The Journey's Ending...

When I arrived in Los Angeles airport it was so amazing to be greeted by my parents. For those who don't know, my mum and dad were in the states celebrating the very special event of my dad's 70th birthday. This meant that we could spend two weeks in America together. After spending some time recovering from the exciting reunion, we headed to Hollywood where we were spending the next few nights. Mum and dad were not too impressed with the hotel they had booked but when I arrived I thought it was a palace! Firstly, I wasn't sharing my room with eight or more strangers, I wasn't sleeping in a bunk bed, I wasn't sharing the bathroom with 100 other people and we had a TV, a pool and room service! This was far more luxury than anything I'd experienced on my whole travels. The hotel also had a real American diner downstairs which was great and really made me feel I was in America.

Whilst in Hollywood me and mum took a tour of Hollywood homes, in Beverly Hills. We saw the homes of Sean Connery, Madonna, Halle Berry, Nicholas Cage (and his 11 ferraris!), Mike Myers, Jen & Brad's old house and many many more. The houses were incredible! We also took a stop on Rodeo Drive (the famous shopping street in Pretty Woman).

We then met up with dad again and took a walk up Hollywood Boulevard which is where all the stars on the pavement! I was slightly disappointed with Hollywood Boulevard as I expected it to be much more glamorous, and there were also a lot of very strange people around! It was an exciting place though with lots going on with people dressed as film characters, music playing and lots of shops! We also came across all the hand and foot prints of all the big names of Hollywood including Tom Hanks, Samuel L Jackson, Johnny Depp and many more.

Finally, we visited two museums - a wax work museum of the celebs and the Guinness World Records museum which were both really great.

The following day we took a trip to the great Universal Studios. We went on many rides and took a tram tour of the film sets including the set of Psycho, Back to the Future, and, of course, Desperate Housewives and many more. Along the way we were subjected to flash floods, earthquakes and a jaws attack.

Mum and dad were great and had a go on most things, including when I dragged mum onto the Jurassic Park ride which included an 84 foot vertical drop into water at the end whilst being attacked by a gigantic T-Rex. She was very brave! We also took a stroll through Van Helsing's mansion which was terrifying (for me, anyway!). I was convinced something was going to jump out on me but for a while nothing was happening so I started to relax. Just then a zombie jumped out of the darkness, at which point I screamed and hid behind my mum (who also screamed!). From then on I moved through very quickly to get out of the place!

From Hollywood, we carried on to Havasu Lake City where we spent some time relaxing before heading to Las Vegas! The whole family had chipped in and organised a surprise birthday present for my dad, two nights in the most fabulous hotel, The Luxor and a night at a Celine Dion concert. He was so stunned when mum told him (he's a big Celine fan!).

The hotel was incredible, I have never seen anything like never mind stayed in it! The main part of the building was a pyramid which lit up at night with a beam of light from the top (which can apparently be seen 10 miles into space!). The entire ground floor was a huge casino (I've stayed on islands smaller than it-much smaller!). There was every type of gambling you can think of and the place was buzzing with people and the noise of slot machines. The hotel also had shops, a food court, several restaurants, two pools with what looked like at least 200 sun loungers set out. All the hotels in Vegas seem to have some kind of theme, the Luxor had an Egyptian theme and there were huge statues of Egyptian pharoahs and sphyinx's. Our first night, we headed out to explore the streets of Vegas, there was an incredible atmosphere, the whole place had come to life and it was all about the gambling! We decided to head to a hotel called the Venetian where we could take a gondola ride on a river inside the hotel! Unfortunately, after the long walk there they had closed for the evening so we headed back to the hotel. The next day we left dad to have a relaxing day whilst me and mum went back to the Venetian and did the gondola ride which was really nice and relaxing, especially as the gondolier sang for us and he had an amazing voice. After that we hit the shops for a while before heading back to get ready for the big concert. The concert was really fantastic, and the main thing was that dad loved every second of it. The concert was in the famous Ceasar's Palace so before we left I didn't want miss the chance of a little gambling and placed a bet on the roulette wheel. I unfortunately lost so thought I'd better leave it at that but at least I can say I did it!

It was a shame to leave Vegas and that amazing hotel but we had to carry on our journey. We drove through Lake Mead and Zion National Park which was an amazing drive with vast scenery of desert and mountains. The heat was like nothing I've experienced whilst traveling and the temperature reached 114 degrees! Our next stop was Bryce Canyon in Utah. This was the real Wild West and was a great stay. We visited the beautiful Bryce Canyon and also went to their annual chilli cookoff. This meant for just $1 we had all you can eat chilli! We had to sample all the chillis and then vote for our favourite, they were all really good and we really felt like we were mixing with the locals and getting a taste (literally) of their lifestyle. We also went to a rodeo where we got to watch grown men getting thrown on the floor by some very vicious looking bulls! We also saw some tiny children learning the ropes by riding sheep, it was very cute but most of them were on the floor before they left the pen.

From Utah we continued to the Grand Canyon. We first went to the north rim of the canyon which had such a spectacular view. The canyon is so vast, you just can't imagine without seeing it. That night we stayed in a log cabin in amongst the trees. We came out from having tea to see a huge pillar of smoke that looked like a nuclear explosion just beyond the trees on the opposite side of the road. It was a huge fire, not that far from us (which was slightly concerning staying in a log cabin!). But it wasn't till the next day that we spoke to a fireman and he said it was the worst fire most have them had ever seen so we were right to be worried! Fortunately, we were heading in the opposite direction that day to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Along the way we saw all the devastation of the fire and some of it was still smoking!

The view from the south rim of the canyon was even more vast than the north. However, unfortunately due to pollution and the fire there was a haze which meant we couldn't see as far as you normally would be able to. The view was, however, still spectacular and we spent some time there. We stopped that night in a nice hotel in a town called Williams before heading back towards LA where mum and dad are getting their flight on Friday. We are stopping in Havasu Lake City again tonight and spending our last days relaxing by the pool. I fly from LA on Sunday and arrive back in the UK on Monday morning.

So that's it, my final blog! I've travelled around the world, visited seven countries in six months, seen wonders of the world and had some incredible experiences. It has been the most amazing six months of my life! Thank you so much for reading and following my adventures and a special thanks to my brother, Sam who set up this blog for me so I could share my journey with you. Thanks a million Sam!

I can't believe that its nearly all over, in the words of Bill & Ted, its been a 'most excellent adventure'! Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing you all very very soon

Claire xxx