Monday 25 July - Chicago to Home

Sallie - sadly she was not at home to greet me

So the plane departed at 01:15 Chicago time (7:15 UK time), after a delay of 4 hours . We had an in flight meal and then I dozed on and off for much of the flight. I realised that I would miss my connecting coach to Newport which departed at 15:15. At Heathrow Central I paid a £20 amendment fee to get the next bus. I bought a couple of books to read but I was very weary and slept for much of this journey too. I got home at about 6:30, with poignancy it was very evident that Sallie was no longer there to greet me. Unaccustomed to the quiet of home I went to the Greyhound and had a pub meal. I then retired to bed feeling very weary and jet lagged. It would take me many days to recover from this trip.

Sunday 24 July - Palos Heights & Chicago O'Hare Airport

Tom Germino at the Jummy Buffett tail gate party

After another very stormy night Liam and I met Tom Germino and we went for a 4 mile run. We did the Running 4 Kicks 4 mile Turkey Trot course. Later we went to Orland Park and stopped at Panera Bread for Soup and a Sandwich. Early evening we headed for Chicago's O'Hare Airport. My flight was due out at 9:15 local time. I got through security with about an hour and a half to spare. I thought I'd have a last beer before I got back to serious training in the UK. The flight was then flagged as a late departure so I had an extra hour to have a couple more beers and a Polish Maxwell Street Hot Dog. At the departure gate there were further delays and we ended up departing at 01:15 local time. United Airlines provided us with a $15 dollar food voucher, water and snacks to appease us while they raided a spare plane for parts to fix our broken one.

Saturday 23 July - Jimmy Buffett Concert

Up again for a 7am run. I did 6 miles with Milo. Tom Germino went on a bit further and Liam tracked him on a bike. It was very hot and humid this morning after an overnight thunderstorm. Went for brunch at Lumes Pancake House on South Harlem where we met Kevin (Hack). At 2pm we headed for Toyota Park with a paddling pool full of water in the back of the pick-up truck for the tailgate party prior to the Jimmy Buffett concert. The tailgate party was interesting, our crowd of 23 had a good time but elsewhere there were people getting into a pretty dire state of intoxication. The concert was dreadful, Liam and I had $86 tickets courtesy of Tom Germino - paying full price for those tickets (or any tickets to be fair) would not have been value for money. We managed to escape halfway through and passed a couple of medical casualties on our way out. It took us a while to find an exit from the biggest parking lot I have ever been in but we succeeded eventually.

Friday 22 July - Palos Heights, IL

Up early for a 7am run before it gets too hot and humid. I did a 4 mile run with Liam and Milo. We had brunch at Lumes Pancake House on South Harlem and then headed for Orland Park Mall to do some shopping and chores. In the evening we went to Gaelic Park with Eugene for a meal of wings, Fish & Chips etc at the Carraig Pub.

Thursday 21 July - San Francisco to Chicago

San Francisco fly-past

I was up at 6:15 PST to do my final packing for the flight to Chicago. My big case was right on the limit! 23kg * 2.2 = 49 lbs. Before the flight I met Jess a 19 year old Canadian who was flying to Tokyo to babysit for her cousin. I also met a family from Joliet who had visited San Francisco and intended to do the Alcatraz trip but only found out when they got there that there was a 3 week waiting list! You have to book in advance online or pay a very hefty premium - which they didn't entertain. I was starving on the flight and they didn't take cash so I had to buy a Thai Chicken Wrap using my credit card which attracted a currency surcharge! I met Liam and Cassidy at O'Hare and we went for a meal at a Golf Clubhouse in Palos Heights.Eugene, Molly and Tom were also there. I had some sort of chicken salad which was drenched in dressing, a cheesecake dessert (this was getting to be a habit) and loads of diet coke.

Wednesday 20 July - San Francisco

San Francisco (viewed from Alcatraz Island)

I got up reasonably early and had a very nice American sized buffet breakfast at the Travelodge hotel. I caught a BART train into San Francisco and had timeto do a walking tour before my visit to Alcatraz Island. I got off the BART at Montgomery St. Station and had a morning stroll through Chinatown to Lombard street and then down to Pier 33. Click Here to see the route on Garmin
Pier 33 is where my Alcatraz Island tour started (with a ferry crossing). The tour of the prison block was enhanced by the issue of personal audio equipment which was a good feature. The tour took between 2 and 3 hours. I scooted round San Francisco on the MUNI "F" tram to Van Ness and walked well over a mile down Haight Street to Haight/Ashbury. A bit of a pilgrimmage really to where the hippie movement started.  I stopped for lunch in a bar just past the intersection where I was served by the lovely Laura. I then walked on to Golden Gate Park. Just inside the park there were groups of youngsters smoking Marijuana, paying homage to the hippie dream I guess. After strolling for a while in the park I got the bus to Fort Mason (via Il Presidio and the Golden Gate Bridge tourist drop off spot). I walked to Columbus and then got a bus to the Theater District (sic). I got the BART back to Millbrae and had an evening meal in Pete's Diner.

Tuesday 19 July - Sonora to San Francisco

I drove from Sonora to San Francisco. The radio stations in the Sacramento Valley had been playing hip hop music but as I drove over the Bay Bridge into San Francisco I found a Rock Radio Station and was listening to the likes of Cream, Springsteen and Led Zeppelin; it seemed fitting somehow. I drove through the centre of San Francisco and over the Golden Gate Bridge, my destination was Sausalito a small tourist town with a promenade and great views back across the bay to San Francisco. After a pleasant lunch; a beef and salad roll and an ice-cream in a chocolate waffle, I drove to Millbrae to drop my bags at the Travelodge and then returned the hire car to Alamo at the airport. I got a free shuttle bus back to the hotel and then, in the evening headed for San Francisco on the BART. I took the MUNI "F" to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf which was fairly ghastly (too much of a tourist trap). So I walked up Powell Stand called in a couple of bars (where the beer range from $6 in a brew pub to $2.24 for a Dos Equis in a Mexican restaurant at happy hour) There was a big demonstration on Market Street so I had to detour to a different BART station. Back at Millbrae I ended up having an In and Out Burger for supper!

Monday 18 July - Yosemite Valley

I drove from Sonora to Yosemite Valley. Once I had parked it took me quite a while to get to the 4 mile trail head so I was running late at this stage. I hiked up and met Fred and Jane Pidgeon who were on their way back down. Two surprise encounters for them since they had just met a bear further up the trail! It took me around 2 hours and 30 minutes to hike to the top and I spent about an hour at the top at Glacier Point. It was getting too late to do the longer Panorama Trail back down and I considered Plan "C" - spending $25 on a bus ride back down. In the end I did the decent thing and hiked back down the 4 mile trail.It took about an hour to get back down and then I had to cover about 2 miles to get to the visitors car park. The road to Sonora includes quite a scary winding mountain road decent. It had to be done! Back at Sonora I went back to the Diamond Back Grill for my evening meal. There was not a lot of choice in such a small town but it was good food if a little bit junk food orientated.

Sunday 17 July - Yosemite Mariposa Grove

I was up early! About 4:30 am in fact. I left Motel 6 at 5am and drove to Merced where I had breakfast in Denny's at about 7am. I then drove on towards Yosemite's South entrance. There was a Tourist Information place en-route so I stopped and got a map. On entering the park I was directed to park the car at Wawona and get the shuttle bus back to Mariposa Grove. At Mariposa Grove I hiked to a vista point where there was a view of the Wawona valley. The views and the trees in the grove were amazing. In the afternoon I had a 2 hour drive to Sonora where I was staying the night. On the way to Sonora I caught my first glimpse of Yosemite valley, which is absolutely stunning. I mad it to Sonora by 5pm and had an hour or so by the hotel pool. The sun was getting low at 7:15 so I packed up and went across the road to the Diamondback Grill for some junk food and wine. Burger/Fries - desert!