xenole

Entered the Washington Marine Corps Marathon back in February and decided it would be a good excuse for a holiday and whilst in the US, a good excuse for a tier point run to take me from BA Blue to Silver.

Itinery:
Transpennine Express train from home to Doncaster
East Coast First Class from Doncaster to Kings Cross
The tube from Kings Cross to Heathrow
Night at a Premier Inn near Heathrow
Fly in British Airways Club World to Washington Dulles (IAD)
Spend a few days in Washington DC
Fly economy on American Airlines (AA) from Ronald Reagan Airport (DCA) to San Juan, Puerto Rico (via Miami)
Spend a few days in San Juan
Start a tier point run in Business (SJU-MIA only) and First from SJU-MIA-MCO-JFK-LAX-LAS (San Juan-Miami-Orlando-New York-Los Angeles-Las Vegas)
Few days in Las Vegas
Fly economy on Southwest to Los Angeles (LAX) and then economy on AA to IAD.
Finally Fly economy on BA to Heathrow and tube + train home.

Booked a taxi for around 10:15am for my 10:34am train. Some roadworks added 5 minutes to the journey but I still arrived with a good 10 minutes to spare. Didn't make a lot of difference as the train was running around 3 minutes late and due to it being half term, there were quite a lot of people already waiting for it, most probably heading off to do some shopping at Meadowhall.

Transpennine First Class - 2 seats



Uneventful after that in First Class with only 3 other people there who were catching a train to Edinburgh apparently. No at seat service as this only occurs between Manchester Picadilly and Doncaster during the week. No trolley service at all at weekends.

Arrived at Doncaster at around 11:37 so had about 8 minutes to wait for my Kings Cross bound train. Being in coach M, that was right at the front of the train so a bit of a walk up the platform to get to it. Normal first class carriage with a mixture of beige or blue seats, a quarter of which were already occupied. Took my seat in 47a, a single airline style forward facing
window seat. Quite spacious and a little bit less firm that the Transpennine first class seating. Single standard power socket against the outer wall, a table that partly folded up and could really do with a good clean as I don't think anyone had ever touched anything beyond the top of it. There was a cup, some places mats and a menu / guide to first class on the table and I
pushed these back in order to easily fit my 17" laptop onto the table. A few others in the carriage also had laptops out and were working or playing games on them. Decided to try out the free wi-fi service and after registering it worked fine. It wasn't as slow as I've heard but that could be due to the time of day with a reduced business contingent.
After the first stop, an at table food service began.. first a cart was wheeled down the aisle with drinks such as orange juice, full sized cans of Coke / diet Coke, some mixers, wine etc. Then the food cart came along which had a choice of egg & cress sandwiches or chicken mayonaise or suchlike, cake and Burt's ready salted crisps which weren't anything special.
I had the 3 egg sandwiches (bread cut into triangles so 3 slices worth of bread) and some crisps. Nothing like quiche that is mentioned in the menu but I'm assuming that had already gone if it were ever available.

Lunch



Another uneventful journey passing through Peterborough, Stevenage, past the Emirates Stadium etc into Kings Cross about a minute late (or could have been on time as is said 13:31 when I got off the train).
Easy walk up the platform and through the turnstiles with my ticket which wasn't checked onboard. The station was packed as usual and all the building work isn't helping by diverting people all over the place.
Straight for the tube and the Picadilly line to Heathrow. Normal miles of walking down passageways until I got to the ticket machines. Bought myself an Oyster card and loaded it with £10 so that cost me £15 total. Should cover 3-4 journeys and I can top it up online if need be. £2.70 charge on the card. Far better than anything from £12-18 for a standard class HEX fare plus a tube fare on top of that.
Then down to the west bound platform and had to wait until two other trains arrived and departed before the Heathrow T1-3 train arrived. Boarded that and not overly full so plenty of space for my luggage and to spread out. Think the journey took just over an hour as it stops places such as Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Earls Court, Hammersmith etc and these are fairly touristy.
Nice to be outside for some of the journey although it was raining a bit. Cool air always a good whilst being stuck in an underground train for a good hour and 20 stops. Also lets you use your mobile phone as there is generally no signal in the tunnels.

Arrived at T1-3 and went up the escalator and followed the signs for the Central Bus station / Terminal 1. Ended up in a smallish building with a coffee shop, WhSmith and a ticket counter for National Express coaches. Couldn't see a single thing about hotel Hoppa buses, so I asked a member of staff who told me to take the 111 or 140 buses as these were free compared to the £4.50 for the Hoppa. Caught a 111 and didn't really have a clue where I was supposed to go. Passed the Emirates A380 model on the roundabout after the road tunnel, saw the Holiday Inn (Bath Road / Sibson Way) and a few other hotels. Eventually it was announced that we had reached the end of the free bus zone at the Holiday Inn Ariel and I knew for sure then that I was nowhere near where I wanted to be. Checked Google Maps which was useless and realised from the hotel's website that I might as well have been in Central London for all it was worth! Crossed the road and caught another 111 back to the central bus station where I asked someone else and he
rightly told me to take the lift down a floor. Did that and followed the signs for Terminal 1. Went outside and a sign said to go to stand "4". Walked up the road to that, crossed over and had a couple of minutes wait before a H8 and then a H1+8 buses arrived. £8 return to the Premier Inn M4/J4. Definitely not a place you could walk to as it's pretty much motorway all the way to it and then a smaller road running alongside it. The Bath Road hotels are walkable although a lot of road crossing and winding around buildings. Lesson learnt here!

Checked in without a hitch and got a room on the second floor facing a petrol station and the very busy M4 to my right. Quiet with only a slight rumble of the odd aircraft and road noise. Open the window on the other hand and the 24 hour traffic on the M4 is quite loud. Ben & Jerry's machine in the lobby, 2 computers, printer, charging station, plasma screen showing Sky News and some racks with leaflets. Restaurant just off reception.

Premier Reception Area



Simple room with a large double bed, desk with kettle and tea/coffee/sugar sachets, hairdryer, tv in the corner of the room and a small bathroom with toilet / sink / bath / shower. Nice to see the bathroom does use those stupid energy saving bulbs. The Premier Inn In Leith, Edinburgh, uses those and they take 5-10 minutes before you can even see anything thery're so dim and slow to warm up. Seems to be 5 plug sockets, 2 of which the kettle and hairdryer use. The one for the kettle is close to the bed so you can plug your phone in overnight and leave it on the bedside cabinet. Makes a change as so many hotels don't put sockets anywhere near where you need them!
Internet wise, £5 for 24 hours but I chose to tether my phone to my laptop as I wouldn't be doing much except emailing and browsing the odd website.

Premier Inn Bed


Premier Inn TV


Premier Inn Desk Area


Felt peckish in the evening so went down to the bar / restaurant for something to eat. Can't go wrong with a cheeseburger so had that and a diet Pepsi. Tasty chips although much nicer at the Millennium copthorne and Crowne Plaza - not sure what they do but their chips are sublime. Fairly full with a mixture of families, single travellers and couples. Service seemed a little unorganised but everyone eventually got what they ordered. Came to £12.20 in the end. Got an added bonus of a piece of metal foil until a tomato in my burger (would have bit into that had I not removed the slice of tomato). Other than a cafe at the next door petrol station, there's nothing else locally unless you walk into Hayes and even then it's a few miles to find anything other than a couple of local shops.

Up around 5:45am to watch "Airport" on tv but typically this was the first day they decided not to show it from 6-9am. Took a shower (great water pressure and hot), dressed and packed. Down to reception just after 7am and the H58 Hoppa bus wasn't due until 7:43am. Waited inside for a while as it was raining a little outside and then went to the main road outside the car park barriers to wait for the bus with someone else (normally the bus stops at the entrance but the car park was overly full with cars parked everywhere and anywhere - £6 charge for the car park). Bus arrived on time with two people already on it. Drove through some narrow village roads before making a stop at the Thistle hotel which is behind the Bath Road Premier Inn (looks like they're adding a load of new rooms onto the back of it judging by the building work). The Thistle from the outside looks like something out of the 60s/70s.
Even so, half a dozen people got on for T5.
It took around 15 mins to get to the drop off point at T5. Walked up the road a bit to a crossing and crossed into arrivals.

Changed some money into US Dollars at Travelex and took the escalator upstairs as that's where a sign said departures was. Reached the top and came to an area completely devoid of anything. No signs whatsoever telling you where to go. Went up again and there were loads of airline staff walking around and various offices so I assumed I had missed something somewhere. Followed some BA crew up another escalator and found myself in the departures area - looks as though you are supposed to come in from the 3rd floor car parks?

Random Shot of Check-in Desks in T5



Spotted the BA check-in desks and started looking for the Club check-in desks. Decided to go left as I assumed from Virgin Upper Class at Gatwick that's where they would be, but no, they were to the far far right. Walked up there and saw the "First" check-in with the "secret CCR door" and just before that the Club World desks with around 15 people already there. Two minute wait and checked in without a hitch. Left turn and then a right turn into security. Directed to lane 3 and removed my laptop and belt but kept my shoes on. No problems like the last couple of times when the alarm went off.

Saw the Galleries lounge next to security and remembered someone on the forums had mentioned a convulted way of getting there by going up and down some escalators. Walk past the extra screening section where a couple of men in full Jewish outfits were getting screened, past Harrods etc until I found the escalator with a sign saying "Galleries North ahead, Galleries South down".

Went down and the walked back pretty much the same distance I had just come from security until another sign told me to go up to the lounge. Went up and saw the horses with the lampshades on their heads, the Elemis spa, visited the First Class lounge desks etc before finding the lounge another floor up.

Horse



Moving Thing (Mirrors that spin around to give the impression of flowing)



The lounge is quite large compared to what I expected. Loads of seating in different colourings and materials and food / drink stations scattered throughout. A small section to the right of the entrance houses the computer area. There may have been more but I didn't explore every inch.

Shot of corner of lounge with a coffee bar


As for the food, since it was breakfast time, there was a selection of white / brown rolls with bacon; white / brown rolls with mushrooms and a slice of tomato; various mini Danish pastries; porridge; fruit such as mixed berries and grapefruit; flavoured and natural yoghurts; cereals such as Wheatabix; various fruit juices such as apple, orange and pineapple.

Bacon and Mushroom rolls - quite a few!


Some wine in a glass cabinet - for show or for drinking?



I had a bacon roll and a mushroom roll and took some sachets of HP brown sauce and Heinz ketchup that were supplied along with a glass of pineapple juice. The bacon rolls to be honest were warmer than the mushroom rolls which may have been sitting there a while longer. Popped back a second time to find some to request a glass of champagne and to get some more bacon rolls along with a bowl of fruit and yoghurt.

Rolls, Champagne and Fruit / Yoghurt



Interesting toilets. There are individual cubicles along a corridor and have some nice smelling Elemis products. Very clean as well compared to one of the general ones I would visit in T5B later.

Toilet



One observation I made was that there seemed to be a shortage of power points. I found a nice seat near a window that had a single point next to it, but looking around in amongst people sitting, talking, eating, lounged out asleep etc, I couldn't spot too many and most laptops seemed to be running on battery power.

Planes taxiing


Did glance in the window of the Galleries First lounge and it looked like a smaller version of the Galleries lounge but with long communal tables. Couldn't see a lot else to make comparisons.

About 10am, 50 minutes before my flight was due to depart, I decided to make my way to Gate B34. This involved going downstairs into the main terminal and following the signs for terminals 5B and 5C. It did mention a transit time of 15 minutes but I wouldn't have said more than 5 tops. It simply involved an trip in a lift to Level -2, a 100m walk to a train that was waiting and a minute of travel after that.
Arrived at the gate and took a picture of the 747 I would be travelling on but never saw the registration. Even so, it had blanked out windows in first so obviously had New First.

747



Boarding wasn't underway yet so popped to Boots for some chewing gum (89p for a box so the same price as a supermarket - makes a change to find somewhere without major mark-ups!). Quick toilet trip along with the hoi poloi and then waited near the signs for the gate. A few minutes later the sign changed to "pre-boarding" and shortly afterwards to "boarding" and everyone started moving forward although quite well organised. I went in the fast track lane that mentioned First, Club World etc passengers and with two people in front of me, it only took a few seconds before the walk to the jetty and onboard. Welcomed at the door and told my seat was upstairs. A quick glance left revealed it was indeed new first.
Up the stairs, which I wouldn't want to really be traversing during any turbulence, and welcomed by a male and female crew member.
The cabin at this point had just one other person it it so I took the opportunity to look at everything, take the odd photo of legroom and gaps between seats, had a look in the cockpit as the door was open etc. Rather obvious this as my first time on the upper deck!

Flightdeck



Gap between 64A and the stairs



Gap Along the Side Of 64A



First opinions were that it is spacious. My seat, 64A, the old bassinet position, has plenty of room. Sitting down, I would easily say that there is a good 8-9FT of legroom.

Stretching my legs out and barely reaching the stool



Four windows to myself and four bins on the side. To be honest though, it does look a bit tired. Some fraying of the carpet and some general cleaning of the bins is needed. A bit plasticy as well.

xenole

Bins (Items do slide along these as there may be two lids to a bin)


The table is folded into the dividing wall between 64A and B. This is released by pushing a button and then folds out. It can then slide forward a good one and a half times its width. Only problem is that it isn't designed for my 17" laptop. It fits nicely on it yet the table tilts downwards and is a little wobbly as it's only really supported by the hinges.
The screen is stowed just above the table and it too is released by a button. It is either operated by a control stowed to the side of the seat or by using the touch screen. Not an incredibly high quality screen and prone to light from the port side (left) of the aircraft when travelling west.

Screen and Table


Seat controls lie between the table and control and allow lumbar adjustment, flat bed mode etc. Noticable motor noise when you change position.
A headphone socket lies next to the control and uses two pins, one for the noise cancellation I believe. The headphones supplied mention that they only work on BA planes due to their two pins but they plugged into my laptop and seemed to work without a problem.

Cabin Shot (No flash so a little bit darker)



Footstool (that says don't sit on it) down - Look at the amount of legroom in the ex-basinet postion!


Drawer at bottom of 64A/B partition


Power Socket near drawer - does it accept UK and US plugs?


Slightly reflective partition screen up


Pre-departure drinks were brought around on a tray and these consisted of champagane, orange juice and water. I had another glass of champagne. A second round was also offered.

Small glass of champagne


The safety briefing occurred via the video screens rather than a cabin crew demonstration and consisted of a cartoony format of skinny and pretty people all having a great time and looking out for one another.
Take-off was a few minutes late as per the historic data for this flight. Looking at the runway, there are 3 sets of planes waiting for take-off at any one time so naturally this causes some delay. Had a Virgin and United flight in front of us, the latter of which seemed to have a far steeper take-off and gained altitude far more quickly.
The captain announced the start of meal services and the timings of the entertainment system coming on and shortly after that, menus were handed out for lunch, hot towels offered and another drinks service began.

Menu and amenity kit (eye mask; socks; toothbrush and toothpaste; Elemis facial wipe, lip salve and two other moisturisers; 20% off Elemis products coupon)


Some minor turbulence began around 12:02 over a landmass that I assume was Ireland. Only lasted a few minutes and I had to keep hold of my Kir Royale in case I wasted a drop.

Kir Royale and nuts


Menu (can add photos if someone wants them)

LUNCH

Starters
Smoked salmon and trout roulade with radish and fennel salad
or
Mushroom parfait with red onion marmalade and watercress salad

Salad
Fresh seasonal salad served with vinaigrette

Main
Slow-braised British beef with rosti potatoes

Chicken Kiev with tomato and artichoke sauce, parsnip chips and creamed spinach

Beetroot and horseradish risotto with ruby chard

Chilled main course salad of grilled king prawn with Thai noodles and cashews

Desert
Pear and caramel delice with caramelised pear compote

Ice Cream

Blue Wensleydale and smoked cheddar served with biscuits

A selection of fruits and chocolates

AFTERNOON TEA

Snacks
An individual selection of sandwiches featuring coronation chicken and egg with watercress

Sweets
Plain or fruit scones served warm with clotted cream and strawberry preserves


The dinner service occurred shortly afterwards. I had already requested the mushroom parfait and the beef for my main course.
The starter arrived on a tray with the fork, knives and spoon wrapped in napkin; a small butter dish; a bowl of salad containing Kale, Peppers etc; a Lily O'Brien chocolate; salt and pepper sachets; plate with the mushroom parfait.




To be honest, it was far better than I had expected. The caramelised onions were quite tasty (had half expected them to be a foul as the bowl of Baxter's French Onion soup I had recently - managed one mouthful of that before binning it) and it went really well with the mushroom parfait. Even though all the starters are cold, including the optional prawn and noodle salad, it didn't affect it's taste and presentation for me.
A basket of varied warm bread rolls was brought around and I chose what I believed to be something like Ciabatta.
A few minutes after that, the main course was presented. I had expected a piece of steak but it seemed more like braising steak with peas under a shredded potato topping. Well cooked as I like it and not a sign of any red / bloody rawness which I find totally offputting in red meat. The potato was slightly crispy where it had been grilled and was fully cooked unlike my last experience in Club World of the LCY-JFK flight where the vegetables were slightly underdone for my tastes - but each to their own.

Main Course of braised beef


All gone....


A second bread service was offered and I chose a delicious sesame seeded roll this time. A choice of drinks had been offered with the meal and another round a alcohol was offered but politely refused.
within a few minutes, a choice of a cheese plate or desert was on offer. Not being a fan of cheese that is mouldly (seriously, how can anyone go out of their way to eat this?), I went with the safer option of the torte with a side of unsweetened pear compote.

Pear and caramel delice with caramelised pear compote (with cup of black coffee)


The delice itself resembled a softer cheesecake although closer to a custard. The pear helped to balance out the taste by making it slightly less sweet.

Another drinks round occurred in which things such as tea and coffee were offered. Pacing myself alcohol wise, I had a black coffee and a few minutes after that, a bottle of Highland spring water was offered and accepted.
All in all, it took around an hour and 20 minutes to do the meal service for a full cabin (3 seats were empty the day before according to the BA seatmap yet every seat was taken and I believe it was pretty full downstairs as well).

It was then time for customs / immigration forms to be handed out. They must have stopped doing the green form that caught me out last year as I only saw the white "Customs Declaration" one. I assume the ESTA has now replaced it.

Watched some shows on my laptop for a while until the battery just about ran out (didn't want to try plugging it in in case I fried something). The screen for the inflight entertainment is very poor quality in my opinion. It was near impossible to see things on, especially during darkened scenes. The system does tend to crash a bit when you try to go back too quickly.

Needed to stretch my legs so after chatting a little to the female cabin crew member about my first time on the upper deck, I went downstairs to have a look at the club kitchen. Compared to some comments I've heard about it, it was very well stocks with plenty of crisps, drinks, small bars of chocolate, shortbread etc. Excellent view out of the door as well as the engines are quite close.

Club kitchen


View of engines Out of the club kitchen window


Took a look into the rear CW cabin and the blinds were all down, fairly dark and a lot of people seemed to be asleep. The curtains were closed to keep the riff-raff out Same with the forward cabin. Was going to walk through and take a look at WT and WT+ but decided not to disturb anyone.

About an hour from landing, after the seatbelt signs went on again due to some turbulence, the afternoon tea service began where sandwiches, scones and drinks were offered. I had a plate of wrapped sandwiches, egg and cress, and Coronation Chicken. The bread was slightly dry but tasty enough. A basket of scones was presented and you helped yourself to one. Rather small and more akin to Maids Of Honour without the jam. Nice enough though.

Sandwiches, scone and coffee


Scone - not exactly what you would call a generous size


Jam & Cream - the wrong way and the right way.....


The cabin crew overall were excellent. No problems with them and very helpful. Far better in my opinion to the ones I experienced on the LCY-JFK route who were far less pro-active in my opinion.

A little bit bumpy coming into land as it was total cloud cover down to a few thousand feet. Can't say I heard the landing gear go down but it could be due to be higher up or I was distracted? When the cloud cover broke, to be honest, I would have thought we were approaching Heathrow as everything looked pretty much the same. Fields, roads, houses etc. No real differences although as we got closer to the airport, a few structural changes.

Landing was normal - not too bumpy and the airport reminded me of Edinburgh in some aspects. The flight crew announced we would be using mobile lounges and then that changed to a jetty although one passenger, who had obviously flown this before, mentioned that we would still use the lounges. Being in 64A, made my way downstairs first and we exited through the front CW cabin. Couple of 100m walk along the jetty and down some stairs and onto the mobile lounge. Immediately placed myself within the crosswalk area behind the driver's cab along with two others.

xenole

One of the infamous mobile lounges at Dulles


The lounge started to fill up with a lot of people hanging around the front although the driver told some of them to keep moving back. Short trip to the main terminal and I had about 10 people
in front of me when the lounge doors opened again and the immigration hall was empty (just after 2pm). Went straight to an empty desk, got asked the reason for my visit, how long I was in the US for, what I did for a living and got my four right fingers printed and my photo taken. Took a minute tops. Then a short walk over to the baggage carousel and a five minute wait for my case.
After that, followed the signs for the main terminal and then the signs for the Washington Flyer bus. Couple of minutes walk to that, a quick left turn up a ramp and to the ticket desk where I paid my $10 for a ticket to West Falls Church Metro station.
It was suprisingly warm outside compared to back in the UK.
Not much to see out there. Car parks, some valet place and concrete.
The bus arrived within a minute and the driver put my case underneath the bus. It sat there for a few minutes to allow others to board before driving off towards the Metro Station.

Inside Washington Flyer bus - just a normal coach


I assume that's the DC to Dulles rail link that's being built in the middle of the highway? There seems to be some railway sleeper and track in place as well as piles of rails.

May have taken around half an hour to get to the station and my case was waiting when I got off the bus. Quick walk into the station, right turn and up the escalator to the ticket machines. $3.85 for a single to McPherson. Through the ticket barriers and down another escalator to the platform where I had a five minute wait for the train which turned out to be rather long and with most of the seats facing forwards / backwards unlike the sideways London Underground ones, it limits where you can sit with luggage. It took about 20 minutes to reach my stop and the first thing I noticed was the 20W light bulb they use to illuminate the station might not be quite enough. Seriously, it's so dark down there - they just don't have enough lighting and the same on a lot of the streets compared to the UK (didn't notice it as much after that so perhaps it's just that station or I got used to it).

Metro Station (actually it's L'Enfant Plaza but they mostly look the same)


Easy enough to exit onto 14th Street, with a "Five Guys" burger bar on the corner, and then a five minute walk up to my hotel, the Hamilton Crowne Plaza at 14th and K (it takes ages to cross all 3 roads). So $13.85 and about an hour from Dulles. Far better that paying $70 for a cab and to save a few minutes when you're by yourself.
I originally had the Holiday Inn Capitol at L'Enfant Plaza booked for that night but it turned out that the Crowne Plaza was at least $50 cheaper for the same night and it would help with IHG's promo that gives increasing bonus points when you stay at each of their properties i.e. Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Intercontinental etc. Rebooked the Holiday Inn Capitol for Friday-Sunday and pre-paid saving myself nearly £200. Also gave me IHG Gold, which whilst not being really worth anything, sounds better than club, the base level.

The hotel itself is quite nice. A Starbucks just off the lobby, a bar and restuarant and a small club lounge higher up that requires your room key to access.
Went to for a King Executive room as it had access to the club lounge and canopes in the evening and breakfast in the morning. The room was simple with a bathroom, king bed, desk and chair, cupboard with safe suitable for a 15" laptop, and a 37" tv perched on a chest of drawers. No fridge or mini-bar. A coffee maker was in the bathroom although a kettle is far more useful to me but is something US hotels never seem to supply.

Room


Bathroom


Television at bottom of bed


View Of the park outside my window


Not noisy considering the closeness of the busy road outside (14th Avenue).

Once settled in, I decided to charge up my laptop and then found I had forgotten my UK-US adaptor - well, half the plug was there and I've still no idea where the rest got to.
With my phone and laptop both requiring charging, I enquired downstairs s to whether they had any power leads or plugs but they didn't. I was given directions to a Radio Shack though (out the main entrance, turn right, turn left at the junction and walk 2 blocks). For some reason, I went the completely wrong way and didn't find it until the following morning and managed to buy a US power lead that worked on my laptop. Couldn't see an adaptor there so ended up trying to charge my phone through the e-sata port on my laptop and found this takes 50x longer than by plugging it into the mains.

Since the White House was apparently 3-4 blocks away, I decided to take a walk down there in the evening. Easy enough to find the Willard Hotel, the Treasury building and the Whit House which is down a street with concrete security barriers, guards etc blocking vehicular access. Seems to be quite a few barriers up around buildings, some are the aforementoned concrete blocks and others are reversed ramps. Walked through the park near the Treasury and crossed the road in front of the White House where other tourists were at the fence taking photos. A permanent police prescence kept an eye on everyone and sometimes people were told to move away from certain areas or not to cross the road at certain points.

White House


White House


Good views of the White House through the fence and the Washington Monument close by in the opposite direction. Quite a few planes taking off from DCA as well - surprised they have an airport that close to the city as the planes do tend to fly reasonably close to major buildings (or it seems close compared to other airports).

The Washington Monument in the distance and some barriers to stop vehicles near the White House


Washington Monument from in front of the White House


Spent some time taking random photos before walking around the park towards the Washington Monument. The grassy bits of the park itself are mostly surrouned by barriers, apparently to let the grass grow. Across a main road and following the path takes you close to the monument. It was then that I spotted a sign saying that the monument was closed due to earthquake damage (I had somehow bought tickets from the US Goverment website to go up it after it was closed). Metal fences blocked access to it by being placed across the entry paths.
Had a look at it, the best I could, and then made my way towards the signposted Lincoln Memorial, Reflecting Pool, World War 2 memorial etc.

Looking towards the WW2 memorial and the Lincoln Memorial


Washington Monument from WW2 memorial




The reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial was another of those tourist things I had to see. It's been in so many films over the years and does come across as an iconic part of Washington to me. Unfortunately, someone had decided to dig it up for rebuilding so very disappointing.





Reflecting Pool from the Lincoln Memorial


As said already, I had been playing around with different hotels for a while before arriving and originally had my entire stay booked at the Holiday Inn next to L'Enfant Plaza using a credit card hold.
Nearer the time, the normally more expensive Hamilton Crowne Plaza turned out to be quite a bit cheaper for the first night (Thursday) so I booked that and the Holiday Inn for the remainder of the stay, this time paying up front as this saved even more money.

Holiday Inn Bathroom - pretty standard



King Corner Room overlooking some Government buildings and a block away from L'Enant Plaza Metro Station and the Air & Space Museum



Flat Screen TV, fridge, microwave and oversized radiator. The curtains were just cosmetic as didn't close.

xenole

Air & Space Museum at top of road, Metro Station accessibile through left hand building Mon-Fri or around first corner.


Larger room that I expected with the bathroom to your left as you come in the door with the elevators pretty across across the hall although not that noisy. Would have preferred the tv to be in front of the bed but at least it was flat and had quite a few channels with the usual action movies on at 7am and the tamer stuff during the evenings.
Full sized fridge and mmicrowave were in the room although you need cutlery if you choose to eat anything. Stirrers supplied but forks, knives, spoons not.
The desk in the far corner of the room had a wired internet socket (and they supplied a cable) although I used Wi-Fi using the password supplied by reception.
I'd read some reviews on Trip Advisor about train noise and had a room away from the tracks but you could still clearly hear the horn especially when quieter in the evenings. Not really distracting and just like one of the Hollywood movies. Another thing that was mentioned was leaflets for pizza delivery and I had 2-3 of them pushed under my door during the stay - never knew things like 40" pizzas existed!

Why are US plug sockets so flimsy? They are a thin flexible piece of plastic that pretty much pushes into the wall if you put any pressure on it and there's always a blue spark. At lest some now seem to have 3 pins instead of 2 which may or may not be safer.

Location wise, the hotel is on a corner with some Government buildings around it. During the week, plenty of people about but far quieter at the weekend. The National Air & space Museum is about a block away at the top of the road (out the main entrance, cross the street and walk straight and then cross the National Mall). L'Enfant Plaza Metro station is just around the corner although during the week, you can walk through the Goverment buildings to get to it. Plenty of newsagents, coffee shops etc in them as well.
There is a chemist/supermarket about 30m away although that tends to have irregular opening times at the weekend. Supposed to be a McDonalds near by but never saw it.
Did find an indoor shopping centre somewhere in the area although 3/4 of that seemed to be closed down.
The Capitol Building is only a few blocks away to the right. Did take the Metro but that stops pretty much the same distance away from it so you might as well walk the 5 minutes to it.

The hotel itself is quite large with a second smaller entrance near the gift shop. Off reception, there is a Starbucks, bar showing football, a cafe place selling sandwiches, fruit etc and a sit down area. The elevator are next to Starbucks in an alcove off the busy reception area (lots of people using the wi-fi on their laptops). The courtyard with tables is just off reception but it was cold and raining a lot so never went out there.

xenole

DCA-SJU on AA Y.

Chose DCA as it was a few $ cheaper than flying out of IAD or BWI and it was also a few minutes away on the subway which saved the hassle of changing lines or going on buses.
Left my hotel and walked the couple of hundred metres over to L'Enfant Plaza subway station. Bought a ticket from one of the ticket machines and this came in at around $3.75. Knew which train to catch and after a short wait, the train headed across the river to DCA, taking a few short minutes. Not that crowded considering it was around rush hour.
The station at DCA is a few metres from the entrance and after going down some steps and along a corridor takes you into the ticketing area.



Went up to a self-service machine at the American Airlines desk, entered my details and was offered an upgrade to first class on the DCA-MIA segment for less than $100. Being a short flight, I didn't feel it was worth it although in hindsight, if I had been able to get tier points for British Airways from it, it would have been more than worth it.
Once everything was done and passes printed, up to the desk and then I was directed to security to my left where my case went through a scanner and I was then free to look around.

The airport itself is rather nice. Plenty of little shops, free wi-fi, and an abundance of glass allowing loads of natural light, views of the runway and various monuments in the distance.

Washington Monument and Capitol Building visible from the councourse


I had a couple of hours to wait (prefer to arrive early rather than risk being late) so I went to a cafe and had an orange juice and bagel with scrambled egg. After that, a bit of wandering about before heading to security for the usual passport, belt off, items in trays etc.
This only took a few minutes and then I took a seat near a charging station and surfed the net for a while until my flight was called. Boarding began in order with first and assisted passengers preceding everyone else.

View of the terminal from my seat


The flight itself was pretty full, with one empty aisle seat in first when I boarded. No idea if that was taken later.

Economy boarding


Legroom with a cup from a previous flight still stuffed into the seat pocket


Seating


Taxiing with Washington Monument in distance


Flight took off on time and headed south with views of various parts of Washington. Best views seem to be if you're flying north as you have the White House etc on your starboard side.
Being in economy, a drinks service was offered and was given a full can of apple juice.

Minute Maid apple juice - sometimes you get a full can, other times just a poured cupful.


First Views of the Miami area - not idea what part exactly it is to be honest




Uneventful flight overall but to be expected for the short 2 hours or so.

Not sure if we actually aborted a landing as we were a bit high above this parking lot just before the airport when the plane made a sharp left turn away from the airport (around 3:29 in the non-very-exciting unedited video, length 9:05)

Video of approach and landing at MIA.
http://youtu.be/txteNL8fRNA

xenole

Very slow at doing things but adding bits and pieces!

MIA-SJU on AA Y

Landed successfully at MIA and had the long taxi over to gate XXX.
Being a near full flight, disembarking too a few minutes although I wasn't worried as I had an hour before my next flight and it was going to on the same plane anyway although the same gate has 2 numbers.
Hung around the gate area with loads of others as there wasn't really time o explore the airport. Usual waiting areas, charging stations, paid for wi-fi, a burger place, sandwich shop and a couple of other food places in the vicinity.
Being Miami, next to no-one speaking English - just Spanish.

Was getting excited about my first time in the Caribbean and have come from Washington where it was just above freezing (approaching 14-15C later), the sign for my flight was more than welcome.



Boarding commenced a few minutes later and first class along with selected others went first. A few minutes later, they started to come back and an announcement on the tannoy said the flight was delayed due to technical problems (think a door wouldn't shut or something like that from what I hard later). The first thing that popped into my head was that the plane had gone tech and I expected a cancellation or long delays but luckily it was something minor and only lasted about 15-30 minutes tops. This gave me time to pick up an overpriced ($8-9) cheese and ham sandwich from a little shop / counter area behind the gate. Not too bad and it filled an emptyish stomach.

The flight boarded and was full - amazing how many people are popping down to Puerto Rico or onwards on a Monday afternoon! I suppose it's a short couple of hour flight so little more than a taxi ride in their opinion.

The highlight of this part of the trip had to be my first ever view of a Lufthansa A380 coming into land around 3:!5pm. Beautiful

Usual drinks service. This times I receieved a cup rather than a can of apple juice although others had full cans of different products.

Photo of islands whilst flying south (dull colours) - any ideas where this is?


Sunset at 35,000ft over the Caribbean


First view of Puerto Rico at dusk


Video of landing at SJU (really should have used HD) - loads of shanty town / shacks outside the main tourist / affluent areas
http://youtu.be/TnlQhW7YFtg

BA Plane at SJU (blurry as camera didn't focus properly in poor light whilst moving)


As before, it took a while to disembark and being near the back didn't help much. Even so, the luggage carousels happened to be at the opposite end of the airport and involved quite a long walk through corridors, down stairs etc. Very few people around at that time of evening.
Still had to wait a few minutes for my case and then a bit of backtracking to the exit and outside to the taxi booth. Lovely and warm!
As with a lot of places, you go to the booth, tell them where you want to go and they give you a piece of paper with the price on which you then give to the taxi driver. It was around $15 to my hotel + a fee for every piece of luggage and some airport tax so just under $19 in the end.
I had booked a hire car for the following day from the airport but since I knew nothing of the geography of San Juan, especially where my hotel was, a taxi was a good option to memorise he route. Lucky I did as I wouldn't have easily found it especially in the dark!

Rather than stay at one of the beachfront properties, I chose the Doubletree Hilton on Diego as it was rated number one most of the time on Trip Advisor. Pricewise, no worse than some hotels and I got a good rate that included an "all you can eat" breakfast.
The hotel itself is about 200m from the one of the main roads that run east to west through San Juan and is next to a tall building with a gym. Across the street is a large 24 hour supermarket that always seemed to be busy. Plenty of parking there but no idea if for a certain period of time. Staff aren't overly happy looking and some Spanish would help.

Diego Supermercado


Few palm trees around and you can hear, at night, the Coqui (tiny and difficult to see Puerto Rican frogs) making their familiar sound.


The roads are fairly busy but easy enough to run across if need be.

Front of hotel during the day


Hotel parking is not actually next to the hotel but around the corner in an underground car park that costs around $15 a day for self parking or $5 extra for valet parking. You end up exiting on foot through the building next door.
The private barriered car parking area next to the hotel belongs to the appartments next door.

As you enter the hotel, there is a spacious area for lounging and the main restaurant is off that. In front of you is a glassed area containing trees and foliage.



To the left of that is the bar and breakfast room, to their right some public toilets, the chocolate shop and then down the corridor to reception. Elevators were to the left and right of reception (depending on hich part of the hotel you were staying in) with the small business centre, gym and swimming pool area through some doors behind reception.

Chocolate Shop / Gift shop just off reception


The gift shop itself wasn't cheap. At least $2+ for a chocolate bar that could be picked up for half the price across the street along with say 2l of coke for 99c.

I chose a room with a pool view as some rooms just faced parking lots and I wanted something a little better. There were balcony rooms available but these seemed to be on the ground (or US 1st) floor right next to the pool so would be noisier depending on how busy things were.
Being on the second floor, it was 10x quicker to take the stairs compared to the elevator.

Large bed with an unnessecarily large amount of pillows and cushions


Desk, TV, coffee machine and brown bag containing warm cookie


The cookie you always get when checking in at a Doubletree hotel


Safe, fridge, microwave and ironing board inside the wardrobe


Bathroom - has frosted glass sliding door so hopefully you don't have privacy issues


Didn't do much that first night. Really only checked out my room, the hotel and the supermarket - exciting stuff!

Pool area with giant chessboard




Local wildlife


Gym


After a good night's sleep, washed and dressed and went to breakfast (few people about so didn't take any pictures). I had been given 2 vouchers by reception, one for each breakfast, but they didn't seem that bothered by them when I went into the breakfast room. Sat down at a table and was brought a pitcher of orange juice (not joking, a pitcher), offered tea/coffee and shown where to help myself to food. Usual buffet breakfast foods such as sausage, scrambled egg, toast, fruit, cereals etc and an omlette station where a chef would prepare an omelette to your specifications.
Tasty enough food although not incredible. That said, it was filling and I tried most things.

Afterwards it was time to collect my hire car from the airport and this required a $20 taxi ride to the car rental place.
No problems getting there and went in and said I had a reservation. Usual checks of my driving licence (both parts), credit card imprint and I was shown to my car across the lot. Spent a few minutes playing with it, getting used to an automatic by hitting the brake rather sharply a lot before driving to reception to get it checked over. No problems here so left and managed to actually drive on the correct side of the road. Considerably easier than I imagined it to be although all the signs are in Spanish and you need to remember to look right instead of left and vice versa.
Out onto the main road towards San Juan hitting the speed limit quite a lot - no different from here where you sail past people and others do the same to you.
Only took about 10 minutes to reach my hotel where I found the parking lot didn't belong to the hotel. Had to reverse out and go around the corner and into the underground car park - cautious here as you edge forwards in an automatic rather than rolling backwards so need to use the brake more. Easy enough to park as plenty of space and then went back to the hotel.

xenole

My main plan for the day was to visit "El Morro" and see "Old San Juan" followed by a trip to the "Barcadi factory". I had read that parking was awkward at best in Old San Juan so decided to try out public transport. The bus stop is about 30m from the hotel entrance and I had a 15 minute wait for the bus that cost less than a dollar. Takes around half an hour but got to see most of the well known hotels such as the Caribe Hilton whilst enroute to Old San Juan bus station. The buses themselves are renowned for not really following any sort of timetable so it's blind luck if one actually turns up.

HOTELS

Caribe Hilton


Conrad- someone was swimming across the lagoon below the bridge when I went across (brave)


La Concha


El Convento - just down the road from El Morro and smack bang in the touristy areas judigng by the gift shops, diamond sellers etc


The bus station iself is near to the ferry terminal where the odd cruise ship docks and the ferry for the Barcadi factory sets off.

Sheraton hotel with small cruise ship berthed at ferry terminal


Ferry terminal complete with Subway, gift shop and ice cream parlour. Walgreens across the street.
Few vendors inside the door selling "locally made" touristy souvenirs on tables.



Took a walk towards that and then uphill towards El Morro. Fairly steep walk uphill and getting fairly warm. At the top of the hill, it was about a mile walk to El Morro along the coastal road (watch The Rum diaries when he's in a taxi and I think you'll see where I was was).

Ave Munoz Rivera (Coastal Road)


Towards El Morro


Walked along the road until I got ot the grounds of El Morro. Few people about including a school on an outing.



Beautiful location next to the sea. Nice and warm with a light breeze. Plenty of open space and great views of Old San Juan.



Westwards towards the old leper colony and US Naval radar domes?


Looking down on cannon emplacements


The fort itself costs $3 for entry which is nothing really. You can go pretty much everywhere and there are some dodgy looking darkened stairwells to go up and down, cellars, cells, roofs, gun ports etc to look at and unlike the UK, no safety barriers preventing you from falling off anything. Great place to visit with that level of freedom although small kids may have to be held onto and a few bits of steep stairway to climb.
Plenty of views of the sea, the Barcadi factory in the distance, Old San Juan, some of the touristy hotels in the distance etc. Must have spent a good couple of hours there.

After that, it was a short walk into Old San Juan, past El Convento and into the narrow streets full of diamond merchants, bars, tourist shops, fancy clothes shops and suchlike. Not a great place to park or drive as the streets are narrow and do tend to get congested easily.



After that, it was back to the ferry terminal to catch the ferry to Cantano. It runs every half an hour or so and costs 50c for the few minute trip. After a short wait watching two pigeons flirting and then the 2 sec deed taking place, it was time to board the ferry, a sort of catamran type thing with plastic seating.

Ferry on the way back as easier to photograph


Interior of ferry


Whilst travelling across to Cantano, a large cruise ship was coming into port which dwarfed the one that was there already!



Having not researched the location of the Barcadi factory at all, I assumed that it was right next to the Catano ferry terminal but shortly found out it was a few miles away. It seems that some others were unaware of this as well as we were aimlessly walking around. Shortly afterwards, a man came up to us beckoning us to a taxi and explaining that it was a drive to the Barcadi factory and not really walkable. Wasn't too sure if this was some scam but with a handful of others around, we'd all be in the same boat.
Not sure how official the taxi was but it was a few minutes drive and cost around $15 for all of us so $3 each which wasn't bad. The return taxis could be caught in the car park.

xenole

Catedral de Ron (Catherdral of Rum) with Bat Shaped modern artwork in front of it


When you first arrive, there's a gift shop in front of you (area to the side is presently being redveloped). The "train" used for the tour picks up and drops off here.



You go down the side of this to a covered area that has a ticketing desk and bar area with tables / chairs. You are given two free tickets that entitled you to two drinks and another ticket that has a different colour depending on whether you want an English or Spanish speaking tour guide.

Beige ticket for an English speaking tour. Cherry rum drink and cafe price list.


There were quite a few rum varities to choose from although no straight drinks - probably watered down enough to make things last longer and weaker?



Drinks available


A feathered friend who obviously likes a drop of rum


The tour pretty much takes you a few 100m to the Catedral de Ron where you get to see some vats, a short movie about the history of Bacardi, a demonstration on making a couple of cocktails such as Mojitos plus a couple of other things. You don't actually get to see inside the plant but as it's free and a couple of drinks are thrown in, it wastes a couple of hours and is something to see if you're out that way. Quite a few areas don't allow photos although some people were taking them without a flash.
The gift shop has the usual selection of Bacardi branded prodcuts such as towels, t-shirts, bottle openers and bottles, the most expensive being a 16 year old rum at around $100 a bottle (the heat causes the rum to evaporate more quickly so it's harder to keep than with say Whisky). Stuck with a $28 bottle of 8 year old rum that will go down well when I get around to opening it in maybe 8 years

After that it was a taxi ride back to the ferry with the others I had arrived with and the ferry back San Juan. Being cheap, I decided to catch the bus back to my hotel and waited at the bus station. Amazing how every bus in San Juan arrived and departed multiple times yet the one I wanted never showed. Then decided to walk as it didn't seem too far - not the best idea as it took a lot longer than anticipated (a good hour or so) and a few areas I walked through looked a bit dodgy especially whilst carrying a Bacardi bag that screamed out "TOURIST!".
Made it to the Condado area with the tourist hotels and after making a wrong turn and ending up wandering around some really poor looking area, eventually found my hotel.

My plan for the following day was to visit the El Yunque rainforest and then drive to Fajardo in the east as I had a Bio-Bay tour booked for the evening. When I had booked my flights originally, the tour was from 8pm-10pm so I had expected to be back in San Juan before midnight with my flight being at 6:15am (check-in opening at 5am). The tour was an hour earlier due to the amount of people who had booked, it being low season.
Checked out my hotel and loaded the trunk up with my things and set out. Pretty much involved driving east so I couldn't really go wrong.
I knew there was a toll booth on the road so had $1.50 in quarters ready and naturally when I came upon it, I stayed on the inside lane which turned out to be for passes only so quickly darted across to the outside lane for cash. After that, a straight forward drive taking in the scenery which consisted of vegetation and restaurants, shacks, stalls, shops etc pretty much all the way. No large empty areas like here in the UK. You could stop for a burger every few metres if you wanted!
One thing I noticed about the roads outside San Juan is that they make UK roads look fantastic! I've never seen so many potholes and craters all over and you really need to watch out for them as some are quite large and deep and you could easily crack a wheel or axle when hitting them at speed.

Eventually saw a sign for "El Yunque" and took the second or third exit as the first looked dodgy. This took me onto a dodgy road with shacks around it and it didn't exactly seem like somewhere a tourity place would be but after following the road, another sign told me to turn left and head 7 miles along a windy road with gutters whilst going uphill with others coming the other way much too fast.
Stopped off at the visitor centre first which really isn't near anything you want to see. You can get a map there for walks and they charge a few dollars to stop there.

Walkway to visitor centre


Couple of American tourists at the visitor centre planning some hiking


Following the road map I got, the first stop was to be a waterfall and I knew I was there upon seeing loads of tourists in the middle of the road, tour buses and cars.

Waterfall (after tourists moved on)


Waterfall (Coco Falls I think)


After a few photos at the waterfall, it was back to the car and on to the next destination on the map, Yokahu Tower. Sounds a bit Japanese to me so no idea why it's on a Caribbean island!



Good views from the base of the tower that contains a small gift shop and some toilets. Quite a few steps to the top but you're rewarded with some lovely views of the rainforest with the clouds hanging over the highest parts.







After that, the next stop was La Mina falls, famed for people going swimming. So a short drive up the road (most places within a couple of miles drive), parked the car and whilst still damp from the earlier rain shower, hit the trail to La Mina.
Most trails range from half a mile to a couple of miles although with slippery slopes, up and downs, corners etc, it takes longer to walk than you would think. That couple with narrow sections and people coming the other way mean you sometimes have to watch your footing even though there are paths about.
People in swimsuits told me I was nearing my destination.



Enjoying the cool waters of La Mina and they hit you fairly hard! Loads of rocks above and below the surface so you need to feel around for these and pretty much crawl into the water as it's easy to slip. Drops to at least 6ft+ deep nearer the falls but I didn't see how deep.
Driest place to keep your belongings is under the bridge where the photo was taken.



After my swim, I dried off the best I could as it was still raining lightly and made my way further up the trail. Then chose to climb a more advanced trail which consisted of loose rocks and some drops down slippery slopes. That coupled with the fact that the higher I climbed, the wetter it became, told me it would be safer to go back. Defintely bring waterproof clothing, some basic supplies and let people know where you're going as I saw no-one else on that trail.
Temperature wise, compared to the high 20Cs of San Juan, it was far cooler in the rainforest and cooled down the higher you went. A t-shirt is fine but as said, something waterproof is a good thing.

A while later, I made it back to the car. Not easy as the choices were to take the main road or backtrack along the trail which was even more slippery now.

xenole

Hire car from Alamo - around £49 for just over 2 days


It was an easy drive back down the mountain to the highway and onto Fajardo. By now it was early afternoon and lunchtime so stopped off at a Wendys and enjoyed some of the most miserable staff ever - don't think anyone who works in a place selling food smiles in Puerto Rico as they al seemed sullen to me. Nice burger and fries but hardly local cuisine.

Fajardo itself looks poor. The usual mix of shacks and rundown buildings, animals roaming the streets and not many people about. Stopped at Burger King to use Google maps on my phone and had a family of stray cats sitting underneath my car. Then, after driving around trying to find the location of the bio bay tour, "Parque La Juventud", with no sat-nav, I eventually stopped at a hotel and asked for directions. Not the easiest place to find in the end but once you know where it is, no problem.
Was at least an hour early when I arrived so just played with my phone - roaming off as I didn't want any £££ charges for opening an email) and wandered around. Not much there except for a handful of small bars and restaurants which opened later, a large grassy area with a toilet block and the sea. Spent a bit of time paddling in the water and watching the pelicans - lovely and warm and felt great

Modern toilet


Bay with the bio bay inside the green trees


Pelicans and some ferries heading to and from an island (Vieques?)


As time progressed, vans started arriving for the various tour companies that were doing the kayaking tours of the bio-bay. Signed in with my company, "Pure Adventure", paid the $35 or was it $40 dollars and in the end, a good 20-30 people were with them with similar amounts at the other half a dozen companies.
A safety briefing commenced, we were shown the 2 man kayaks and how to use the paddle etc and then kitted out with lifejackets. Keys, cameras etc couldn't be taken as they can fall into the water or get wet and anyway, my camera is lousy at night shots.
We waited for another group to head out before us and then 2 by 2, took our kayaks out onto the water (wearing casual clothing that you don't mind getting wet or a swimsuit if you choose). You have to walk out in a few feet of water so you will get your shoes and shorts soaked straightaway.
Fairly easy paddling to be honest. Once you get in sync with the second person, you can move quite quickly and turning / stopping isn't too hard.
Once we paddled the half a mile across the bay, avoiding moored boats, we entered the mangroves where it became a lot darker. In some places, with the exception of the lights we all had on us / kayaks, you could see nothing much until you hit it so you you had to be careful with low branches. Took a while as we had to keep in single file and on the shout of "tree hugger", grab the trees to let other groups come past in the opposite direction. Eventually we reached the bio-bay and due to picking the right time for the lack of fullness of the moon, it was relatively dark so you could see the water clearly.
Interesting experience moving your hand, paddle or kayak in the water and seeing a blueish glow from the little critters
Great tour guide as well who was very knowledgeable and joked a lot making it a fun experience.
Managed to capsize on the way back as we ended up too close to some trees, pushed ourselves away and went over so got drenched in the 4ft of water.

After that at around 10pm, returned to the shore, dried off and changed in the back of the car and drove back to San Juan. Not sure if there's a better route than what I took out of Fajardo, but following the signs for the ferries (that I never found) takes you back onto the highway. No tolls on the way back and the usual shops and resturants either open or closed.
Stopped off for something to eat at a busy McDonalds before driving on.

Decided to slum it at the airport as I wasn't due to get back from Fajardo until after 11pm. Well, it didn't take that long to do the 55-60 miles on the suprisingly busy excuse for a road. Ended up in San Juan around 11pm so decided to drive around Condado for a bit to see things, but instead of sticking to that area, I saw a sign for a tunnel and decided to see where that went. After that, could I figure out how to get back to the right side of the city. Every road seemed to be a combination of "no entry" signed streets or the few and far between signs always seemed to be heading nowhere near San Juan and in the dark whilst trying to avoid massive potholes, not an easy thing. Even managed to go up a one way street at one point in front of a police car yet he didn't bad an eyelid. Eventually spotted a sign that said "Ave de Diego" and I knew roughly where I was as that was the street my hotel had been on. From then on, easy to know exactly where the airport was, 24hr supermarkets etc. Still surprises me how many people are out and about at 1am - back home it would be dead by 7pm at the very latest.
Had by now around 5 hours to my flight and I was bored, so I headed off to the airport. I found a parking lot next to the car hire lots that allowed 45 minutes parking before they tow you, so I parked there and walked up to deparatures / arrivals.

The airport was fairly lit up and I'm a sure a flight had arrived or departed as I heard jet engines. Inside, a few people were cleaning things and a few people were sleeping on chairs or sitting around. Subway was open and a queue of at least 10 people were waiting on food / drink. Returned to my car and sorted out my things before heading over to return the car around 1:40am. No problems with that and got a lift over to the terminal where I found a power socket and proceeded to watch some tv episodes on my laptop.

Quiet airport at 2am


Nice and peaceful and over the next hour, a few other people arrived and some TSA agents turned up for work. Another food place across from Subway had opened so got myself a coffee from there, played games on my phone for 45 minutes and then went to check-in using the self check-in machines.
Entered the 6 letter code for my booking and it came on on the screen without the LAX-LAS flight so had to go over to the desk and get that sorted out. All boarding passes in my possession and my luggage has been checked through to LAS.
Had about 20 minutes to wait after that before they announced that first class passengers could now board if they wished.

Was about the 4th person into the cabin and general boarding took place after the first class cabin.
Nice seats to be honest. spacious and not uncomfortable. Couldn't seem to recline mine but that didn't make any difference as plenty of leg room.
The table is stored within the central arm rest and there's a small tray that pulls out from between the pair of seats. Channel and volume buttons and the headphone socket are in the window / aisle arm rests. Seatback pocket had the usual safety cards, sick bag and magazines in it.

First Class


A pre-departure drink of orange juice, water or mimosa? was offered and I took an orange juice. Take-off was smooth and some nice views of Puerto Rico as we headed north away from it.

Leaving San Juan / Puerto Rico




Once cruising altitude was reached, hot towels were brought around and these were pretty hot to say the least.
Breakfast options of special K or an omlette were then presented. Having seen photos of the omlette, I really wanted to try this and had been looking forward to it.
The cheese omlet arrived soon after on a plate with home fries (fried potato / peppers/ onion) and also on the tray was a bowl of mixed fruit, kiwi, pineapple and melon. A choice of a biscuit or bagel was offered shortly after that.

Breakfast (had a can of diet Coke as well)


The flight itself was pretty smooth with lovely blue skies and we touched down in Miami on time as far as I know.

Flying over some islands


Florida coastline


Over the Miami area


The next flight was just a short hop to MCO and it was announced by the flight crew that it would take 38 minutes. Most of the time turned out to be the taxiing too and from the runway / gate areas. Had an hour tops to wait for this flight although with priority boarding, probably less than 30 mins.
Refreshment wise, pre-departure orange juice and water were offered as well as a packet of mixed nuts / pretzels / cheese things and another drink. Compared to MIA, MCO was just dead traffic wise - seemed to be loads of wide open areas with no planes and some construction work going on.



There was less than an hour between landing and my next flight from MCO-JFK so I just hung around the gate and made use of the charging stations for mobile phones.

As before, priority boarding commenced and I took my seat in 3J. I had chose seats to try and get the best views based on which flightpath I assumed the plane wold take and another correct choice here.
Pre-departure drinks consisting of orange juice or water were offered on a tray and an orange juice was accepted.
Shortly after take-off when cabin service began in an over half full cabin, hot towels were offered and unlike some airlines where they are lukewarm, these were in fact hot towels.
That was followed by a choice of drinks to go with some warm nuts and I chose a Heineken which went down well whilst watching the coastline, small towns and cities and regional airports out of the window. There are some seriously beautiful bits of countryside over the Carolinas and I need to drive down there one day. Couldn't get my camera out in time to take a picture of one lake with trees / vegetation heavily placed on one side that looked breathtaking.

View of some city - Charleston perhaps? Had no idea where I was although near the Raleigh/Durham area from what a member of the cabin crew told me later



Warm nuts and drink



Lunch choices were offered shortly after that and these consisted of a fajita with salad or a cheeseburger and chips (crisps in the UK). Seeing as I hadn't had a cheeseburger since the day before and I'm not a salad person, I chose the cheeseburger.




Quite tasty in a brown bun and the little bowl contained tomato slices and pickle that you could add to the burger at your discretion rather than having to pick out all the bits you don't like.

Clean toilets at the front of the aircraft as with most US flights.

Shortly before landing, warm cookies were offered and as these are quite popular on AA flights, couldn't refuse as I had to try one.

xenole

JFK-LAX was next on a 767 and this too had around an hour between flights. I spent the time browsing the few luggage and electrical shops near the gates including the seriously overpriced duty free shop - how can they charge around £9 for a 400g Toblerone that you can quite often pick up for less than a quarter of that back in the UK? Then found a power socket and added some charge to my laptop and phone and found yet another airport with no free wi-fi. MCO can provide it so why not JFK, MIA, LAX etc? Cost me $7.95 for whatever time I selected. Only having an hour, didn't get much usage from it bar checking emails and making sure my other flights and hotels were still fine.

Boarding following the usual pattern of First and other priority passengers followed by business etc and cattle class
I had chosen 3J which turned out to be a good choice.

My seat next to the window


Legroom with seat in take-off position (I'm 5ft7)


Cabin shot and the infamous "Captain Kirk" chair


Seat Controls




Fully reclined seat - not flatbed


Playing around with the footrest positions


The cabin had around 10 seats (although I could be wrong) and 2 of them remained unoccupied including the one next to me and this allowed me to use the table for my laptop whilst using my own table solely for dining.
You could see the regulars as they immediately took their shoes off etc.
Quite a few people seemed to be heading to the back and upon glancing back at business class, it looked fairly full and similar to first - not quite sure what the differences are barring a few extra seats.

Was welcomed and offered a glass of champagne or fizzy wine - couldn't identify the brand / bottle in the forward galley whilst seated but tasted fine to me (not exactly able to tell the difference between most wines and champagnes to be honest).

Pre-departure champagne


View from window before taxiing - do like to sit where an engine is visible - must be something to do with making sure it's still there!


Take-off wasn't overly fast due to a few planes in front of us but I had views of Manhattan, Staten Island, the Veranzzo Narrows Bridge etc out of my windows and it looked fantastic - marathon memories as you cross that at the start before heading into Brooklyn.

Manhattan at dusk in the top left hand corner


Marginally better view of Manhattan


Staten Island, the Verazzano Bridge and Brooklyn

xenole

Shortly afterwards hot towels and menus were given out (put mine in the seat pocket to take home later but forgot it) and once we had had time to choose what we wanted, the lead cabin crew member, who had a list and addressed me by name, took my choice of starter and main along with what I wanted to drink.

Menu cover




















Packs of an Archos media system and Bose headphones were offered and after playing with the Archos for a few minutes, decided it sucked bigtime and stuck to my laptop - pretty much the same sort of thing they had on the LCY-JFK flights before they started using iPads.

Archos media player and AA branded Bose headphones


The screens on the wall were showing "Rise Of The Apes" but I would rather see that at home rather than on a small screen. The Bose headphones were pretty good. Unless they were switched on, no sound at all - not sure if this was a fault or they are supposed to do that (which seems stupid if you're at home and don't require noise cancellation).

A short time after that came a ramakin of warm nuts and a drink of red wine (not sure which one).



Soon after that came a small dish of cheese and sundried tomato before a starter of ham with a cantaloupe dip and a basket of bread rolls was offered.



The dishes were cleared away and the main arrived. I had chosen the pasta as I didn't fancy the salmon and since I had had a cheeseburger on my previous flight, a variation in my food intake seemed appropiate.
The pasta was tasty although the cheese a little strong for my liking as part of the dish.



Once that was completed, it was time for desert and a trolley was wheeled around with the option of a cheese plate of sundae. Having read about the sundaes, I already knew that was what I wanted and I had the lot - ice cream, berries, nuts, cream and hot sauce which wasn't that hot. Very nice.



Drinks were constantly on offer throughout the flight.

Landing was smooth and some nice views of that fancy building at LAX that I always though of as the control tower rather than a restuarant from the 60s (blurry photo from later on when heading to T4 along the sidewalk - camera lousy at night and cars / minibuses kept driving in front of me)



The last flight of this itinery was LAX-LAS and was due to depart in about an hour and take around 45 minutes or so.
As with every other AA, priority boarding took place and I took my seat in a near empty first cabin of a 737.



Plenty of legroom once again - sure beats economy


Power socket although too short a flight to really make any use of it


Seat tables (not cleaned as you can still see coffee stains)


A drink and a bag of nuts was offered and that was pretty much it for the cabin crew. They spent most of their time chatting on the jump seats or using Facebook. That said, there wasn't really anything for them to do anyway beyond a safety briefing and a quick drinks service.

xenole

"Welcome To Las Vegas" - busy as ever even at 10:15pm


Landed and after disembarking, made my way to the transit system that takes you to baggage reclaim. Had to wait a little bit until the baggage from my flight started to come out onto the belts. Then waited a bit more and even more until nearly every bit of luggage had been taken. At this point I ws thinking "I bet they've lost my case somewhere" and then my name was called over the tannoy and I was asked to go to the AA baggage office which was luckily a few feet behind me. Went in and said who I was and ws told my case hadn't made the MCO-MIA flight due to the "Why on earth are you doing so many flights in such a strange pattern?" routing. I was then told my case was on a direct flight with another airline and that I could collect it in the morning. Didn't really have a choice in the matter so went off to collect my hire car from Hertz (original plan was to pick up the car, fill the boot / trunk and casino hop all night, or sleep in the car for a couple of hours, before heading out to Hoover Dam etc in the early morning) - no luggage meant I would have to go later.

Decided it would be best to get a hotel for the night so used my laptop with McCarran's free wi-fi to find a Hilton branded hotel (another stay for the ongoing points promotion) and booked the Doubletree on Pollock Drive for around £70 / $110 or so even though it was now after 11pm - probably better value than the 5 minutes that would have last on the slots!
Then made my way to the shuttle bus for the car rental centre using the overhead signs. A few minutes waiting and travelling on that, the bus itself being 3/4 full, and I arrived and headed to the Hertz counter. Usual passport and driving license checks, offer of a convertable for $25 a day extra (too cold at 60C for that) politely refused and then a credit card used for the $220 security deposit (don't think Alamo took anything but Hertz charged my card straightaway). Then upstairs to the parking garage where I found my car with the keys in the ignition, played around a bit and then headed to the exit where the car was checked over and a hand scanner used on the paperwork.
I had opted for a full tank of fuel as I didn't really know where any gas stations were and had also read that sometimes they charge $$$ for gas if the car is returned slightly empty. The gas cost around half as much as it would have in the UK as well
After that, my hotel was easy to find. Straight ahead out of the car centre, first right and then left for a mile or two before turning left (making sure you don't take the sliproad onto the highway which was right next to the hotel's road).
Parked up, checked-in and got another warm Doubletree cookie and went to my room and found my keycard wouldn't work. Back downstairs again and this time it worked after a few attempts.

Room in the AM with bright sunshine and my bottle of Diet Dr Pepper (this stuff is gorgeous and 100x better than in the UK - just couldn't stop drinking it)




Bathroom complete with my wet towel casually placed next to the sink Shower, bath, coffee maker in alcove near door.


Views from the window of the parking lot, highway and mountains - suprisingly little (road) noise compared to some reviews on Tripadvisor




Popped out about 8am and drove up the road to a Circle C or is it K and picked up a couple of toiletries as I needed a shave after a day or two of travelling. Few restaurants and other places along the road even though it's mainly offices.
Then returned to the hotel and caught the free shuttle bus to the airport as I didn't want to try and find where to park there or pay for it. My case was waiting so collected that, rang the hotel and the shuttle bus returned to pick me up. After that, I collected my things and checked out, loading the boot / trunk up for my trip to Hoover Dam.
A quick jump onto the I215 (Las Vegas Beltway) towards Henderson and a leisurely few minutes of driving occurred until I saw Black Mountain, another location from the "Fallout: New Vegas" computer game. Not quite equipped witth large dishes but it still exists and has radio masts.



After looking around a little, I got back onto the I215 which eventually turns into Highway 93/95 as you approach Boulder City. Stopped off the for a snack and some batteries at a large supermarket (plenty of shops, restaurants etc all along the road) and then followed the signs towards Hoover Dam which required remaining on Highway 93.

Boulder City - lots of sparse desert areas with buildings scattered amongst them


I then had a choice of going down a slip road towards the dam or stopping off at a newly constructed bridge used to take traffic away from the dam. I chose the bridge as it had parking and would afford excellent views of the dam.



Nevada on one side of the bridge, Arizona on the other side




Hoover Dam from the bridge


Hoover Dam, car park and visitor centre from bridge


The bridge itself can be walked along up to a point but I'm unsure how far you can actually go on foot. Did see some runners who vanished after it so there must be some route you can take but it's primarily designed as a faster route for traffic away from the dam.

Back to my car and took the slip road to Hoover Dam and made my way to the multi-story car park I had seen earlier. It costs $7 to park there (free if you drive across the dam into Arizona and park about 150m from the dam). Plenty of parking spaces and some nice views.

View of the bridge and cable car type towers used to hoist things across the river


Leaving the car park, which has toilets and an ice cream shop, to your right is a cafe and gift shop and to your left is the visitor centre.

Leaving the car park and walking towards the visitor centre and dam


Got to love the angle they built the pylons!


You don't have to go to the visitor centre to see the dam - that's primarily for some exhibits and entry to the two available tours that are "first come first served".

Entrance to visitor centre


The first of these tours allows entry to the visitor centre and to see the turbines and costs around $11 (usual concessions apply). The more expensive tour at around $30 (no wheelchairs etc due to the rounded tunnels etc) follows the same route but you get to go deeper inside the dam and it worth it if you've never been before - how many times in your life do you get to see a dam?
Went for the $30 tour and after going through airport style metal detectors with items in trays, joined a queue for a short film everyone gets to see regarding the history of the dam. Quite informative if you know nothing about it. THis takes around 15 minutes and depending on when your tour starts (I had 2 hours to wait), you are free to look around and take in the views from the visitor centre's roof.

xenole

Looking down from the roof of the visitor centre


Looks fairly large although not as massive as you might believe!


Colorado River



More precariously placed pylons


Both tours begin around the same time and around 20-22 people plus a tour guide can fit into the elevator that takes you down. The semi-lit, rocky tunnels here are fairly square so easy access for wheelchair users.

Inside the dam


After a short walk, you reach an area where you get to see how they control the flow of water using overflow pipes etc. You then walk back to the elevator and head down to the turbine level

Turbines


This is where the first tour ends and they return to the surface.
If you are doing the longer tour, you then go through another door and take another elevator further down whilst the guide, in my case, a third generation Hoover Dam employee called Scott (and he really knew his stuff), tells you about everything and answers any questions.

The tunnels down here are more rounded so unsuitable for wheelchairs and are more dimly lit. It's quite cool down there although can get very hot during the summer months.

We were taken to a tunnel that led to a ventillation grill on the dam itself and one by one got the opportunity to look out, take pictures etc.

The light at the end of the tunnel


Looking out through the ventilation grill


Looking up through the ventilation grill



Ventilation grill


Stairs leading up but we weren't allowed to climb them Also more leading further down.



The tour takes an hour or so depending on how many questions are asked and is well worth doing. As said, my tour guide was great, knowing everything about the dam, making jokes etc. Fascinatiing seeing how it was built and that the concrete still hasn't set after all these decades (the reason for drilled holes all over the place as they take temperatures to see how much it's cooled down). Also dispelled any myths about people being buried in it as the concrete was poured in a couple of inches at a time so wouldn't have covered up any bodies anyway!

What is this? It's an elevator shaft that you exit from after the longer tour


Looking over the edge of the dam


The ventillation grill I was looking out of earlier


Lake Mead


Arizona! Free car parking next to it.


Dam from Arizona


Overflow


Looks really small from up here


Short, not great quality video of driving across Hoover Dam
http://youtu.be/ToYoNO6wCZE

The following day was to involve driving in the opposite direction towards the Primm (another town in Fallout: New Vegas) and the Californian border.
Had made a hotel change (for promotion reasons although found out afterwards this hotel wasn't included) the night before to the Hampton Tropicana on S. Dean Martin Drive which is just off W Tropicana Ave for something like $133/night. Nice hotel on the corner of a very busy road with a gas station next door and an "In N' Out Burger" across the street (not easy to get to due to the number of roads to cross). Takes about 10-15 minutes to walk to the Exalibur / New York, New York and you have to cross a couple of roads but it's easy enough. Supposed to be a free shuttle at certain times to the Strip and airport.
Plenty of car parking, swimming pool, laundry, gym, overpriced gift shop and free tea, coffee, wi-fi and breakfast - reasons I tend to pick cheaper hotels as I begrudge paying $300 a night just to pay $20 to check emails etc or $20-30 for a bagel and fruit juice. Had a fine view of a wall 2ft away out of my window although you could see the pool by glancing to the right.
Did take some photos but no idea where they are!

aks120

Thanks for this trip report - I am about to do LAS-LAX-MIA-SJU and return next week as a TP run and beach holiday! Nice to see what to expect.

aks120

xenole

Checked out in the morning after doing some washing as I had run out of clean clothes (lots of quarters needed) and hit Highway 15 or is it I15 and headed south towards Jean (well eventually after I headed the wrong way down Tropicana and took a nice long drive around Las Vegas).

Welcome to Jean





There's not much here except for a few houses and trailers scattered through the desert, a gas station and a large hotel and casino which looks older than the average property on The Strip.



I then headed the 7 miles a long Goodsprings Road to, would you believe it, Goodsprings, the town you start off in in Fallout: New Vegas.
Are all these little towns like this out in Nevada? Everywhere I saw seemed to be a few houses and trailers placed on hillsides witha lot of dry and arid ground around them.

Coming into Goodpsrings with the town cemetary on the right and not on top of a hill as in the game


Hill with no cemetary on it


Goodpsrings General Store - similar to the game. You walk in the door and there's a counter and exit to your left, few shelves and a tourist souvenir display cabinet in the middle with fridges at the back. Fairly dark in there. Bought myself a Hershey Bar and drink from the friendly people working and chatting in there.



Then next door to the Pioneer Saloon.



Lovely and warm instead due to a wood burning stove.

Went into the back room first to have a look and it's dedicated to various celebrities that have ventured in over the years. Being in what is fundamentally the middle of nowhere, I hadn't expected it to have such a colourful past but judging by all the pictures, newspaper clippings etc, a lot of people have passed through and quite a few movies had scenes filmed there.




Pool table, arcade machine, cash machine and a few slot / video poker type games near the bar around the corner (blurry as no flash, low light)


Sat down at the bar where the woman who runs the place (don't know her name but I'm sure they based the Fallout character on her by the striking resemblence) was chatting to a few customers who were passing through, with a couple of locals stroking the fire and chilling. Had a couple of light beers as I was driving, use the sparse restroom and read some of the interesting graffiti, watched some bikers come in, chatted a bit and then set off again.
Lovely place steeped with history and well worth visiting as a change from glitzy Las Vegas.

Goodsprings




Snow capped mountains


Vegetation and dry ground


"Banana Yucca"?


Video from top of hill showing surrounding area
http://youtu.be/CMr2i0_Fk7c

After leaving Goodsprings, I drove back along the road to Jean and then back onto the highway towards Primm.
Primm itself is a small town near the California border and in the computer game, has a large hotel with a rollercoaster running around it so I had to go and see this. Whilst it doesn't look exactly the same, there is a hotel / casino with a rollercoaster so fairly accurate. There's a large outlet / shopping mall here, few eateries, another hotel / csino and assorted other things. Didn't venture much further in case I got lost.

Buffalo Bill's Casino and Hotel


Went into the casino and it's completely diffferent from being on The Strip. Rather than it being full of tourists, women looking like they've stepped off a catwalk etc, it's a major hangout for the average American. It was packed and I would say pretty much every machine had someone at it chain smoking and gambling repeatedly. Very difficult to find anywhere to play.
Fairly dark in there even with all the flashing lights, replica mining tracks and carts above you, a few food places and an area where you could go on the rides such as the rollercoaster, log flume etc.

Ride price list


The all-you-can-eat buffet came in at around $20+ and very long queues for that so didn't bother.

Didn't stay too long and drove over to the outlets for a quick look. Went around the back where there was plenty of extra parking and took a couple of photos.

Desert




Not sure what this is but could be the basis for "Helios-1" from Fallout: New Vegas?


After that, I was hungry and it was after lunch so I decided to drive back towards Las Vegas and stop off at the casino in Jean.
The casino isn't that big and not many people were there compared to Primm. Had a look around the hotel and it looked like it hasn't changed that much since the 50/60s what with it's brown wood and mustyness to it.
The buffet here was around $10-12 and at that price, you couldn't really go wrong so I took the chance. They do a breakfast / brunch / lunch menu until the early evening so things like eggs, fried chicken, bacon, lots of tother fried things, home fries etc were available. They will also make omelettes to your liking as well. On top of that, soft drinks (not sure if anything stronger) and free and brought by a waitress, and there are deserts, ice cream, cereals etc in another section.

Sat down in a booth and the waitress asked me what I wanted to drink. A minute later, a Diet Pepsi arrived and I went up to get my first helping from the self-service buffet.

Trying little bits of everything, the majority being fried so not that healthy!


Found what I liked and went back for more - made sure I got my money's worth!