We’re only almost ready to leave San Francisco behind; there are still two things that we have to do.  We pack everything into the Fletchemobile – raring to go after a 2 day rest – and check out of the Hotel Del Sol at 8:30am. First thing: Driving down Lombard Street – the crooked bit. At 8:45am on a Monday morning, there are no queues, and…

A good night’s sleep does little to soothe our aching feet, but with so much of the city still to see, we are up and out at 9am after a quick coffee, juice and pastries for breakfast. It is another hot day; we leave some of our layers behind after being fooled yesterday. We never ended up getting a Muni Pass, so we check that…

It’s Saturday morning, it’s 8:30am, it’s time to discover San Francisco! Of all the places visited on this road trip, it was deciding on an “itinerary” for our two full days in San Francisco which gave me the biggest headache. The city has so many iconic “must-sees” that it became something of a nightmare putting them into a workable itinerary! I decided to cut the…

It's time to leave the National Park behind and head from Yosemite to San Francisco. No more mountains, trees and meadows - it's all freeway and skyscrapers…

Refreshed by our early night, we’re up and out of the Yosemite View Lodge at 9am. We’re off to spend the day in the Valley, and we re-enter Yosemite itself via the Arch Rock Entrance. We turn off to the Bridalveil Fall Parking Lot, and walk the short way to the base of the fall. We were prepared not to see roaring waterfalls at this…

Let’s face it. Eating al fresco in the UK could be classed as an extreme sport. We have approximately 6.2 sunny days where it is warm enough to sit outside without a coat (although it is always wise to have one to hand “just in case”). Then we have to compete with the BBQ fiends at the supermarket checkout – they are the ones with…

A 7am alarm call and the sleepy Fletches drag themselves over to the Alabama Hills Bakery & Café for breakfast. Seems like our sleep patterns are finally adjusting to US time… The breakfast options are very “egg-heavy” as usual, so I’m excited to spy a “No-Egg” Breakfast on the menu.  Unfortunately, I can add now Biscuits & Gravy to the list of US breakfast options I…

It’s time to leave the bright lights of Vegas behind us and head off to California. But not before we pick up supplies from Walgreens (at Palazzo) including a fantastic cooler for $15. We became very attached to our cooler and did everything we could to fit this in our suitcase at the end of the trip… 8:30am, and we’re on the road. The Fletchemobile…

I’m Emmalene, a thirty-something from Birmingham in the UK.  I always knew I wanted to travel the world when I grew up, even when holidays meant a caravan in wet and windy Wales.  I was lucky enough in 2007 to meet my soulmate, travel companion and now husband Chris (aka Mr Fletche), and our shared passion for seeing the world has led us to some amazing sights. …

Manage to sleep until 7:45am – this constitutes a lie-in so far this holiday! Today is one of the few days where we don’t have any structured plans, so I let Mr Fletche sleep until 9am before I send him down on the Starbucks run… First stop is the Secret Garden, but this doesn’t open until 10am. It’s about quarter to 10, but we decided…