"USA: a place for neverending discoveries... " a United States of America Travel Page by shivan

NOTE FOR THE READER: every tip brings to a detailed page about the place shown, but these pages are still being built so you may find dead links in this page, sorry for this

Well, well, well...
I thought it was time to build some more decent pages about USA here SO, and ONLY for this reason, I decided to travel back to USA for a new and larger journey in the southwest.
Many new places to see, and many others to see again and in more depth.
Mission accomplished, I'd say, with 18 days, 4000 miles and more that 800 pictures made I've plenty to remember and to share with you.
Don't worry, VT system managers, I won't upload 2 gigs of pictures here on VT, maybe just one LOL....

Places visited, or re-visited
LOS ANGELES
VENICE
CAMBRIA
CARMEL
SAN FRANCISCO
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
MONO LAKE
MAMMOTH LAKES
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK
LAS VEGAS (related page under construction)
GRAND CANYON (NORTH RIM) (related page under reconstruction)
BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK (related page under reconstruction)
CORAL PINK SAND DUNES PARK
ANTELOPE CANYON (related PAGE under construction)
LAKE POWELL (related page under construction)
MONUMENT VALLEY (related page under reconstruction)
CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK (related page under reconstruction)
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK (related page under reconstruction)
SALT LAKE CITY (just a pass thru)
SAN DIEGO (related page under reconstruction)
I also rebuilt the CALIFORNIA page

great fun!

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THE ROUTE

this is a quite precise show of the route we followed through the wildernesses of the southwestern USA.
Actually we landed in Los Angeles and then, after the whole journey, got a flight from Salt Lake City to San Diego to pay a visit to that wonderful town (it has been my third time there) to finally go back to LA to fly back home.
Originally the route passed through the Death Valley after Mammoth Lakes and on the way to Las Vegas but this is what happened:
while we were in San Francisco, a SMS has been received, stating that the "Death Valley was flooded" and the access to it was not possible.
Great laughs accompanied this message but it was true, as we finally got in Mammoth Lakes, the night before we had to move there. We called the hotel, then, and they simply say that they were closed "for flooding, a thing that happens only once every 50 years" and that they had "refunded everybody for the accomodation payment". Nice thing, but a call from them would have been even more appreciatable..
Then we changed the route deciding to pass thru Yosemite again (a long way actually) and go to Sequoia National Park in the south. That's what we did, giving a sense to this inconvenient but forcing ourselves to a long journey to the new destination and from there, the day after, to Las Vegas. Too bad, sometimes happens...

______________________________________________________________________________________

I refuse here to put their logo here.
I write this chapter to state my indignation against this company that wants to be among the best in the world only actually being capable to exasperate travelers with any kind of problems their vicious fantasy can eventually invent.
It may have been my misfortune, but I'll never fly with them again. This is what has happened.

FLIGHT N.1 Rome-London Heathrow
I had a strict connection to the London-LA flight (2 hrs), but the first flight has been 1h30 late forcing me to run like mad through the Heathrow maze, passing through 200 metal detectors and so on.
30 mins to that delay have been added thanks to an inconceivable wait INSIDE the plane, already landed in London, because they haven't been able to attach the finger. No words about the temperature reached inside.

FLIGHT N.2 London - Los Angeles
2 hrs of more delay added, and a bag of a member of the party lost

18 DAYS of lies told by the Baggage assistance of British Airways (toll free number 1 800 828 8144, never call them, it is useless) to us about the destiny of this bag

FLIGHT N.3 Los Angeles - London
The plane, while moving to leave LA, started expelling smoke from an engine. The concise message by the pilot said simply "we are losing fuel". Then I personally saw a guy with a hammer (no kidding) disappearing behind the engine for 30 minutes, and finally we, light-hearted, took off - 1h30 delay
The temperature in the cabin remembered me the malacca summer, and the hostesses finally gave us some water only because some passengers angrily asked them for it. No excuses from the crew for all this, apart from stating that, while the plane is still landed, air conditioning is not activable...

FLIGHT N.4 - London - Rome
Another great rush through Heathrow, jut to find that the flight was LATE AGAIN, even if not shown on the screens. We boarded, and waited INSIDE the plane for about 30 more minutes, WITH THE AIR CONDITIONING WORKING. 1h30 of total delay

As I write the famous lost bag, like some sort o f a sacred graal, has not been delivered to the owner yet...

Just tell me if this is the way to provide a service in 2004....