Having had our blues adventure the night before, we got up nice and early and caught the train to the airport where we picked up our next rental. Because we have this car for just over a week, I reserved a mini-van so it would be comfortable but when we got there they did the whole up sell thing and we fell for it. So now we are cursing in 2014 Ford Explorer with sunroof, heated seats and all the trimmings. I should mention that American roads are great to drive ...

Our flight to Chicago was only 4hrs, but because of the time difference it was about 10:30pm when we arrived. They had a good transport pass there called Ventura. It was $25 for 3 days unlimited travel on buses and trains but it also can be used as a cash card. So we each got one and caught the train to our hostel, which was about 15mins outside of downtown. Once we checked in we remembered it was a Friday night and the local area looked worth checking out. So we...

I think this was the point of the trip where our luck ran out and we pushed too hard to see everything. We arrived in San Francisco in our hire car and drove to the hostel. Oh how I don't miss hostels. This particular one is an old army barracks called Fort Mason right on fisherman's wharf. On first inspection the place looks old and nostalgic but as you start to unpack, you realise that it hasn't actually been touched since WWII. There are no power points in ou...

The car we chose this time for the drive was a Toyota FJ Cruiser, which has those suicide doors than can't be opened unless the front doors are open. It is a pain but the car was comfy enough for the long drive. We had a full 8hr day of driving and we made sure we swapped drivers every couple of hours to break it up which helped a lot. As far as scenery goes, it was quite a good transition. It went from dry desert heat to green landscape to mountainous forest. ...

Vegas - a playground for adults. You can smell the hype and excitement as you drive in watching the lights come on. We stayed down the end of the strip in a place called Mandalay Bay. The place was massive and did not disappoint. I handed my mustang over to valet parking and our luggage was taken to our room while we checked in. Without going into pages of detail, the resort was unbelievable. All of them are. Everything is over the top with detail. We had a lat...