Napa

Today we went to Napa Valley.

This place reminds me exactly of Niagra-on-the-lake. The valley is scattered with wineries. To get there we headed about 100 miles north, acrross the bay and through Oakland.



We printed out a bunch of coupons and went to several different tastings. I don't think I am much of a wine drinker but I did start to understand how to appreciate the complex taste. I also learned a lot about how wine is made.

To me it seems like the most important factor is the weather. I noticed that in '97 the valley had the best weather for making wine and those bottles ended up costing more than any other year.

Another thing I found interesting is Francis Coppola has a winery called "Niebaum-Coppola Winery" in Napa Valey. In case you don't know who he is, he directed Apocalypse Now and The Godfather, and much much more.

We had a great day of exploring north of the bay, it was great.

SoCal - Day 10 - Yosemite

July 4rth, Independence Day. Today in 1776 America claimed Independence from Britain.

Today in 2005 we drove clear accross Nevada from Las Vegas through Yosemite to San Francisco. When we started this morning it was so hot that I burned my lips on my water bottle that I left in the car. In the afternoon I was driving through snow covered mountains. Approaching Yosemite is Amazing.

I feel quite lucky to able to experience so much of south western United States this week. Now I can say that I have been in every state that Borders with the Atlantic Ocean. I can now say that I have been in every state that Borders with the Pacific Ocean (Except the freak states: Hawaii and Alaska). I have also been in every state that Borders with Canada.
We visited Yosemite a few weeks ago when we conquered Half Dome, Now we are entering from the other side of the park and we drove right through it. This park is spectacular.

Although this trip is coming to a close, I can assure you that I have so much more to discover in this world, but remember:

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

My voyage was not in seeing all the things I have seen here on the trip, but being able to realize just how lucky I am to get to do this. I must not waste any opportunity to explore, learn and discover. I was lucky enough to come out there, then I must push the envelope and do as much as I can.

Peace.

SoCal - Day 8 and 9 - Vegas

Vegas is a whole other world !

That atmosphere is really cool, Lots of gambling, Partying, Famous scenes, and People are everywhere. We went on the Independence Day Long weekend so it was PACKED.

My games of choice were Roulette, Black Jack, and Pai Gow, I also played some slots for fun. I also spent a lot of time watching Craps but I never got on the table. Poker was really big too, But I must say, It is really intimidating to sit at the tables so I didn't.

One thing you must do when you go to Vegas is go into all the different hotels on the strip. They are all really Famous.

The first one I want to show is Paris. This reminded me of my Sister and my Mom because they went on a huge trip to Paris, France a few years ago.


MGM Grand. The biggest hotel on the planet. It has 5034 ROOMS ! We also stayed at the Luxor which is the second largest hotel on the planet at 4408 ROOMS. Luxor is the Black Pyramid with light shining at the top and can be scen from space.


Next. New York New York. I really like this Hotel because they captured the feeling of New York City. They have a Replica of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty. You can also see a Roller coast going through the picture. I never got to go on it.


Mirage. When you walking down the street and a Volcano starts errupting beside you, you are at Mirage. Its pretty cool.


Bellagio is my favourite. This is where they filmed the final scene of Oceans 11. All the fountains and everything. What you don't hear in the movie is the music that goes along with the fountains. Every 15 minutes they have a different Fountain/Music Show. Its really cool.


This is by no means all of Vegas, And I really urge everyone to come see this amazing city. There is nothing else like it.

If you venture north of the strip you go into Old Vegas. Its pretty rundown, one spot you want to go to is Fremont Street. That is where they have a massive Screen above the road way and they have light shows on it. Its also the place where a lot of music video's are filmed.

SoCal - Day 7 - Hoover Dam

117 Degrees Fahrenheit is what the thermometer said..

In the middle of the desert runs the Colorado River. On the River lies one of the greatest engineering feats of all time. The Hoover Dam. On one side is Arizona. This is what it looks like from Arizona:


On the other side is Nevada. This is what it looks like from Nevada:


This thing is massive.

That is actually the color of water too. I learned a lot about concrete while I was here, It reminded me of Prof. Collins. For example, I didn't know that it would take 125 years for the concrete to cool down, when it cooled down it would create cracks and crumbling. They basically made a huge refridgerator that coold down the concrete in a few days.

Another interesting fact is that the lake behind the damn is called Lake Mead and it took 6 full years for the lake to fill up once the damn was in place.

Also listen to this: At the time Hoover Dam was the largest dam ever built, the most expensive public project ever attempted, and at over 6.6 million tons, the first man-made structure to exceed the masonry mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The dam stands sixty stories or 726.5 feet tall, twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty, and is two football fields wide at the bottom. The turbines in place today can produce a total of 2,998,000 horsepower and 2,074,000 kilowatts of electricity and is still one of the country’s largest. The powerhouse produces over four billion kilowatt-hours a year, which is used in Nevada, Arizona, and California