Rambling roadtrippers

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ehllo hello hello
has it been a month , bloody hell, anyhow we're doing well on our road trip accross the USA, but can't believe it - we've just got 3 weeks and 6 days left...how shocking!
so where have we been...this is gonna be a whistle stop account, i'v already forgotten loads and am trying not to ramble so .........after our white water rafting and involuntery swimming experienceS we headed for Quebec. From the stone walled citadel (a fortress), we viewed the green roof tops, french architecture, sampled the french food, and attitude which was fine mostly! the crepes were yummy and the old city really is beautiful. from Quebec to the border, where paul almost funny story, you're not supposed to bring certain fruits across, so being the organised ones we had just purchased some delicious fruits for the journey, and we never eat much so I was determined to keep 'em! so in our traffic line, i out them nicely hidden from view in the corner. when we crossed, had our passports examined etc, we were asked if we had anything to declare, and low and behold - Paul had, imagine my surprise! "we have fruit....Grace gimme the fruit" .. so the mounty guy asked what kind of fruit and Paul gave him the whole dam bag " apples oranges and bannans" with the wide eyes and worried expression I thougt he was gonna offer himself up to be strip searched incase he may have a grape in his pocket. so the polite officer explained that only.. I repeat only.. citrus fruits are not allowed and he would have to take our oranges. at this point I thought, at least we have somthing left when Paul promptly jumped in, fired the whole bag at the guy and said " take them all take them all!!!" i'm not even sure if the montys carry guns, but the uniform was enough for Paul. at this point both the mounty and I were almost laughing and he said "you can have your apples and bannans sir"- then paul started giving him the oranges one by one we had 5 or 6 which he was strugglig to hold, and in a moment of anxiety shouted "No Grace!.give him the bag " and promptly grabed the bag and tossed the remaining fruit on my lap and handed yer man the bag, then realising his hands were full took back both and put the oranges in the bag and the officer was oh so thankful.. not!. and i was left with a bitter taste in my mouth which was not, unfortunatly, from our bloody oranges. so it was really the funniest moment in the last 2 months, had i any doubts - which i hadn't, that I'm traveling with the most law abiding and legal citizen yet (and i though staying under the speed limit was a little sever at times)- his mammy would be proud.
so i was attempting not to ramble and have failed at the first hurdle, and the story is really much funnier than it reads.
so on from the boarder to hailstone storms and wind and rain we managed to get to Poughkipsi (like the wee guy in Ally MacBeal says) rest up and on to Long Island NY to paul's bro Dave. we had fab comfort, got well fed - not fast food, and a bathroom that we didnt have to share with 150 others that live in tents. Twas great. we relaxed, followed them round during their days work, met all the horses and we were luck enough to be there for 2 impressive winners, of which Im sure they'll have many more, and had great fun playing with 14 month old Lili - she had red hair, so that means a cute baby in my book. we spent a night in the city in a teeny tiny room in Greenwich village, we saw the sights - on numerous occasions because we got a hop on, hop off tour ticket which basically allowed us to have a bus route - the only disadvantage being- we had to listen to differnt tour guides trying to be funny for tips. needless to say, we weren't laughing so hard after the fifth time. time square was al aglow, buzzing with bright locals, tourists, buskers, comedians, tour guides - just so mant things which needed attention. the city of high rises where the sun struggles to find a corner to get around or a gap in the architecture to beam on a patch of road. the atmosphere is very pleasent, the odd tree popping up on the pavement makes it all so much more inviting. my highlight was broadway, our discounted tickets landed us in the 5th row from the stage where 'Hairspray' was a laugh a minute, extravagant multicoloured performance! seriously uplifiting, a remedy for those people which are negative, sad or feeling low.
so now Im taking to long.. NY was fab, the city, homely house and horses were a great combo - which supersized our enjoyment. from there to Kentucky. on the way i managed to develop some lovely allergy which envolved having cold multiple showers, swelling up like a red hot air ballon (on fire), itching like a lice infcted cat, trips to the Dr. and chemist i managed to return from looking like a red Umpalumpa (just a bit taller) to normal and all in good time for the drinking in KY. the wedding was great criac. we eat, drank and were merry. it was lovely to be in KY again. we even toured the horse park, and went on a trail ride - where my horse actually fell asleep while i was on him. really he actually fell totally on his knees and the from of is head - thank god for a western saddle - its hard to fall out. i woke him up with a good kick and the whole saunter round was a good remedy for a hangover. so after partys, drinks, dinners out, farm touring and horse riding we left for our trip cross county to the Grand Canyon.
the heat steadily increased we drove trough Indiana, Illinois, Missiouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada. whoowee- long trip- you bet - but just a dirve by. think i slept trough part of illinois and missiouri. the tarmac (as opposed to yellowbrick) road was flat and long, bare flat land the odd hill, not much character on the interstate anyhow, we clicked our heels together two times while passing dorothys house - which incidentily was across the road from a 24hr adult shop- and were glad to move on from the land that was so flat all it had was land and tegraph poles, I'd hate to be a disoriented cow in kansas, how could you find your way home if the only land markers were telegraph poles? stayed in a strange village where we went to the cinema -in a mall where there were big signs on the doors telling us we wernt allowed bring our guns in - ah well - where the cinema employs were playing blackjack out front and the coke tasted like we were drinking from a swimming pool.
anyhow, so from the flat to the rockies, we went to denver, we drove through the rockies which were spectacular and our olden hummingbird flew without any hitches up and down and up and up again to over 11000 ft. we stayed it this lovely wee village calle Frisco - a sky resort, beautiful wooden houses, resturants and shops, with a view that could not be matched. there was quite a fiew of these ski resorts through the rockies - romantic little villages - reminded us of that canadian show, northern exposure. then on to all the parks in Utah. we did bryce national park - red dusty desert with a canyon drove miles up to view pillars and peaks of red and orange jutting into the sky. then to Zion national park which was like spotted grey smooth mountains groved into each other with a twisty road snaking between them leading to tunnels through red sandstone mountains around another canyon. the views were spectacular the heat was soaring so hiking was out and we had rapid stops for pics or even just took them through the sun rough. so on through navajho (spelling?) indian country in arizona. dusty desert alike to Colorao and Uthah where the dust curls behind cars like mini horizontal whirlwinds and houses are few and far between (as well as rest stops) - it really seems out in the middle of nowhere. so we did the stop at one of the many cheif somthing or other indian places selling any number of ornaments and jewelery on the road side and drifted through the 'painted desert' on to the canyon - the grand one. we spotted our first tumble weed en route! so the canyon is cool - a huge national park - we saw the north side took in the view - on on a ledge - freaky - and took the pics did a wee bit of walking and oohed and aahed and so on, we camped outside the canyon in a forest - our first camping outside a camp site. then on to the south side which we heard was more spectacular. well it was larger - more touristy. miles of view points and shops and hotels. we being the earthy types - the real campers stayed in the campground - nothing to do with the extravagant prices of course. anyhow the canyon is a mile down and 10 miles wide. we did one hike. the hike down into the canyon are zig zag so 7 miles+ tp reach the bottom. one cant go down and back in one day - you have to camp there. we dedided against this and thought wed manage 3 mile down - so six round trip. how wrong we were. the mid day temp was 105ish and the further down you go the hotter it gets. lik 120+ at the bottom. so we met plenty of people looking like they had run a marathon - absolutly fecked - we made it to 1.5 miles and said tis late so wel head back. it took us about 1and half hour to climb back up that 1.5mile. steep and hot. my legs are still recovering. so covered- head to toe in orange/peach dust we returned to the surface and shoped for food and went to bed. paul decided we should get up for the sunrise - at 5.13 supposedly - the park info paper said so!. so we arrived and boy was it dark, and tool lik a whole hour and half to rise - at like 6.30-how wrong the park people were we were tinking - in our really tired and out of it state after our hike - whats the story, then as light ensued and about 15 pople arrived we realised we didnt put our clocks forward (i blame paul) and we were waiting for the dam thing to rise at 4.30 in the middle of the night. with such excuses as- maybe it takes longer to come over the canyon cause its so tall! - how bright we are- about as bright as it was ar fecking 4.30 am!

so canyon was good, but we were all canyoned out at that stage and were glade to cruise on to Las Vegas. really - a cool town. we stayed just beyond the strip the first night and strolled around, then stayed in the Tropicana resort and casio hotel in the hotel- how good does that sound! we did two nights there, swimming in the pool, jacuzzing and gambling. the strip is all bright lights and imitations; statue of liberty, manhattan bridge and full size eiffel tower, elvis posing for pics and hulla girls. we wandered it all, from the gigantic water fountain choreographed to music infront of the Bellagio to ceasers palace to the harley davidson cafe to the shopping mall complete with in house fake thunder storm (rain etc) followed by a noesdive down the new york new york roller coaster ride, popping into MGM casino for a view of their tigers (real ones - in the middle of the casino) while meeting the mexican guys advertising the fees for extracurricular actvities with the local ladies. so the time in las vegas was deadly, we would have stayed longer. the heat was fierce though - 113F - crazy. all good fun though apart from our loss - mostly at roulette. (3 digit number - ouch) but when in rome..... and it was spread out over a few days - wed be no good at this professional gambling business. so that brings us to here - we arrive in San Diego . nice place. we spent yesterday in Sea World - and spent our first night in the car, which was fine actually - just left it too late to get anywhere. there was show with dolphins, sealions, dogs, cats, and whales - sounds bad i know, but actually wasn't. there was tonnes to see and of course the obligatory water roller coaster ride. the shamu experience - the famous whale show. there living quarters are a bit small for my liking but the seem happy - but its not like im half whale or anything so i havn't a clue really. but seriously, the way they are trained to jump and land and twirl around is amazing. id imagin some of you are cringing now, but honestly, its the largest place in the world, and its kinda a constant show, all the trainers are singing, acting, dancing, bright lights, costumes, big screens, crowd participation, splashing the spectators etc... its a spectacle worth a visit. so tomorrow the zoo (most world renowned) then camping, drive round L.A and up the calafornia coast to see the beaches, swim etc, and to a roller coaster park and a water park where Paul is trying to scare me to death (shuda pushed him into the canyon - had ample oppertunity), followed by yesomite national park, san fran, then maybe Vancover Canada, yellowstone and return to big bro, and home. ..its a hard life! anyhow iv blabbed enough, but really its all to remind myself cos I'm already forgetting,. so its kind of my diary - cos i'm too lazy to be writing on a nightly or even weekly basis. so
hoe all is well. hi to all, keep safe and if youve reached this line, then i feel sorry for you doing all that reading, you obviously have too much time on your hands.
toodles
G

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