The End of the America Adventure

We had imagined that Victorville would be a small town stopover before attempting to negotiate Las Angeles.  It was another sprawling area with heavy industry alongside poorer housing, and then the other extreme with lovely homes that even had gardens and lawns.  It was a bit of a surprise to hear gunfire though, but turned out to be a shooting range across the motorway.
Our last big pack up and then we went to find a couple of malls near San Bernadino.  They were huge, one was like a whole city within the mall, with 'streets', food stalls, live music and even a train.  If we had more time it would have been fun to explore further.
We had planned to go to Santa Monica to enjoy the glorious 80F temperatures, but after battling the traffic for ages, we reset the GPS and headed to the rental car drop off.  It was a bit of a relief to get there in once peace and then have someone else take the responsibility for getting us safely to the airport.
We decided on a final celebratory drink to round off the adventure but with one round costing $60.00 decided that would be the limit of the celebration!
We bumped our way across the Pacific, landing in Auckland at 6.45 am.  It was a bit said to say goodbye to the Browns after such an adventurous road trip.  Unfortunately we didn't have a direct flight and had a stop over in Christchurch  The last leg of the journey was definitely the least pleasant with strong winds as we came in to land.  It was so good to touch down safely and to be met by Ella with a birthday balloon and flowers.
Bags are now unpacked and will be put away awaiting the next adventure.  Bring it on!!!

Expensive Beer!!

The End