Utahkin to me?

Apologies for the lack of photo's today! Im writing this on the bus and dont have the cable to connect my camera!

I went to Salt Lake City for a weekend... and ended up staying almost 2 weeks! This happened for a few reasons. After a pretty terrible bus journey (it took 3 goes to get through the Rocky mountains, making us 15 hours late) I was feeling pretty ill and not looking forward to further trips. So I ended up looking for a cheap flight, which required an extra weeks stay. If we're being honest (and we usually are on this blog) though, I was having too much fun, and staying with great people so I kinda didnt want to leave!

I'm sure you dont want to hear me harp on about that stuff though, so onto the sights! Utah is famous for being home to the Mormons (or LDS Church). I was staying with my dad's friends Dave and Jan, who gave me a fair idea of all sides of the church, and took me to the temple they have in Salt Lake. Its a great place! All the original stuff was built with materials from the mountains overlooking the city. We went inside a room that used to serve as a meeting place, and everything had been painted to look like oak. Except it wasnt! It was really pretty amazing the level of skill that went into it.

My stay here marked the first time Ive ever been to the centre for a major religion. As a rookie, I of course made a mistake, one that the parents are yet to learn of (suprise Mam!). We were having a look around the centre and got talking to some missionaries (who were, naturally, very friendly). After a tour around some of the sights they mentioned it was possible to get a free Book of Mormon sent to my house. I was quite happy for this to happen, and filled out the form. The missionaries then gladly advised me that I could get the book when they sent some missionaries round to my house. Pretty sneaky, no? Having said that, I really dont mind - everyone in the mormon church is so friendly!

I also had the pleasure of attending a Republican caucus meeting. Those guys are pissed! I was quite interested to go along to this though, for a lot of people back home the Republicans get portrayed as the corporate supporting, red-neck based angry peoople. The anger part is definitely true, but otherwise its families standing up for what they genuinely believe in. Im not going to get into politics (as I thought it best not to at the meeting) but it seems to me that nearly everyone wants to do the right thing. I think the challenge is getting everyone to respect others opinions, understand how things work and also to try and understand why leaders make unpopular decisions. Perhaps then there would be less death threats...

Competition Time!

In four days time Ill be touching home. I'm bringing back stuff for various friends on demand, but I also want to give a prize away to one lucky blog reader!

To win, all you need to do is post a comment to this post with an answer to the following question:

Over the course of my trip, how many States have I been to?

Of course, such a prize cant be won without some rules. Here they are:

1. Im only counting entries posted on this blog. Sending me a message on facebook or an email will not count.
2. First person to get the right answer wins, and if no-one gets it spot on the closest answer wins.
3. Im counting states that Ive driven through, but not ones Ive flown over.
4. Entries should be received by at least Thursday. Ill be doing posts on Utah and a Top 5 round up type thing before then, so Ill announce the results when I get back in my final post. Ill count any received by the time I write it, but to be safe get your answer in for Thursday
5. Please put your name in the comment - otherwise I may give the prize to the wrong person by accident!
6. I can make up any other rules I want to.

Also! Please remember that DC is not a state.
Ill announce the prize when I announce the winner.
Good Luck!

Amarillo is a shithole

I was supposed to be going to Austin to see SXSW, however a supreme lack of planning on my part meant there was no-where left to stay! After a quick review of my options I ended up going to Houston. The city has loads to see and do, as long as your not looking to do it on a sunday. As such, it turned into quite a busy time for me, at least after the first day...

Houston is where the Astronauts take their problems. After a while it occured to NASA that if the spacemen insisted on contacting Texas then it would make sense to build a space center there. What they have now is an astronaut training facility, as well as a LOT of cool equipment.


I saw the floatation tank where a replica of the international space station is underwater, I saw the training facility for astronauts, and I saw the rocket that went to the Moon! (At least parts of it - the thing is one GIANT replica, but only some of it is original). The only tinge of sadness on the day is the knowledge that the new space mission to the moon has been cancelled, but this news has not been updated at the centre - they proudly boast of the former future plans.

While in Texas it would seem silly not to go see the Rodeo - especially as it was in season. I wasnt quite prepared for how big a thing it is though. They had a giant cowboy market, featuring livestock, hats and saddles. One thing I wanted while in the US was to get a cowboy hat, but they cost £300!! At least for the ones that dont look silly. So that was one dream left unfulfilled... Onto the main show, though, and things soon picked up with the National Anthem. Now, Im sure your aware that Americans treat their anthem with a lot more respect than we do, but get a load of this: The arena is dark, the central screens show the American flag and a choir start to sing. A woman standing on a galloping horse enters the arena holding a huge American flag. Then... the flag starts to shoot out FIREWORKS. Yes, fireworks - I did say that.

Anything after that was going to seem a bit anti-climactic, and I was starting to feel that you could only see men riding so many angry animals in competition without getting bored when the rodeo pulled out two events that completely transformed my opinion. The first was a calf grab. 22 18 year olds line up while a heard of 11 calves run like crazy. To win, they need to tie up the calf and bring it to the center of the arena. Aside from the comedically overweight contestants chasing after little cows, the highlight was the last calf captured. A girl managed to get hold of the calfs tail - quite a common tactic in this game. The calf, however, was not about to play by the rules. It sprinted off to get the hell away from her. The girl, ready for the challenge stood her ground. Unfortunately she was lacking the weight of the aforementioned contestent, and got dragged around the arena for a full ten minutes on her front. I have nothing short of full respect for this girl, no matter what she was getting dragged through she held on, tiring out the calf before eventually capturing it for the win. A true hero.


As if this event could be topped, they then had a bucking sheep riding contest... for 5 year olds. Little children riding angry sheep until they fall off. the kids took it really seriously too! One of them held on even after falling off and kind of got a hell of a trampling until the sheep ran off. As the rodeo came to a close and Keith Urban came on to sing, I left the arena in tears, actual tears of mirth. Shit country rock cant erase the memory of children riding sheep.

One final note on Houston. As I was leaving the greyhound station Barack Obama came on the news. The guy behind me, who had been asleep until this point started shouting out the most racist abuse Ive heard in my entire life. To a TV. The deep south may have created this aura of a lost sense of nobility and gentility, but it has a long way to go to live up to this.

The 51st State

The great thing about 50 is that it makes such a nice round number. Ever since Hawaii and Alaska joined the United States no other areas have been admitted. Despite this, there is no reason why more cant be added. When the original 13 colonies declared Independence, many people thought the country wouldn't expand beyond the Rocky Mountains - perceptions change over time. While Ive been here Ive been told about different proposals for the 51st State. Some serious, some seriously stupid. Heres a few:

State of Jefferson

I was told about this one from a guy on a bus. He made it out to be a serious thing, but then I found out how untrue that is. Jefferson State would be made up out of Southern Oregon and Northern California. It turns out that any serious effort for this was pretty much wiped out after Pearl Harbour. I was also advised it was the rural peoples way of gaining a bigger say, with the cities claiming most of both States resources. It turns out that the effort was a huge publicity stunt to draw attention to the crap roads they have.

Chances of happening: Null. Ive been on the roads there, they're fine.

District of Columbia

Theres no point in me mentioning that Washington D.C isn't part of a state. You already know that, right? Well, the car licence plates there all bare the slogan 'Taxation without Representation'. It turns out this is not just because of the history of the saying, but because they don't get any senators! 600,000 people live there now, and they don't have the rights of other American citizens.

The problem with this movement is that the Constitution states that the Capitol cant be one of the States. Having spoken to some friends from Carolina it seems much more likely that the government buildings and the mall will be cut off from the rest of the district, and Maryland will take all the remaining land back.

Chances of happening: Slim - though its likely one of the existing states will get larger.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico has been occupied by America for a century. Similarly to DC, Puerto Ricans are full US citizens who have no congressional voting rights. The difference is that they don't pay federal income tax for the most part. Puerto Rico itself is split between fans of statehood and full independence. They've had numerous referendums, each of which fails to gain enough votes to change the current status quo.

Chances of happening: Pretty good! Both the Republicans and the Democrats support Puerto Rico's ability to make its own choice. If enough people vote for it this means that they will most likely be admitted as a State. The decision hangs in the balance...


There are others, but these are a few I found interesting. 50 being a nice number is no reason to refuse new states - they even prepared a flag:



One final note. My travels are drawing to a close, and I'm back in Blighty on the 1st April. This means the end of the blog is nigh! Don't panic though - theres plenty of stuff still to come, including Space Rockets! Republicans! Rodeo's! Racists! Elvis! and a Competition!

Spring Break.

I was lucky enough to get invited over to Florida to indulge in the American tradition of spring break. If your unfamiliar with the concept, all the College students get a week off where we would normally have an Easter holiday. They all pile down to the beach and go a bit mental, in short. The best part is I got invited to Daytona - the home of spring break until the early noughties, when they clamped down on the drinking, drugs and girls taking their tops off. As a result I only saw the drinking part (which is a good thing!). It turned out to be one of the best weeks of the trip.

My first full day there was a daytrip to Disney World. Ive never been to a Disney theme park before, however I think it would be fair to say my expectations were considerably lower than if I'd went 15 years ago. That meant when it turned out to be exactly what I imagined when I was 9, I was thrilled.


The rides themselves weren't faster, bigger or more thrilling than any at, say Alton Towers. What separated the experience and really made it special was the attention to detail on the rides. This is best explained by talking you through the Log Flume. Most log flumes will have a few drops leading up to a big drop, a theme full of funny things to look at, and a bit in the dark. The one here had a full plot, with the dramatic parts accompanied by the drops in the flume. The plot was animated, fully explained and accompanied by maybe 10 drops. After the grand finale, you turn into a cave where you see a full sized steam boat filled with animatronics and lights providing an epilogue. Then another drop. This level of detail was on every ride or event or stall I saw. The staff were friendly, the fireworks were amazing, the place was really magical. Of course if I were to look at it slightly more cynically you do pay for what you get - an entry price is $80 - but this can be countered by pointing out that a days charity volunteer work will get you a free day pass. How many other places offer so much for a few hours helping a good cause?

Much of the time was spend simply enjoying the place. The beaches are lovely, they have sand in one place we went to that doesn't heat up no matter how hot the weather, so you can always walk on it! I also saw a dog beach for the first time. It was insane! Dozens of dogs kind of form into mini packs who play and run around together while the owners enjoy the beach. I was there with the person who I was staying with and their dog, as well as some mutual friends. I mention this only as a way of fitting in how well looked after I was in both the places I stayed through the week. Considering I was a friend of their relatives friend in both cases, I was welcomed like a member of the family. Southern hospitality really does have its charms.

We finished off the week with a big night out in Daytona. Aside from some pretty nasty abuse outside the club from some self congratulating idiots with microphones (I think I'm saving this one up for another post on differences in communication between the countries), the night was an unqualified success. It was my first proper US nightclub experience - Ive mostly been in bars or hostels so far because places can be so expensive. It was great to have so many happy people in a small place enjoying themselves. I didn't see any fighting or throwing up or any of the bad stuff normally associated with a Saturday night in Cav. I don't mean to be self congratulatory over this, I just raise the night out to make a point in a very roundabout way. Back home I think there's a perception that in America people cant handle their drink and its all about chugging and being an idiot. That element does exist, but its no larger than anything you'll see back home. By and large most Americans are just as fun and engaging as anyone else. This is true in pretty much every aspect of life Ive seen here. The stereotype (like all stereotypes) comes from misinformed people who haven't visited the place. The night out just pointed this home to me, despite the differences in how things are run, people are just as good whether in a nightclub or in Disney. Or in my case, outside the nightclub re-enacting a scene from Finding Nemo.

Sin City

Before I start the post Id just like to quickly apologize for the delay. Ive not had much Internet for the last week so Ive mainly been using it to send out messages advising I'm alive and well (which of course, I am). Anyways, this ones been ready for a while, and Ill most likely post another tomorrow to make up for it.

I'm going to make a deal with you - I'm not gonna talk about Vegas like its the most amazing place on earth. I'm also not going to go on like its the end of the earth. There's nowhere like that, and from the bulk of the stuff written about the place its easy to feel one way or the other about it. So what is it then? Well, its one very big tourist resort...


Its really hard to explain the size of the casinos, and the strip. The photo above is from outside one casino - Gondola's outside a casino! They have the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and a giant Coke bottle. they have Cesar's Palace, and Treasure Island. I spent four hours walking along the strip and back taking it all in. Inside the casino's its the same - in the MGM grand they have Lions on display right next to the machines! For me this is the highlight of Vegas - the spectacle. You see I'm not much of a gambler, on my own I get bored really quickly, so it was nice to have so much stuff to look at to keep me entertained. I didn't see any of the problems associated with Las Vegas either, nobody walking around asking for money for a bet or being thrown out by the security guards. My instincts suggest this could be to do with the efficiency of the security rather than the gambling issue itself, but I didn't see any problems. That is, apart from the drinks system. If you go to the bar, its around $7 a beer, whereas if you're gambling and a waitress comes up to you, its free. This can be extremely annoying if a waitress doesn't pass you by. Damn waitresses.


The other Vegas stereotype is weddings. I saw half a dozen newly wedded couples in a day and a half. This may have had something to do with my room view, but its still impressive. The place next to me had Elvis weddings as standard, and theme weddings optional. A place a few minutes up the road had drive in weddings, also by Elvis. The couples varied quite a lot too, from those surrounded by family to those who had clearly met 2 hours earlier. Still, who can blame them? Whats more romantic than getting married over the road from this place:



That's Las Vegas. Glamorous, dangerous, exciting, and above all else tacky.

Down in Mexico

Before heading over to the East coast I was determined to see two more places: Las Vegas (where Im writing this) and Mexico. When I planned out the trip initially I was hoping to spend up to a month in Mexico, and perhaps go see Mexico City. However when I realised Id be going into such a dangerous country (in places) on my own, I realised that would perhaps be better left for another time. Still I wanted to see at least some of the country, so I thought one night couldnt hurt, right? Sure enough there I was on my way back to the US border after a truly great time when I got cornered by a gang and my phone was stolen. Bugger.


Thats not going to dominate the post (I hope), so lets talk about the day before. Mexico is so incredibly cheap. Because of the proximity of the bus station to the city centre it makes the most sense to get off at San Ysidro in California and walk over the border. I stood for about 10 minutes looking confused in San Ysidro, mostly because the sign you need to follow tells you where some cafe is before the country. I knew the Mexican border would be relatively lax, but the sign really set the trend for what would follow. I had by bags searched in a half arsed way. I then turned the corner fully expecting to see passport control only to find a taxi rank. No-one checked my passport. I was illegal in Mexico (oh, the irony).

I found my hotel quickly enough and then set about enjoying my time there. I walked through the market, saw some fun bartering and settled at a bar for a few drinks. The bar was selling beers at 3 for $2.50 - how can you turn that down? I met a crazy barman who came over and asked the same set of questions everyone did in Mexico. 'Hey, you like the Beatles?' 'You like Elton John? ... ... Pch faggot.' Ok, no-one else was so rampantly homophobic, but the Beatles one came up several times. The food was great too - not exactly surprising considering how much I love mexican food but still worth a mention. I really enjoyed the day there, and headed back to my hotel room for the night. Oh! I forgot to mention my room, the windows looked out on the corridor! Brilliant.

So the next morning I headed out for the border. The taxi's are really cheap so I was looking to flag one down when a guy mentioned where there was a taxi rank and then I stupidly followed his directions. Ill not bore you with any of the specifics, but what essentially happened is that I let the panic trying to catch the bus out of there overtake common sense. It sucks that it happened, but then again I had literally all my stuff with me so I think I was lucky to get away with the rest of my stuff, and without being hurt in any way myself. I dont think Im going to let it take over my memory of Mexico, I really had a good time there and I would go again. Just not alone.

Expectations

A friend of mine insists that your enjoyment of a film is based on how good you are expecting it to be as much as how good it actually is. If your expecting a film to be terrible, but it is in fact mediocre, then you're going to enjoy it a lot more than if you were expecting a masterpiece. Quite often good films get a terrible reception purely because the fans are expecting so much more. I mention this, because I feel something similar has happened to me in California. After San Francisco I stayed in LA for 4 days. For every person who told me how great San Francisco was, there was another one (or quite often the same one) who said how horrible Los Angeles was. It was described to me as dirty, grimy and fake. Imagine my surprise when it turned out I loved it.


One perception Ive always had of the city is that its full of failed and failing actors and musicians. It turned out to be completely true! Literally my first meal in the city, I was sitting at some diner eavesdropping on two guys complaining about how the guitarist they looked up to and respected so much consistantly refused to give them lessons. "He's just worried people will steal his licks dude", "Yeah! Its like - he's afraid of some competition. Last time I spoke to him I was saying his stuff was pretty cool, you know, talking to him like Im on his level. When I asked him for lessons he said he was too busy touring! Dude he sucks". They also worried that if they got proper jobs then they would be likely to give up on their dreams. Idiots, yes, but this was exactly the kind of conversation I wanted to find in LA.

I stayed in Hollywood so I got to see the sign everyday. After a few days I decided to try and actually walk up there. Three hours and four wrong directions later, I made it. This was the result:


Dont laugh - its difficult to take these photos by yourself. Hollywood also meant that I got to spend time at a movie studio. Now the Universal studios one is by far the most popular tour. It is also, unfortunately for someone with a budget such as mine, about £30 more than I can pay for a single tour. Also its more of an interactive rollercoaster ride than a movie studio tour. I ended up going to the Paramount studios tour, which is half the price and has the benefits of being an active studio. It was really fun. I got to sit on the bench from Forest Gump. The guide claimed that whenever Tom Hanks is working there, he takes his lunch break on the bench, and speaks in Forests accent to people. I hope its true. I also got to see the cast of Glee, a show which I havent seen but am sure will make people jelous. For the record, I saw the teacher and the kid in the wheelchair (who was not in a wheelchair).

I enjoyed my time in LA thoroughly. The thing is, was it better than San Francisco? Its tough to say. It all comes down to expectations. San Francisco was a great city which I was ecpecting to be amazing. LA was a great city I was expecting to be a shithole. On reflection both cities are fun places with more than enough attractions to keep anyone going. Just make sure you have low expectiations.

San Franpsycho!

Ive been harboring a secret for the last week since I arrived in San Francisco. If I were a better writer Id drop it here at the top of the post and then set about defending myself. Sadly Im not, so your going to be kept in suspense for a few paragraphs. I trust you'll forgive me for playing with your emotions in this way, but it is important for me to realise my limitations.


The thing about this city, is that there is so much to see. The Golden Gate Bridge (above), Chinatown, the twisty street, Golden Gate Park, Alcatraz, Pier 39... So much! Its great to be spoiled for choice like this. For me, the bridge was the highlight of the city. Its a little out of the way, but I went on a nice sunny day, took a long walk over and back, and enjoyed the view. On the one side you can see the Pacific, on the other the city, the bay and Alcatraz. Really stunning, just absolutely georgeous. Pier 39 was also a nice suprise, it has the shrimp shack from Forest Gump, but more importantly it has a left-handed store! I was incredibly tempted to buy the 'Obama is a Lefty' t-shirt.

Aside from the sights, I got an invite to a party at a friends cousins house. The party was located on a normal street, and seemed normal from the outside. Then I went indoors. I had been told about many of the features in the house, but I dont think I could ever have been prepared for such an amazing place:


Sorry the pictures shit, I dont seem to have any better ones - a sign of a good party perhaps? Thats a shot of the periscope next to the bath. The periscope looks out over the roof onto the garden, by the way. The bathroom itself is a giant tiled underwater scene collage type thing. It got pictures of underwater creatures, and actually kind of feels like your underwater in the room. The house has as its centerpiece a staircase coated entirely in pencils. I mean the walls, the ceiling, the banister - everything is made of pencils. The pencils are arranged to form pictures in the wall. Ive never seen anything like it, absolutely crazy, but I loved it! I cant go into every feature in the house, Id be going on forever, but it was great to go there. You know when you see parties in a film, and theres loads of people there and full on entertainment and a level of organization that just doesnt exist when you go to normal parties? I felt like I was at one of those, it had live bands, a DJ and movies. It had everything.

Now its time for the secret (I know - the tension is unbearable). You see, everybody I spoke to about San Francisco has built it up so much. Its been hyped to an extent that cant possibly realised, and for me, it just wasnt that amazing. Dont get me wrong, there is loads to do, and the sights are fantastic, and the city itself is lovely, but I just have a problem with the atmosphere. The city prides itself on its liberal and cultural leanings. Justin Webb, the former BBC North America correspondant described it as essentially a European City. My question is, if the city is so friendly, and cultured, and enlightened, why is there so much poverty there? I swear Ive seen more homeless people In the 6 days I spent there than the entire rest of the trip put together. I spent an entire night on the bus listening to some crazy guy tell me about all the fun he used to have in San Francisco, how it was great for finding a good squat to stay in, and great for getting smashed in the park.

Now the defence I was worrying about earlier. There was a running joke in my hostel that they hated anyone from Portland who stayed there, because they would constantly boast about how great Portland was. Perhaps part of my problem is that I just came from Portland (which is great, by the way). It rained solidly for almost every day I was there, and after 2 months on the move, perhaps Im starting to get a little travel fatigue. All of these are potentially reasons skewing my perception of the city, or mabey not. I would like to visit the place again in better weather, mabey with someone who knows the places to go. I have had a good time in this city, so it could be just a case of expectations...

Breakfast Epiphanies

Ive never been good at breakfast. A bad habit I used to have during my later school years was to get up 5 minutes before the bus left, then get ready and leg it downstairs - which left no time for breakfast. This carried on through University, despite frequently having more time in the morning. When working full time last year I genuinely thought I'd beaten the trend, only to settle for getting a snack on my morning break. Its not good for me, and I know it. Recently though, Ive been getting up every morning for a good full breakfast. It seems that nothing motivates more than the prospect of a free breakfast...

I have noticed a lot of difference in the concept of a breakfast over here. For a start Americans really have no idea what they are missing with proper bacon. What the fuck is streaky bacon? It ruins the taste of bacon for the sake of apprearance. Yes, you can pick it up and eat it with your hands, but its really not in the same league. On the subject of fried breakfasts, why does everything have cheese on top? A sausage and egg roll is perfectly fine on its own, why the cheese? Everywhere here does it, its not even an optional extra!

Im being harsh of course, pancakes are a regular feature of the American breakfast. So are bagels, french toast (glorified eggy bread) and bagels. I actually really enjoy the prominence of these on the breakfast menu, and maple syrup really is amazing. Several places Ive stayed have had 'make your own pancakes' for breakfast, and theres a chain restaurant here called the International House Of Pancakes, or IHOP, which I really wish we had back home.

One other staple breakfast over here is Biscuits and Gravy. Ive been avoiding this like the plague on principle, but was unforturnate enough to see it for the first time a few days ago. I was relieved to find out the biscuits werent digestives, but in fact some kind of scone type construction. Also the gravy really wasnt what I was expecting - it was cream with green bits in it. This faces me with a dilemma. Im of the school of thought that you cant fully criticize something till you have experienced it yourself. Case in point: When the BBC broadcast Jerry Springer: The Opera, very few of the protesters won any respect from me, because most of them had not seen the show. If you start your argument with the phrase 'I havent seen this, but...' then its not an argument, and you are an idiot. This means that for me to criticize biscuits and gravy in the way I want to, Im going to have to try it. If I dont post back within the week just assume its food poisoning.

Triple Whammy: Pacific Northwest

After numerous bus rides, flights, friends, and not a whole lot of sleep, I can finally settle down to tell you all about the lovely States of Oregon and Washington.

Portland is the greenest city in the United States (discounting Chicago, who clearly mis-understood the term). It's also home to Powells city of books: the best if not largest bookstore on the planet. This place was HUGE - and dense too. I found literally every obscure book I could think of, and Harry Potter in latin!


I only spent a couple of nights there, but the atmosphere in Portland combined with the jaw dropping scenery of the drive through southern Oregon (which I didnt take pictures of) really create something special. The West coast is proving to be way more laid back than over in the East.

Getting to see where Frasier lives seemed like a great idea for going to Seattle. I did enjoy the coffee there, but the city turned out to have too much cool stuff for me to define it that way. I started out in the market down by the docks, which has loads of fish, and nice places to eat, but also the worlds first Starbucks. You can tell its different from normal Starbucks cause the symbol is different, and the lady is naked on it.



The space needle is as impressive as it sounds, but for me the great thing were the museums right next to it. I didnt visit the science fiction museum, but the Experience Music Project (AKA the Jimmy Hendrix Museum) was well worth the price. I got to see DMC talk about how the 'Walk this way' track with Aerosmith came about, play Bass guitar, see some Hendrix footage and view a collection of impressive photo's from the last 40 years of music.

The week was rounded off with a trip to Eugene. My good friends Ross and Haley (to whom congratulations go, by the way) were good enough to put me up for a while. Well Haley and her mum did anyways. Eugene is a town with a really large university, which means its a great stopping point for bands to play while touring the West Coast. The vibe here is really relaxed, really friendly, and it was lovely to spend a few days here in the bars and houses of the city.

One final mention goes to the weather. It is SO nice to not have snow.

The Small Talk Blues

Im a miserable fuck who hates talking to people. Perhaps a slight exaggeration, but I have realised over the last year that Im really a lot more happy in my own company than most people. If you're my friend, or a friend of my friend then your fine! Im more than happy to chat about anything and everything. You guys are interesting. You make my life better with your stories and wisdom. If I dont know someone, then I can find the small talk irritating, awkward, and most recently a complete waste of my time. I like speaking to my friends because theyve been filtered out as the best people. Their friends have had a full background check so I can trust them. If Ive just met you, then its complete pot luck.

The reason Im ranting is because of a trend thats started a few weeks ago. Pretty much everyone I spoke to until Chicago was cool - Ive even met some really good friends (and the same applies to some of the people I met in Chicago too). There does seem, however, to have been a rot setting in. People are talking to me despite my best body language doing everything I can to say 'stay the fuck away', and its getting worse.

It started out with a thespian in Chicago. If I have headphones in, or Im reading a book, I would usually take these as signals which other people would use not to speak to me. This guy wasnt following any rules, he was a rebel. Within minutes he was quoting Shakespeare to me. The next evening with my headphones in a guy kept talking to me while I was trying to watch something! Even my best one word, disinterested responses could not put him off.

It was time for drastic action: the double fuck off. I put in my headphones AND started to read. But it hasnt worked.

In the last week Ive had 2 drastic examples of how bad things are getting. I had my headphones in and was playing a game on my iPhone on the bus. The lady next to me leaned over, and waved her hand in front of me to signal the start of conversation. What the fuck? Where I'm staying right now has little curtains on the bed for extra privacy - something that really excited me (not like that...). Last night I had my headphones in, I was reading a book and had the curtains shut. A guy came into the room, poked his head THROUGH the curtains and began talking to me.

Suggestions?

CN Toronto

After a month of travelling, what better do to for a break than go see Canada... and family! My cousin lives out here, and in the spirit of making sure Im not dead yet my mam, auntie and uncle all flew out on the pretext of seeing my cousin on the week I was due to be here. Still, for me it meant one thing: A cheap week!


Toronto is home to the famous CN tower, pictured above. Unfortunately the tower was closed while I was there, but it looks great. At night it even lights up! In terms of culture, Canada really doesnt do much different from the US (sorry Canada - but the phrase America's hat really does seem appropriate). On a few occasions when a waiter was asked what you can get to eat thats 'Canadian food' they looked blank, and said that most of the food is inspired by the UK!

After a couple of days we decided to venture further out... and see Niagara Falls! The falls were really amazing. I didnt realise there were 2 sets of waterfall either. Being on the Canadian side we didnt see the waterfall close to the US side too well, but the Canadian one is bigger (and Ive been told better). The picure below is of me looking out in a heroic pose over the falls.


The biggest suprise when we got to the falls was the fact that right next to it is a big fucking casino. For most of us it was the first experience of a big casino, and we werent about to let that go to waste. I personally spent most of my time on the slot machines, slowly building up a respectable loss. To be honest though, I wasnt expecting to make any money - the fun of the casino is in seeing the flashy lights and hearing pleasant noises. Having said that, one member of the family consistantly refused to leave the casino, and always lied when asked how much they lost. For the sake of privacy I cant tell you who that is sadly, but I can tell you it wasnt me.

On the road

As the title of the blog hints, Im travelling via Greyhound bus. I bought a 2 month explorer pass to give me a free ticket on any bus till the 12th March (which Im assuming was financially a good deal - and refusing to check with any other bus company), this has kinda turned into a double edged sword.

The buses themselves are frequent, easy to reach and get there reasonably quickly - of course when I say reasonably the distance does have to be taken into account. The leg room is ok, and since any given bus will often be half full I normally get two seats to myself. Every now and again if Im lucky I'll get a new bus. These have plug sockets and free wifi, which makes a trip much easier and a lot less stressful.

The one thing I really enjoy is that once in a while the bus driver will be amazing. I cant possibly qualify that statement without talking to you guys about James (not me, and not another James Gray). James was my driver on the way into Chicago, and got everyone off to a good start by making everyone learn his name, and would then complain panto style we wouldn't say it loud enough. What made the journey, though, was a mixture of life advice and personal tales he felt it appropriate to give along the way. A sample: "Dont surround yourself with negative people, that in turn will make you negative. Only stay with positive people and your life will improve". Does anyone else think that bus drivers should be taught to do this more often? I normally can't stand bus drivers, but this guy was amazing!

Before I left I was warned by a few people about some of the characters who get on the Greyhound. This wasnt something I really experienced until I left the east coast. I will admit the people I spoke to have in general got a little crazier (Ive been told on at least 4 occasions of a persons regret at the death of Princess Diana), but Ive met some real fun people on the bus. One lady kept talking out loud about how her ex-husband was boasting to her he was living with her sister, only for her to laugh back that she had made up with said sister, and knew he was lying...

Perhaps the thing I dread most is sleeping on the bus. Im not great at sleeping on transport in general, but Ive averaged 2 hours a night while on buses so far. This is entirely my own fault, as I assumed that this was something I'd get over without any problems. The effects arent too bad though, it just means an early night whenever I get somewhere. Next week I have a 36 hour bus trip featuring 2 nights on the bus, its gonna be great.

In the loop.

The windy city, Chicago, turned out to be not windy at all. The name apparently comes from the peoples love of talking (very true), so it was a nice relief to find somewhere to ball-freezingly cold didnt actually have the added problem of wind.

The Willis tower (really called the Sears tower) used to be the tallest building in the world. Its not the tallest anymore, so how could they expect to attract the same sort of crowds to the top? With SkyDeck.



A see through box on the 103rd floor that hangs out over the street. I was scared, before I worked up the courage to stand on it I had to tap my feet on it, and even then I jumped straight off 2 or 3 times before taking any pictures. Its supposedly designed to hold 2 elephants, but I still saw someone come straight off when they saw a really fat person get on...

One thing Ive really liked about this city is that almost everywhere seems to have a free day of the week you can go along to. Art museums, the aquarium, the science museum and the planetarium all have this. My favourite of the bunch was probably the planetarium - perhaps because Ive never seen one before. The theatre is amazing, you lie down and look up at the ceiling and look at cool stuff. In my case the cool stuff was giant collisions in space, and sundance told me how it all worked. Amazing. I also got see this:



Important note: I didnt see this at the planetarium.

Chicago is also famous for its deep dish pizza. When I say deep dish, I mean it: the thing was 2 inches deep. Between me and my friend we only managed one small pizza between us. 3 Slices and we were done! Ive never felt so ashamed, but the thing was so thick! (and so good...) If you come to Chicago my only suggestion would be to do it in Summer. Theres loads to do at this time of year, but in the Summer theres free movies and music in the various parks on an almost nightly basis. And you'd get to take advantage of Lake Michigan, which is a load of broken ice right now.

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I feel it would be wrong for me to talk about all the good things in Chicago without discussing what I see as the bad, or in this case, the treatment of the river. Im about to turn into an ill informed Al Gore here so stop reading if your not interested.

The Chicago river naturally ran into the lake, however due to the drinking water being polluted by the waste being put into the river by the City, they decided to reverse the flow. Recently there has been some evidence this is not working as everyone thought all year long. For me this isnt a long term solution to the problem. If theres too much waste being created, sending it somewhere else isnt stopping the underlying problem, not to mention the ecological impact.

On St. Patricks day every year the river is dyed green. They originally used Fluorescein, which was banned after being shown to be harmful to the river. The dye now used is claimed to be completely safe, but seriously, how can this be proven? The ingredients they use are secret!

There are now concerns that invasive species such as the silver carp and bighead carp are going to reach the Great Lakes and wipe out the current ecosystem through competition. These were brought in to farms in the 1970's, but escaped into the river after flooding and have been heading north since. At present the solution is an electrified fence in the river that prevents anything from coming upstream, but again what kind of impact will this be having?

I should note that these are all issues that Ive only been made aware of in the last week, and that most of my research come from wikipedia. If Ive got anything wrong here feel free to point it out in the comments and I can amend any mistakes, but all the things Ive just mentioned here to me seem to be incredibly wrong. How can you take any of these measures without thought to the effects?

Stephen!

Its the end of Janurary! Ive been away almost a month now, and things have been going pretty well so far I think - seen loads of cool things and had some excellent adventures. Despite this, theres a few things that are starting to be missed from Blighty*, and I thought Id share them with you:

Greggs
We all know I love pies, sausage rolls and meat/pastry combinations in general. While the food in America has been both varied and tasty, Im still missing the greggs lunch. Theres something about getting Ribena, a pasty and a sandwich (for under a fiver) that always gets me excited, but there just isnt a market for such goodness over here... International Pi day is the 14th March - it may be my only chance to spread the love of REAL pies.

Adam and Joe
After a hard weeks working and a hard nights drinking, there is nothing I loved more on a saturday morning than turning on the radio and listening to the Adam and Joe show. This one may technically not count as the shows on a break for most of the year, but its my list and I get to choose.

From the joy of being awake early enough for the black squadron command right through to Boggins (Im pro btw), the show was actually one of the highlights of my week. Adam and Joe finished up for a while to concentrate on bigger things (Joes co-writing one of the new tintin films), but I love them and I miss them.

The BBC not having adverts
Because BBC America is a commercial, and not a public service, broadcaster, they are allowed to have adverts in the U.S. Now I havent really watched the channel too much but I suspect that wont be a bother, however, My internet homepage is the bbs news site. Its just confusing! I keep seeing things I think are articles only to be offered something at a reasonable price.

The Daily Mail
Ok mabey I dont miss this one, but Im in America - this counts as news here!

* Please note, that my girlfriend, family and friends are CLEARLY more missed than anything on this list, but for some reason dont seem nearly as interesting to write about on a blog read by them.

More than a feeling

Boston is very different to the other cities Ive been to. This became apparent as soon as I arrived and got on the subway system and saw people walking across the tracks where the trains go. It summed up a laid back approach that Id find out through the rest of the week from the subway to the breweries.

Boston has loads of buildings and memorials dedicated to revolutionaries and famous townfolk, however I feel Ive covered the historic side of the city with my last post and instead Im going to talk to you about beer. The Harpoon brewery based in the city offer a free tasting session every Thursday. They do this mostly for publicity because they just started out, and also because they make European style ales instead of American 'beer'. The session was really fun: they were making oyster beer while we were there, talking about different crazy drinks they made and gave away a lot of free samples.


While we're on the subject, Boston also has a famous bar where everybody knows your name. The show used a real bar for the exterior shots, and thats been maintained since the show - unfortunately neither that bar or the 'tribute' bar a few blocks away look like the real bar. Still, it was very exciting to see the corner from the show, if only Cliff was there...

After a few days seeing the city I decided to head out and see the New England countryside. There's loads of small towns in the area, with colourful wooden houses and each of them has a heritage trail showing you the history of the place.


Salem is famous for burning a load of witches a few hundred years ago. Unfortunately Janurary really is not the time to go - most places were closed, and there were massive snowdrifts on the pavement making it really difficuly to walk the streets without annoying traffic. The same thing happened on a daytrip to Gloucester - an old whaling town, except with added rain and me getting lost for a few hours. Im going to brush over the whole 'getting lost' thing (it was pretty funny) and conclude that the countryside up here is beautiful and well worth a visit, but make sure you come in summer.

The Boston Tea Party

One of the iconic moments of the American revolution came after the British Government tried to impose taxes on tea. In protest the people of Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea and dumped it in the harbour, and this became known as the Boston Tea Party. Since I'm in Boston, I thought to myself what better way would there to be celebrate this historic event than, well, having a tea party!!


Unfortunately the Tea party got off to a bad start. When I went to tourist information and asked where the site of the Tea Party was, the information officer replied 'it isnt there any more - it was struck by lightning and destroyed'. Bad omen? No. He was talking about the plaque not the actual site. The picture there was taken where I was assured the dunking of the tea took place, and as you can see, it was a fun-filled, joyous party of tea and happiness. Id also like to point out that unlike the American's Boston Tea Party, mine involved drinking the tea - as you're supposed to.


After the drinking, of course, came the symbolic dunking of the Tea in the old Boston harbour (now a canal). On the left Im displaying the anger of America at the poor taxation polcies of the British. I think an appropriate subtitle would be 'Taxation without representation? I do not think so!'.

After this came the actual putting of the tea into the harbour - Id like to point out here only one teabag, nothing plastic or bad. On the right is the shot of the conclusion of this historic re-enactment of the event.



With the ceremonies over, Im proud to have taken part in my own Boston Tea Party. I feel my version was better for several reasons, which I am now going to list.

1. The tea was drank - why waste good tea?
2. Only one teabag was put in the water, so my party was better for the environment.
3. In my party a British man was celebrating an American event - celebrating the coming together of cultures rather than a seperation.
4. My party has photographic evidence of occuring, the original party doesnt even have a plaque.
5. People were happy at my party, there was no anger at all.
6. My party was much cheaper, and arguably had the same cultural impact, which therefore makes it much more cost-effective.

Commemerative T-shirts are not yet available, but feel free to put in a request.

Out of many tourist attractions, One capital city.

My lonely planet book describes Washington as 'three M's: Monuments, Memorials and Museums, surrounding a fourth, the Mall.' This is exactly what I discovered. In practice this meant busy daytimes trying to see everything (more on that later...) and quiet nighttimes - because outside of the "M's" there really isnt anything to do! Not that it bothered me, I was so tired out from all the walking I was quite happy to sit down and play some serious board game action.

Of the stuff to see some of it is really spectacular. The Washington monument (pictured to the left after an unfortunate drinking session led to me trying to steal it) is a prime example. The whole thing has no frame - its just bricks and gravity holding that thing together. Its also hollow, meaning you can go up inside it, for free, and get an amazing view of Washington. As if that wasnt enough, it was followed up the next day by the Lincoln memorial. The picture really cant do this justice. From the Monument you walk past the reflecting pool up to a massive temple. On the day I was there the pool was frozen over, and featured several attempts to smash the ice in the form of large rocks on top of the ice... When you arrive at the temple you walk up the steps, and inside is the picture here.


Lincoln was a pretty inspiring character, and the memorial for me was the best thing I saw in Washington. The White house, Capitol hill, the Jefferson Memorial and the various war memorials were all impressive but I dont think anything else was quite as special.

Also at the mall are the Smithsonian museums, which as I was constantly reminded inside them are featured in Night at the Museum 2. These are a whole series of buildings, each a museum of some field. Arguably the coolest was the National Air and Space museum, which featured a whole load of Aircraft, Spaceships and science experiments. It even had vacuum frozen food for sale! One small problem I had there was that there is so much to see, by the end of each day I was really knackered from all the walking. This is something Im entirely blaming on the Smithsonian - I only managed to visit 3 of them, out of around 7, and each of them took between 4 and 5 hours to go through.

And then there were the board games... I'd never learned to play risk before I went to Washington, but I leave undefeated.

Hostile Stereotyping

So far I'm in the third hostel of the trip. Despite this Ive already noticed a definite trend of people who always seem to be in hostels. Here are a few examples...

The old guy

For some inexplicable reason (or the recession) there seems to be at least one old guy who is staying at the hostel on a business trip. Although friendly, they have an aversion to noise and a tendency to spew out dodgy advice. Case in point: The guy on the bunk above me in New York. He gave me what seemed like fantastic advice on the first day regarding Ice skating. He told me that there was a large ice rink away from central park that was half the price of the main one and had a much better atmosphere. Now, alarm bells did start ringing when he claimed to have been in charge of the design of the ice rink, but I did at least expect the Ice rink to be there...

On the noise point the same guy did have a (rather hilarious) go at the manager of the hostel for making too much noise one night. The thing that amused me most was that I was in bed and wasn't being disturbed at all. Maybe he had his ear horn in?

The Aussie

Its a well known and proven fact that in any given hostel in any given city in the world there is an Australian backpacker. Despite a tendency to call me a pom these guys are usually good fun - and also love to drink! As yet I'm still waiting to meet one who likes cricket so I can talk about/rub in that we won the ashes (probably a good thing after this this).

Despite blatant prejudice on my part (as seen previously on the blog) having the aussie in the hostel means theres someone who you can instantly get chatting to. Its good to have someone else who finds the traffic lights and the tax system disorienting.

The Lazy Traveller

The lazy traveller is someone who has come from however far away to see the world. Only to spend 90% of their time in the hostel. I get up in the morning, have a nice chat with them and head out for the day. I come in after Ive done whatever for the day and they are sitting at the computer on facebook. I ask them what they did, and they reply 'nothing yet! Just been chilling out a bit'

Now admittedly Ive not met anyone that bad yet, but some people do spend a large amount of time (and days) not seeming to do anything. I appreciate people move at different speeds but it does seem a bit pointless to go all the way across the world just to sleep your way through the trip. There's a girl where I am now (Washington) who I'm pretty sure hasn't seen any of the sites/memorials in 3 days, and that's the reason she's here!

Baltimore, or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the Bunk.

Lets get one thing straight - Baltimore is a wierd city. Ive never been anywhere in my life where you can see strip clubs from city hall (have you?). As you can see from the picture, I also discovered the National Great Blacks in wax museum! Think if Madame Tussards did Civil Rights. It also featured a large section on the slave ships from Africa to America, some of the most disturbing stuff Ive ever seen. Even in wax the sights of force feeding, overcrowding and rape are pretty disturbing, and that section of it proved rather more profound than I was expecting. Still, as the lady at the desk put it: 'Watch out cause theres 4 steps out of the slave ship to Obama' a metaphor? no. But it did provide some joy after the slave ships...

As many people will know, Baltimore was a place I went to mainly because of the Wire. I feel I should show you a little bit before continuing with the days story. To fill you in, the lawyer is working for one of the biggest drug dealers in the city:



I wanted to see some of the places it was filmed, and also get a feel for the city. My trip to the museum was partly because the 'hamsterdam' scenes are shot in the alleyway behind it. I got a few photos of the area, like the one below. It was really cool to see the areas that inspired the show, but at the same time I couldnt help but feel guilty for going in to photo areas as a tourist that people live in. Thats something that Ill need to take on board for future trips I guess.



After I got back I went to the city centre, the city hall and courts are fantastic buildings, and the world trade center is certainly unique (its the worlds tallest pentagonal building). Baltimore definitely has something for everyone.

New York, New York. A hell of a town?

So my time in the Empire state is almost at a close. Ive managed to visit 4 of the 5 boroughs (although Staten Island was visited for approximately 2 minutes before I hopped straight back on the ferry...) with Queens being the only place left unexplored - such a shame.

Being such a big city theres been some brilliant sights, none of them taller than myself. The definitive proof of this is in the picture to the left - see! Despite being shorter than myself, Lady Liberty was a very lovely sight. The island doesnt take long to get to and the crown is open for exploration (if you get there before 3.30PM, which I did not).

Another highlight for the week was the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which is free to get into on fridays after 4pm (top tip). They had an amazing Tim Burton exhibition, which had all the characters from the nightmare before christmas there for you to see, and loads of production and set pieces from various films, including Batmans mask. Unfortunately that section banned cameras, so Im going to put up a picture from the other highlight of the museum - some Picasso! Cubism is a type of art I can actually get, so I got really excited at all the crazy pictures, but this was my favourite.

Ive been staying in Harlem (as previously mentioned). The area has a bad rep for obvious reasons, but right now its going through a lot of regeneration, and Ive felt really at home here. The people in general have been really friendly, and on occasion have even stopped to help me if Ive been looking particularly lost. One thing Ive really enjoyed when at stores or out and about is that if you say 'thank you' people just say 'your welcome'. Seems obvious but in Britain if you say that to someone you can guarentee they'll say the exact same thing back to you.

One more area Ive really enjoyed is Central Park. I only made it there today for the first time, but its HUGE. It has a lake, a 'woods' area, baseball fields, an Ice skating rink, a boathouse, a giant obelisk, and loads of little paths. I think if I come here in the summer it could be the place of choice for hanging out!

Culture Shock!

Before I came to America I was given numerous warnings about things that are done differently over here. Most of these have still come as a surprise though - if only because the differences are so subtle! Here's a few things Ive been struggling with.

Taxes

Each state is allowed to add a sales tax whilst your are at the counter. Although it varies between states it can be up to 15% - which I'm currently experiencing. Because this gets added on at the counter it means that you always pay more than the listed price. I was aware of this before I came over but I do keep getting caught out by it.

To me the system seems ripe for abuse. Ive spotted some shops that reserve the right to raise the price listed at their discretion. One of these tried to charge a guy from the hostel $180 for a $40 controller for the Wii here! It all means you have to be a little more careful while about, especially when combined with...

Tipping

Its well known that American waiting staff get paid below minimum wage. The tipping culture here makes up for that. Ive been told that tipping 'is like the grade system', 15% is a C, and so you never tip below that, but a good meal can be up to 30% of the bill or more. Im not complaining about this, I think its great that society has adopted a method of supporting underpaid workers, but it still confuses the hell out of me. Which food venues do I tip? McDonalds? Street Vendors? Cafes? I havent a clue..

Also when combined with taxes it means you end up paying a lot more for food that you initially think, which is tricky to budget for.

Jay Walking

Back home crossing the road is easy. You cross when you can and if you get hit you go to hospital. However in some states Jay walking is an offence. Sadly no-one can tell me which states have done this. It means whilst walking with people they will gladly cross the road through a red light then laugh at me standing there for the green man.

Ive been assured that only bored traffic cops would dare arrest someone for Jay walking. But that means it does still happen, and so until Im home Im refusing to cross the road on a red light.

Theres a magical place...

See that poorly taken photo? Thats inside Toys'R'Us in Time Square. Yes thats right - there is a ferris wheel INSIDE THE BUILDING!

Im settling in quite well here. My hostel is in Harlem, which is a really cool neighbourhood - the people on the street are helpful and friendly, theres loads of convenience stores and some brilliant murals on the sides of buildings. The hostel itself is small but clean, and the atmosphere is really friendly, everyone talks and gets along really well. Im also getting used to the time zone issues, which means Im not waking up at 5 in the morning. Hurray!

Yesterday being the first day I thought Id do something really iconic and positive, so I went to see the statue of liberty. Except the tickets were sold out for the day. So I took it as a sign and instead visited ground zero. No good pictures to display Im afraid as my camera wasnt set up at the time, but aside from a mural and a long stretch of a walkway from which to view the construction site there isnt a lot there. I guess the city is moving on now which can only be a good thing, and the signs indicated theres some kind of permanent memorial in the works too.

After that I went to time square as mentioned above. It was epic. The lights were everywhere. The most impressive thing was the scale/complexity of some adverts though, from the huge picture of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter to the full video preview of the new series of 24 ('New York is about to get Jacked'). Its on a scale Ive never seen or even thought of before, which is exactly what I wanted.

Anyways Im going to leave you and try again down for the statue, but before I go I need to tell you of an australian girl at the hostel. Last night she came over to me and said "I know your a Pom but arent the yanks loud arseholes?'. Everytime she talks I think of this moment:

Transatlantic Dreams

There's a recurring dream Ive had mabey three times in the last year, if three counts as recurring. In each of these Ive been on a flight across the atlantic only for the plane to split and for me to see the plane falling slowly slowly to the ground. I mention this because it came back 2 weeks ago - just as I was working out what to do in my trip...

As can be deduced from me writing this, the trip was fine (although it did feature a bizzare transit train under the tarmac where you board the plane). I was hoping to get this blog started before I left as well, but weather and car accidents (minor) and a general lack of organisation did the trick, but here we are!

Over the next 87 days im going to use this to put up photo's, tell any stories, share thoughts and let everyone know Im doing ok! Please feel free to leave comments of support/abuse as neccessary, right now though the Time Delay is catching up and Im going to bed...


One Final Thing.

Ive been asked by a few people to put up a list of where Im going. This list is subject to change but so far I have New York, Baltimore, Washington, Boston, Toronto, Chigago, Utah, Portland, Seattle, Vegas, San Diago, San Francisco, LA, an unplanned venture to Mexico and finally Austin. After that its time for the flight back home. Hopefully without mid flight engine failure.