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Published: June 17th 2007
Hazahhhh!
John, Jen, Dean, Sarah, Toni & Kate OK...finally here it is...my final thoughts on the main places we visited in a nutshell....
(it's hard to summarise 7 weeks of fun!!!)
New York City - We LOVED NYC and would totally go back to live there for a few months given the opportunity - failing that we def wanna get back there at some stage as we just didnt have enough time to do everything we wanted.
Connecticut & New Haven - Wow, the whole of New England is just beeeeautiful country and again, probably a place where we could spend more time driving around. Of course...we were lucky enough to be able to spend time at Roo & Joey's place (not nearly enough time) and also Debbie & Andres and they were all such wonderful hosts.
Boston - I think if you're a history buff Boston would be a great place to visit (of course none of us really were hahah which is not to say we didnt enjoy Boston). It was here we got to experience our first movie screening in the US (where we found out people do actually clap at the end of the movies!) and Dean made friends with some local police officers (although they still refused to throw him over the bonnet of the car and pose for a photo). Oh and Little League...we got to watch a little league baseball game ahaha.
Niagara Falls - Even more spectacular than we could have imagined. I think they were smaller than we expected but sooo much prettier and cool. And the Canadian side kicks arse.
Washington DC - Agh ghetto! Probably our least favorite city. The monuments were big and cool but other than that we found no redeeming feautures.
Down South - We had sooo much fun driving down from DC to Orlando, passing through the Carolinas and in to the south MAN those accents were so cool! We couldnt believe it when someone actually said "y'all come back now ya here" hehehe. And boy oh boy is Savannah beautiful.
Orlando - Theme Park Central!!! So we took in Disney, the Space Centre & Sea World and had a blast. I'd really like to get down to Miami next time as we just didnt have enough time.
New Orleans - Man Bourbon Street is SLEAZY. But reflecting back other than that N.O. was a really fun place and we enjoyed taking in the local food - creole, cajun, gumbo, jambalaya and the history of the area.
Texas - Well it was in Texas that I took my little mini trip to Austin while the others drove up to Dallas. I had soooo much fun attending my very first American baby shower and meet a bunch of the BBB girls. And of course up in Dallas we were able to catch up with Dean's brother which was just great.
Elk City - Ok this is one of themost memorable places we went to (maybe for all the wrong reasons???!) lol. I defy all the Americans to find ANYONE who has every visited there hahahah and I dare you all to stop in 😊
Santa Fe - Santa Fe was a really artsy, cool and funky place to hang out and had just a nice feel to it oh and the Adobe buildings were way cool too
The Grand Canyon - Well I think we now qualify as Grand Canyon experts after viewing it from all four rims!!! This thing defies all explanation, the immenseness of it is just mind blowing. I'd have to say my picks for the best rim oh lord it's hard. Ok it depends what you want...South is the best for the immenseness of it, North is the best for cool rock formations and view (and to stay they had awesome cabins) and East is cool just for the Skywalk (poor old West doesnt get a mention!!).
Bryce & Zion National Parks - By now we thought we'd be completely over "nature" and parks but WOW these parks blew our mind. They (Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Monument Valley etc) are all soooo different in what they offer.
Las Vegas - I can't say enough about this place we LOVED it and completely and utterly want to go back for more shows, gambling and just the general atmosphere. Anyone who hasnt seen the dueling pianos at NY NY is missing out! I think everyone else found the weather a little warm but I was in heaven of course!
Yosemite - Again this was beautiful in a different way to all the others!
San Francisco - What a cool city! So easy to get around and so much to do. I could waste days on end just hanging out down at Fisherman's Wharf and of course at Ghirardellli's eating their sundaes!
San Simeon - Beautiful seaside spot....would be nice to go back and enjoy the windy roads when i'm not feeling so car sick!!!
Los Angeles - Well we had a blast at Universal Studios and in Hollywood but really this city isn't set up for tourists....everything is so far away and the public transport sucks compared to other cities we visited.
So there you have it...in a nutshell...of course that was only the main places we visited - we saw so much other stuff along the way (driving is the way to go!) - giant crosses, funny roadside signs, RVs (Arrrr Veees), Harleys, "adult" superstores, you name it we saw it!
Now...in answer to some questions we've been getting:
Q: Would we go back to the US ? A: Yep for sure. We would most definitely go back to NYC and Vegas. As for some of the other spots, well we're not in a huge rush to redo most of it - but it sure would be nice to do a trip where you visited fewer spots and spent more time in each place the second time round.
Q: Are we still friends with John & Jen after spending 5 weeks in a car with them ? A: Surprisingly YES! In fact, we're missing them like crazy. Remarkably we had no run ins whatsoever, I think we all make pretty good travel companions (of course it quickly became apparent to all what manner in which we must be indulged - Sarah needed breakfast and a coffee before conversation, Dean needed an iced coffee and to then whinge about how it didn't taste like Master's back home, Jen needed a sleep in and coffee, and John...well he feels no pain/hunger so whatever).
Q: What was the biggest let down/dissapointment ? A: The Statue of Liberty was WAYYY smaller than we expected which was surprising. Still cool to see and all, but just not as awe inspiring as we expected (the one in Vegas was just as cool!).
Q: Least favorite place ? A: I think everyone by now would know that our answer would be Washington DC!!!
Q: Does tea REALLY come out of the spout ? A: Why yes it does, fancy that
Q: Biggest Surprise ? A: This would probably be a tie between how rude New Yorkers are and by how sleazy New Orleans is. Of course apparently both of these are well known facts by anyone who's been there, it just seemed that no one bothered to pre-warn us! Oh well.
Q: Coolest thing we did that we hadn't planned or didn't know about ? A: The dinosaur tracks near Tuba weren't something we heard about until we saw something on the hotel information. They were really amazing to see. The other thing was the Maparium in Boston that was just something that has to be seen to believed.
Q: Best Meal ? A: Oh gawd, where do I start?!!! I might have to mention a few here. China Town in Boston was great as it was our first chinese with John & Jen since we were in China together. Cracker Barrel in Orlando was good, wholesome, hearty food. Saddle Ranch Chop house at Universal was our biggest meal and crappiest effort.
Q: Best Purchase ? A: Ok well my *favorite* purchase is of course my Tiffany's necklace but the best bargains were my two pairs of Sketcher sneakers!
Q: Anything we wanted to do but didn't get a chance to ? A: Yep heaps. One that comes to mind was going up the Stratosphere Tower in Vegas and giving consideration to doing the rides up there! Another was Six Flags Magic Mountain as it was too bloody far from Hollywood to get to.
Q: Are we moving to England to be closer to John & Jen and Kate ? A: Errr, no (not yet!). Lol no seriously everyone, we have no plans to live in England, those who know me will understand that I am already suffering in the Perth winter (ha what winter I hear you say!) there's no way i'm going to subject myself to living through an English winter.
Q: Do we have our next trip planned already ? A: Nope, we dont even have the destination picked!!! Although Dean is planning on a boys trip to maybe Phuket early next year, and i'll no doubt have a few trips over east. Depending on how long Katie stays in England, we might get over there to vist and do Europe in 18 months to 2 years (in the summer hahaha).
Q: Where in the US would we live if we had the choice ? A: Would totally like to give NYC a go for like 3 months, but I think that's all I could hack given the pace. Texas seemed to have a pretty good feel to it (hrmm but no beach), so maybe San Francisco would be the pick.
Dean's (Final) Details -
One line isn't enough to sum up our holiday
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Judy
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travelblog
Thanks for the great stories Sarah. I really enjoyed reading your travelblog and can only look forward to your next holiday and read on again. It was fantastic. Thanks a million.