About four weeks ago we started our American adventure, flying in from Fiji to LA. However, due to earthquake predictions in the California region and our recent bad luck with being in a place where natural disasters strike, we decided to fly straight onto Las Vegas from LA on that same day, just to be on the safe side. Luckily nothing happened in California as it turned out. We then met up with our Trek America tour in Vegas rather than LA but still on our start date, so we didn’t miss out on anything.
We were in Las Vegas for 3 nights and we both loved it there. On our first night we walked along the famous strip and saw the spectacular water show outside the Bellagio Hotel. Our second and third days there were spent sight-seeing with our new friends from the tour. Our bus driver Art took us out in the evening in a limo as we saw the welcome to Las Vegas sign, the shopping mall with giant screens on the ceiling and Caesars Palace, where we played some roulette. I won $60 and Kat did well too. Kat and I also went to the Hard Rock Cafe, just a couple of days after going to the one in Fiji! And some of us went to an all-you-can-eat buffet at one of the big hotels too!
The third day of our Trek America tour took the 13 of us to Zion National Park in Utah. Of the 13 people on the trip there were 2 Koreans, 3 Australians and 8 English including me and Kat. And of course our American driver Art. Right from the start we all got on really well together and instantly became really good friends who we thought we’d known for years.
We were camping in the majority of places that we were staying and Zion was our first night in a tent. It had been cold in Vegas in the evenings and in Zion too it was freezing, and it even snowed while we walked up some beautiful rocky hills! In the evening we gathered round the camp fire. Everyone had a job to do around the camp, as we had been divided into groups to do the cooking, washing up and van cleaning on a rota basis.
After Zion we travelled on east to Monument Valley followed the next day by the Grand Canyon. Monument Valley is set in Native Indian country and we spent the night with a small Indian tribe (known as the Navajo’s) in a hogan, with a warm fire in the middle. Several John Wayne films have been set here over the years. We spent 2 days at the Grand Canyon, and on one of them we went on a long walk around the top of it. The views were amazing and so spectacular. We really underestimated just how big it was. We took some beautiful photo’s and had a good day in the sun, which turned into -5C temperatures at night! We also went bowling one evening.
We travelled south to a place near Phoenix in Arizona, which was a cowboy farm. After pitching our tents we went out for a ride on some horses in cactus country, there were thousands of them everywhere. We also met up with some other Trek tour groups here, and we got to know them and the owner of the farm Rusty, who is 84 years old and very funny!
At our next stop was a recovery day as we travelled for 5.5 hours to Lordsburg in New Mexico. We chilled at the campsite which had a pool and laundry facilities where we could catch up on our washing. The next day we had a long drive to Carlsbad still in New Mexico, which was pretty much a deserted town. We went for a walk in some caverns underground. The following day we stopped in Roswell for lunch, which is where aliens are supposed to have been spotted, before continuing on into Texas to Lubbock. It was my groups turn to cook and after we ate we all dressed up as cowboys and cowgirls and went to a rodeo, which was really good fun.
Most of our drives from one place to another were on average about 5.5 hours long, however we also had a few 7- 8 hour drives, which meant that when we arrived into some places we’d set up our tents, cook dinner and be done for the evening. Our drive to San Antonio was 7.5 hours long, and in the evening we went out for our friend Ben’s fake stag do! We spent 2 days in this city which gave us a chance to explore it on our second day and see the Alamo, the site of a famous historic battle which saw Texas lose its independence to Mexico before winning it back 10 years later.
Upon leaving San Antonio we had another 7.5 hour drive to our next stop which was Lafayette in Louisiana. We set our tents up before the rain came down, and caught up with all our laundry whilst enjoying a rarity of watching some TV. We had pizza in the evening before some of us guys played some poker.
The next day we had a short 3 hour drive to the jazz capital of America, New Orleans. We got there at around lunchtime and before we explored the city, we checked into our non-tent accommodation! We stayed in a big house which had been split up into rooms for each pair of guests. Art gave us a small tour of the city and the history behind it. We then split up and explored a bit more of the French Quarter and walked down Burbon Street. In the evening we had dinner at a restaurant before meeting up with the other Trek groups for a few drinks. We spent 2 days in New Orleans and we did some more exploring on the second day, including walking along the Mississippi river.
On the day we left New Orleans, we were woken up by sirens at 6.30am. When we looked outside there was a massive house on fire 3 buildings down across the street. The black smoke rose high in the sky and 8 sets of fire crews were on the scene. Luckily no one was inside as we followed the footage of it on the news. After a few hours they’d got it under control and it was virtually out when we left at 10am.
We drove 6.5 hours directly north going through the state of Mississippi until we reached Memphis in Tennesee. There wasn’t much to do after we’d pitched our tents because the city centre was almost an hour away. So after dinner we played some Corn-Holing and just chilled around camp. Corn Holing is an awesome game where you have to throw corn bags (bean bags) at a wooden target board with the aim of getting it in the hole or on the target area, hard to explain but very enjoyable.
The following morning and before we left Memphis, seven or eight of us went to Graceland to see the home of Elvis Presley! We went on a tour around his house and walked around several of the museums that were there, as well as looking around his two private jets. It was very interesting. From Memphis we travelled north-east to the outskirts of Knoxville. Here we stayed at a small campsite, and after setting up camp we played some more corn holing while others went fishing in the nearby lake. We all had an early night ahead of an early start the next day.
We were all packed up and had left camp by 6am the next day. We continued on east to a place called Staunton, in Virginia, on another 6 hour long drive. When we arrived a few of us relaxed in the hot tubs before dinner and the corn hole championship began. Me and my partner Rachel won our 1st round match but Kat and her partner Ben lost, although Kat did get a record breaking 5 corn holes in one match! She was rather good at it, almost better than me! In the evening we went out for a drink around the small local town.
A relatively short 3 hour drive to Washington DC saw the end of our cross country trip looming. We spent 2 days exploring and sight-seeing around the capital city, although more time is definitely needed. We saw the tall needle monument (forgotten its real name) just as the sun was setting, before walking down to see the WW2 memorial, the Korean war memorial and the famous Abraham Lincoln monument as night time began. Earlier in the day we had also visited the famous Arlington Cemetary, where hundreds of thousands of American soldiers were laid to rest.
The next day we went to the capitol building, the archives museum (where the declaration of independence is held), the Ford theatre (where Abraham Lincoln was shot), the White House and the Holocaust Museum. We also celebrated our last night together before we finished our trip in New York the following day. Later that night, the corn hole championship was completed but unfortunately we got knocked out in the semi’s! Ah well, good fun at least.
The next day saw us drive to New Jersey, just outside New York, where we said our goodbyes to one another before all going our separate ways. Most people were staying in New Jersey, but a few of us ventured into New York by train as that’s where our hotels were. Funnily enough, the next day 6 of us met back up and we went sight-seeing around the ‘Big Apple’!
New York is amazing, and full of life. We took walks through central park, walked around New York and saw the Statue of Liberty, the Rockefeller building and Time Square. The 6 of us went to see a baseball game as the New York Mets played. And Kat and I went to see the Broadway show of ‘Phantom of the Opera’, which was really good. We both had a great time in New York, but 3 days is nowhere near enough in order to see everything that you want to.
We left New York city on Friday 15th April, when we got a bus to Toronto in Canada. The drive was about 10 hours long but we’re used to that now. We spent 6 days in Toronto and had a few walks around the city and did a bit of
shopping in some of the many malls. We found some nice restaurants to eat at and went to the cinema too.
After 6 days in Toronto, we caught another bus south-west to a place called London, which is the town where Kat grew up between the ages of 3 and 9. This is where we are at the moment. We are staying at our friend Joe’s house, who we met on our travels in Thailand. He’s got a really cool and amazing family and he’s been showing us around over the past 5 days. We’ve been to Kat’s old house and primary school, and we went to an Easter Sunday church service at Kat’s old church. We’ve also been to Niagara Falls, which was just amazing. We’ve played some baseball with Joe’s family, been to a drive in cinema, gone shopping in the mall, and have visited a couple of other attractions that Kat did when she was younger. Kat feels right at home here, she loves it.
The weather’s been a bit cold and wet since we left Washington DC, but it looks like its picking up now. We’re still having a really great time on our travels as our time away reaches its end, only 15 days to go. We start our next and last tour on Monday as we travel up to Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa before returning to Toronto for a few days until we fly home.
A special hello to all our friends and family, especially those who have celebrated recent birthdays, and those who are celebrating birthdays in the next few weeks or so. We will send our last newsletter just before our time here in Canada ends.
