Safe and Sound, but knackered Hey ya'll, Just a quick note to let you all know I made it here in one piece, we had a few dramas, we got delayed out of Melbourne for an hour or two, then in LA we had like a 3 hour delay, it was spent mainly sleeping, leading us to nearly miss our connection to San Francisco....luckily we woke up at just the right time. It was a good last nite in town, hit a few parties, saw most everyone i needed to, and sorry to those I couldn't. We tucked into some [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday I spent the day visiting pretty much the same areas I visited the day before but armed with a camera and a nifty little divice which means my memory card can be put into USB hubs. [View Full Entry]

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This is the end of the first full day in San Francisco. Despite a heavy dose of jetlag i've really enjoyed it. Yesterday was taken up for the most part with sleep and searching for accomodation. I'm staying for three nights in the Pacific Tradewinds hostel, a great little place just off Chinatown, at the top end of my budget it still only comes in at $24 a night. The whole run up to this journey has been a disaster with problems compounding problems at nearly every point, the biggest of which was losing my passport, and the latest was losing [View Full Entry]

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Today I left San Francisco and jumped on the Green Tortoise bus. Jen Nelson and Eoin dropped me off. I knew I was in trouble when a group of rowdy Irish men arrived. I just can't get away from them :) We started off by meeting everyone on the trip and picking buddies. I quickly realized I was one of only 3 Americans and one of 6 people over the age of 21, which made for quite an interesting ride. There were about 22 people on the trip all together. We spent the first night traveling through the night. We first [View Full Entry]

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Both us (real) and you (cyber) have stopped travelling east and now are back on the West Coast and beginning the trip home. In summary since the last blog we've finished with NY, done Boston and started on San Francisco, so we have a lot to catch you up on. Over the last days in NY we spent time with Trisha and Len at their small but lovely apartment with its great roofgarden near Central Park. Trisha, Col and I spent the last day in Queens at Noguchi's sculpture garden and gallery before we loaded our gear and went by subway [View Full Entry]

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San francisco is 1 of my favorite places in the US. I had gone to SF for a weekend with my parents, for none of us had really been there before. (except for my dad, who had passed through many years ago when he was a teenager) it is so BEAUTIFUL. Not all the cities in the world have a great combination of being urban but yet so close to great nature. There are several beautiful beaches in and around the SF area, some with great views of the city and the golden gate bridge. also just north of the city [View Full Entry]

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Day 3 couldn't get out bed this morning...legs hurt like a mo fo Hot shower helped so on with the day.... Hit China town looking for bargains but it was all same old crap..shop after shop. Dragged Karl round all the shops anyway. More walking through Castro and up the STEEPEST hills ever. Found a great park called Buena Vista. Really steep climb up to the top. Well worth it despite my bitchin' Top of park had a little oasis with dog walkers,yoga folk,hippies,lovers and bums were all gathered. Gorgeous views... Down other side to the hippy HAIGHT street. You can [View Full Entry]

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Well, it has started, regardless if I am fully ready for this adventure. Flying today has been smooth if anything, but all it takes is a few layovers spanning a couple hours to make you sick of flying. I was lucky enough to switch seats so that I could sit with Jon on the flight from Chicago to San Francisco. We have actually met a Mongolian college student who lives in Ulaan Baator, but goes to college in Wisconsin. Quite a commute, eh? She is going to be on our flight to Beijing. It is pretty interesting that since San Francisco [View Full Entry]

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Day 2 Karl was nearly molested at breakfast.Guy there tool a liking to him !!! Wouldn't have been so bad but man that guys wasn't even cute. Lots and lots walking today. close to 7 miles I would guess along Embarcardo, golden gate bridge, through Presido,fort point where we broke down and caught a bus to Bakers beach. really pretty but no food or bar !! Onto Ocean beach and yeh...the 'beach Chalet'. The perfect rest stop. Microbrew pub and food, with a view of the sea. Laid out on Ocean beach afterwards. Coulda easily fallen aslepp but didn't through fears [View Full Entry]

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Booked a trip through Travelocity. Man, their last minute deals were pretty good. Was set to spend the holiday weekend in Dallas until I found this. Flights to San Fran were $300...this was flight and hotel for $400/ Of course...no knowing what the state of the hotel will be....... Got to S. F. airport with no drama and as taxis are not cheap took the Bart down town. Very easy to use now they link directly to the airport. ($5 whereas taxi woulda been $40) Wasn't too sure where to get off as we didn't know where hotel was so just [View Full Entry]

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