More Skating....

Decided to stay an extra day in Helena to make the most of the ice.  Out skating and exploring most of the day. Skated the same places as yesterday plus a few more spots.  Great fun.  Start to head south again tomorrow.

Helena Lake skate

Finally got myself organised this morning (bit lazy) and headed out to Lake Helena for a look.  Was surprised to find the ice so good and had a great skate and finally dragged myself away after lunch. Bit of wild life around while I was there and seems it is a place to go shooting as well!
Headed down to the end of Canyon Ferry and skated in various places around there.  Fabulous mountain back drop and finally called it quits as the sun started going down.  Met and had a chat with a local skater who had been out on her nordic skates.
So much for site seeing but what a days skating!  Back to Helena for the evening.

Big Ice!

Left Idaho Falls early This morning and went via the frozen pond I found yesterday.  Much better ice this time and had a nice skate apart from getting a bit of gear wet.
From there I headed back to the main road and towards Montana.  Fantastic scenery highlighted by the snow.  Road was good but glad I waited out the weather - in particular the gorge I travelled through - road dodgy even though the weather was good.
About halfway through the trip I saw in the distance what looked like a frozen lake. Turned out to be Clark Canyon Reservoir covered in ice about 150mm thick.  Drove around the back of the lake and had a fabulous skate.  Hard to leave.
Eventually travelled on to Helena where I will have a look around before heading back.  Hope to skate Clark Canyon again.

First skate this morning 

Fabulous drive

Clark Canyon - amazing skating

Loving the ice

Waiting for the weather

Forecast for today on the roads as not too good so decided to stay put and hopefully driving conditions will improve tomorrow.  Had a look around Idaho Falls town and river belt.  Quite a pleasant place and would be great along the river walking track in summer.  I then spent over an hour buying a local SIM card and getting in working.  Seemed so complicated but now I am connected during the day! Yay!
In the arvo I went on an Ice hunting trip up the Swan Valley.  Apart from the gloomy snowy weather it was a nice drive.  Found a skate-able pond but being later in the day the surface was soft.  Had a bit of a scratch around on the nordic skates anyway.  Might be good tomorrow.
Either into Montana or Yellowstone Park tomorrow - weather dependent.....

River in the centre of town - looks better than the photo!

Always interesting things to see...

Ice a bit soft

Yep it is cold....

On the way to Idaho Falls

Got up to a nice day and headed off to Idaho Falls via Twin Falls. Beautiful drive again but as I climbed a pass I came to frozen fog.  Had to concentrate compared to cruising on the interstate road. Temps have been warm with very little ice around but managed to spot a place to stop off and have a quick skate.  Close to the road and hoping the Highway Patrol wouldn't stop!

Great to get the skates on.  Then to Twin Falls (town) to visit the Shoshone Waterfalls.  Very impressive - one on the best I have sceen and I spent a bit of time trying all the viewing points.  Hard to capture how big the falls are but well worth a visit.

Drove through to spend the night in Idaho Falls - quite a bit of snow around the town.

Lucky to get a skate

Shoshone Falls

Snake Canyon

Trying to show the scale - you can see a small powerhouse in the middle

Stopping off for a skate

Loved the falls

Crossing Nevada

Headed of early this morning over the snow covered Donner Pass (beautiful) and stopped in Reno to go to a National Car Museum.  Museum was interesting and I mostly enjoyed some of the car oddities they had there plus a few other special cars I know about but had never seen.  Reno reminded me of a small wanna-be Vegas but a bit dusty and dirty.  From there headed out across Nevada to Elko to spend the night before heading north. Amazing 'big' country but not many places to stop safely.  Watched a great sunset with the sun (in the rear view mirror) playing on the mountains ahead as I drove.  Bit of a storm warning around some places again so will have to see what happens tomorrow.  Hope to get near Yellowstone by Sunday.

Donnar Lake

The unusual  - 1937 Airomobile (experimental 3 wheel - looked amazing)

The original 3 wheel 1934 Morgan

The Gull Wing M

Interesting things on the way

Evening sun on the mountains ahead - sunset in the rear-view mirror 

Trip to Meet Ella

Earlier this year I said to Ella that next time she comes back from England I would meet her half way - not expecting it to be so soon!  So here I am back in California to go exploring for a few days while I wait to meet her.

The delayed flights were ok and got here safe and sound.  Strangely on the plane I sat next to a very chatty man (Mark) on one side and another bloke on the other who never said a word despite me clambering over him to get out and making conversation starters..... maybe I smelt!  Was terrific to have on board wifi to chat with Ella and Christina and a few others.

I requested a 4WD when I went to pick up the car and they gave me the only one they had - and boy is it big!!   A Tankatron I reckon and if you can imagine a 4WD mattress - that is how it drives.  No extra charge but I think they wanted rid of it.  I am going to let the back out as an Air BnB while I have and maybe put in a tennis court. Heaps of traffic (jams) until I finally arrived at Auburn where I am staying tonight.  Tomorrow I head over Donner Pass and hope to make a place called Elko.

Tankatron - 4WD mattress....

Nearly Home

Sitting in the Koru Lounge at Auckland Airport waiting for our last flight.  The London Hong Kong leg was great as, once again we both had three seats and managed to have a few hours sleep.  It was pretty bumpy for much of the way and that, compounded with my sadness about saying goodbye, meant that I wasn't feeling that flash for much of the journey.
Thank goodness the ticket issue was resolved in Hong Kong and we even had time for a quick shower before boarding.  Premium Economy upgrade was well received  The food was so nice though I'm not convinced that you need three course dinner and breakfast.  Watched the NZ movie Daffodils and really enjoyed it - a taste of Kiwi.  Even though we were flying through another short night, we were operating in uk time, so didn't sleep.  Can imagine that bed will be good tonight.
Bags arrived and now, as with us, are waiting to head south.  We had a chat with Ella and it is hard to believe that only a few hours ago we were with her.  Makes her seem so much closer.
The end of another adventure and time to start planning the next one!  Hope the cats are pleased to see us.

Paris and Back

Big of a time lag happening.  We are now sitting at Heathrow Airport waiting for our flight to Hong Kong.  Got a bit distracted over the past few days and didn't get around to writing any updates.  This will test the memory!

Friday

Ella did an early morning session while we packed up our London Airbnb and took our bags around to Bolingbroke Road.  We set off for Gatwick Airport mid morning for our EasyJet flight to Paris.  Apart from a fearsome crosswind during take off and some fairly beefy storm clouds on landing, the flight was pretty uneventful.

Managed to navigate our way to our Paris Airbnb which was in a great location, about 30 minutes on the tube from the Eiffel Tower.  The apartment was very quaint but not very clean, which was disappointing.  Thankfully the bedding was clean!

We explored our local neighbourhood that night and had dinner in a cafe at the square, just down the road.  it was really lovely to be able to share Paris with Ella again - including delicious pastries!

Saturday

Thankfully the forecast rain held off for most of the day, but it was pretty chilly.  We travelled to the Eiffel Tower and watching Ella's excitement at seeing it again, was just wonderful.  We pretty dismayed to find that you are now unable to wander around the base and everything is cordoned off with fences and perspex panels.  In fact, the area around the tower was really dusty and quite dirty - the price of tourism.

Anya met us around midday and we walked along the Seine toward Museo De Orsay.  As with most places, there were massive queues to go inside, so we decided to just keep walking.  Past the Louvre and then toward Notre Dame.  There was a strong Police presence everywhere and all  the nearby streets were cordoned off but, even from a distance, it was so sad to see the fire damage.

Back to the apartment for  bit of a rest and some dinner - including our second citrine tarts of the day!  Hey, we were in France and who's was counting?  When we came out of the Metro, we found ourselves in the middle of hundreds of riot police in full Robo Cop mode.  We think there was a yellow shirts protest, but didn't stick around to find our!  Early eventing - we then bundled up and headed back to the tower to wait for the lights.  Unfortunately it was really cold and we decided to head back about 9.50.  Once we were back on the Metro, we could see the light show had started.  Have to save that for next time.

Sunday

The girls decided to head back into the city centre and David and I went exploring in the La Petite Centre.  There is a disused railway line that has now been made into a park area.  It was clearly not often visited by tourists as there was nothing in English and the only people we saw were runners, walkers and dog walkers.  It was so nice being able to walk in the city without the hassle and bustle of more popular areas.  Lots of interesting building too.

Back to the Airbnb to meet the girls and pack our bags again.  We only took carry-on and it was great being able to travel with minimal luggage.  Return trip was uneventful except of the mandatory holding pattern waiting to land at Gatwick.  Ella was well and truly interrogated at UK security about here ancestry Visa and David and I had the friendliest, chattiest Security Officer who just wanted to chat.  By that stage we were beyond chatting!

Caught the tube back to Shepperd's Bush and had delicious burgers for dinner, before heading back to Bolingbroke Road.  Lara was already in bed but we had a lovely chat to Jez who gave us a few suggestions as to what we could do with our last day in London.  

Monday

Walked Eliza to school and then went to meet Janey (Granny), Lara's mum.  She was absolutely delightful and it is easy to see why Ella loves her so much.  They live in a beautiful home with a private walled garden and 80 steps top to bottom floor.  The house is furnished in the most amazing antiques which, according to Janet, nobody wants any more because no-one likes brown furniture!  She and Christopher are both in their 80s and we can see a headache for the family when it comes to sorting everything out.  The family own a property in North Wales with a very large house that is apparently also full of amazing furniture.  The original 100  acre garden (apparently Winnie the Pooh doesn't live there) has been donated to English Heritage, but they still have a home and 20 acres.  We have been invited to visit next time.

Then went to meet Bertie and Anya for coffee before David and I went to Paddington Basin to hire a GoBoat, as suggested by Jez.  We had a fantastic two hours travelling on the Regent Canal to Camden Town.  Motored past narrow boats, Lords Cricket Ground, the London Zoo and a very angry swan.  Thoroughly enjoyable and would absolutely recommend the trip.

Eliza had athletics after school so I went with Ella to collect her.  It was the first time Ella had been there and the trip ended up being a bit of a nightmare.  The bus was diverted and then there was heavy traffic.  Her map direction ended up taking us to Wormwood Scrubs Prison before we finally found the sports ground, after an hour.  We were a few minutes late, but thankfully Eliza was fine.  The return trip was much less stressful.

Ella had a doctor's appointment to get a very strange lump on her hand checked.  Dr thinks it is a cyst but has requested an ultrasound, just to make sure.  Consultation and ultrasound all covered by National Health, and expected to have an appointment within two weeks - unbelievable!

Jez offered to cook dinner for us last night and we ended up having a very peasant getting to know Ella's 'Nanny family'.  It was the perfect way to confirm that she really is in the best place.  They are such lovely genuine and caring people.  A very late night and way too much red wine consumed - not by me!!

Tuesday

Walked Eliza to school for the last time and then went to Gail's Cafe for the best hot chocolate in the world.  I was tempted to ask how they make it and then decided that it was probably better not to know.  Annette - it reminded me of the one we had in San Francisco.  

Anya joined Ella and I and we went to Goldhawk Road, a street full of fabric stores.  Thankfully I had already tried to pack my bag and knew that I definitely did not have room for any more purchases.  Off to Westfield to get Ella some new running shoes as she and Bertie have put their names in the ballot for the 2020 London marathon.  I have offered to act as support crew if they get accepted!

Back to Bolingbroke Road for lunch and our final pack up.  I knew saying goodbye was going to be hard, can't image it would ever get easier, but Ella has so many adventures ahead of her, including a trip to Ibiza this weekend.

Caught the tube to Heathrow with plenty of time to spare, only to have a major hassle checking in.  Currently David has boarding passes through to Dunedin and I have one to Hong Kong.  Our bags are checked through, but I will have to checkin before transiting though HK.  Something to do with my lament matching the booking, which is pretty confusing as I managed to travel here!  Once we managed to get that sorted  I then set the scanner into overdrive and ended up having a full body scan,  complete frisking, drug and explosive test.  Not sure what was going on as I am wearing the same clothes as I travelled here in (they have been washed). 

Feels like forever ago since we left and we leave with some many happy memories of time spent with our wonderful girl.