when we arrived after a 20 minute walk from our accommodation, but it moved very quickly and there I was facing a beautiful case of cakes and the decision as to what variety of at least 20 that are baked fresh every day until sold.   For $3 each and a decent size too I chose two varieties to take back.   Here's some photos:

Georgetown cupcakes store

Choices, choices

Salted Caramel & Red Velvet

And the cakes are as good as they look!!   Till next time.

From Melbourne via Auckland to Los Angeles

Well, we have made it to the west coast!!! Lovely warm weather here today around 27 deg felt so good getting out of the terminal to see the sunshine.


Good trip over on Air New Zealand.   First time in Premium Economy in their "Space Seats", heaps of room with the configuration of 2, 2, 2.   Great food as well, we have always been happy with Air New Zealand.   And also the difference in what to do while onboard, we must have had at least 100 movies, tv series complete seasons, audiobooks, music, games and the list goes on.   Very nice cabin staff as well.


We had a pretty swift journey through customs and arrived at our hotel - Embassy Suites North LAX, which comes under the umbrella of the Hilton group.   David was feeling a little under the weather by then so he retreated to have a bit of a nap soon after we arrived.   I investigated the Business Centre where there are 3 computers to use free of charge, plus printing, fantastic!!  


Checked with the front desk as to how long it would take to get to the local Westfield centre so we can get mobile while here, and once David woke we were off.   Very friendly and helpful T-Mobile store where we are now back online with new sim cards for both phones and a card for my ipad as well - happy days!!


We arrived back just in time for happy hour!! Free wine, soft drinks and spirits, plus nibbles!!
We decided to have dinner in the restaurant at the hotel - Cafe Aero which was really nice and the hotel had given us a 15% off voucher to use, so I had a lovely piece of Salmon and what did David have??? Can you guess??? A fillet mignon of course.


We are just heading upstairs now for a bit of tv then it will be bed for us for a good sleep becuase we are off to Washington tomorrow morning!!   Watch this space.

We are packed!!

After seeming like months to go to today, I must admit the last couple of weeks have well and truly flown.   It seems everyone has been so excited for us but I am now only starting to believe that we are leaving tomorrow!!!

Its been a pretty cruisy weekend, with so much to organise for ourselves plus of course Megan, it has all gone pretty well, with only now at 3.20 feeling like its all done.   Many thanks to our wonderful neighbours for feeding us last night, plus a few wines of course!

 Here's the packing in progress!

And the finished result - only 12.6kg for me, that's incredible!!
These new lightweight suitcases are great.


We are staying overnight at the Parkroyal Hotel at the airport ready for our flight tomorrow, and then the fun will begin.

Cheers till then, watch this space!