Blogs from North America - page 6774

Jack’s Birthday We awoke gradually - surprisingly , Jack last. Once he was reminded that today was his birthday, we spent the next hour opening prezzies and cards and preparing for the day’s adventures. The first obstacle was breakfast: the option chosen was (of course) our final visit to Lori’s diner, where we all decided to go for the ‘tall stack’ (three) buttermilk pancakes that set us up for most of the day. Cable car For the first part of the day, Jack wanted to catch one of the traditional cable cars up and down Powell street to Fisherman’s Wharf (where we were to catch the Alcatraz ferry), so we wandered down to the end of the queue and waited there for around three quarters of an hour whilst cable cars passed to and fro, being ... read more

Twenty six days away from the big move and nothing seems to be any different. Its only natural for me to take each day as if I were never leaving, then quietly slip out the back door and step into Central America. I can't make any big speeches or last testaments and I only see fit to save the goodbyes for close loved ones. The truth is that many of my friends wont know where I am until I am there and they receive an invite to this blog. So right now I am just taking it all in, making sure I fully appreciate South Wales for what it is. Trying to spend time with a few people before I leave. Swimming in the pond as often as possible. At this point I am unsure of ... read more

Friday June 13 2008 Drove to the condo to say our goodbyes to the girls - sad we have had such fun with the kids, Becky and Lisa and the food! Wine was pretty up there as well. John, Mike and I went on 'Mermite' (Johns boat - named by Tayla after mermaids and marmite) over to Halibit Cove lagoon. Stoppped at the trail head for a quick look then fished for salmon, none about. All the locals cant beleive it. Todd arrived in his water taxi and we followed him out of the lagoon. Stoppped and fished off 'righthand beach' - no fish at all. Arrived back at 5pm and drove up the hill, magnificent views over Homer and Kachemak Bay. Caught up with Todd and went to the Salty Dwag to listen to 'Three ... read more

For those of you who have not yet heard, I recently accepted a job with Bottlenotes, an Internet wine company, based in Palo Alto. I will be moving back to San Francisco at the beginning of August. As soon as I received the offer, I immediately looked into places that American miles would take me. Luckily tickets to Lima were available. My best friend from Kellogg, Raquel, is also coming along for the two week trip. Since it is last minute, it was challenging to find some of the domestic flights at reasonable prices so we ended up with three stops on the itinerary: Lima, Arequipa and Cusco, the jumpoff point to visit Machu Picchu. I'll probably only shoot out a few new entries over the next couple weeks, so keep an eye out.... read more

Mexiko Nach unserer Ankunft in Cancun haben wir dieses Tourimoloch gar qnicht erst betreten, sondern sind direkt weiter nach Playa del Carmen, was zwar auch sehr touristisch ist, aber das angenehme Backpackerhostel "La Ruina" bietet. Nach unserem Checkin sind wir sofort zum 25 Meter entfernten Meer und haben die letzten Momente in tuerkiesblauen Wasser mit weissem Sandstrand verbracht. Absolutes Karibikfeeling kam auf und wir genossen die erste Nacht in einer privaten Cabaña. Am Folgetag waren wir nach vorhergegangenen 28 Stunden auf dem Beinen mit einer Zeitverschiebung von 7 Stunden noch nicht wirklich fit die Kueste weiter in den Sueden zu bereisen. Wir besorgten uns eine Zweierhaengematte, da wir unsere von Zuhause nicht mitnehmen wollten, und bezogen den Hammockspace unseres Hostels, wo wir mit einem Strassenmusiker und ein paar anderen Mexikanern baumelten. Den Tag ver... read more