ooooo I could crush a grape!

So we left the veritable sleaze of Vegas (baby) and headed down to Temecula, which was about a 4 and a half hour drive (via the Barstow outlet mall of course!)

Temecula is inland California, south of LA, north of San Diego and just east of the Pacific Coast. It is host to 42 wineries of various sizes and ages.

With a couple of exceptions I didn't find the wine to be nearly as good as Napa or Carmel Valley.
To give you some idea, I bought one full size bottle of white wine, and a small bottle of dessert wine (as they were selling it for $5!)
I couldn't even tell you how much wine my dad and I bought in Napa and Carmel Valley, but it was definitely into double figures...

The tour we went on was good however. Tours are a great way to taste at a variety of wineries without having to worry about driving. We got a good mix of people on the bus, and we were all laughing and joking around by the end of the day. 

We went to 4 different wineries - a couple of them quite shi shi, and lovely views of the mountains and vines at 3 of them. We were also fortunate to have fabulous weather, although the weather is pretty much fabulous most of the time here!

The most shi shi of the tasting rooms at Callaway

My favourite of the day was Robert Renzoni and I will be revisiting that one for a rather lovely red they had. We also got to meet the owner who was very handsome and exceedingly youthful. He had been drinking wine since he was 6, so I think he is a great advertisement for the wonder of the grape. 

It was really interesting seeing autumnal vines - I had never seen the vines anything but green, so to see some of them brown and crispy was weird! I had also never tasted a grape straight off the vine. They were delicious and very very sweet.

Temecula town is very sweet and pretty old by American standards. 

So if you are in the area, then go for the day to the town and a couple of wineries for sure.

But if you are planning a wine tour of California? Stay north of LA...

Vegas - a final word

So this Vegas trip was a bit of an eye opener for me...

For those of you who have been, you know Vegas is a lot of fun. But it is rather trashy. I have always known this, and embraced it. However somehow the trashy became a bit more seedy to me this time. Maybe because it was colder and therefore quieter that I noticed things that I had glossed over before?

Many of the things I forget about the place each time I leave, seemed to scream at me in technicolour.

• I forgot all the guys giving out flyers for call girls and slapping them on their hands as you pass. 
• I forgot the trucks driving up and down the strip advertising said call girls. 
• I forgot the amount of people who beg on the walkways between casinos making you painfully aware of how wasteful it is putting dollars in slot machines. 
• I forgot what the customers in Macdonalds are like, and how many of them seem to have broken dreams. 
• I forgot that homeless men and women go to the toilet in full view in the shrubbery between hotels.
• I forgot that people are drinking and smoking at 8am in the morning when you come down for a chai tea latte before the gym.
• I forgot that many people visit Vegas from parts of America I have no desire to visit. 
• I forgot how much velour the women wear

So it is with the heaviest of hearts I proclaim "I am over Vegas". Maybe it is my age, or my Hyacinth Bucket tendencies, or maybe 5 trips is too much for anyone who isn't from a landlocked US state?

I was planning my 40th birthday here, but really not sure that is going to happen now. Palm Springs or Santa Barabara seems a much nicer prospect...

Neon lights and nights

I booked myself on a trip to the Neon Museum - something I tried to do 3 years ago, but never got round to.

The Neon Museum is great. You enter the tour via the lobby which was the old lobby of the Concha Motel, and a famous Vegas landmark in itself! Alas the photo I took of the actual structure is still on a role of film in the camera (lo-fi)

Signs from a bygone age litter the lot, and indeed they call it the boneyard. I took some photos with my trusty old SLR, and now I just need to find somewhere to get film developed out here. I have put some digital ones here anyway. Slightly gutted that it actually rained about 6 spots of rain on me. This meant for a lot of grey clouds spoiling my shots - dammit!!!

The guide gave us lots of info about the history of the signs and the history of Vegas through the signs.  It was amazing to learn how many of the casinos lasted a couple of years or less due to corruption/bad management etc.

It really was a great way to spend an hour (just $15) and I recommend you book if you are heading up to Vegas any time soon.

I then saw a lot of the signs in action up at the Fremont Experience later on that evening.

Vegas (baby) evenings

So I drove to Vegas - which is about 5 hours from LA. With only one CD for company it can be a long trip!

This is my 5th time in Vegas and I was looking forward to hanging out in this crazy town again. I stayed in Treasure Island (which they have rebranded TI). This was merely to be close to my friend, but also save some money. I would have much preferred to have been in the Venetian - my favourite hotel in Vegas, but had to remind myself that I am unemployed...

Vegas nights: 

One night we went to The Wynn for their buffet. At $56 for unlimited food and champagne it is an enjoyable evening out (as long as you wear elasticated pants). We scoffed and quaffed for just over 3 hours, and generally made pigs of ourselves. 

There are about 10 different stations where you can try good from across the globe, but my favourite is still turkey and mash. They also had yorkshire puddings, which are fabulous topped up with turkey gravy! The cheese counter was probably the only real disappointment with just 3 cheeses. Who puts a chunk of parmesan on a piece of bread?!!! They should have at least 6 different types and mix up soft and hard cheeses...

about an eighth of the dessert buffet...

The Wynn is also a lovely casino to walk around. It is in the classier range of hotels, up there with the Venetian and Bellagio.

Another evening, my friend was working at a dive show and conference so I joined her at a drinks reception where we got free wine all night (which was a result) Her opening line to everyone was that I don't dive. Of course these avid divers then all thought I was a total freak...Like attaching yourself to tanks and mooching around in the big blue is normal?! I behaved myself and left about midnight, but left out the back of the Flamingo, big mistake! Impossible to walk round the back of the massive casinos.

On the Friday we went up the Stratosphere, which is a huge freestanding tower at one end of the strip.
It is a cheep and cheerful hotel, but you really appreciate the views of the strip from 1149 foot above it. My crazy friend wanted to go on all the crazy rides. There is one ride that you sit in and it shoots you up above the viewing deck. One ride is like a claw and dangles people over the edge of the observation deck. The third one has people sit in a dodgem type car which then goes down a rail and dangles people over the edge. All of them looked horrific to me and it was all I could do to watch my friend. I certainly didn't go too near the edge of the viewing platform.

Bleurgh....

Barf...

After this stomach churning episode we went down to the Fremont Experience. This is a street of old school casinos with a canopy over the top that contains thousands of lights. They then perform a light show every hour on the hour. We plumped to go for the Queen show. The music was of course fabulous, but the light show was mediocre. The last time I went (about 7 years ago) they used different travelling vehicles to show off the length of the canopy, such as planes and trains. It was great. This time they just flashed up lyrics and album covers etc - naff.

The whole area is a bit sketchy and full of bargain basement tourists with lots of 'lookalikes' waiting to get dollars for photos taken with them. A Chippendale grabbed me and told me I needed a photo with him. I assured him I didn't, because really, who needs more than one photo with a Chippendale in their collection?!

The light canopy

The next night I caught The Sirens of TI show. In all my trips over 14 years I have never managed to catch this. It is a draw on the strip and hundreds of people turn up to see each show of pirates and wenches (they used to defeat the British every night, but have sexed it up a little now). Turns out I didn't miss a thing. Dodgy dancing, corny script, and the 'VIP' seats blocked by massive lights, so you couldn't really see what was going on most of the time! The pyrotechnics were the best bit!

The sirens of TI

Best thing for TI, set it alight, and build another wing of The Venetian...

So that was it in terms of evening's entertainment. Fair less drunk/depraved than many of my past visits to Vegas and I think I was in be every night before 2am, so pretty tame.

Add to this two trips to the gym, and I think we have witnessed the falling of a legend - both myself and Vegas...

Star spotting in LA LA Land

So after a lovely break in the desert, my friend and I made the short trip back to LA, so we were nearer LAX for her flight onto Texas. I fancied trying out the new Gordon Ramsay restaurant and celeb hang out and shopping experience, The Grove.

We were surprised to see the santa's grotto already up with 6 weeks to go for Xmas.  

The restaurant (The Fat Cow - the irony wasn't lost on me!) was like a bar, with a cool interior, but the prices were very 'Grove'. The kale salad was delish, as was the very thin pizza, but the chips were cold and at that price I would have liked them with gold leaf on them :-)

So walking back we watched a little of Extra being filmed, which is always nice. 

Dancing with Stars champ, and Iraqi veteran, J.R. Martinez

We then walked past the filming and were confronted by a plethora of burly minders and paps. Who was it? Who could it be?! Well it was Kylie Minogue! I am not a fan as many of you know, but it was still a good celeb spot. 

She was absolutely tiny - both in height and weight. If she hadn't had a massive pair of stilettos and a sprayed on denim suit, you would have thought it was a little girl! Unfortunately I had put my camera back in my handbag and missed the Kodak moment.

I then saw Guillermo Díaz walking into a barbers on Melrose. For those of you who watch Weeds or Scandal you will know him.

Added to this Alan Tudyk in The Counter, and a possible Adam Levine in the cinema (it was dark) I am racking up the celeb spots in LA :-)

Trip Advisor

I am a joiner - a work colleague called me that a while ago, and I realised with no shame I am a joiner. I organise stuff all the time (as many of you know), and get involved in many things with gusto - look at my Olympics experience this summer!!!

So I feel it is important to write reviews, good and bad of places I have been to on Trip Advisor. I always look on Trip Advisor before I book anything, and without reviews the site would be useless...

So in case you are planning a trip out here and fancy seeing what I thought of some of the places I have been to so far (and other places I have been to in the States on previous trips) you can look at my Trip Advisor account here:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/members-reviews/moogharrison

I have written 19 reviews of my trip so far and all of them have been average or above, so I am clearly having a good time!

See how busy I am eating, drinking and staying in hotels to share with the you and the rest of the world?!

Entertainment in the desert

So we had a blast on Saturday and Sunday night.

Saturday we went to see Neil Sedaka at the Rancho Mirage. For those of you who don't think you know Neil Sedaka, I am pretty sure you know at least one of his songs. A singer songwriter from the late 50s, early 60s and 70s, who has written over 500 tracks for himself and other artists. His records have sold tens of millions of copies, and he has won numerous awards.

Songs you may know are Oh Carol (written for his then girlfriend Carole King), Laughter in the Rain, Solitaire, Ring Ring (why don't you give me a call), Happy Birthday Sweet 16, Stupid Cupid, and that awesome Peter Kay miming classic - Is this the Way to Amarillo...!

We knew at least half of his songs (me from listening to them on cassette at home as a child - dad was a fan) and his voice was still super, particularly bearing in mind he has been in the business 55 years. We were the youngest in the audience as far as we could see, but we really enjoyed it. They literally don't make them like that anymore. I can't imagine any of the artists today having a career that lasts 55 years!

I have to say as well, that he was such a sweet, gracious lovely man, that you felt really pleased he has had so much success over the years...

Waiting for Neil to arrive...

Sunday was a slight change in tempo, as we went to Toucans Tiki Lounge for two different drag shows (ahem). They were everything you would expect from professional drag shows. Great costumes, brilliant performers and something for everyone in terms of song choices and miming prowess. 
Slightly off putting was that a lot of the act was based around tipping. So rather than do their turn on the stage, much of the act was base around going into the audience to pick dollars off people - I thought that made some of the acts less enjoyable, as you couldn't always see them from where you sat.

Mary Poppins eat your heart out...

It also meant that the girls who did a lot of dancing on the stage didn't fare as well as those who did their whole act floor walking. This seemed a bit unfair to me.

Lady Kaka

I got goosed by one of the ladies at one point which was a little suprising to say the least, but I went with it and the boys at my table seemed to think it was hysterical!

 The funniest act for me was Lady Kaka, Lady Gaga's grandma, whose level of toilet humour through song was unsurpassed and made my eye make up stream down my face...Literally hilarious...

Two very different, but equally enjoyable evenings in the desert - they know how to enjoy themselves out here...

Lady with much better eyelashes and legs than me (with Andre 3000 alike in the background)

Someone trying to rival my K'Adele act out here...

Art in the desert

Shiny!!!

The gallery

So on Sunday we took advantage of the Palm Springs Art Museum (they don't call them galleries here) being free. I really enjoyed this Gallery.

It was punching way above its weight in terms of the names of some of the artists in there. There was also a plethora of Henry Moore, which I loved, but my friend was less than impressed with. 

2 floors of permanent exhibition and 1 floor of temp exhibition - one of which was fab, the other, rugs from Native American tribes wasn't really my thing...A great way to spend a couple of hours in the desert.

Kapoor

Not sure, but my friend liked it!

Duane Hanson's Tourists

Not sure who did this, but I thought it looked like a Transformer!

Cathedral City - closed!

We stopped off in Cathedral City on the way back from Joshua Tree to catch Skyfall at the IMAX there. 

The IMAX is pretty much all there is at Cathedral City. If there was a Cathedral there, we couldn't see it, and there was no free cheddar as you drove in, so overall a bit of a disappointment.

The film however was not a disappointment, and it was great to see it on the really big screen. If you haven't already seen it, then go and see it!

However the little we saw of this town, Rancho Mirage and Palm Dessert, makes me think we made the right choice staying in Palm Springs!

On Saturday we spent most of the day at the Mall, which was tiring, but good for some new converse and boots. The Cabazon mall was awesome -best outlet I have been to.

Even better was the wind turbines on the way home. They looked amazing with the setting sun...