Northern Trail tour days 1-15

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July 8th-I met the rest of my new tour buddies this morning 😊 We had our briefing from our guide....who seems to have a lot of rules! We then all piled into this tiny minivan! I can't quite believe I've got to spend 3 weeks in it :/ We've all put money into a food kitty...only $10 per day and made a lunch stop where we all dove into cooler boxes for wraps. We arrived at our campsite at around 7ish after stopping to look over Niagara falls which are of course spectacular. We had a tent pitching lesson from our guide and then got started....it's quite easy really! Our guide then cooked us chicken pesto pasta before going to pick up our last member of the group who missed the bus this morning. Before bed we sat around the fire with hot chocolates and s'mores.....these are melted marshmallows and chocolate in between wafers....nom nom! This is the only bad thing I've eaten since I started my diet 😊



July 9th-So I woke up this morning with a stiff neck and sore back....only 20 days to go! We were packed up and on the road by 9. We stopped at Niagara Falls again to do our Maid of the Mist cruise which took us right into the falls which is pretty cool. We all had ponchos on so the spray didn't soak us. It's mad that Canada is just over the other side of them. We then jumped onto the bus to make our way to Ohio. When we arrived it cost us 3 bucks each to stay in little log cabins so we chose that option woop woop! We spent the evening at a Cedar Point amusement park which was amazing! It's got like a million roller coasters....even one you stand up on. My hair dryer doesn't work in the states so I have to let it dry naturally....this is not pretty. I have developed a swollen sore foot too so have got myself on 3x a day ibuprofen. Hope it gets better quickly!



July 10th-Happy Birthday to my step Nan Twink and little cousin Jasmine 😊 On our way to Chicago we stopped at Shipshewana, Indiana to take a look at the Amish community. It's true....they really do ride around on horse and carts! We then stopped in Gary, Indiana to take a look at the house where Michael Jackson grew up....we were lucky enough to go into the grounds as there was a security guard there 😊 We got to Chicago around 4ish and had Chicago style pizzas....devine! They put the topping and sauce on backwards. Looks a bit gross but tastes amazing! We then went on a night time bike tour of the city which was really good...it is definitely a Windy City! My quiff got crushed as they made me wear a helmet....I was not best pleased. We finished the night off at the John Hancock center which gives you a view over the city. Here is where I found prosecco 😊



July 11th-Today was our free day to explore the city so we started off by going up the Willis Tower. This has views over the city and was the tallest building in the world for 25 years. Previously known as the Sears tower. It had an observation ledge which was basically a glass box suspended over the city so you could see right down. I stood on it for like a second to get my photo taken. After this I dragged 2 of the boys down the magnificent mile of shops hehe! We found Bloomingdales and I got me a little brown bag....I'll use it as my lunch bag when I get back to work 😊 We had to be back at our hostel (oo we get two nights here yay!) for 2pm to go to the local baseball game. It was Chicago cubs vs Atlanta braves. I think I'm understanding it a bit more now. The cubs won yay! After this we hit the town and went to the Chicago house of blues where the band was brilliant. I even got to keep my cocktail glass woop! Lynn's got lots of souvenirs to take home for me hehe!



July 12th-This morning we all got soaked running from the hostel to the van 😞 not impressed! We had our longest drive day today. On our way to Jackson, Minnesota we stopped at the cheese factory in Wisconsin as apparently that's what it's famous for. We went around with little sticks trying the different ones and ended up getting a chicken soup flavoured cheese to go with our crackers at lunch. We had to do our first group shop today. We had to go to Walmart three bloody times as the first two didn't have any fresh meat. We're all in teams for chores, van cleaning, cooking and washing up. We also stopped at the statue of the jolly green giant....you know, off the sweet corn tin? Bit weird but broke up the drive a bit. So we had our next night of tents tonight....getting good at whacking the tents up now 😊



July 13th-Today we made our way to our first national park which was the Badlands. We did a 10k hike through it which made me feel healthier....feel the burn! This park is 244 thousand acres and apparently that's small! It looks a bit like the moon....plain and rocky. I did the hike because my foot wasn't feeling too bad...it is now.



July 14th-Our drive today wasn't too long. We stopped at this place called Wall Drug which was like a mass of stores in a little town called Wall where only 900 people live. It started out as just a drug store and has expanded in order to bring in the tourism. We then went in to Mount Rushmore where the faces of four presidents are carved. There's George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. We did the presidential trail walk around which had lots of nature around it. We saw mamouts which are these beaver like animals and are really cute. The Belgian girls on our trip say I remind them of one because I sleep a lot and so do they haha! We also saw these little chipmunk type creatures running about.



Our last stop was at the crazy horse monument that is still under construction. Only the face of the rider is done so far. He was a guy from an Indian tribe that fought for his people. The reason the project is taking so long (and will probably take another 80-100 years to complete) is because it's a family run project and they don't want to accept any government handouts. We arrived at our campsite which was flint stone themed which was funny. The weather turned really cold and despite having my thermals on (which are a little snug), I was frozen. Not much sleep was gained 😞



July 15th-Happy Birthday to my little cousin Thea and Auntie Verna 😊 It would also have been my Mum's Birthday today ❤️ Well I was grumpy as on the bus this morning and a little snappy due to lack of sleep so I positioned my neck pillow and got some winks. Today we had a lot of driving to do and stopped along the way in Big Horn National Forest which had some awesome views. We arrived at our campsite in Cody and it was peeing rain so instead of pitching tents and cooking dinner we rented tee-pees and went out for a Chinese buffet nom nom! We then hit the local rodeo where we watched people catching calfs (not sure how I feel about this....looked a little mean), bucking broncos, barrel racing and bull riding. It was all great fun. They had a bit in the middle where all the kids from the audience went into the arena and chased two calfs until they could get the ribbons off their tails for prizes.



July 16th-Happy Birthday to my cousin Anika 😊 We left our tee-pees this morning and set off to Yellowstone National Park. We had a few stops before we got to our campsite. We saw Yellowstone lake first. There are a lot of dead trees in this park because apparently there was a big fire in the 70s that wiped out like 80% of the park. They chose not to replant trees as they wanted the park to remain as nature intended. We then stopped for a short hike to see some geysers which are mini volcanoes that are spouting out sulphuric stinky stuff. We then set off on a slightly longer hike to see the Grand Canyon of the park. We had to walk down a trail called uncle toms trail to see the waterfall up close. We walked down a set of really steep steps to get to it....328 to be precise. My heart rate was through the roof and I thought, how the fuck am I gonna do the inca trail??



We got to our campsite and set up tents before making dinner. It was my groups turn tonight. We did spaghetti carbonara which I am pleased to say was a success....for 14 people too! The good thing about here is we have two nights so we don't have to take the tents down in the morning woop woop! We had s'mores and hot chocolate before bed yum! I hope they're not too fattening! :/ We had a bear safety talk because there are grizzly bears in Yellowstone. We had to have only our sleeping bag and pillow in the tent with us and put all our food, cooking stuff and bags back in the trailer because bears love that kind of stuff. If the same bear comes into the camp more than once the park rangers have to shoot it and we don't want that. This campsite also has no showers 😞 I needed a wee at like 3am and was too scared incase here was a bear lurking out! I couldn't tell if there was a bear outside my tent or if it was one of the boys snoring.



July 17th-I woke up this morning with a half closed right eye from where I think a mosquito bit me 😞 Yes the bastards are at it again! I look like Quasimodo! Not impressed. This morning we went to see a few more geysers on a little hike before going on a slightly longer hike to see the Mammoth Hot springs which was like colourful boiling water. Apparently each colour shows how hot the water is. We had to walk along a boardwalk because if you walk next to them the surface might give way and you'd fall into the boiling water. They weren't lying when they called this trip 'trek' America!



After lunch we crossed the state boarder from Wyoming to Montana and went to this place called the boiling river. It was a river that was really stony to walk in and had an extremely strong current. We sat down in a bit that had really warm water and sometimes got boiling hot or freezing. I perched myself on a rock but the current made a few attempts to sweep me away....only succeeding in nearly stealing my bikini top a few times....serious wardrobe malfunction! I eventually got swept downstream but one of the boys caught me so it was all good. I was glad to get out of there! We finished our day of with a small walk around the grand prismatic pool which had gorgeous colours in it and heaps of steam shooting up. I've got some cracking snaps in this park. As soon as we're in a wifi zone again I've got some serious uploading to do!



July 18th-Today we set out early and went to visit Old Faithful which is another geyser that erupts every 90 minutes so we stayed to watch it. Afterwards we set out on the road to Grand Teton National Park where we hiked 3 miles up to see some hidden waterfalls. We then took the boat back across the lake to the car park. We arrived in Jackson about 45 minutes later where me and a couple of the other girls set off on our sunset horse ride up the mountain whilst the rest set up tents and did food shopping haha! It was supposed to be a sunset ride but it wasn't really as it hadn't set by the time we got back. I was a little naughty and kept holding my horse back so I could trot 😊 I think I've mastered western riding....in trot anyway.



We then went to camp and chilled for a bit before dinner and finally getting to shower....bliss! We all hit the million dollar cowboy bar which I was super excited about 😊 it had saddles for bar seats and a live band. We all got quite drunk and I found myself a real cowboy to throw me around the dance floor. We were still bopping about when they turned the lights on and we were forced to go home. Good night! I may also have raided the lunch box when we got back for crackers and cheese and then blamed it on the bears hehe!



July 19th-Today was a free day so after a little lie in we all had a cooked breakfast and pancakes mmm! A few of us then went into the town for a while and I got myself a Wyoming hoody....it gets damn cold at night here. I then got some laundry done and sorted my backpack out....it doesn't go back together as well as it did...it's busting at the seams! The others went white water rafting for a few hours and we just chilled which was nice. It was just dinner and a chilled evening by the fire this evening.



July 20th-Today we left to travel to Elko which was really just a stop gap on our way to Lake Tahoe. It was pissing rain when we arrived so we stayed in a motel and hit Pizza Hut and the cinema woop! Saw 22 Jump street....hilarious! We had a game of pool in the bar next to it and had pints of cider for $3.50! Bargain 😊



July 21st-Today we arrived at Lake Tahoe relatively early and pitched our tents. We then went for a little hike to see the Cascade falls and lake. Our tour guide said 'it's only small, you can wear your flip flops'.....rocks everywhere! It was our turn to cook tonight so we made the American dish dirty rice which is this funny rice we don't have at home with mince and veg. A couple of the boys hit casinos in town whilst the rest of us played beer pong and consumed wine. I also ate half a block of cheese oops! I weighed today and I haven't lost any weight but haven't gained either so I guess that's not too bad. We were dancing on picnic tables to music and the campsite dude came around on his little buggy and said it was quiet time and to put our fire out 😞 I kept dancing.



July 22nd-Today we travelled to Yosemite National Park. We stopped at Mono lake for lunch and to dip our toes in. Then we did a little hike to see the giant sequoia trees which are these massive trees that are really rare now so are protected. We walked through the middle of one that had fallen down. Oo we had our first near sighting too! Woop woop! It looked like a young one...super cute. Our campsite is really good but so dusty! My feet are constantly black. Tonight I slept in the hammock which was cool. I was too frightened to go to sleep incase one of the boys played a prank so I star gazed until I fell asleep.



July 23rd-Today we had a free day to explore Yosemite and most of the group went off to do this massive 8 mile hike...nutters! Before this though we drove up to glacier point where we could look down over the valley....views were stunning! Me and Cassie chilled on the beach and caught some rays in the afternoon. I got me a Yosemite t shirt and bottle 😊 We also went to the stables to say hi to the horses but didn't go for a ride because it's only walk and a little boring xx

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