back in the USA

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And yes it is to be sung just as Springsteen would have it, as we heard that song a billion times in the lead up to Independence Day!!

Also i mist apologise for the lack of blog, we have internet access issues, and there probably won't be any photos in this one for a similar reason...

So from Niagara we ventured down to Pennsilavnia to the land of chocolate, Hershey. This also just happens to be Amish country too... But we started off with Hersehey's Chocolate World to tryand figure out what was so great about their chocolate. Well, i don't know if we found that out, but their tour was loads of fun!!! Completely free and you ride in a little cart thing that takes you around and the cows teach you about how they make chocolate etc. It was very cute, and i hate to say it but beat the pants off the Cadbury tour!

We wandered around a bit, introduced mum to Smores... trust me that was entertaining!

From there we went for what we thought would be a quick drive through Amish Country but not even half way through we had been driving for almost 2 hours and so we stopped for dinner and went back to the hotel.

The next day we were driving to Washington DC, and decided to finish off our drive from the night before along the way. They have some interesting places!!! We stopped in Intercourse, went through Paradise and paused in Coatesville. Yes we had to go half way around the world, but we found a Coatesville!!! And trust me the jokes were a plenty on that drive!

When we finally made it through Washington's 24/7 peak hour traffic we had a short look around, but mostly just rested.

The next day (Friday) was Independence Day, so we trekked on down to Constitution Ave to see the parade. We got there an hour and a half early as we were told 3 different times, but it was just as well we were early as the footpaths were packed! We had front row seats woohoo! The parade was good but very very long! It went for 3 hours!!! I think we saw every school marching band in existence, plus representatives of migrants from any nation you can think of and so many red white and blue inflatabile things, including a garfield! It was lots of fun though and we had a great time.

We heard there was some stuff on down at The National Mall, so we went to check that out and found out it was a Smitionian fair thingy...i don't really know who they are but they have boring fairs! We headed off to see the Wasington Monument and yep, it is a big pointy thing... hehe

We then headed to Abe Lincoln memorial, but first stopped by their pool of rememberence and had the shock of our lives... everyone was sitting on the edges of the war memorial pool WITH THEIR FEET IN IT! we couldn't believe it... especially as i got kicked out of the Aussie War Memorial for squealing when someone scared me (i was in year 6) and that was deemed not appropriate! Anyway, we continued down to Abe's memorial, and he did well.... it is so much more impressive than Washington's and has a massive statue of him and some very interesting speeches he made over the years. The place was packed as there was going to be a concert later that night.

We walked back to the hotel via the White House, and apparently the pics you often see are the back! Got through the compulsory protestors found outside government buildings and made it back to the hotel just before it started to rain. We kept an eye on the rain to see if it would clear up for the Fireworks, but it wasn't looking good. Then mum had an awesome brain wave... that we would be able to see them from the balcony on the roof next to the indoor pool... that way if it rained we could run inside and still see them! Great plan mum! We had perfect views of the fireworks, only had 4 families with us up there, had comfy seats and were back in our hotel rooms 5 mins after they finished! The fireworks were pretty good, but i think the roof top viewing made them better!

On Sat we headed to Union Station and put our names down for a ride on the duck. We couldn't get on until 2pm so went for a walk around the Capital (where Congress is) and got photos from every angle possible. When we finally finished we headed back for our duck ride. It was good actually... started off with a drive around town and then we drove into the water, which was the most surreal experience ever! we putted around the river a while, past the Pentagon and then resurfaced again to head back. The trip was filled with plenty of bad jokes that would have entertained Dad and GD well hehehe... we also got duck bills that make a duck noise and so everything on the way back from the river got quacked, including a wedding party hehehe it was lots of fun.

We walked back and tried to visit the FBI, but since September 11 they have cancelled their free tours... We had an earlystart the next dayso we called it a night...

On Sunday we flew to Vegas! This place is amazing! There are so many lights, so many things to see that you just can't see it all at once! We settled in and did a quick visit to the shops next to us. We also ate the largest stuffed potato known to man.

We had booked ourselves on a Grand Canyon tour for Monday, which had an early start, so had an early night Sunday.

The Grand Canyon tour was great! We went with a company called Pink Jeep tours, but the car we got wasn't pink or a jeep :s There was only 6 of us on the tour which was good, it was alot more personal and not a smelly bus hehe

We drove through Hoover Dam and out past the Joshua Tree Reserve to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. We headed to eagle Rock first, which is where the Skywalk is. mum and i went on it, was pretty cool looking through the glass straight down... and really not very scary at all... mum was even dancing her way around! We then headed to a place i can't pronounce let alone spell, but it started with a G. From there we had an amazing view of the West Rim of the Canyon and the Colorado River at the bottom. We walked all over, climbing up anything we could, including some old piece of machinery and a rocky mountain to give us an incredible view that i can't describe other than wow... The climbing of course wasn't without it's injuries... mum got attacked by one of the cacti plants and now has some pretty nasty stab wounds in her leg, but she carried on to the top!

We also stopped here for some lunch, which was well earnt after our climbing adventures!!! Afterwards we headed back to hoover Dam via Dolan Springs which is really just desert, not springs.... Along the way we saw wild sheep in a playground and some wild horses on the side of the road grazing which impressed us all. After a quick photo opportunity at Hoover Dam, we headed back to the ool air conditioning of our hotels and patted ourselves on the back for surviving the 48 degree temperature without being burnt. That night mum and i watched the cheesy show on at our hotel called the Sirens of TI, laughed at it and walked down to watch a couple of the Bellagio water shows. The shows are amazing, the water actually dances! they do a different song each show too so you could watch them over and over and not see the same thing twice which is good.

On Tuesday mum got up early and stood in line for tickets to see the Blue Man Group for Tuesday evening. After succeeding in her mission, we then hoppen on the Duece bus which runs up and down the strip. We headed up towards the older end of the Strip near Fremont Street and the Wedding Chapels as mum hadn't seen it... then headed back to the Stratosphere. We ummed and ahhed about going up and agreed it would be better at night anyway, so continued down to Circus Circus. This is a great casino/hotel for kids... of any age 😊 They have circus acts (no animals) on all day for free as well as carnival games and lots of different rides including a rollercoaster i was eyeing off, but decided against. Mum had a go at putting balls onto coloured cups and lost, and i had a go at something similar to the clowns and lost. We both had a go on the fishing game and i won a dolphin toy and mum after much protesting that she should have won a dolphin too, won a dice toy instead.... she can now hang it in her car and be fully sick moite!!

After much fun and frivolity, we decided to go play somewhere else.... the Shopping outlets! They were huge with so many different things. I danced around Hot Topic wishing i could buy one of everything, but alas i was unable to. After spending much too much time down there we realised we should be heading back so we could get ready for the Blue Man Group.

Who were amazing. I laughed so much... they are extremely talented with their acting, comedy and music. They do an interactive show, so we all got to wrap ourselves up in crepe paper at the beginning just to get us in the mood... later we ended up with a river of crepe paper coming over us..... so much fun being all tangled up in that. We also learnt the all important "rock" moves... but are still working on the foot behind the head one hehehe. We had so much fun, and then afterwards they were hanging around for photos etc, so of course i had a photo with a blue man and then one with the band. They were all really lovely and chatted a little, and i got myself covered in paint as a result hehehe

so all jumpy and teenage i headed back with crepe paper still wrapped around my head and mum wondering why she was still standing next to me hehehe

Wednesday we went to explore the South end of the Strip, starting at Excalibur. It is cool on the outside, but a bit disappointing inside.... for starters they couldn't get their theme right at all!!! We found Robin Hood and viking references when it was meant to be King Arthur and co. So we headed pretty quickly over to MGM Grand.... and yes it is... The place is huge. Mum wanted to see the lions so we hung out there a bit, and then wandered around.... then it was time for New York New York. I had been looking forward to going on the rollercoaster on top of New York New York since i heard about it! And i did. It was great!!!! Beats any rollercoaster i have been on... there are loops and steep drops and corkscrews and inversions and all sorts of fun.... my photo on it was one with a massive grin on my face, i was having so much fun!! We wandered around there a bit and then across to Coke World which was disappointing, then back to the hotel for a rest and some lunch.

That evening we headed up to Fremont Street to see it all lit up. It is a weird place let me assure you! Also don't bother with 99c magaruitas.... there is a reason they are so cheap!! But they fit in with the rest of the area i guess.... cheap and nasty.... but the lights were cool and we got the photos that we wanted and headed off to Paris. Paris was also a bit weird, so after a quick walk around we headed over to watch the Bellagio fountains and with eyes dropping out of our heads, walked back to the hotel for the night.

This morning we had a lazy start to the day which was nice... Went down to Bellagio briefly for some shopping and then got ourselves lost in Ceaser's Palace. When we finally made it out it was lunch time and we overdosed on food... after resting our bellies we went back over to the shops next door to us for some last minute purchases and have now come back to the hotel to pack. We have had a great time here. It is sad to be leaving, but i don't know what i would do tomorrow if we were still here hehehe.... but Vegas is a party town and i am sure i would find something!

So we head off tomorrow to the lovely Waikiki Beach in Honolulu for the final stratch of the holiday. Hopefully i will have internet access so i will fill you in on our Hawaiian adventures before we come home.

See you all soon!!!

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