Classic pix: Yosemite and San Francisco, Sept 2002

More pictures from before this blog got started. Back in 2002 we were in the final period of my Cable & Wireless assignment in North America. The Internet sector was in a state of collapse - the bubble had burst - and companies were going bust all over. In six months time, we'd be back in the UK. Meanwhile we continued to take time out to sight-see  ...

The giant redwood makes tree-hugging difficult!

I have been trying to persuade Clare to vote in the upcoming election (May 7th, 2015) but she is convinced, along with notorious self-publicist Russell Brand, that politicians as a group are corrupt and should not be supported. If she did deign to cast her ballot, the picture above gives you a hint as to whom she might favour.

The author fronting a view of Yosemite valley

Yosemite is quite high - where we were was around 5,000 feet - and I was surprised to experience mild effects of altitude sickness: headaches and a nosebleed. Nothing that aspirin couldn't fix, but still. Clare, by contrast, had no problems at all.

Clare viewing Half Dome from Glacier Point - what a view!

You don't get scenery like this in the UK, for sure.

Solitary confinement in Alcatraz

Today Alcatraz is a museum. You take a boat from San Francisco harbour and chug out to the island. Then they leave you to the tender mercies of the tour guides. This was the first time we had visited a prison and Clare is plainly spooked.

A fright at San Francisco natural history museum

Genetic engineering in California is advanced, but not that advanced. These scary monsters are either static or animatronic. Seems to have spooked Clare, though. San Francisco was a bit of an emotional roller-coaster!

Miami, November 2002; New York, July 2002

Andy Murray has now left America after his nightmare third set in the Miami Masters final. No doubt he has other things on his mind right now, but hey, we were in Miami too!

Once upon a time.

Clare on South Beach, Miami

The author: fatter, more pensive and with less shades of grey

Our Everglades hotel room

I was working for Cable & Wireless in Reston, Virginia at the time. We took the opportunity of that 18 month assignment to check out Florida, San Francisco and Yosemite, New York (below) and  a trip down Route 66 to Skyline Drive in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Clare on Wall Street with 'the Bull'

The Statue of Liberty

"I'll take Manhattan"

We also took in Times Square and the Broadway Theater production of "Proof".