Blogs from North America - page 7749

My alarm went off at 6AM this morning after I had only slept a few hours but I was way too excited to worry about how tired I was because today was the beginning of a massive Trek America tour which travelled the country for 64 nights. I got out of bed, had a shower, got dressed and went down to the lobby to meet the rest of the tour group at 7AM. There were quite a few tours leaving this morning so it was difficult to know who was in my tour group or not. I put my bags down at sat with a small group of people who were already getting to know each other. The first person who spoke to me and introduced himself was a guy called Dave from England, who was ... read more

Our son and I went on a tour of the Rogers Centre stadium - formally known as the Sky Dome. This is the base of both the Toronto Argonauts North American football team and the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team. The stadium can support both sports by moving the seats and changing the artificial surface of the pitch. As well as changing the pitch, the roof can also be opened and closed according to the weather. It’s an amazing stadium. Integrated into the stadium is a hotel, a restaurant and a Hard Rock Café, all with rooms or tables overlooking the pitch. We looking at getting a replica baseball shirt, but at £69 a shot we decided against it. And of course, the price needs to be inflated with the state tax, federal tax and, no ... read more

Although the Rockies were amazing, what got me through the week in the tent was the thought of the following week in Hawaii!!! We got a taxi from our hostel in Calgary at 4am to get our flight to the Island of O'ahu. We were staying in a hostel one street from Waikiki beach and the temperature on this island has never gone below 24c! Bring it on! Went to the beach on our first day and managed to get a little bit burnt - even though I was in the shade - I don't know how I manage it! Then in the evening we watched competitors practice for the tandem surfing competition that was happening all week. They were amazing - lifting the girl up above their head in all sorts of gymnastic moves - ... read more

Saturday, August 25th, 2007. Richford, Vermont. Darrin awoke to find that it was STILL raining, and the river was STILL rising. He set out for the day, and after just a 1/2 mile of difficult upstream paddling, he decided to leave the Missisquoi River to itself. From there, he turned around and paddled right back to his put in. Next he prepped his gear for portaging, added a second layer of duct tape to his feet, and continued, still in the rain, to walk, and walk, for a long time. Before we proceed with the story, let’s discuss duct tape. “Duct tape on his feet…” you ask? Yes, and two layers of it! Experience by many wilderness trippers has demonstrated the efficacy of duct tape as wound therapy. It seems superior to medical tape for both ... read more

I wrote this a week ago while in Mexico City, but I never published it. A whole lot has happened since then...so much! The following night was probably one of the craziest nights of my life. I'm currently settling into my new home in Nanjing, China. I'll write more about that later though because my internet situation is a little screwy right now. It should be better in the next few days. What I can say right now is that I'm very impressed with everything so far and my situation is absolutely amazing. I'll also publish more photos from Mexico and put some from Shanghai too. -------------------------------------------- So, here I am. Lying in bed in one of the biggest cities in the world on the day before moving to China. The anticipation is killing me slowly ... read more