Blogs from North America - page 9436

I've been in Toronto for a week now and have been having a great time. I arrived at Toronto airport with my enormous board bag and my back pack and Peggy (my cousin's partner) was there waiting for me. When she saw my head poking out from behind all my stuff I'm sure she was glad she had brought Adams truck to pick me up. Adam and Peggy live in a beautiful part of Toronto called the Beaches. For my fellow Aucklanders it's a lots like Devonport. Quiet, tree lined streets; pretty, little old houses and it's a ten minute walk down to lake Ontario. Which is like the sea except fresh water and freezing cold. The weekend just been was the Beaches Jazz festival and it was so much fun. The main street gets blocked ... read more

I am leaving LA today and while I didn’t get to see any of Hollywood or Beverly Hills, I figure that these places are just glitzy shopping malls for people with more money and time than me. The tourist stretches of the movie industry are a big attraction for some, but I will have to come back another time to find out why. Perhaps if I saw Yodo walking along the road, I too would want jump and scream. Anyway, wherever I went saw small groups of tourists flocking to watch some b grade camera crew just for a glimpse of someone they might think is famous. My only real contact with this world was a momentary glimpse of the Hollywood sign. I saw it down a little way from city hall. For anyone who has ... read more

What a great week it has been. We left Denver and headed to Teton National Park where we spent a day putzing around, picking up some forgotten items and looking for a place for Bret to photograph sunset. Instead of staying in the Tetons we headed to Yellowstone. We camped just outside the park at a great campground that was FREE. We hope to remember it in the future. It was set aside a braided river which was beautiful and wonderful mountains in the backdrop. The next morning we left the campground and headed through the park to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. We hung out there for an hour photographing grizzly bears. Nice facility but not enough room for the bears to roam, I don't think. We then went back into the park, drove ... read more

This was the place I originally was planning to spend most of my time in LA. According to all the travel guides, it’s a must see destination and it is very impressive. The most unique part of the area for me was the stretch of walk way around Venice Beach. Its diverse mix of music, craft and atmosphere is a big attraction for many alternative thinking people. As a result some in the area claim it to the world’s largest demonstration of free speech. Musicians and other artisans are competing for attention and promoting their wares and trying to earn a dollar based on their talent. Occassionaly the market’s atmosphere is momentarily thwarted by the presence of a stand or two for some multi-national company. They are manned by young business looking like people. Against the ... read more

I'm back now, and I have finished uploading all of the pictures I wanted to put online, including my photos from Paris, London, Wales, and Scotland (I put all the UK pictures in a seperate album). The website is: http://community.webshots.com/user/rickrainy Since I am home, this will be the last entry in the travel blog. It was a great trip, and its hard to believe all the things I saw and experienced, and I can't wait to go again, except I think if I get the chance to travel internationally again, I am going to try to go for somewhere other than Europe, but there is still enough there for me to go back, even to the same cities I have already been too.... read more