We have had a wonderful two weeks in Noosa again.  Never get sick of this place.  This time Marg & Dave were blessed with the whole family there for the first week.  We were able to soak up the sun, play games, wander markets, enjoy big breakfasts on the beach and do a bit of holiday shopping together.  A great opportunity given that Steph is leaving for Cambodia shortly, but more of that later.

Mel & Mark took the long journey using the Subaru to go via Violet Town, to visit Mark's mum, and then Ipswich to visit his sister, Tash.  Dave flew from Canberra on Saturday and Marg & Steph finally arrived by a late Tiger flight from Melbourne (fog delay).  They reflect how luck they were as the following day the ash cloud made its presence felt, closing Melbourne airport.

Steph, Mel & Mark stayed the week (flying back to Melbourne between ash clouds) and then Marg & I had a couple of days to ourselves before heading off to drive back to Canberra.

After a 12 hour day of driving to Scone from Noosa, we then followed a very interesting route around the back of the Blue Mountains (Denmac / Lismore).

On the way we had a run around the Mt Panorama circuit at Bathurst.  For a person who really hates the car racing, Marg was in awe when we saw the circuit and realised the skill that these guys must exhibit in getting around this track in October each year.

Back to Canberra and so starts another adventure.  Will report on that later.

We arrived in LA about 3 weeks ago and spent a great W/E with our nephew Steve and his wife Caroline.  They have recently moved to a great little unit in Santa Monica, a lovely location.  It was wonderful to spend some time with them.  We went to the Getty Museum which is an art gallery that is housed in fabulous buildings in a great location overlooking LA and also to the Getty Villa located on the coast in Santa Monica, also wonderful.
On the Monday we started our travels up the west coast.  Our first stop was Santa Barbara, a picturesque town on a pretty bay.  It has a very strong Spanish influence so we had a great Tapas meal for dinner!  The next day we went to Monterey, stopping at Hearst Castle which was unbelievable.  Unfortunately the coastal highway north of Hearst Castle is closed indefinitely due to a landslide so we had to travel back inland on highway 101.  Monterey is another lovely seaside town.  We spent 2 nights here.  On our day here we checked out the local sights, called into and the Pebble Beach golf course which looked amazing, unfortunately no golf was played but a little retail therapy was enjoyed (I hope it improves my golf!!!) and travelled south to enjoy the coastal sights which were very scenic.

From Monterey it was into San Francisco for 5 nights.  We had a fabulous time here, a great city enjoyed the sights and loved the food.  In fact the food has really been a pleasant surprise for most of the trip, much better than I remember.
Next stop the Napa Valley, where we spent 2 nights.  A very pretty valley with hundreds of vineyards.  Surprisingly though they only produce 4% of the nations wine.  Needless to say we managed to sample a few and bought a couple for the road!!
We then headed west to Lake Tahoe, we heard the day before that they had a dump of snow and that chains were required but fortunately for us the roads were clear and the weather fine. 
It is a beautiful lake, the 2nd highest in the US and the surrounding mountains were alll covered with snow.  We drove around the entire lake about 60 miles, stopping at several sights, just so picturesque and Al had a big smile on the lovely curvy roads.
From there we headed to Clear Lake and stayed at a B&B right on the lake.  Unfortunately the weather was not pleasant, it was windy, drizzly and the water was lapping the road.  Also that night we had our worst meal in the local pub, just as well we only had 1 night!!!!!!!
The next day we headed back to the coast and highway 101.  We drove through the beautiful Redwood forests, the size of them was amazing and enjoyed lovely coastal scenery as well.  A long day on the road but very picturesque.  That night we stopped at a lodge at Gold Beach which was located right on the banks of the Rogue River.  A real delight and we were sorry we weren't staying longer but had a spectacular dinner that night and a slow start the next day.

We are now in the state of Oregon and the coastal scenery is rugged and beautiful.  Next stop was in the quaint town of Florence.  We stayed in a lovely B&B and the hosts were delightful.  Our breafast that morning was a 5 course extravaganza with sight seeing recommendations included.  Lunch was not required!!
Once again we had a spectacular drive along the coast and our next stop was Cannon Beach.  We were staying in a hotel right on the beach with amazing views, although Al was a little uncomfortable probably due to the Tsunami warning signs!  We spent 2 nights here and enjoyed the slower pace.
We have just had 2 nights in Seattle, a little business yesterday and a day of sight seeing today.  We did a tour of the Boeing Factory and then went to the Museum of Flight both really interesting.  Tomorrow we have an early start and go to Vancouver by train and board the ship in the afternoon.
Hope you are all well.